Nissan Tiida not so sexy
May 16, 2006 by Alborz Fallah
The Nissan Tiida is not doing that well. Lets face it, its called Tiida! And it has the chick from Sex & The City doing the ads, this alone rules out any single male who values their dignity from buying it, AND, did I mention its called Tiida? Nissan Australia has only sold 1463 Tiidas in the first three months of this year compared with the 4566 Pulsar sales in the same period last year and only now have Nissan realised that perhaps Tiida’s advertising campaign wasn’t the smartest. I can understand that Nissan are trying to target the Tiida at the late 20 early 30 year old females, but maybe they forgot that males also buy cars? It might have been this continuous industry perception that women are now the new driving force behind car purchases. Yes, this is shown to be true in most cases.
Statistics say women buy more than 50 per cent of new cars and 85 per cent of buying decisions are made or influenced by women. CarsGuide
85%? I guess that should explain the alarming number of 4WDs being driven around in suburbia these days. Nevertheless, when you aim a car directly at a specific gender, perhaps the males in the household will have alarm bells going off when the name Tiida comes into question. Tiida? Imagine if the guys saw me in that! Might as well drive a Rio, that sounds manlier.
“Tiida hasn’t quite got the traction we thought it would have at this stage. Awareness is still the main issue. We’re looking at plans on how we improve that awareness. Our creative executions are getting the cut-through: research indicates the word is getting out. We have a steady, gradual incline with Tiida. We’d like to see it sharper, but it is moving.” Ross Booth, Nissan Australia’s new general manager of marketing and public relations.
Hasn’t quite got the traction? That’s a nice way of saying it. I remember a few weeks back they had the Tiida cars driving in and around Brisbane with massive Tiida marks all over them in case you thought they were something a little more manly. Is it the name? Its hard to say, but I think it has a bit to do with it. Nissan doesn’t seem to think so:
“We have no issues with the name `Tiida’. No one is rejecting that,”
You know what Ross? I am rejecting it. No one? What a big claim. Not one single person is rejecting the name! I am happy to say I want to be the first one to reject it. Yes, I am rejecting Tiida as a car name. If they wanted a car name that was sexy and maybe a little feminine maybe they should have thought a little harder about the name.
Print it: 
Just wondering does anybody with an Automatic Tiida have this fuel reading problem as mine? Lucky i didn’t get manual transmission then.
I know exactly how you all feel. Total Nissan told me months ago that they would get me an answer from Nissan Japan about the whining sound in my car. My gearbox was allready been replaced so I do not know what the problem is then. We should all go to A Currant Affair and bring this in the open. It looks like the only way Nissan may listen because at this point in time I am sure that I will have to drive this lemon till I can get rid of it.
As a Nissan New Car sales consultant. I urge customers to not buy them. When I have customers asking me about the Tiida… I make sure they buy something else like a Dualis, Micra or even a Maxima and they end up going home happy.
Those who I have sold Tiidas too end up coming back complaining and its like a never ending story.
I had a Nissan Tiida as a company car for a painful 3 months and im always complaining to my manager about the problems i have been getting. Im not the only one a couple of others that had Tiidas as company cars have been complaining about them too.
Someone said that Nissan Japan controls what comes into the Australian market is not true. It is upto Nissan Australia to bring what into the Australian Market and since the new management in 2004, things have gone downhill since then. And Nissan Australia has to wait upto 3 years to have the new models being released in Australia.
I am in the process of purchasing a 08 1.8 hatch. It has 20000km , I did not notice any of these complaints during the test drive. Does anyone think I should go ahead and do the deal. South Africa
Dear LN
As a Nissan sales consultant do you know what I can do? I’ve tried everything. I’m just getting fobbed off and they just delay everything all the time. I work hard for my money every week. It is not something that falls in my lap. I just feel that I bought a brand new car, that is after I was lied to by the salesman not to buy a Dualis, surely I have to enjoy my new car? Please help !
Thanks
Izelda
Izelda,
Did you buy the Tiida? Manual or Auto?
Hi Victor
I bought a manual one, a 1.8 STL sedan to be specific. Believe me the biggest mistake of my life. And to top it off as I was driving this afternoon the trimming around my front window was flapping in the wind and the trimming in the boot was coming off too.I think this car is coming apart.
I have had the Nissan for 8,00km now.
I was saying earlier that the gearbox is getting crunchier by the km and the whine is getting more intrusive (not to mention the air con which is now making odd rumbling sounds when it is first turned on).
A friend’s opinion on this was that it was the actual internal gear profile causing a resonance as the gears meshed with the drive, hence the noise (Oooooo!).
However, since the whine occurs to a lesser degree even when the car is OUT of gear (listen carefully, you will still hear the high pitched sound – no, its not the engine) it occurs to me it may not be the gearbox causing the noise – so replacing the gearbox wouldn’t fix this problem. Having said that, I shake my head at the atrocious crunch each time I engage gear – even if I just use one finger to put in in, it sounds like someone’s bones are breaking…CRUNCH !
Still waiting to hear from Nissan, by the way…I hear Pontiac are going bankrupt, they won’t be the only ones.
Hi again.
A little more insight into the gearbox(?) whine possibly.
I heard it could be the Differential causing the whine problem – the thrust bearing…. Not that I should be having to figure this out, of course!
3 year Warranty? Ha, don’t make me laugh!
Dear Izelda,
I just want to know who was the dealership that sold you the new car since a lot of dealerships have different policys in terms of warranties and also, take it upto the Department of Fair Trading. this to me sounds like a bad case of dealerships not following the laws that has been put down since 2003.
You should have never bought the tiida in the first place… with the Dualis, you would never had any problems with it plus it is much more safer and more enjoyable then the tiida.
What did the salesman say to you about the Dualis?
Dear LN
Thankyou very much for replying. I bought my car at Total Nissan in WA. When I first went to buy a car I was looking at a Tiida when someone approached me. This guy was quite the smooth talker. After a long discussion I asked him about the Dualis and that I would rather look at that, he said to me that they started at $36 000 and to me that was way too expensive so I settled for the cheaper car. Afterwards I found out that the cars were actually selling starting at around $26 000. I bought my car in October and the Dualis was at that stage new to the market so I did not have alot of information on the car and went along with what the dealer said. When I confronted the manager with this afterwards he just smiled and said there were a bigger incentive to sell a Tiida than a Dualis.
I was very upset. And to top it all of I phoned Nissan Australia on Thursday last week and they told me that Nissan Japan said to them that if anybody phones up about the Tiida to tell them that the car comes with the noise. So I just have to accept that. I have never heard anything like that in my life. I am very disgusted.
Dear Izelda,
Here is the thing about Tiida, it is manufactured in Thailand whereas the Dualis is manufactured in the UK.
And that was the reason why they sold you the Tiida so they can make an profit from it and the Dualis is not really that profitable for most dealerships.
The $36k + Plus on roads is the 6 Speed CVT Ti (Top of the range) Dualis but you would have paid around $28k for 6 Speed manual ST Option Dualis and an extra $4-5k for on roads.
Or even better, a City collection Micra which is cheaper then the ST-L Tiida and has more safety options would have been another preferred option.
As for Total Nissan, they are the top performing dealership in the country and they are known as the Platinum Nissan Dealership which means they have to provide their customers with an outstanding ownership experience and apparently after reading that they have failed and failed to meet up the ethical standards for them and the Nissan company.
If your local dealership/Nissan Australia cant help, try and call the ACCC. They should at least help you out.
Dear LN
I can remember that a week after I signed the papers for my Tiida that the Dualis was on some kind of introduction special. I feel that they could have told me that. It is just not fair. Now because they want to make a profit I have to be the one on the short end. I have allready contacted the Consumers here in WA. I feel that I cannot leave it here. I do not know if I would get anywhere with Nissan seeing that I am just a consumer and not “GREAT BIG” Nissan but I will try. Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it and no offence but I know I will never deal with Nissan again or refer family or friends.
this link below shows why Nissan Australia will not do anything with the tiida
http://news.brisbanetimes.com......-6rtv.html
LN do you think they will recall Tiida’s in Australia?
When is a WARRANTY not a warranty?
Trick question? No, just a sad fact it seems, when your dealership starts making lame excuses and deferring any action, you know you are in trouble (probably until the ‘warranty’ expires, hoping all those poor Tiida customers just get sick of the problems, give up and put ear plugs in to stop hearing that horrendous howl from the transmission, followed by a sickening CRUNCH as each gear is delicately engaged….
* Department of Fair Trading?
You will find there is a lot of consumer protection in ‘appearance’ but scratch beneath the surface and you may discover these are pretty toothless when it comes to effectively advocating your rights.
* Being made in Thailand?
I was aware of this fact, but thought that since the Honda Jazz (one of the most reliable cars on the market) was also made there, Nissan – also being a Japanese manufacturer – would have implemented some king of quality control there; after all, there is long term, SERIOUS damage done to a car maker’s reputation when they betray their customers like this. The longer they fudge around pretending they don’t know what the problem is (Nissan Tiidas have had problems for a couple of years now – time enough to find the solution) the more exponential the fallout will be from this.
So,there’s the question, when is a warranty not a warranty?
Nissan will be releasing a 4×2 Dualis from late July or early August.
So if you have a Tiida… trade that in for the 4×2 dualis and im sure you guys will be going home happy after that.
Hey everyone,
I’ve bought a black Nissan tiida st 07, and its got 50,000kms on the clock. I bought it a couple of months ago and have had no problems at all, don’t have any whining noises whilst driving, it is an automatic so no gear crunching, no electric windows so don’t have the auto up problem, and the model is so cute! I’m 18 and this is my first car, and don’t think my family and I didn’t do our homework, trust me we did. We test drove it everywhere, and it was fine then and is still fine now.
It has so much room and the boot (sedan) is so huge! So much space in the back seats and head room is so good and was not expected. The car drives so smoothly and has good power.
I really sympathize with all of you who have encountered problems, as that is the last thing I would want to worry about with a first car. I really think the Nissan Tiida is such a cute car, i do think it is girly, as it reminds me of the Micra a bit, which comes across as a London-ish sort of city look. I like to think of it as a sort of ‘bubble’ car. Rounded and small, with so much interior room.
I am sorry to those who had a bad experience with the Tiida but personally I love the car. Maybe I am a lucky one? The car is used and when we bought it it was on 48,000ks. The last 2,000 have been absolutely beautiful. We have all of the service history and not one single problem.
I hope not everyone is turned off by the negative reports on the Tiida, because I think if you do a lot of homework, decent test driving, and perhaps buy a second hand one as opposed to brand new, you will then know the history of how the car has gone so far.
Hope this helps any potential buyers a little. And I hope those seeking answers from Nissan recieve adequate help! Because you guys deserve it!!
L.
Hello all… I bought myself a new Tiida STL plus special edition in Sep 08…and I arrived at this decision because for health reasons I need a car that I can easily get into and not have to heave myself out of. This car suited my purpose to a tee. I love my car and the convenience of it..but for the fact that there has been dealer issues from the day I picked it up. eg the hatch light didn’t work…it took 3 dealers to find the fault..which were cut wires behind the molding in the boot. Apparently one of the dealers broke the molding trying to find the issue…of course no one owned up to it..this being but one of the problems. Now we are trying to find the source of what sounds like something loose in/under the dash. In spite of the entire dash being removed, and all put back together…which I might add was very loose and wobbly in places before..it now sits firm and sounds rather more solid. The last effort at finding this loose something or other, was yesterday. I picked my car up with no noise at all…but yep you guessed it..by the time I got down the road a few klms…it was back with a vengeance. The dealer has been so good to me..mind you he’s not the one I bought the car from, but I am wondering how far can I expect him to go with trying to get to the source of it all. I hate this loud and annoying rattle…and wondering if anyone has any ideas on what there could be under the bonnet but close to the front passenger that may cause this. I cannot find anything loose that is obvious. At this point I know I have bought a brand new car…but have not yet felt like it is a new one with so many glitches. This rattle is the last straw.
BethH^^^^^
Typical of Thailand *quailty*, i want MadeInJapan, proven quality time and time again.
Is it to much to ask a manufacturer that when you buy a new car you can expect NO problems? [LandRover excepted]
You have a warranty and any Nissan dealer must attend to it.
Gut feeling [& as per the market sales] if you did more reaserch you most likely would NOT have purchased a Tiida, bit nowhere really after the excellant history and respect of the Pulsar model, good that they where NOT allowed to keep the name as it would have been ruined by now..A blessing if one ever existed!
The Tiida is the cheapest “compact” you can buy, but in this case its very much “you get what you pay for”, i hated it withing 10 mins. of pulling it to pieces.
I believe they are replacing it next year with a model that will be called Pulsar once again.
Good luck, keep hounding Nissan till they fit this and the future problems
Cheers
F-0
I am going to trade in my old car and go with this TIIDA…first time I drove was a rental car, I was superised of it’s cab quiet, especially when waiting signal you won’t notice engine running.
I had a test drive this week, same feeling of it’s inside noisy level….maybe my old car too noisy(Daewoo Nubira, realiable car never make me down…..10 years old…..).
I travel a lot hired Astra, Focus, Camy Altise, in Aus and Pontiac, Ford escape, Focus in US……so far, Pontiac (forgot model but remember it’s sport)and TIIDA gave me good impression in terms of in cab smooth and quiet.
I have decided to check reviews on the Tiida being the owner of a 2007 Tiida which is now giving me problems that are annoying considering that I thought I brought a new car. Initially I had a singing sound coming to a stop which according to my dealership was due to the hubcaps. All caps were changed so one problem was solved. I then had a problem with the car not starting, that according to the dealership was a problem with the ignition system, the entire part system was changed, problem solved. I do have the noise under the dash which is absolutely annoying. Even after having had the dash taken down the noise is still there, I have given up on this one because apparently no on else at the dealership can hear the noise. Now I have a noise in the engine which my dealership is attributing to a belt in the engine, well that belt was changed in Nov 08 and here I am again having to change it, not to happy and after reading these reviews I am about to have a few words with the service people at the dealership. I love my car, it is roomy and it drives well, better than the Yarius, but now I do not want to have to be back and forth from the service department but as I live in the Caribbean solutions to my problems are looking to be slim.
I bought a ST Nissan Tiida, 6 speed manual 2008 model – liked everything about except it had an annoying whine from the gearbox which kicked in around 70km per hour. I didnt notice this when I took it for a test drive in the suburbs 50km per hour speed zones. Took it to a Nissan dealership and was told the same as I have since read about – It is a fault and Nissan are looking for a solution. I took the car back to the caryard I bought it from and swaped it for another which did exactly the same thing, took that one back and swapped it for a Toyota Yaris. Just greatful I didnt buy it new and the used car dealership I bought if from did the right thing.
I wouldnt recommend anyone buy a Nissan Tiida – if you must then give it a really good test drive and make sure you cannot hear any whining sounds.
I purchased a late 2007 STL automatic sedan new in October, 2007. Initially I was very happy with it as it ran beautifully. I had previously owned a 2000 Pulsar and had it 4 years without as much as a hiccup. Which was the reason I went back to Nissan.
I had the problem with the fuel gauge not being accurate and it was replaced under warranty. It was faulty from the day I drove out of the dealer.
I do ALOT of driving and I estimate I do probably in the vicinity of 900k’s a week. 99% of my driving is on a freeway.
I had the upper spring mounts (bearings in the front shock absorbers) replaced after they both seized. Apparently a common fault according to the service guys. They were replaced (after much waiting for the parts to come in) under warranty.
At 35,000k’s I had to have the front discs/rotors machined at a nice expensive cost of $165 after it started shuddering badly on braking. I did at the time wonder why I needed my brakes done so early in the piece especially since I don’t do the stop/start driving as city folk.
Well it’s just clicked over 65,000k’s and the shuddering has started again so I sent the car back for them to look at it.
I took it back last week and they’ve told me that the brakes need doing again only this time, the discs/rotors on the front can’t be machined again as they are too thin. They also told me that the rear pads are at 10% and need to be replaced. Grand total of $670!!
They’re trying to tell me that replacing the brakes every 30,000k’s is not unusual. If you take off my freeway driving, my car would have only 25,000k’s on the clock in nearly 2 years.
There is something seriously wrong with the brakes in my car!!!!! I have always owned new cars and I have never had problems like this before.
Other problems I’ve had with this car is the directional knob for the heater/cooler fan. It’s come off inside the dash 3 times now and now they say I need a new one. I’m still waiting for it to be replaced under warranty which was ordered in April.
The little ashtray in the back of the console just fell to pieces in my hand one day. They wouldn’t replace this under warranty and the cost of a new one is $85 which I promptly told them where to stick it – I’m not even a smoker!
It also needs all new tyres after 65,000k’s and other vehicles I’ve owned have had a far better tyre life.
I’m well and truly OVER THIS CAR!!! I’m trading it in this week on a totally different car not made by Nissan. I’ll never buy another Nissan ever.
Oh and I took the car to Tyrepower for a second opinion on the brakes. Rear brakes just need adjusting apparently. They had a good look over the car and told me that the brake fluid and automatic transmission fluid hadn’t been replaced in a long time. Geez, it had it’s last service in April. Makes me wonder if they actually carry out the services as the book says.
I have my STL 6 speed manual for a year now. The whining noise from the gearbox is just getting louder. Yesterday my car slipped out of gear by itself with my daughter and baby son in the car. I do not know what to do anymore. I have phoned Nissan Australia and all I get is that they are still looking into the problem or that the noise is part of the car.
My parents got me a tiida ST early this year, im 21 btw. The car seems ok, engine is all good and i like the look (sedan). The problem is inside the cabin. I have 2 very annoying rattle sounds coming from the back seat and also from the front passenger dash. Always rattling and its gotten worser. Is anyone else having these issues? The car sounds like its done 200,000kms but its only at 38,000km.
Feels like a big waste of money, especially on my parents.
I bought a demo Nissan Tiida – STL 2007 automatic hatchback. We’ve had just one problem with the ‘housing’ over the automatic gear which had come undone somehow, and which the service guys had charged me for, instead of it being covered by the warranty.
Apart from that, we love the car. It has given us no problems, it’s quiet on the roads, economical on fuel, roomy and spacious interiors. We just love it. I have had it for 2 years now and will probably keep it for a year longer before deciding whether to trade up for the Dualis or something else.
Ye thats good to hear, if i can get the interior issues sorted out id be very happy, cause the car runs great and looks real nice.
Mine was bought brand new back in July 2006 so just over three years old now and I am still on warranty till July 2011 as I bought the extension.Quiet and Pretty Good on Fuel except when having to do hill climbs and having to deal with some of the worse traffic ever given the natures of my job.It is my workcar too which may explain a thing or two.The Interior is rather spacious for what it is.It gives me all the Space of a B Class Mercedes but for close to half the price and without the embarrassment driving such a car brings.Looking at another one of these when the warranty expires in 2011 even though it is now made in Thailand It still has that Japanese Quality Present and Reliability.Now where to find me a demo.