TopAuto reader Cornelius hasn’t even spent a year in his new Nissan Magnite and he’s had to get a boot lid replaced during this time because he claims the crossover is too good-looking.
“The Magnite so impressive that after only one month of owning it, a driver behind me wanted a really, really close-up look at it,” he said.
“Unfortunately they got too close, and their insurer had to pay R16,000 for the view. I guess it’s the price you pay for having a beautiful car.”
Cornelius shares his favourite and least favourite things about his Magnite, below.
Which model do you own?
I bought the Nissan Magnite 1.0 Acenta CVT in February 2022 brand new and it hasn’t even hit 8,000km yet despite already getting a new tailgate.
What do you like most about the Magnite?
After having manual hatchbacks for ages, the Magnite is the first automatic vehicle I’ve ever owned so I’m still enamoured with not having to shift gears the whole time.
Modern tech like the infotainment system, reverse camera, and parking sensors are also a giant leap forward over the 10-year-old Chevrolet I owned before.
Overall though, the car looks good, drives well, and satisfies all my needs.
What do you like least about the Magnite?
I miss having a bit more power under the hood – it gets the job done well enough, but the Magnite doesn’t exactly have the “zip” available when you need it fast.
With all the modern tech and sensors there’s also more that can go wrong.
One of the sensors kept flagging errors and it took multiple trips over several weeks back to the dealer to find it and get it fixed. Nothing was wrong with the car – it was only a faulty sensor – but it was still a pain.
Somehow we’re almost in 2023 and the aircon still has a noticeable effect on power, too. I feel like this should be a more important factor for manufacturers to consider when building smaller cars as every one of the Magnite’s competitors I tested had the same issue.
Are you happy with your purchase and would you recommend the Magnite to other buyers?
Absolutely. As someone who doesn’t drive too often but still wanted a step up in terms of comfortability, features, and style, it was an excellent buy. The price point was exactly where I wanted it, and I’ve got to admit, it feels like I got more than what I paid for.
It’s still early days, though, and time will tell how the Magnite stacks up to my previous two vehicles. I buy all my cars new and drive them until it’s absolutely necessary to upgrade, so I hope this one lasts as long as the others.
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