Used Nissan Pulsar 2014-present review

For a number of years, Nissan had been taking the SUV market by storm but had nothing to offer to challenge the likes of the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf. This allowed rivals such as Kia and Hyundai to slot themselves into one of the biggest car segments there is. So, Nissan had to respond, and the Pulsar was the result.

Nissan aims the Pulsar at new car buyers looking for value, so it undercuts established rivals on price and equips most models with a number of high-tech safety features. This is good news for used car buyers, because you're able to find premium car levels of safety technology for similar money to a Kia Cee'd and Hyundai i30

There are three engine choices in the Pulsar: the 114bhp 1.2 DIG-T turbocharged petrol, the 187bhp 1.6 DIG-T petrol and the 109bhp 1.5 dCi diesel. The 1.5 diesel is a little gruff and noisy when accelerating but quietens down at a cruise, while the 1.2 petrol is flexible and the 1.6 petrol is fairly nippy. The 1.6 also gets slightly sharper steering and altered suspension to make it better to drive, although those changes don’t make a huge amount of difference.

On the whole, the Pulsar is more for those who want an easy-to-drive a vehicle that's relatively hushed. It isn’t particularly engaging to drive and it has some foibles; it could do with more feel around the clutch pedal's biting point, and while the steering is light around town, it doesn’t build in weight progressively at higher speeds and therefore takes some getting used to. There is at least a decent amount of grip and the handling is predictable, even if you go into a corner too quickly.

It’s a case of durability rather than premium quality in the Pulsar – some of the plastics aren’t great to the touch. A touchscreen infotainment system isn’t standard on some of the more basic models, but there are plenty of chunky buttons, so the dashboard is easy to operate.

There's plenty of adjustment in the steering wheel and seats in the front, but they don’t come with lumbar support and can be uncomfortable for some drivers on longer journeys. Rear passengers have plenty of room to stretch their legs, and the small central tunnel means there’s sufficient foot room for three people abreast.

The boot is an impressive size for a car of this type, beating the Golf's and Focus's for volume, but it doesn’t have a variable-height floor and there’s an annoying load lip to deal with. There's also a hump in the extended floor when the rear seats are folded down.

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Prices for the Pulsar start at around £6000 for a 1.5 diesel with high mileage. A 1.2 petrol will be more at £7000 but should have covered fewer miles. If you want a diesel with less than 40,000 miles, you’ll need around £7500.

The 1.6 petrol isn’t as prevalent as the other engine options and was added later in the car’s life, so these models are more expensive to buy, starting at around £10,000.

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Most versions of the Pulsar are relatively cheap to run, particularly the 1.5 diesel, which nips into the free road tax band and gets an official average of 78.5mpg – among the best in the class.

The 1.2 petrol is also good for running costs, with a 56.5mpg average and £30 annual road tax. The 1.6 petrol isn’t quite so good, at 49.6mpg and £140 road tax, but then it's a fair bit faster.

If you buy a Pulsar that was registered after 1 April 2017, it will be charged under different criteria, with all models incurring the £140 flat rate.

Insurance is, in most cases, a little lower than it is for rivals, thanks to most models getting low-speed automatic emergency braking as standard. Nissan’s fixed-price servicing scheme is available for any of the brand's vehicles, regardless of age. This also extends to the cost of individual repairs, such as new brake discs and pads. You can find all the prices on Nissan's website. Having your Pulsar serviced by a Nissan dealer means you also get the benefit of one year’s worth of European breakdown cover included in the price.

The 1.6 DIG-T petrol is rather fast, but it’s much more expensive to run than the other engines. The 1.5 dCi diesel is very economical and has good mid-range pull, but it's the 1.2 DIG-T petrol that is best suited to the Pulsar, since it’s flexible, quite nippy and still offers good fuel economy.

Air conditioning, cruise control and Bluetooth are standard, but we’d suggest going for mid-range Acenta trim, which gets you get dual-zone climate control, automatic emergency braking, keyless start and automatic lights and wipers. Further up the range, you get some neat features such as a 360deg camera, but the infotainment touchscreen isn’t the best on the market and it's rather small, so you might as well save your money.

Our favourite Nissan Pulsar: 1.2 DIG-T Acenta

The Pulsar seems like good value, but you might want to look into rivals such as the Hyundai i30 and Kia Cee'd, which are often just as well equipped and come with long warranty periods to back up their quality claims.

The Kia Cee'd has a seven-year warranty, which is exceptionally long. It won’t cover all issues, particularly in the later years, but it's good to have that additional support. The Cee'd is relaxing rather than exciting to drive, but it's spacious and its diesel engines are particularly economical.

The Hyundai i30 has a slightly shorter warranty than the Cee'd, at five years, but that’s still two years longer than the Pulsar's. The diesels offer similar economy to those in the Cee'd, and the petrols are equally hushed.

Find a used Nissan Pulsar in the What Car? Classifieds here

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