Nissan Almera DIY

Not alot. Alot of systems are safety critical and you have to do the job right. It's very easy to knacker things completely by missing out a part or doing something like cross threading spark plugs. Also you would not know what was in need of replacement and what was OK.

For now, check the oil, water, screenwash and tyre pressures weekly.

Depends on your mechanical aptitude.

TBH, for now I'd take it to a garage for a service and enroll yourself in a night school course on vehicle maintenance.

It not difficult. You don't have to be genius to do simple jobs on the car.

Get yourself a haynes manual and start off with straightforward jobs like changing the oil and spark plugs. You only need a set of spanners, sockets and jack plus axle stands to start off with.

You can then build up to brake pads and other things.

I started doing it when I bought a fiesta years ago. I did all the jobs on it as the car needed it. Biggest job on that was a steering rack replacement.

Hi, I am in the same boat.

The best thing I did was get a Haynes manual for my car off eBay. That tells you what things need (or may need) doing and at what age/mileage and describes how to do them. Thanks to that manual I know how to change the pollen, fuel and oil filters, how to change the oil and coolant rather than just top them up, how to change brake pads (going to do that soon), spark plugs...

Haynes manual rates each task in terms of difficulty, Very Easy, Easy, Fairly Difficult, etc. There's quite a lot you can do to maintain/fix your car that is rated Easy/Fairly Easy!

Go on a basic mechanics course if you're a complete novice. Some people have always fiddled around with mechanical things since childhood, some people have never even used a screwdriver. If you're in the second group, get it done. Some colleges may run more advanced courses, but the one I went on got as far as brake pads and setting valve clearances etc.

The best thing you can do, IMO is not tolerate any bodging and change the oil. I'd not start learning to maintain my own car on a new model though. My older cars have been massively easier to work on than the newer ones I've owned.

Not bothered about the 3yr Nissan warranty then?

If so you will need to get it serviced by a VAT registered garage using genuine Nissan parts/reccomended fluids etc.

Fair enough once the warranty it out, providing you have a friendly local garage that can maybe help if things go wrong

Steve

That's about how I learnt, although I did have a schoolfriend whose father did all his own maintenance including (apparently) stripping a Hillman Minx gearbox down on the side of a road in order to get home. After I helped him take an engine out of an Austin Princess (wedge shape) things like oil and brakes somehow seemed easy.

"Haynes Glovebox Guide: Your Car"

is a chapter on routine service of course, but more importantly youshould study, understand, and memorize all that's in the chapters onemergency and safety. This is your passport to owning a car. As a generic guide, non-specific to any particular make of car, this should be quite adequate if your interest is limited to simple routine servicing. If you are not sure where the different components are located in your particular model, the Haynes Service Manual on you car would be helpful. Without knowing how your car works at a basic level of mechanics, you will soon find servicing your car, even of the simple routine mandatory ones, a very boring, time consuming drudgery. For this reason I urge you to spend some time to read up on "AA Book of the Car". It's a very easy read and, believe me, once you have started, you won't be able to put that down! Unfortunately it is out of print now, but you can get it from your local library or your library can borrow it from other library for you. In the course of your owning a car, you will have many questions. After reading this book, you will be able to answer most of your questions.

Unfortunately, as a look at that link will show, there is no Haynes manual for more recent Almeras after 2000..... For the first 3 years, it's worth getting the car serviced at registered garages to maintain the 3 year warranty.

You are right, there is no Haynes Service Manual for Almera after 2000. There should not be much difference in the location, and the appearance of parts involved in basic servicing though. The OP, if he wants to investigate, should be able to secure a copy of the Manual for past models from his library.

Good point. It is not recommended to service your new car for the period under warranty.

Incidentally, I want to add to my last post that I cannot overemphasize too much to put on record that "AA Book of the Car" is one of the very *best* publications I have ever come across. It transpired, as I later discovered, that it had become a specified classroom textbook in some evening adult education. What is surprising is that it has not attracted further edition or reprint. This is a pity as I would love to have a new copy; mine has seen better days.