The Loyalist: Nissan Magnite owner story

"My case is a good example of love at first sight," Jay says, proudly looking at his Onyx Black Nissan Magnite, pointing at its fascia which he thinks looks absolutely ace. It’s part three of our series with the Nissan Magnite, where we meet owners of this C-SUV who’ve driven it extensively and this time we’ve come to Karjan, a quaint little town near Baroda to meet Jay Patel. A safety officer by profession and a proud Magnite owner for the last two years, he’s been a customer of the brand since 2013.

His first car was a Nissan Micra which he bought right after getting a driver’s license at age 18. It served him through college and helped him make some very sweet and cherished memories of his life. “Just like every other teen out there, I used to bunk college with my friends and my Micra gave us the freedom to go places,” he says. Jay drove it for over 1.25 lakh kilometres and loved it the same way he loves his Magnite.

One fine day when he was at the Nissan service centre, where he had gone for a regular maintenance of his Micra, he saw the Magnite for the first time and instantly fell in love with it. “I wasn’t even looking to buy a car and I booked it the next day. Firstly I liked it for the way it looks and I was mighty impressed by its long features list, good interior space and the high ground clearance,” he tells us. “It seemed like a good upgrade from the Micra and without looking at rivals, I went ahead and bought it. And honestly I’ve not regretted my decision at all,” he added. Two years later, he’s done over 25,000km with his Magnite, with daily commutes to work being his primary drive. Jay lives in a place where there are hardly any roads, so he was very pleased with the Magnite’s 205mm ground clearance. Unlike in the smaller cars, he doesn’t have to slow down for small potholes and worry about the belly of his car hitting rocks. Jay also waxes eloquent about the Magnite’s ride quality, which I too can personally vouch for. Last year, I drove it for the first time and was surprised by the way it rides. It truly rides and behaves like a car with a much bigger footprint. It stays planted at triple-digit speeds, and deals with high-speed undulations with excellent poise. Low-speed ride is also pretty commendable, especially if you’re sitting at the back. Jay’s father, who is a keen driver himself, enjoys time in the Magnite’s back seat just as much as he does behind its ’wheel.

Speaking of spending time behind the ’wheel, Jay opted for the Magnite’s manual transmission because this chap loves to drive. The only reason he didn’t buy the turbo-petrol plus manual combo and opted for the nat-asp engine instead is because of just how short his daily commute is. He rarely goes out of town and spends his time going down the same highway almost every day to go to work.

“Yes the turbo-petrol engine is punchier, but for my use, the 1-litre nat-asp engine suffices rather well. And even in this avatar, the Magnite has just the right amount of power. It picks up speed and cruises effortlessly while returning 17kmpl,” he adds.

We met Jay on a rainy day in the gardens of the beautiful Laxmi Vilas Palace for the first time and just as he rolled into the parking lot, at first glance, I understood how much he adores his car. It was absolutely spick and span, as if it has just rolled out of the showroom.

Jay is also very impressed by Nissan’s customer service support. He was in an incident once and had to get a door replacement done. The entire process was very quick, he told us. The Magnite’s four-star G-NCAP safety rating is something which Jay found out about only after he bought his car, which surprised him because it’s better than that of a few bigger cars on sale in India.

The Magnite is arguably the most value-for-money car in its class simply because of the amount of features it offers at the price it demands. It gets a 9-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This wireless connectivity is something which we find on high-end cars and the Magnite also has it. It also gets a 360-degree camera which Jay is particularly fond of as it helps him park the car in tight spaces without worrying about kerbing a wheel.

You can call Jay a loyalist. He has stayed with Nissan because he’s had a good experience with the brand. And when you are loyal to something, it’s sure to reward you in a delightful way. Earlier this year, Jay won an all-expense paid trip to Tokyo, Japan from Nissan India to experience the iconic Nissan Crossing at Ginza and visit the Nissan collection. He won this trip in a social media contest run exclusively for Magnite customers. He tells us that it is something which he will cherish forever.

With his Magnite, Jay intends to surpass the 1.25 lakh kilometre mark set by his Micra and exceed it by a large margin. And given that he has no intention of ever selling it, I believe he will undoubtedly do so.