Nissan Micra (City car for London) what to look out for?

[vz-r_dave]

Evening,

1. GF learnt to drive auto's in the states and has not drove that much since - needs to be an auto.
2. Good reliable city car, cheap to run
3. Low on tax, low on fuel

With these three points in mind is there anything I am missing? I never hear any horror stories with these cars but I know very little about them. I am looking at the 1.3/1.4 Auto's 98-01 in the 1K range.

General Questions,

1. Timing belt change? Is it chain driven?
2. What to look out for mechanically
3. What to look out for aesthetically

Appreciate any feedback on this, there seems to be no other option for the money and reliability.

Thanks

Dave

[thinfourth2]

Timing chain so no worries there
Some issues with the air flow sensor also the lower speeds crap out on the heater fan
And asthetically god they are small stty and ugly

Dishwasher with wheels

[NightRunner]

The front structure (which all the lights/rad/bumper etc) bolts onto is well known for rusting - not that cheap to replace.

[magpie215]

NightRunner said:

The front structure (which all the lights/rad/bumper etc) bolts onto is well known for rusting - not that cheap to replace.

Also outside of the prescribed area for MOT testing so no worries.

VOSA advice to testers is Pass and advise only on K11 Micra front Xmember

[CatfishCKY]

Check the sills too, along with the crossmember they are known to rust!
Timing chain yes, generally don't need replacing often, but make sure it's not overly clattery on start up and in the test drive, as that'll mean a replacement is needed.
Other than the blower fault mentioned, they are pretty bombproof - I've owned two, including an uber rare jap import with everything electric, and they never let me down other than a rusted through exhaust which dropped off on the LX.
I've never tried an auto, I don't think they're too awful.

Personally I would aim for a 1.3 K11 1993-99/00, not the 1.4 K11 Facelift 00-04, as the latter were made when Renault took the reigns, so aren't as good!

[davepoth]

Or teach her to drive "stick"; an auto micra will be not much quicker than walking.

[magpie215]

CatfishCKY said:

Personally I would aim for a 1.3 K11 1993-99/00, not the 1.4 K11 Facelift 00-04, as the latter were made when Renault took the reigns, so aren't as good!

[NightRunner]

magpie215 said:

Also outside of the prescribed area for MOT testing so no worries.

VOSA advice to testers is Pass and advise only on K11 Micra front Xmember

Not as black and white.

The crossmember and mounting frame are pretty much one and the same - sold as the same structure nowadays, pre welded, because the orig ones rust as much as each other.

OP - check this out, you can see the worrysome bits by looking down in region of the rad.

Edited by NightRunner on Wednesday 4th January 23:20

[NightRunner]

thinfourth2 said:

And asthetically god they are small stty and ugly

Dishwasher with wheels

Pretty much agree with this, one positive though...

We needed an emergency car for a short period of time, we bought a Micra for £500. It was the usual bright red and after a quick wash and polish it looked like it had just rolled out of the showroom. The paintwork had aged stupidly well.


So, one immaculate dishwasher

[youngsod]

The cross-member isn't always an MOT fail, I had one rusted through but it didn't fail on that. However the MOT tester took pains to explain to me that this was an aberration in his eyes, and that it was not really safe to be on the road. Fortunately I had a Land rover driving mate, who thanks to his love of Solihull's finest was more than a little practiced in the art of welding.

Watch the sills for rest especially around the seatbelt mounts, this can be a killer.

The ECU can have a problem whereby it overfuels when cold. This means when you try to restart the bores are flooded and it's no go. There are two solutions, either get a new ECU or do as I did and make sure that once you start it, don't stop the engine until it's fully warmed up.

Check this out for more info:
http://www.micra.com.au/technical-articles/nissan-...


To be honest though you can treat it like a Spanish peasant treats his donkey and it will just keep going on and on and on. Mechanically it's virtually indestructible, the engine is chain cam and just never leaks oil from anywhere (perhaps it would be better if it did, a nice coating of oil might help the rusting cross-member problem!)

I've had two and loved them both dearly for what they were - cheap, reliable transport that never let me down.

Edited by youngsod on Thursday 5th January 09:32