Mavis the Micra
Discussion
Our tale is a familiar one couple are living happily, two well paid jobs, two nice cars on the drive and then the patter of tiny feet come along…
Money gets tight and one of the nice cars has to go, I commuted on my motorbike for a while but then came the ice and snow… I need a roof and a heater…
Enter my manager who one day said “you could do with a cheap runabout my daughter’s selling her Micra, £500 and it’s yours”
So, behold! Mavis the Micra!
I’ve never been less excited to pick up a new car…. But you know what? It’s alright this!
Handles well and had it up to 85mph on my private test track, you wouldn’t want to go that fast for very long but it can do it. Reminds me of my youth driving original Minis!
Heater only works on 3 and 4 so the resistor pack wants replacing and the boot struts are very lazy. But very happy with it so far
Money gets tight and one of the nice cars has to go, I commuted on my motorbike for a while but then came the ice and snow… I need a roof and a heater…
Enter my manager who one day said “you could do with a cheap runabout my daughter’s selling her Micra, £500 and it’s yours”
So, behold! Mavis the Micra!
I’ve never been less excited to pick up a new car…. But you know what? It’s alright this!
Handles well and had it up to 85mph on my private test track, you wouldn’t want to go that fast for very long but it can do it. Reminds me of my youth driving original Minis!
Heater only works on 3 and 4 so the resistor pack wants replacing and the boot struts are very lazy. But very happy with it so far
italianjob1275 said:
Handles well and had it up to 85mph on my private test track
Handles well? Really?My wife had one when we met. It had a fairly zingy 1.2 -an engine I liked (bit it had the cam chain stretch issue).
The steering wasn't great, partly because the body rolled so much in turns.
Stiffer/lower springs and some decent tyres could make it quite fun.
Remove the wheel trims, paint the steel rims black and keep them clean.
Even the 1.0 should do over 100mph.
Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 5th January 15:55
MC Bodge said:
Handles well? Really?
My wife had one when we met. It had a fairly zingy 1.2 -an engine I liked (bit it had the cam chain stretch issue).
The steering wasn't great, partly because the body rolled so much in turns.
Stiffer/lower springs and some decent tyres could make it quite fun.
Remove the wheel trims, paint the steel rims black and keep them clean.
Even the 1.0 should do over 100mph.
Well it’s all relative… it’s on new budgets on the front and Falkens on the rear with decent tread, slides a little with a dab of ‘oppo My wife had one when we met. It had a fairly zingy 1.2 -an engine I liked (bit it had the cam chain stretch issue).
The steering wasn't great, partly because the body rolled so much in turns.
Stiffer/lower springs and some decent tyres could make it quite fun.
Remove the wheel trims, paint the steel rims black and keep them clean.
Even the 1.0 should do over 100mph.
Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 5th January 15:55
For £500 I’d be well chuffed. I’ve tried to get the kids a car and round here (outer London) even a couple of grand would only get a pile of junk. My theory is that the bottom of the market that is ULEZ compliant gets snapped up by the food delivery drivers and when they’ve finished with them they’re scrap.
italianjob1275 said:
MC Bodge said:
Handles well? Really?
My wife had one when we met. It had a fairly zingy 1.2 -an engine I liked (bit it had the cam chain stretch issue).
The steering wasn't great, partly because the body rolled so much in turns.
Stiffer/lower springs and some decent tyres could make it quite fun.
Remove the wheel trims, paint the steel rims black and keep them clean.
Even the 1.0 should do over 100mph.
Well it’s all relative… it’s on new budgets on the front and Falkens on the rear with decent tread, slides a little with a dab of ‘oppo My wife had one when we met. It had a fairly zingy 1.2 -an engine I liked (bit it had the cam chain stretch issue).
The steering wasn't great, partly because the body rolled so much in turns.
Stiffer/lower springs and some decent tyres could make it quite fun.
Remove the wheel trims, paint the steel rims black and keep them clean.
Even the 1.0 should do over 100mph.
A stiffer rear ARB might be good.
Shinyfings said:
For £500 I’d be well chuffed. I’ve tried to get the kids a car and round here (outer London) even a couple of grand would only get a pile of junk. My theory is that the bottom of the market that is ULEZ compliant gets snapped up by the food delivery drivers and when they’ve finished with them they’re scrap.
Same here. I need a car for my son and all the sub £2k low insurance stuff are absolute heaps. I had a K11 years ago, at the same time as a Lotus Esprit Sport 350, so wildly different vehicles to say the least!
It rusted away. It failed its MOT on rust somewhere in the engine bay and needed a new something welding in place. The garage said "It's about £500 to fix it". I see, and when it's mended, what's the car worth? "Hmm, about £500". So it got scrapped.
Pity really as I actually quite liked it.
It rusted away. It failed its MOT on rust somewhere in the engine bay and needed a new something welding in place. The garage said "It's about £500 to fix it". I see, and when it's mended, what's the car worth? "Hmm, about £500". So it got scrapped.
Pity really as I actually quite liked it.
My Dad had a 1.4 auto as a second car to take car park dents and travel into the badlands of London.
It was underrated. Quite a soft compliant ride, decent NVH levels, decent fuel economy, the perfect City car and more. I think the wheel at each corner helps, but the challenging looks doesn't. I'd consider one for a shed.
It was underrated. Quite a soft compliant ride, decent NVH levels, decent fuel economy, the perfect City car and more. I think the wheel at each corner helps, but the challenging looks doesn't. I'd consider one for a shed.
First week of commuting in Mavis. And I chose a good week to get a car! It’s been down to minus seven this week (not that Mavis has anything as decadent as a temperature gauge) and she’s started first time every day, and the heater is a little furnace once it gets going.
Did I mention she’s got pink interior lights?
Unfortunately we got to Thursday morning and whilst doing the morning de-icing ritual the wipers packed up. Bugger. A quick google search revealed that “they all do that sir” and a pair of linkages were ordered from eBay for a massive £12.39 delivered…
Perfect weather to be working on cars…
There’s the problem then…
A couple of hours worth of faffing later. And Mavis is back with working windscreen wipers!
No evidence of anyone being there before, so I won’t be spitting in my manager’s tea just yet
Did I mention she’s got pink interior lights?
Unfortunately we got to Thursday morning and whilst doing the morning de-icing ritual the wipers packed up. Bugger. A quick google search revealed that “they all do that sir” and a pair of linkages were ordered from eBay for a massive £12.39 delivered…
Perfect weather to be working on cars…
There’s the problem then…
A couple of hours worth of faffing later. And Mavis is back with working windscreen wipers!
No evidence of anyone being there before, so I won’t be spitting in my manager’s tea just yet
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