Faults:

Very little, I would be lying if I were to say the problems I have had with the car are anything more than the combination of wear and tear, and a number of neglectful and idle previous owners.

General Comments:

Well where to start? This is my review for a ‘1995 Nissan Micra L’. If you are wondering what the ‘L’ stands for, it basically means it’s the basic entry model.

Mechanical.

The Micra I am referring to features a 998cc 16 Valve engine. As I write this, the car is fast approaching its 16th year on the road, and the engine is a robust and reliable as it no doubt was when it was first fired up. It does not feel the need to use any oil or water.

Trim.

There is no nice way to say this, so let’s get it over quickly. What follows is a list of things the ‘L’ model is not lucky enough to feature. Power steering, central locking, air bags, internally adjustable wing mirrors, vanity mirror, alarm, immobiliser, trip computer, rev counter, boot light, rear speakers, clock, electric windows, rear windscreen wiper, sunroof (electric or otherwise).

The ‘L’ model does feature rear heated windscreen, heater, Blaupunkt radio cassette, a cigarette lighter, and that’s about it.

Body.

As mentioned earlier, this car is nearly 16 years old, and quite frankly the body is solid, a small rust bubble on the front wheel arch being the only blemish on its entire shell, and I’ve yet to see a K11 with flat paint, a curse present in most nineties Vauxhalls. As far as style, Nissan kept this basic shape all the way up to 2002, and because there are so many still on the road, the K11 manages not to look as dated as other early nineties cars, such as the MK3 Fiesta or MK1 Punto.

Summary.

Currently on Ebay and Autotrader, you can find early K11 Micra with 12 months M.O.T, with prices starting at around £500. With that in mind, you’d be hard pressed to find a better small car for the money. I bought mine for £600 over 6 months ago, and it hasn’t cost me a penny since. It’s reliable with modest performance and solid build quality. If you’re after a simple commuter, 2nd family car or a 1st car to get to grips with driving, you can’t do much better for the budget. It’s not perfect, for example motorways can get a little loud, louder than my dad’s 98 plate Mondeo, but quieter then my friend’s 99 plate Clio. The skinny 13 inch wheels can sometime fall foul on these potholed British roads. But generally it’s a good all rounder. I would recommend if you thinking of buying a K11, then look at the ‘LX’ model or higher, even though the ‘L’ model is perfectly fine, its basic trim can sometimes make it a little hard to live with.

Faults:

It needed a wishbone bushing and a CV boot; that's it, nothing else at all has gone wrong, and most likely never will as these cars are bulletproof.

General Comments:

I bought this as a second car to get me to work as my WRX Impreza was costing a fortune on petrol.

There's a good bit of room inside and I'm 6' tall, but not much room in the back for adults.

Steering is nice and light, and the brakes are good, but not in the wet with the lack of ABS; I ended up in a ditch when the wheels locked up in the wet, but the only thing wrong with the car was a small crack on the front bumper :)

It's nippy enough for a 1L, but I didn't buy it for that, I have the Impreza for power and speed =)

Really good on petrol, I average about 50 mpg.