Great little car, good value with VW reliability (Nissan Micra (1983-92))

Member Name: jmorley99

Product:	Nissan Micra (1983-92)
Date:	21/02/02 (708 review reads)
Rating:

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I have been the proud owner of my silver F reg Micra LS for nearly 5 years and not once has it let me down. I was given it as a present by my parents just after i passed my test. At the time i was bit gutted because as you can imagine they aren't thecoolest of cars. However, i was soon praising the car and th fact that unlike many of my mates crs never broke down despite the thrashig i gave it.

Spec
As you can imagine being the base model it doesn't really have mush in the way of standard equipment. It has a tilting removable sunroof. A headlight warning buzzer to stop you laving your lights on and a awful Japanese cassete player with only 1 speaker. Needless to say this was soon replaced by a semi decent tape player and a further 2 speakers in the rear. The LS model has a 998cc engine and a 4 speed gearbox, which i think was updated to 5 on later models.

Reliability
In the 5 years and 45000 miles have done in this car i has never once broken down or failed to start, ever. In the time i have owned the car the amount spent on it has been minimal. It hashad a new timing belt, new rear shocks, new handbrake cables and a new front wing. All of this cost less that £400 and was not essential but if the car was to be drivable for many years to come was needed. On top of this it has been well looked after with regular oil and filer changes, carried out in the comfort of my parents garage. I thas had a new exhaust and a few sets of brake pads, but with a 12 year old car with 90k on the clock that is to be expected.

Performance
Obviusoly it is no GTI but in my opinion is more than adequate for todays roads. I crusies comfortabley at 70 on motorway journeys, of which i have done many. Last year i was working in kent and i regularly used it to make the 320 mile round trip back to Leicester at weekends. Down hill it has been upto 85 but that isn't rlly recommended. But having said that despit my trashing the little
Micra has held up well.

Cost to run
Insurance wise it is relativly cheap unless like me you are under 25 whenevery thing seems stupidly expensive. Currently i pay £500 a year third party, fire and theft and i have 2 yeas no claims. But that is the price you pay for being a young drivr. This is cheap compared to prices paid by my mate or their GTI insurace. Petrol consumption is excellent 40 plus mpg obviously depending upon how you drive it. It is extremely frugal on long runs. I have done Leicester to reading and back on hlf a tank of fuel.

Overall
It has been and stil is an excellent car for me and hopefully will be for some time to come. Cheap to run, nippy enough round town, yet still able to handle motorway trips, and it always starts, what more could you want.

Summary: