Is a 17yr old K11 still worth it in 2019?

S

SparkyMarc

So...not had a K11 for a few years now, had 2 prior and absolutely love em, one was a bit of a pain mechanically whereas the other one was blessed with that renowned K11 reliability. My question is, is a 17yr old K11 still worth it in 2019... as great as they are i realize they are getting on a bit with the youngest being about 17 and the oldest, well pretty old!

I am thinking of buying one, i've got the offer of one tomorrow if i go view it, a 2003 plate tempest 3d manual with 80,000 on the clock and 7mth Mot till November and according to GOV it passed last MOT no advisories, she wants £250! a steal if she's right about only one tyre needing replaced. I'm tempted, especially as it seems to have been mainly female owned but the things i'm concerned about are the suspension for example, at 17 am i going to be looking at replacing all the suspension parts in the near future? how long does the average reasonably well treated K11 suspension last? any other concerns at that age and what do you lot think? Worth it or just past it?

Regards,
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SparkyMarc
 
Depends what you want it for. If its pretty rust free and doesn't look like its been patched up then they do make the perfect run around. Suspension wise I'd say 80k + 17 years old will probably need replacing within the next 18 months or so. Mine only has half that mileage but will need done in the next year or two.
 
Bangernomics: A Pragmatic Approach K11 ?

Bought my current K11 three & a half years ago, a 1998 4-door 1300cc on 35K miles with a new MOT & a wedge of documented full service history invoices going back 16 years.

No subsequent costs over three & a half years, apart from MOT test fees/road tax £145 & simple DIY oil/filter change & approx. £700/year on gas.

I put petrol in the back, myself & the Mrs in the front & just drive the thing, out & about when the sun is out having fun exactly what it was designed & built for.

Make sure to check the inner & outer sills, front cross member & suspension mountings for rust that may or may not pass next MOT without welding costs. Check, inspect, test & check carefully as the MOT tester certainly will. The MOT tester fault finding determines absolutely how long it remains economically viable & worthwhile to use as a cheap as chips banger.

Should this be enough for you, compared to the alternative of a PCP @ £250 per month then go for it?

Good luck
 
Thanks guys! I bought the car, it's in my mums driveway atm as don't have insurance on it yet, so i can't take pictures.

It's a 1.0 manual and she drives absolutely beautifully despite having a torn cv boot on pass side, when i say torn i mean completely and utterly missing kind of torn ^^. 80,000 miles, 7 months MOT, really smart alloy wheels and solid sills/undercarriage and crossmember for an absolute steal at £220!! Can't believe i got her for £220 when she's worth more like £600-700, plus has 4 almost brand new tyres AND came with £20 of fuel, so say £200 for her all in :D.

From what i can see the only things that need done are:

New CV joint+boot
Front brakes chirping at slow speed, thinking brake pads probably?
Car also shimmying under light braking load at slow speed, so thinking new brake discs too.
Some big chunks of paintwork missing at the usual spots (near rear numberplate, and up side of driverside door and along near the roofbar edge sections.
Car stumbling a bit occasionally and slow to pickup,having owned 2 K11's in the past I can tell just from feeling that it's the infamous K11 bosch MAF....(scrappy part or chinese copy?)
Suspension works beautifully, however i notice a louder than normal "air cushioning" noise if you know what i mean, you know how when you drive over say a speed bump your shocks naturally go "tsshhh" well its louder than usual with a just audible "tink" noise, but the shocks work absolutely fine, could this be the start of them getting nearing replacement or nothing to worry about?

Those are just niggles and she drives like a 3 grand car at the moment she's so beautiful and smooth on the road, just now at least.

As for the CV Joint (one side been done already for last MOT) what brand/pricepoint should i go with? all I can see are lot's of generic looking brands (probably chinese) on ebay, they all seem around £30, any ideas?
 
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plmval said:
I recently bought a double stretch cv boot complete kit @ £6 with free post std delivery for my now 45K mile, 20 year old K11. Fitted one cv boot a year ago & no problems, jobs a goodun with a spare to boot!

Stretch boot is more flexible & thus may last longer & cheap as chips just like the car.

Reference:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-2X-NISSAN-MICRA-OUTER-CV-JOINT-BOOT-KIT-DRIVESHAFT-BOOTKIT-STRETCH/130772341613?fits=Car+Make:Nissan&hash=item1e72a3936d:g:snwAAOSwJtdaPJ5D

Good luck
Click to expand...

If the boots been totally gone for quite a while the joint is probably shot and a new boot would just hide that.
 
Hi Buy it mate!!!!! I would... I have the very basic K11 / 1998 shape which who ever bought it orignally didn't want airbags, PAS and sun roof & this model is 20 yrs old this yr & I'm the 5th owner has no rust, no dents & bought for £250. peter003
 
plmval said:
I recently bought a double stretch cv boot complete kit @ £6 with free post std delivery for my now 45K mile, 20 year old K11. Fitted one cv boot a year ago & no problems, jobs a goodun with a spare to boot!

Stretch boot is more flexible & thus may last longer & cheap as chips just like the car.

Reference:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-2X-NISSAN-MICRA-OUTER-CV-JOINT-BOOT-KIT-DRIVESHAFT-BOOTKIT-STRETCH/130772341613?fits=Car+Make:Nissan&hash=item1e72a3936d:g:snwAAOSwJtdaPJ5D

Good luck
Click to expand...

Great Idea but like the below poster says the boot is totally gone, it's an open joint filled with crud and click clacking round every corner so it'll be whole new joints i fit, found J&R ones which are supposedly highly reputable for £12 each compared to £30 for chinese no name ebay ones.
 
Peter0003 said:
Hi Buy it mate!!!!! I would... I have the very basic K11 / 1998 shape which who ever bought it orignally didn't want airbags, PAS and sun roof & this model is 20 yrs old this yr & I'm the 5th owner has no rust, no dents & bought for £250. peter003
Click to expand...

I did buy it mate! 7 months MOT, 80k on the clock, very clean xmember/sills, female owned and babied, alloy wheels and 4 next to new tyres, all for £220, wanted £250 i haggled him down to £220 with the offer of a lift back home, haha! Drives beautifully too despite the dodgy CV joint. Passed last MOT no advisories so should fly through Novembers. Pics will follow when I'm next over at my mum's house as it's in her driveway atm till i get work done on her.
 
plmval said:
Bangernomics: A Pragmatic Approach K11 ?

Bought my current K11 three & a half years ago, a 1998 4-door 1300cc on 35K miles with a new MOT & a wedge of documented full service history invoices going back 16 years.

No subsequent costs over three & a half years, apart from MOT test fees/road tax £145 & simple DIY oil/filter change & approx. £700/year on gas.

I put petrol in the back, myself & the Mrs in the front & just drive the thing, out & about when the sun is out having fun exactly what it was designed & built for.

Make sure to check the inner & outer sills, front cross member & suspension mountings for rust that may or may not pass next MOT without welding costs. Check, inspect, test & check carefully as the MOT tester certainly will. The MOT tester fault finding determines absolutely how long it remains economically viable & worthwhile to use as a cheap as chips banger.

Should this be enough for you, compared to the alternative of a PCP @ £250 per month then go for it?

Good luck
Click to expand...

Absolutely, they are phenomenal little cars and this one I've picked up is an absolute steal, love her already.
 
You can trust JR, I have had quite a few bits off them for my previous cars, and i have had absolutely no problems.
I have got an 18 year old k11 with 18,000 miles on the clock and the cv gaiters are a little perished but not leaking, i will be buying new ones soon from JR.(y)
 
maximus said:
You can trust JR, I have had quite a few bits off them for my previous cars, and i have had absolutely no problems.
I have got an 18 year old k11 with 18,000 miles on the clock and the cv gaiters are a little perished but not leaking, i will be buying new ones soon from JR.(y)
Click to expand...

Haha i take it you mean 180, 000? I'm gonna order them, I'm thinking it might be worth doing the track rod ends while i'm in there as I will be doing CV's and brakes anyway, and possibly roll bar links just for the hell of it, they will probably be getting grotty even if they aren't the original.
 
Anyone got any experience of completely rust proofing/hammeriting the entire undercarriage of a K11 Micra, I'm talking everything including rear axle, front knuckles, etc etc...how long would this take with sanding down any surface rust and completely proofing everything, say with a dremel tool and wire brush, and a paintbrush?
 
SparkyMarc said:
Anyone got any experience of completely rust proofing/hammeriting the entire undercarriage of a K11 Micra, I'm talking everything including rear axle, front knuckles, etc etc...how long would this take with sanding down any surface rust and completely proofing everything, say with a dremel tool and wire brush, and a paintbrush?
Click to expand...

hammeriting - Unless you're willing to not touch it for the full cure time, modern hammerite is best avoided for this type of thing.
 
My k11 is 23 years old and i've had it for 2 years now and the only thing i've had to replace is the brake pads and the heater resistor.
They go forever if they've been well looked after and haven't been hit with the rust yet.
 
SparkyMarc said:
Anyone got any experience of completely rust proofing/hammeriting the entire undercarriage of a K11 Micra, I'm talking everything including rear axle, front knuckles, etc etc...how long would this take with sanding down any surface rust and completely proofing everything, say with a dremel tool and wire brush, and a paintbrush?
Click to expand...

To rustproof a £200 car is hiding to nothing shed load of work?

Reference; https://www.autoclassics.com/posts/reviews/how-to-rustproof-classic-car

Enjoy?
 
My thinking on Micra's is this: they're one of the most reliable cars out there, and if something does break and you have a bit of mechanical know-how or know somebody who does, the parts to fix it will cost you 1/20th what they will for any modern/newish car. You can get an audi and the thing is much nicer but you'll dread anything going wrong because it costs a fortune in parts.

I go down to a scrap yard for anything I need for my 1999 micra and I swear before they're even sure what the part I need is the first question "do you have 30 quid?"... in fact a lot of the time you don't even need to diagnose what's wrong with it, just keep throwing £30 at it until you accidentally stumble upon and replace the thing that was wrong and it'll do another 15,000 miles without even thinking about it

I got the one I have now after some old bloke had had it in a garage for a decade, it had 34,000 on the clock when I bought it and it's been cheaper than taking the bus to keep it going all these years
 
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