this is the golden era of cars IMO. fuel injection, safety, reliability, not too much computers, and they are easy to work on . only problem is corrosion
SAFETY...You really would NOT want to have a serious crash in this car.. But yes you are correct on everything else... The reliability of these is unbelievable... They just DO NOT break down.
@@briansaiditsoitmustbetrue4206 safety is always relative. Are you safe compared to even a geared up motorcycle rider? Certainly. Also this has alot to do with road- compatibility. You have far greater chances in surviving a crash if the opponent has similar size and crash structure like you. Thats why the amount of SUV on the road today make these roads unsafer for smaller vehicles. in that aspect, driving a kind of "safety inflation", which is also a car size inflation.
@@fritzkuhne2055 Well of course a bigger and heavier car will hold the safety advantage in a serious accident between a small car and a large car. You really would not fare well in this 900 KG Nissan Micra in a 40 MPH head-on crash with a 2300 KG BMW X5 also doing 40 MPH, That is fairly obvious... However, there are other factors to take into consideration... The age of the cars in the accident. My car is 25 Years old and sadly has succumb to corrosion all over the car, Thus weakening the strength of the car should you have a serious accident in it... I have welded in some patches and covered the car in underseal to get another MOT test on the car... I managed to scrape a "Borderline" MOT pass last week... But I am sitting in a "Deathtrap" in a serious accident. But a very reliable one that I really don't want to part with. As for motorcycles..I think the statistics are you are 35 times more likely to be killed per mile you travel on a motorcycle than if you were driving a mid-sized car. Kind regards Brian
@@briansaiditsoitmustbetrue4206 But I'm wondering. Are those Micra's really worse than comparable cars of that size in safety? And compared to for example a 205 or 106. I don't know...
Had one as a company car around 2001 between owning a Mini Mayfair and clubman. Loved the Micra. Wasnt a mini but it was bombproof. I echo what you said it could be 'jiggly' at times but the headroom was good and it never complained. They seemed to go on forever too.
We had a silver Micra that was the inspiration model, it was a T reg and I absolutely loved it. It was only a 1 litre and when we tried to go up a steep hill with 3 people in the car, I had to keep changing it into 1st gear because there wasn't enough power in 2nd to keep it going. Other than that though, it was fanastic when you drove it on your own
@@davidjbatley We part exchanged ours for an Almera but got duped by the salesman so ended up swapping that and getting a Vauxhall Corsa with Easytronic instead. Can't say I was impressed with that. The Micra has to be the most reliable car we've ever owned, it started first time every time. We got a Ford Fiesta and that was terrible so we got a newer model and that wouldn't start first time every time so ended up getting a Renault Scenic Fiji model and that was superb.
I haven’t watched the channel in a while. Is the corner of disappointment a regular feature on Hubnut reviews these days? Made me laugh out loud …..literally (not just LOL).
The Micra kicked the Fiesta off the top seller list in Ireland because Ford had a higher road tax 1117cc Fiesta whereas the Micra had the 998cc cheapest road tax engine. (Ford did have a 970cc engine for the Italian market, but why they didnt put in in Irish versions....? )
Astute observation. As a fan of the original mini I've left it too late to be able to afford one. Test drove the reboot many years ago and was left unimpressed. Soulless ...
@@MatthewJohnCrittenden The new ones are all trying to be flash and trendy and have the price tag to match, totally misses the point of the original car. The harder you try to look cool the less you are cool, especially when you're copying! The K11 just went out there and got on with things, and got it's reputation by earning it.
@@kyle8952 Honestly the mini was, for most people, obsolete compared to rivals in the 1970s at the latest. As far as I know, the mini was thereafter mostly a "meme car" in the general publics eyes. Surely Mr Bean driving one was no accident. BMW surely did the right call from a financial perspective cashing in on just the name and recognition, nothing else. No real competitors to a modern mini after all, certainly not the higher spec versions. So I dont think they missed the point at all, they just identified another way to make way more money of their investment in the name.
@@MatthewJohnCrittenden I agree, we had the Supercharged BMW Mini. It wasn't much cop. Sure they stick to the road like glue but it never really put a smile on my face. Ride quality was abysmal, and I have owned a modified 206 that had extremely stiff and low springs and yet that somehow rode better. And despite being supercharged it felt like it had no bottom end torque. It would go quick if you drove it flat out but pottering around if never felt very peppy. There are way better small cars. My father took an instant dislike to it too and I always felt like he was a good judge of character when it came to cars. Very rare now but I think the Citroen AX of the era were one of the best super minis. Small, light, cute and fun to drive.
My sister ran one of these for absolutely years. Both of her children learned to drive in it and drive it as their first daily driver. This was in the noughties. I still see around half a dozen in daily use in Rugby. Two live on the street where I live. It's a car which always makes me smile.
Took one to Rome and back in 2016 with a mate. Just about squeezed a ton out of it. He had one for his first car, and now has one with a whacking great turbo on it too. Would have another as a runabout in a heartbeat, just need to find one without rotten sills!
Gran who just passed on Friday aged 100 had a lovely bright blue "Hollywood" special edition as her last car which she parted with in 2011 having just covered 5,000 miles in 9 years. Was a cracking little car that, I remember it being 4 up on the motorway heading for a family meal sat comfortably over 90. I'd love another as hers is sadly long gone, 25,000 miles on hers when it was sold but it was suffering rust.
@@HubNut Thank you Ian, a long road ahead of us yet as per her wish, she remained in her home of almost 70 years to the end, so many things yet to deal with. It's great videos like this which provide a very welcome distraction and evoke many memories of better times.
@@petertaylor1939 Thank you Peter. They seem to be virtually none existent now, the Hollywood. Hers was N925 UHH, she had her K10 in for service, the garage typically had 5-10 cars for sale, and the little Hollywood was pride of place just as you went in. £2,800 with 19,000 miles and 1 owner at 7 years old, I still remember the test drive too, as a child in the back of the car. It was known as the quickest decision she's ever made in her life, she loved that car.
@BPS just a quick note to say two things: 1. sorry for your loss and sorry for the difficult task you face sorting out her home, great that she was able to continue where she wanted to be till the end. 2. Thank you for the story of her storming up the motorway over 90mph - I'm not sure if it's just the juxtaposition of "typical Micra owner" (I mean no offence in that the Micra tends to be popular with both end of the driver age spectrum) and very much atypical older-Micra driving speed - but made me chuckle at the thought! Good for her!
Always liked these. That one is particularly mint! As someone who buys a secondhand car on condition rather than spec, base model austerity doesn't bother me at all.
A terrific little car, from an era when Nissan got its mojo together. My wife had a 1.3 model, M reg, in red, for many, many moons, and absolutely loved it. It was utterly reliable, and quite nippy. She only sold it because her mom felt she should drive a more modern car, with air bags and the like (her Micra was a pre-airbag model). A car chock-fulll of character -I still like them a lot.
One of my favourite cars of all time. I've had 3 - 2 1.3s and a 1.0 - and they were brilliant. Cheap to run, nippy, like tardises, didn't break down and with very well spaced pedals. My favourite feature was when I'd take a right hand corner with enthusiasm and everything- monkey mascot, sherbet lemons, Now cassettes - would slide off the dashboard and land neatly in the passenger door pocket. Well engineered enough to be totally dependable but simple enough to keep you involved with the driving experience. The Shape replaced the entry level L as base spec. The name came from the cartoon type car shape that appeared on the Micra marketing materials when it was launched in 1992 and 'Shape' models usually had that shape on the back rather than "Shape"written in text. I'd love to get one again
@@ColinCarFan I'd like to think there is a Japanese designer who planned the size and shape of that pocket and now feels very pleased with themselves. It worked perfectly
K11 very hard to beat even today. Perfect first car for my Daughter. She had the 1.0 model first drove it for a year on her own first insurance . Second year after insurance dropped bought a 1.3 kept that a year. Any owner or garage can service these, cheap plentiful parts available chain driven camshafts, easy to park, fast enough for most , good on fuel , very reliable and great fun . Only real downside is rot, in particular on the front crossmember which can easily become a MOT failure so check when buying .
Unfortunately, it is really common. I already had my front cross member welded, and now it looks like the rear sills have gone too. Hopefully it should have a good few more years out of it yet. 24 years old and still going. Fantastic car even today.
There's still one here in the neighborhood, red and five door. It's unfortunate how many good cars were scraped When the Micra was a micro (or small) car A car that was really liked here in Greece, where we like our Japanese cars (and of course when it was introduced Nissans were still made in Volos)
I was in Corfu last month, I spotted a few K11,K12 and plenty of K13 and even some K14. I hired a K13 and I thought it was actually quite a good modern version of the K11. Maybe not quite as strong, but nice and simple and spacious. The K14 looks like a Seat Ibiza or something, too complicated and sporty for a micra.
I have a '99 model, with the 1.3 and CVT, it holds very well despite the use as a cargo-van, very brisky with just enough comfort to be used in today's world, without the hassle of modern cars.
I can see where Daihatsu got it's inspiration for the Cuore. Remember when my dad had an identical one to this for a short time as his company car went in for repairs. L reg i think with no power steering and must have been a poverty spec model. Our former neighbours had a 1.3 SLX with the NCVT gearbox. I was always fascinated by the noise it made slowing down.
Great little cars - still see a good few around, mostly in the evenings, here in south Lincolnshire. Used for delivering takeaway meals. Lots are still going strong! Nice review, thanks!
Lovely. I love steering wheels without buttons all over the place. I like being able to reach the bottom of the windscreen, without leaving the seat. I had one of these as a courtesy car, whilst my Astra was in the shop. Got the Astra back, and complained the clutch was f'kd. Turned out, I'd just got used to the Micra's clutch, which your great grannie could easily press
How I hate these measurements. Let´s start: 300 Miles to be 483 Kilometers. 55,55 British Pounds is 65,84 Euro. Which is 2,12 Euro for one Liter gasoline, which is 1,70 Euro over here in Germany. So 31 Liter is 52 Euro, and in this Nissan you drive with 6 Liter on 100 Kilometers 🙂 Which in my opinion is not good for such a small car. I had an Opel Vectra A 1.6i (like Vauxhaul) with 4 doors and pretty much space for some fuel consumption in between 6 to 8 liters. Cheers, Bernd
I never learnt to drive in one but I remember as a kid clambering in & out of the back of a friend's mum's 3 door MK1 Micra. And then some year's later when buying my first car, my dad informed me that the garage where he services his Pickup had one of these models but turned it down cos of the looks ( I was 19 & all about image lol, what can I say ). Bought a Peugeot 206 instead.
Some of the special edition names of these were hilarious. I don't think the Japanese realised and just chose random words to go after Micra. A Micra-Celebration sounds underwhelming. I had a competition going with my mate to spot the daftest name. My all-time favourite was the Micra Scope!
I autotest a 1275 micra, great little car, those CG engines love to rev! The 1.0 micras have a shorter ratio gearbox than the 1.3, so it is common in rallying to mate a 1.0 box with a 1.3 or 1.4 engine
Proud owner of one, a 1995 1.0i Hit. Absolute gem of a no-frills motoring. The boy racer still residing within me installed a fart-can, a mild lowering kit and a suede racing wheel. The lightness is just pure, brilliant fun. I love it.
One mate of mine had two of these and was really pleased with them. Decent turn of speed for such a little engine. Another mate bought a later version second hand from a local dealer that had been owned by an elderly couple. They hadn’t even tuned the radio in. Sadly it did start to rot quite badly in the rear wings as did many of these. Great little cars though despite that
When I was about 14 I remember doing an oil change and charging the battery of our elderly neighbour's K11 Micra, as she was going to use it again after it sitting for a long time due to a broken hip. It always seemed a bit boring compared to my mother's Mk4 Fiesta, and I guess it was but that's not why you bought a Nissan, as I later found out with a Primera and 2 Almeras which NEVER broke down in my ownership.
I've a friend who runs an M reg one of these - with auto transmission! It moves under its own power, but its not a car you'd pick if you were in a hurry!
I had one of these in GLS or X (can't remember) with the 1.3 liter and 3 doors. I can tell you that on that model the rear passenger windows had a latch that allowed you to slightly swing open them & there was a boot release and fuel tank latch on the floor next to the driver side seat. It even had air conditioning although the gas had escaped from the system long before i bought it! Extremely peppy car to drive, gears were fast to bang through with good feel and i would usually get around 5,5l/100km without trying too hard.
Always liked the K11 good to see this survivor . A charming little design, especially lovely are the later ones with alloy wheels, colour coded bumpers and fancier trim. Great video!
I had a 1.3 version of one of these and it was, indeed, a very nippy little motor. I've also owned 2 K10s and had a1.3 of the follow-on model. All had really responsive engines.
Absolutely brilliant review, Ian, and what a great little car the K11 is. I had many of them back when they were a few years old, and I never had any trouble with them, or indeed, any trouble selling them. I'd love to see a review on a Suzuki Alto, the last one sold in the UK. If you're ever in Northern Ireland on your travels, I would be very happy to let you review my 2015 red Alto, which is my pride and joy, and one of the last ones to be sold in the UK before the Celerio took over. It's very much in the same spirit as the K11, but with an excellent 1.0 3 cylinder multivalve engine, pushing out the dizzying heights of 67bhp! It never fails to put a smile on my face, and even tows my little Freedom caravan when the main car is in for repairs.
I think that was one of the best small cars of those times. My sister had a facelift version from 2000 bought in 2005, also my sister in law from Belgium. My sister had the "night fever" package with aircondition and a cassette radio with CD-changer, original Nissan sound system. Even when I'm used to drive bigger and stronger cars it was a pleasure for me when I had the oppertunity to drive it sometimes. It was not a big problem to drive on the German unlimited highways, even the car had only a 1l-engine with 54 HP. The maximum speed was 150 km/h and even at that speed the engine didn't make much noise. But of corse you should'nt drive always full speed. The most comfortable speed was about 130 km/h. The seats and the wheel suspision were very comfortable and it was no problem travelling long distances. You only had to spend more time, but with listening to the good sounding radio driving made lot of fun. Unfortunately my sisters car fail the German TÜV (MOT ), because there was a hole rusted in the back achsle. I asked my sister to buy a second hand achsle from the scrapyard, but she didn't like to spend the money for the repair. And after 145.000 km also the clutch made some problems. So she sold that car in 2010 and got a Micra K12 from 2005 with only 55.000 km with a 1.2l engine and 65 HP. She is still owning it. My sister in law in Belgium lost her K11 Micra by an accident. Both cars were very reliable. At work one of my colleges owned a 1993 K11, also in red colour like here in the road test. She drove it over 270.000 km and had no trouble at all with it. She travelled nearly through whole Europe, didn't matter if it was to Norway ore south Italy. So thank you a lot for this interesting road test. After you have made the video of the old white K10 Micra I was really waiting for this video. 👍
look at all the space to work on the engine. Thanks Hub, this car brings back a lot of nice memories of that time in my life. Love and respect from Retford, Notts.
Wow, what a massive nostalgia trip this is! ❤️ My first car was a X reg 1.4, the final facelift where they upped the capacity and went to coil packs. It was electric blue. Sportex exhaust, 40mm lowering springs, 15" alloys, colour coded all the grey plastic, fitted an OEM boot spoiler... What a fantastic little car that was, it used to do 60 in second gear (many times😅) it used to take my mates Fiestas and Saxos to the cleaners! I turned 30 this year and this made me feel old and a little emotional! ❤️
Buy one now while there are still some around ! When you turn 40 and badly need one, they'll be very rare and priced accordingly. I still regret not buying another Panda before they command crazy prices for a good one.
The K11 is also an extremely safe car. I had a late one from the last couple of years production which got written off in a head-on crash. The front end folded under like it is designed to do and, apart from some very slight crumpling at the bottom of the A pillar, there was no intrusion into the passenger space. The windscreen didn't have so much as a crack in it even though everything else forward of it had vanished from sight. Apart from some spectacular seat belt shaped bruises I was otherwise unhurt (a bit shaken admittedly). The newest car I had ever owned at that point and still the record holder for the shortest ownership - 6 months.
In 2001 we went to a local Nissan/Renault dealer and tried both the Micra and the Clio. The salesman was definitely pro Clio and test drives convinced us he was right. The Micra's seats felt like planks and the interior was definitely el cheapo whereas the Clio felt much more bourgeois. So we bought the Clio and it must have been a good decision as we've still got it today! It just purrs at motorway speeds and has that lovely French ride. I always enjoy prodding the plastic front wings.
I had 2 of these, as my first and second cars - loved them! Remember thinking at the time how it had the ethos of the original Mini. The second one had about 120k on the clock when I sold it, which included a run from Salisbury to Carlisle with, apparently, no engine oil - a corroded sump discovered upon arrival. Put a new one on, and it was still absolutely fine! Great little robust cars
The gear ratios on the predecessor (the K10, I presume?) were excellent and allowed for effortless crusing on the motorway - even above the legal limit. In this respect, the K11 has taken a retrograde step. Great review, as always.
Great video, I absolutely love these! especially in red, with the plastic bumpers. I had one as a loan car once, lovely little thing, I had a great time with it, and didn't want to give it back when my car was ready!
Have to say I never saw the comparison between the K11 and the Mini before. However I always thought the next generation Micra had more than a passing resemblance to a Morris Minor!
I had a 1.3 one of these in 1997 and it was a wonderful car. Of note were the seats…super comfortable. We did huge miles in ours and I was amazed how good it was.
I dislike the term "city car". These cars were very capable, also at longer distances. I had a Charade G11 and drove it through the whole Europe. It was fine, had enough space and needed not much gas. Even my 1986 model was ahead of its time. In Germany it all started with the first Honda Civic model. It was a much more modern alternative to the beetle. A friend of mine had the first Micra. He drove it almost 20 years.
I also dislike the term. I live in the country and daily drive on narrow lanes. I park in odd spaces where wide modern cars disrupt traffic. I rarely drive long distances at high speeds, and I never go to big cities.
My friend came to pick me up for a road trip one day in one of these and I was amazed by how solid it sounded and comfortable it was. Wanted one ever since and after seeing this even more! Lovely video once again.
I bought a V reg one last month, the injector pump went in my L200 pickup and its not worth fixing, I needed cheap transport in a hurry and the Micra was local and £350 with an MOT till next march. I hadn't driven one since i passed my test in one back in 1997 and distinctly remember not liking them back then. I absolutely love mine now, very nippy for 998cc and excellent on fuel too. Definitely worth it as a cheap runabout.
The 1.3L was the one to get, best in its class in the performance and handling department. But that was about it really. It was fast too, I thought I could out run my co-driver on our way to drop one off to a customer back when they were new, but no, 125 on the flat in an Vectra 1.8 and the little metallic gold Micra was still there in my rear view all the way up the M23. It was funny though.
A friend of mine has one of theses which he had since mid 90s bought brand new. He is a teacher, now retired. I was in a band with him for years and in it it carried gig gear every week. My mate frequently drives in a gear too low.. 60 in 3rd isn't unusual for him. It's been abused its whole life poor thing but still going strong.
Love the K11 so much. I had a K12 for the first half of this year and it was such a pleasure to drive around town but unfortunately didn't have enough leg room for me for longer trips. The car is so light and the drivetrain feels so direct that you don't really notice the lack of power, the responsiveness makes up for it!
Hi, this little Nissan looks much more modern or sophisticated than my 1993 VW Polo 86C 2F "Fox" Breadvan (4 cyl. 8 valve 1043cc with 45 hp, 4-speed gearbox). I would like to own such a K11 Micra in future. Cheers from Germany
Loved my little micra.great for pottering about,easy to park,nippy and comfortable.sadly mine eventually succumbed to the dreaded rot,but it managed to get to the age of 20,so not too shabby.
I bought one off a guy at work for £170 in 2011. It was a 1993 1.3 LX , 90,000 miles , 3 door with sunroof, rear slightly opening windows and the old two spoke steering wheel without airbag. An amazingly good car, on a track day I found out 58mph was achievable in second gear, top speed 114mph. Handling wasn't a strong point, they are abit tinny and I doubt the crash protection was particularly good. But in terms of bullet proof reliability, interior comfort and space, easiness of diy repair (throttle body and heater resistor card easily sorted with a blob of solder) and straight line nippyness that would shame many bigger fancier cars. Probably the best small car ever made. Eventually my high revving habits had an oil seal go bad at 125,000 miles and it started leaking oil pretty quickly, something that the micra rallying world knows about. Sold it to a scrap metal dealer for £130 with a decent Sony cd player in it, new bosch battery, he used it until MOT was up then sadly scrapped in October 2014. But 21 years wasn't a bad innings.
My mrs had one when we first met. Great car but a bit grim on the motorway. She's been running about in a £500 saab 93 O.G. for the last ten years. She did a 300+ mile trip in it a few days ago, it's on 235,000 miles now and she loves it to bits.
I have owned two of these and they are SUPERB little cars ..They average about 46 MPG ... A Gallon is 4.5461 litres for our younger viewers. These are EPIC little cars.
My youngest had 2 of these, a 97 vibe 1.0 and a 2000 inspiration 1.3 with power steering and AC. I never liked the K11 at launch but it grew on me. They were both so reliable . The first one needed rear sills welding and the second a new front cross member, both very common week points. They definitely were not as much fun to drive as a Peugeot or Citroën or a small Fiat.
I remember going with my parents for a test drive in a red Micra just like this one around 2001, they were looking for a car to replace our worn out 1979 Mini Clubman. As a kid the Micra seemed really spacious inside and I loved the styling! They ended up choosing a Peugeot 106 as they thought it handled better and Micra's were holding their value well so were still a bit pricey
COR..! Just imagine having 3 Hubnuts on the Back seat..! The Talk about 'Which is the Best Front &/or Rear Window wiper, Ever.?' Would go on for Hours..! 🤣 Cheers All, Kim in Oz. 😎
I used to own a 1994 Micra K11 1.3l, really lovely car. I had a crash in it sadly - 5 people, the boot full of bathroom tiles. We got hit by someone speeding on icey roads and span out into a ditch. The car looked like an accordion, however we were all fine and only a couple of tiles broke. We made it home on its own wheels too.
And like the Mini, you can get the leather and wood, booted (Elf/Hornet like) Mitsuoka Viewt version 😎 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuoka_Viewt#K11_Viewt_(1993_-_2003)
We had a 1.3 CVT for 14 years (RIP dear little Muji). Fantastic car, surprisingly brisk & a great automatic gearbox. Nissan were at their peak when these were made. If you get chance to try the 1.3 CVT you'll be surprised at how good they are.
Nice little road test; I got a kick out of how you both jumped at that hill crest...Funny you should mention how "gran had one for her weekly shopping trips"; being in the States, we didn't see too many small cars when I was young (early-1960s), but we always had Datsuns in those early years; my Grandmom's choice being a 1961 310 Bluebird (I have an old shop manual for it!) Got driven to kindergarten in this car; my Mom had a 1959 210 Bluebird (both cars showed that Austin influence, including their powerplants). One was always aware of how much bigger most other cars were on the road (save for the ubiquitous Beetle), but by observation I learned how nimble these little cars could be, and years later had utmost confidence, driving my '78 Civic 1200 all over the place, including in the snow...
I remember having a purple Nissan Micra as a first car, my mom had one as well. It was a dead easy car to drive. The lack of a boot release on the outside was a silly design. I found this out when my dress got caught and couldn't open it. Had to get someone to pull the release by the drivers seat. Apart from that I loved it.
What a super little car. My wife's nan had one down in Abercynon and it's the only one I ever drove. I remember being totally surprised by how quick it seemed for a 1.0 litre engine! Ride and handling was good too even compared to my Rover Metro. These cars have such a clean design inside and out, with no unnecessary jewelry with little to go wrong. I would happily run one as a daily if I could find a rust free example.
My mother bought an 1 liter 3door 5-speed manual K11 March in 1994. It had hydraulic power steering, power window, electric mirror and CD player. Looking at this Micra Brings back memories of my childhood. Of course that was not fast not quiet car. But, even the kids knew it was a smooth running car. I was nothing to worried by that March. Unfortunately, I didn't learn to drive on that March (It was a job for the Mazda Demio that my mother bought). but K11 is still nice little car!
Early Nissan CVTs weren't very good. Even in the later vehicles like the 3rd gen 2005 C25 Serena van had problems. Problems ironed now. Honda have good CVTs. You just have to learn how to drive them.
My mom has driven one of these ever since 2001. I've grown up in that thing and now its my "first car" aswell. Unfortunately daily driving the little thing has taken its toll and we'll have to get a new one soon... Good memories. As long as we have it, I'll continue to make new memories on it. :)
A car that addresses the Hubnut motoring Philosophy in many ways. The part of Canada I live in has seen Prices for 87 Petrol fall to 4 Pound, Fifty a Gallon lately. (After a threat for a price fixing Investigation) Reminds me of a Car dealer we had here called Nothing over 999 Sales. Their motto " Second Class Driving Beats First Class Walking Any Day" Cheers Ian.
K11's are very popular in banger racing in both the UK and the Netherlands, nowadays. That could be another reason why they are getting so rare. About 15 years ago my sister used to own a 1993 Micra 1.3 SLX. She bought it with about 170k miles on the clock and it had some reliability issues (electrics), but otherwise it was quite fun to drive mainly thanks to its low weight and punchy engine.
I had one, a Nissan Micra 1.0 Shape, 1996 N-Reg, exactly the same as this EXCEPT...mine was even more poverty spec than that example. I suspect that one was supplied with the optional "Winter Pack" (if memory serves), which gave it the rear wiper and a couple of other bits. Question: does it have an intermittent front wiper setting, because I think mine did not have that.
I had a K10 1.2 SGX (?), late model on a J plate in a nice light metallic blue, bought to sell on really. My boss in 1996 had an L reg K11 in grey, he had a good job but loved his little 1.0 lol.
Graham Stoodley, we had one a 1275 cc 4dr bought new in Australia ( around 1400 were imported ) kept for 21 yrs , brilliant car , only needing to replace the usual fast moving parts , at 20 yrs old drove it over night from Sydney to Melbourne, with no fuss , a quality car.
i bought exactly the same new in 1997. it cost £6890, ( with 3 years warranty, 2 years servicing, and 1 years insurance included) the shape was a special edition,based on the L model, but sold at a reduced price....the rear wash wipe was an optional extra!! (which i didnt bother buying,lol...
i have one. taken me 60k km's, from rome to stockholm and everything in between. moved friends with it even. absolutely amazing car, bought it when i was 18 (now 21) for 1920 euros and haven't had to do any major repairs, car is now at 130k total.
Looking at an old (1930's?) National Geographic magazine article. One if the photos were of a group of 4 Buddhist lamas, scenically posed in the sun. The caption noted their official title was "the four shapes". Maybe this is related to this model's name.
In Australia it was the Nissan Pulsar that was the big volume seller for Nissan. Sold well in the Nineties and most of the Noughties. Mostly the later standard 1.8 litre four. So much so that Nissan were jokingly called the Pulsar car company for a while. Then Nissan wrecked things with the poorly received Tiida name and model change. My feeling was the Micra sold only one twentieth the sales of the Pulsar here. For the past few years you don't see any Sedans in Nissan and Mitsubishi dealerships in the rush to various forms of SUV and pick up trucks. Nissan and Mitsubishi given up the declining smaller sedan market to Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia and some Chinese new makes. Just in the past weeks Ford gave up on the hot hatch variations of the Focus and Fiesta models that struggled to maintain the tiny sales numbers they made. Ford becoming effectively the Ranger pickup car company. Without Ranger sales Ford would be at sub Chinese newby car levels.
Bit of a story this. My Breadvan Polo was in for body repairs after being t-boned by a yoof in a knackered Fiesta. I had one of these Micras as a rental, took my then friend to Llandudno, and that holiday we became a couple, and 24 years later we are still married. It was quite impressive, that 16v engine was quite a novelty, and very perky. I promise I didn't drive it like a rental 🤣, it was the hot tarmac that made the wheels 'squeak' officer.... Such an improvement over the K10 that I learned to drive in, that couldn't get out of its own way.
Excellent to revisit this underrated little car, totally unburstable and only beaten by rust. Useful and dependable… as you say the pre facelift cars are rare as hens teeth now..
As a 90's kid I remember my aunt having a 1.3 version one of these. What I remember from these K11's they were actually comfortable and pretty spacious for their size, something that wasn't really common back in the 90's there were usually glaring compromises to smaller cars like not much room for the back passengers, a dinky boot and all that. I also remember the K11 of being really reliable and low fuss, my aunt had hers for almost 17 years and used it daily for shopping and work. I imagine because they were so common and liked if something did go wrong it was really easy to get fixed or replaced. I could see why first time drivers would find these really appealing, I often joke that the Nissan K11 was sort of the 90's generations mini cooper.
In comparism with my Citroën C1 this Micra is a full size car. But there are two thing they have in common: the origin and the color. Very nice road test, Ian and Cameralady. Thanks... 👍😃👍
These are such good little cars. My Mum had a 2001 1.4 activ, I used it briefly, very good solid car, she actually misses it. She had it for 12 years and was trouble free motoring. Plus they are still very cute. I rented a 1 litre facelift version, travelling on the motorway with four of us and luggage, was struggling a bit, but still a lovely car, the 1.4 version is a better choice if you are doing more demanding driving. I'm currently driving a 2005 mk1 Toyota Yaris 1.0 and even though the Micra's 1 litre engine is a good little unit, the Yaris' engine is much better, it has variable valve timing and 67hp, a much more punch to the engine and better performance
Funnily enough I've owned both a K11 Micra and mk1 Yaris at the same time and I agree Toyota got everything right with the Yaris when it was released in 99. So refined, really modern looking and clever inside. The K11 dated back to 92 so it was never going to compete, and I was never really attracted to the K12 Micras and whatever came after them (I've seen modern day ones, wtf do they look like now?! All character lost!). I've had mk1 Yaris' alongside lots of naughties cars and nothing has come close to the refinement of the little Toyota. I had a 06 Agila that could have easily been from the start of the 90s and although I liked it, the Yaris was just so much more refined, had better performance (even on the 1.0) and yeah, it's comfy and cosy to be in. I'm currently rocking a mk1 Yaris Verso alongside a mk1 regular Yaris. The Verso is as Hubnut as it gets for a 'modern-ish' car I reckon. It's so clever and ahead of its time. Ian should review one or come look at mine and compare it to his Berlingo. I want to see his face when he works out what the interior light in the boot can do.
They're vanishing because the good ones still left have been snapped up to build into Formula 1000 Rally Cars, and the crusty ones have become disposable Autosolo cars. Thrash them till the body falls apart, strip the oily bits, which will still be good, and scrap the remains. The scrappage scheme saw off plenty of nice examples, unfortunately.
FWIW Chops Garage has a nice automatic purple Micra which he bought recently and may well want to discretely sell on.... My only dislike on K11's is the weird shape of the instrument needles.
We had one for 14 years, very reliable and actually pretty spacious from what I remember. Was a Hollywood model of which only 40 left on the roads apparently.
this is the golden era of cars IMO. fuel injection, safety, reliability, not too much computers, and they are easy to work on . only problem is corrosion
Not so much for safety reasons as one downside
SAFETY...You really would NOT want to have a serious crash in this car.. But yes you are correct on everything else... The reliability of these is unbelievable... They just DO NOT break down.
@@briansaiditsoitmustbetrue4206 safety is always relative. Are you safe compared to even a geared up motorcycle rider? Certainly.
Also this has alot to do with road- compatibility. You have far greater chances in surviving a crash if the opponent has similar size and crash structure like you.
Thats why the amount of SUV on the road today make these roads unsafer for smaller vehicles. in that aspect, driving a kind of "safety inflation", which is also a car size inflation.
@@fritzkuhne2055 Well of course a bigger and heavier car will hold the safety advantage in a serious accident between a small car and a large car. You really would not fare well in this 900 KG Nissan Micra in a 40 MPH head-on crash with a 2300 KG BMW X5 also doing 40 MPH, That is fairly obvious... However, there are other factors to take into consideration... The age of the cars in the accident. My car is 25 Years old and sadly has succumb to corrosion all over the car, Thus weakening the strength of the car should you have a serious accident in it... I have welded in some patches and covered the car in underseal to get another MOT test on the car... I managed to scrape a "Borderline" MOT pass last week... But I am sitting in a "Deathtrap" in a serious accident. But a very reliable one that I really don't want to part with. As for motorcycles..I think the statistics are you are 35 times more likely to be killed per mile you travel on a motorcycle than if you were driving a mid-sized car.
Kind regards Brian
@@briansaiditsoitmustbetrue4206 But I'm wondering. Are those Micra's really worse than comparable cars of that size in safety? And compared to for example a 205 or 106. I don't know...
Had one as a company car around 2001 between owning a Mini Mayfair and clubman. Loved the Micra. Wasnt a mini but it was bombproof. I echo what you said it could be 'jiggly' at times but the headroom was good and it never complained. They seemed to go on forever too.
Our oldest daughter had a second-hand 'R' suffix white one for her 1st car, built really well ran like a sewing machine, 1 litre.
We had a silver Micra that was the inspiration model, it was a T reg and I absolutely loved it. It was only a 1 litre and when we tried to go up a steep hill with 3 people in the car, I had to keep changing it into 1st gear because there wasn't enough power in 2nd to keep it going. Other than that though, it was fanastic when you drove it on your own
I still have to do the same in my silver inspiration today and I'm from Halifax it's all hills here still it's fun going down the other side.
@@davidjbatley We part exchanged ours for an Almera but got duped by the salesman so ended up swapping that and getting a Vauxhall Corsa with Easytronic instead. Can't say I was impressed with that. The Micra has to be the most reliable car we've ever owned, it started first time every time. We got a Ford Fiesta and that was terrible so we got a newer model and that wouldn't start first time every time so ended up getting a Renault Scenic Fiji model and that was superb.
K19 Widowmaker - K11 Leanermaker.
I haven’t watched the channel in a while. Is the corner of disappointment a regular feature on Hubnut reviews these days?
Made me laugh out loud …..literally (not just LOL).
The Micra kicked the Fiesta off the top seller list in Ireland because Ford had a higher road tax 1117cc Fiesta whereas the Micra had the 998cc cheapest road tax engine. (Ford did have a 970cc engine for the Italian market, but why they didnt put in in Irish versions....? )
#clutchsandal - I sense some new merchendise 👍👍
I've always thought these were a more sincere new mini than the actual new mini was.
Astute observation. As a fan of the original mini I've left it too late to be able to afford one. Test drove the reboot many years ago and was left unimpressed. Soulless ...
@@MatthewJohnCrittenden The new ones are all trying to be flash and trendy and have the price tag to match, totally misses the point of the original car. The harder you try to look cool the less you are cool, especially when you're copying! The K11 just went out there and got on with things, and got it's reputation by earning it.
@@kyle8952 Honestly the mini was, for most people, obsolete compared to rivals in the 1970s at the latest. As far as I know, the mini was thereafter mostly a "meme car" in the general publics eyes. Surely Mr Bean driving one was no accident.
BMW surely did the right call from a financial perspective cashing in on just the name and recognition, nothing else. No real competitors to a modern mini after all, certainly not the higher spec versions.
So I dont think they missed the point at all, they just identified another way to make way more money of their investment in the name.
It's a good observation. I've also seen the k11 described as a modern Morris minor and I can see that too in the bubble shaped styling.
@@MatthewJohnCrittenden I agree, we had the Supercharged BMW Mini. It wasn't much cop. Sure they stick to the road like glue but it never really put a smile on my face. Ride quality was abysmal, and I have owned a modified 206 that had extremely stiff and low springs and yet that somehow rode better. And despite being supercharged it felt like it had no bottom end torque. It would go quick if you drove it flat out but pottering around if never felt very peppy. There are way better small cars. My father took an instant dislike to it too and I always felt like he was a good judge of character when it came to cars. Very rare now but I think the Citroen AX of the era were one of the best super minis. Small, light, cute and fun to drive.
My sister ran one of these for absolutely years. Both of her children learned to drive in it and drive it as their first daily driver. This was in the noughties.
I still see around half a dozen in daily use in Rugby. Two live on the street where I live. It's a car which always makes me smile.
Loved the Quentin Wilson ending. Pulling up and doing the round up through the drivers window. Top marks.
Helps having a real-life camera person.
Took one to Rome and back in 2016 with a mate. Just about squeezed a ton out of it. He had one for his first car, and now has one with a whacking great turbo on it too. Would have another as a runabout in a heartbeat, just need to find one without rotten sills!
use Angle Iron
Gran who just passed on Friday aged 100 had a lovely bright blue "Hollywood" special edition as her last car which she parted with in 2011 having just covered 5,000 miles in 9 years. Was a cracking little car that, I remember it being 4 up on the motorway heading for a family meal sat comfortably over 90. I'd love another as hers is sadly long gone, 25,000 miles on hers when it was sold but it was suffering rust.
Aw, sorry for your loss.
Sorry for your loss. We had the same model (Hollywood) as well, was a great car.
@@HubNut Thank you Ian, a long road ahead of us yet as per her wish, she remained in her home of almost 70 years to the end, so many things yet to deal with. It's great videos like this which provide a very welcome distraction and evoke many memories of better times.
@@petertaylor1939 Thank you Peter. They seem to be virtually none existent now, the Hollywood. Hers was N925 UHH, she had her K10 in for service, the garage typically had 5-10 cars for sale, and the little Hollywood was pride of place just as you went in. £2,800 with 19,000 miles and 1 owner at 7 years old, I still remember the test drive too, as a child in the back of the car. It was known as the quickest decision she's ever made in her life, she loved that car.
@BPS just a quick note to say two things:
1. sorry for your loss and sorry for the difficult task you face sorting out her home, great that she was able to continue where she wanted to be till the end.
2. Thank you for the story of her storming up the motorway over 90mph - I'm not sure if it's just the juxtaposition of "typical Micra owner" (I mean no offence in that the Micra tends to be popular with both end of the driver age spectrum) and very much atypical older-Micra driving speed - but made me chuckle at the thought! Good for her!
Always liked these. That one is particularly mint! As someone who buys a secondhand car on condition rather than spec, base model austerity doesn't bother me at all.
A terrific little car, from an era when Nissan got its mojo together. My wife had a 1.3 model, M reg, in red, for many, many moons, and absolutely loved it. It was utterly reliable, and quite nippy. She only sold it because her mom felt she should drive a more modern car, with air bags and the like (her Micra was a pre-airbag model). A car chock-fulll of character -I still like them a lot.
One of my favourite cars of all time. I've had 3 - 2 1.3s and a 1.0 - and they were brilliant. Cheap to run, nippy, like tardises, didn't break down and with very well spaced pedals. My favourite feature was when I'd take a right hand corner with enthusiasm and everything- monkey mascot, sherbet lemons, Now cassettes - would slide off the dashboard and land neatly in the passenger door pocket. Well engineered enough to be totally dependable but simple enough to keep you involved with the driving experience.
The Shape replaced the entry level L as base spec. The name came from the cartoon type car shape that appeared on the Micra marketing materials when it was launched in 1992 and 'Shape' models usually had that shape on the back rather than "Shape"written in text.
I'd love to get one again
Alan, you made me laugh out loud because the sliding objects into the door pocket memory suddenly came back! :)
@@ColinCarFan I'd like to think there is a Japanese designer who planned the size and shape of that pocket and now feels very pleased with themselves. It worked perfectly
K11 very hard to beat even today. Perfect first car for my Daughter. She had the 1.0 model first drove it for a year on her own first insurance . Second year after insurance dropped bought a 1.3 kept that a year. Any owner or garage can service these, cheap plentiful parts available chain driven camshafts, easy to park, fast enough for most , good on fuel , very reliable and great fun . Only real downside is rot, in particular on the front crossmember which can easily become a MOT failure so check when buying .
Happened to quite a lot of nissans of this era, mainly from spillages when topping up the coolant/radiator leaks
Unfortunately, it is really common. I already had my front cross member welded, and now it looks like the rear sills have gone too. Hopefully it should have a good few more years out of it yet. 24 years old and still going. Fantastic car even today.
There's still one here in the neighborhood, red and five door.
It's unfortunate how many good cars were scraped
When the Micra was a micro (or small) car
A car that was really liked here in Greece, where we like our Japanese cars (and of course when it was introduced Nissans were still made in Volos)
its unfortunate what has become of nissan..
I was in Corfu last month, I spotted a few K11,K12 and plenty of K13 and even some K14. I hired a K13 and I thought it was actually quite a good modern version of the K11. Maybe not quite as strong, but nice and simple and spacious. The K14 looks like a Seat Ibiza or something, too complicated and sporty for a micra.
I passed my driving test in one of these. It was a special edition Micra Wave! I will always have a soft spot for these little cars!
I have a '99 model, with the 1.3 and CVT, it holds very well despite the use as a cargo-van, very brisky with just enough comfort to be used in today's world, without the hassle of modern cars.
I can see where Daihatsu got it's inspiration for the Cuore. Remember when my dad had an identical one to this for a short time as his company car went in for repairs. L reg i think with no power steering and must have been a poverty spec model. Our former neighbours had a 1.3 SLX with the NCVT gearbox. I was always fascinated by the noise it made slowing down.
The takeaway delivery car of choice, now it’s a moped
Great little cars - still see a good few around, mostly in the evenings, here in south Lincolnshire. Used for delivering takeaway meals. Lots are still going strong!
Nice review, thanks!
The K11 Micra and mk1 Yaris are the mini-delivery vehicles of choice for a lot of couriers!
Lovely. I love steering wheels without buttons all over the place. I like being able to reach the bottom of the windscreen, without leaving the seat. I had one of these as a courtesy car, whilst my Astra was in the shop. Got the Astra back, and complained the clutch was f'kd. Turned out, I'd just got used to the Micra's clutch, which your great grannie could easily press
I recommend trying a mk 1 Toyota Yaris, I have one if you want to try it
Cheers. ian@hubnut.org with location please.
That's a test I'd be interested in too. I'm thinking of buying one whilst they're still reasonably cheap.
@@cornishhh I've had mine for a year and cost me £600, it's a really fantastic car
How I hate these measurements. Let´s start:
300 Miles to be 483 Kilometers.
55,55 British Pounds is 65,84 Euro. Which is 2,12 Euro for one Liter gasoline, which is 1,70 Euro over here in Germany.
So 31 Liter is 52 Euro, and in this Nissan you drive with 6 Liter on 100 Kilometers 🙂
Which in my opinion is not good for such a small car. I had an Opel Vectra A 1.6i (like Vauxhaul) with 4 doors and pretty much space for some fuel consumption in between 6 to 8 liters.
Cheers, Bernd
I never learnt to drive in one but I remember as a kid clambering in & out of the back of a friend's mum's 3 door MK1 Micra. And then some year's later when buying my first car, my dad informed me that the garage where he services his Pickup had one of these models but turned it down cos of the looks ( I was 19 & all about image lol, what can I say ). Bought a Peugeot 206 instead.
If you were that local... You could of come and taken mine for a spin for a stark comparison video.
Ah drat. Maybe next time.
Some of the special edition names of these were hilarious. I don't think the Japanese realised and just chose random words to go after Micra. A Micra-Celebration sounds underwhelming. I had a competition going with my mate to spot the daftest name. My all-time favourite was the Micra Scope!
I autotest a 1275 micra, great little car, those CG engines love to rev!
The 1.0 micras have a shorter ratio gearbox than the 1.3, so it is common in rallying to mate a 1.0 box with a 1.3 or 1.4 engine
Proud owner of one, a 1995 1.0i Hit. Absolute gem of a no-frills motoring. The boy racer still residing within me installed a fart-can, a mild lowering kit and a suede racing wheel. The lightness is just pure, brilliant fun. I love it.
One mate of mine had two of these and was really pleased with them. Decent turn of speed for such a little engine. Another mate bought a later version second hand from a local dealer that had been owned by an elderly couple. They hadn’t even tuned the radio in. Sadly it did start to rot quite badly in the rear wings as did many of these. Great little cars though despite that
When I was about 14 I remember doing an oil change and charging the battery of our elderly neighbour's K11 Micra, as she was going to use it again after it sitting for a long time due to a broken hip. It always seemed a bit boring compared to my mother's Mk4 Fiesta, and I guess it was but that's not why you bought a Nissan, as I later found out with a Primera and 2 Almeras which NEVER broke down in my ownership.
I've a friend who runs an M reg one of these - with auto transmission! It moves under its own power, but its not a car you'd pick if you were in a hurry!
I had one of these in GLS or X (can't remember) with the 1.3 liter and 3 doors. I can tell you that on that model the rear passenger windows had a latch that allowed you to slightly swing open them & there was a boot release and fuel tank latch on the floor next to the driver side seat. It even had air conditioning although the gas had escaped from the system long before i bought it! Extremely peppy car to drive, gears were fast to bang through with good feel and i would usually get around 5,5l/100km without trying too hard.
Maybe a better car for Miss HubNut rather than the Diahatsu, dare I say it out loud.
I think they are meant to run on E5 as pre 2000? Correct me if I am wrong
Always liked the K11 good to see this survivor . A charming little design, especially lovely are the later ones with alloy wheels, colour coded bumpers and fancier trim.
Great video!
I had a 1.3 version of one of these and it was, indeed, a very nippy little motor. I've also owned 2 K10s and had a1.3 of the follow-on model. All had really responsive engines.
Absolutely brilliant review, Ian, and what a great little car the K11 is.
I had many of them back when they were a few years old, and I never had any trouble with them, or indeed, any trouble selling them.
I'd love to see a review on a Suzuki Alto, the last one sold in the UK.
If you're ever in Northern Ireland on your travels, I would be very happy to let you review my 2015 red Alto, which is my pride and joy, and one of the last ones to be sold in the UK before the Celerio took over.
It's very much in the same spirit as the K11, but with an excellent 1.0 3 cylinder multivalve engine, pushing out the dizzying heights of 67bhp!
It never fails to put a smile on my face, and even tows my little Freedom caravan when the main car is in for repairs.
I think that was one of the best small cars of those times. My sister had a facelift version from 2000 bought in 2005, also my sister in law from Belgium. My sister had the "night fever" package with aircondition and a cassette radio with CD-changer, original Nissan sound system. Even when I'm used to drive bigger and stronger cars it was a pleasure for me when I had the oppertunity to drive it sometimes. It was not a big problem to drive on the German unlimited highways, even the car had only a 1l-engine with 54 HP. The maximum speed was 150 km/h and even at that speed the engine didn't make much noise. But of corse you should'nt drive always full speed. The most comfortable speed was about 130 km/h. The seats and the wheel suspision were very comfortable and it was no problem travelling long distances. You only had to spend more time, but with listening to the good sounding radio driving made lot of fun. Unfortunately my sisters car fail the German TÜV (MOT ), because there was a hole rusted in the back achsle. I asked my sister to buy a second hand achsle from the scrapyard, but she didn't like to spend the money for the repair. And after 145.000 km
also the clutch made some problems. So she sold that car in 2010 and got a Micra K12 from 2005 with only 55.000 km with a 1.2l engine and 65 HP. She is still owning it. My sister in law in Belgium lost her K11 Micra by an accident. Both cars were very reliable. At work one of my colleges owned a 1993 K11, also in red colour like here in the road test. She drove it over 270.000 km and had no trouble at all with it. She travelled nearly through whole Europe, didn't matter if it was to Norway ore south Italy. So thank you a lot for this interesting road test. After you have made the video of the old white K10 Micra I was really waiting for this video. 👍
look at all the space to work on the engine. Thanks Hub, this car brings back a lot of nice memories of that time in my life. Love and respect from Retford, Notts.
Loved the little William Woollard moment at the end. Drive up, do piece to camera out of the window, and pull away again. Classy!
The holy grail, a pov spec black bumper K11! Legend.
Wow, what a massive nostalgia trip this is! ❤️ My first car was a X reg 1.4, the final facelift where they upped the capacity and went to coil packs. It was electric blue. Sportex exhaust, 40mm lowering springs, 15" alloys, colour coded all the grey plastic, fitted an OEM boot spoiler... What a fantastic little car that was, it used to do 60 in second gear (many times😅) it used to take my mates Fiestas and Saxos to the cleaners!
I turned 30 this year and this made me feel old and a little emotional! ❤️
Buy one now while there are still some around ! When you turn 40 and badly need one, they'll be very rare and priced accordingly. I still regret not buying another Panda before they command crazy prices for a good one.
Passed my test in one of these.
The K11 is also an extremely safe car. I had a late one from the last couple of years production which got written off in a head-on crash. The front end folded under like it is designed to do and, apart from some very slight crumpling at the bottom of the A pillar, there was no intrusion into the passenger space. The windscreen didn't have so much as a crack in it even though everything else forward of it had vanished from sight. Apart from some spectacular seat belt shaped bruises I was otherwise unhurt (a bit shaken admittedly). The newest car I had ever owned at that point and still the record holder for the shortest ownership - 6 months.
A K11 Micra with the 2.0 litre engine from the Primera GT would be a great sleeper.
In 2001 we went to a local Nissan/Renault dealer and tried both the Micra and the Clio. The salesman was definitely pro Clio and test drives convinced us he was right. The Micra's seats felt like planks and the interior was definitely el cheapo whereas the Clio felt much more bourgeois. So we bought the Clio and it must have been a good decision as we've still got it today! It just purrs at motorway speeds and has that lovely French ride. I always enjoy prodding the plastic front wings.
I had 2 of these, as my first and second cars - loved them! Remember thinking at the time how it had the ethos of the original Mini. The second one had about 120k on the clock when I sold it, which included a run from Salisbury to Carlisle with, apparently, no engine oil - a corroded sump discovered upon arrival. Put a new one on, and it was still absolutely fine! Great little robust cars
The gear ratios on the predecessor (the K10, I presume?) were excellent and allowed for effortless crusing on the motorway - even above the legal limit. In this respect, the K11 has taken a retrograde step. Great review, as always.
Great video, I absolutely love these! especially in red, with the plastic bumpers. I had one as a loan car once, lovely little thing, I had a great time with it, and didn't want to give it back when my car was ready!
Have to say I never saw the comparison between the K11 and the Mini before. However I always thought the next generation Micra had more than a passing resemblance to a Morris Minor!
I had a 1.3 one of these in 1997 and it was a wonderful car. Of note were the seats…super comfortable. We did huge miles in ours and I was amazed how good it was.
I dislike the term "city car". These cars were very capable, also at longer distances. I had a Charade G11 and drove it through the whole Europe. It was fine, had enough space and needed not much gas. Even my 1986 model was ahead of its time. In Germany it all started with the first Honda Civic model. It was a much more modern alternative to the beetle. A friend of mine had the first Micra. He drove it almost 20 years.
I also dislike the term. I live in the country and daily drive on narrow lanes. I park in odd spaces where wide modern cars disrupt traffic. I rarely drive long distances at high speeds, and I never go to big cities.
1.3 with throttle bodies off 1.6 bit more go
Mine doesn't do E10...
My friend came to pick me up for a road trip one day in one of these and I was amazed by how solid it sounded and comfortable it was. Wanted one ever since and after seeing this even more! Lovely video once again.
I bought a V reg one last month, the injector pump went in my L200 pickup and its not worth fixing, I needed cheap transport in a hurry and the Micra was local and £350 with an MOT till next march. I hadn't driven one since i passed my test in one back in 1997 and distinctly remember not liking them back then. I absolutely love mine now, very nippy for 998cc and excellent on fuel too. Definitely worth it as a cheap runabout.
Car Of The Year 1993
The 1.3L was the one to get, best in its class in the performance and handling department. But that was about it really. It was fast too, I thought I could out run my co-driver on our way to drop one off to a customer back when they were new, but no, 125 on the flat in an Vectra 1.8 and the little metallic gold Micra was still there in my rear view all the way up the M23. It was funny though.
A friend of mine has one of theses which he had since mid 90s bought brand new. He is a teacher, now retired. I was in a band with him for years and in it it carried gig gear every week. My mate frequently drives in a gear too low.. 60 in 3rd isn't unusual for him. It's been abused its whole life poor thing but still going strong.
Love the K11 so much. I had a K12 for the first half of this year and it was such a pleasure to drive around town but unfortunately didn't have enough leg room for me for longer trips. The car is so light and the drivetrain feels so direct that you don't really notice the lack of power, the responsiveness makes up for it!
Hi,
this little Nissan looks much more modern or sophisticated than my 1993 VW Polo 86C 2F "Fox" Breadvan (4 cyl. 8 valve 1043cc with 45 hp, 4-speed gearbox). I would like to own such a K11 Micra in future.
Cheers from Germany
Loved my little micra.great for pottering about,easy to park,nippy and comfortable.sadly mine eventually succumbed to the dreaded rot,but it managed to get to the age of 20,so not too shabby.
I bought one off a guy at work for £170 in 2011. It was a 1993 1.3 LX , 90,000 miles , 3 door with sunroof, rear slightly opening windows and the old two spoke steering wheel without airbag. An amazingly good car, on a track day I found out 58mph was achievable in second gear, top speed 114mph.
Handling wasn't a strong point, they are abit tinny and I doubt the crash protection was particularly good. But in terms of bullet proof reliability, interior comfort and space, easiness of diy repair (throttle body and heater resistor card easily sorted with a blob of solder) and straight line nippyness that would shame many bigger fancier cars.
Probably the best small car ever made.
Eventually my high revving habits had an oil seal go bad at 125,000 miles and it started leaking oil pretty quickly, something that the micra rallying world knows about. Sold it to a scrap metal dealer for £130 with a decent Sony cd player in it, new bosch battery, he used it until MOT was up then sadly scrapped in October 2014. But 21 years wasn't a bad innings.
My mrs had one when we first met. Great car but a bit grim on the motorway. She's been running about in a £500 saab 93 O.G. for the last ten years. She did a 300+ mile trip in it a few days ago, it's on 235,000 miles now and she loves it to bits.
I have owned two of these and they are SUPERB little cars ..They average about 46 MPG ... A Gallon is 4.5461 litres for our younger viewers.
These are EPIC little cars.
My youngest had 2 of these, a 97 vibe 1.0 and a 2000 inspiration 1.3 with power steering and AC. I never liked the K11 at launch but it grew on me. They were both so reliable . The first one needed rear sills welding and the second a new front cross member, both very common week points. They definitely were not as much fun to drive as a Peugeot or Citroën or a small Fiat.
I remember going with my parents for a test drive in a red Micra just like this one around 2001, they were looking for a car to replace our worn out 1979 Mini Clubman. As a kid the Micra seemed really spacious inside and I loved the styling! They ended up choosing a Peugeot 106 as they thought it handled better and Micra's were holding their value well so were still a bit pricey
COR..! Just imagine having 3 Hubnuts on the Back seat..!
The Talk about 'Which is the Best Front &/or Rear Window wiper, Ever.?'
Would go on for Hours..!
🤣
Cheers All, Kim in Oz. 😎
I used to own a 1994 Micra K11 1.3l, really lovely car. I had a crash in it sadly - 5 people, the boot full of bathroom tiles. We got hit by someone speeding on icey roads and span out into a ditch. The car looked like an accordion, however we were all fine and only a couple of tiles broke. We made it home on its own wheels too.
Phew! Glad it looked after you.
And like the Mini, you can get the leather and wood, booted (Elf/Hornet like) Mitsuoka Viewt version 😎 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuoka_Viewt#K11_Viewt_(1993_-_2003)
We had a 1.3 CVT for 14 years (RIP dear little Muji). Fantastic car, surprisingly brisk & a great automatic gearbox. Nissan were at their peak when these were made.
If you get chance to try the 1.3 CVT you'll be surprised at how good they are.
Nice little road test; I got a kick out of how you both jumped at that hill crest...Funny you should mention how "gran had one for her weekly shopping trips"; being in the States, we didn't see too many small cars when I was young (early-1960s), but we always had Datsuns in those early years; my Grandmom's choice being a 1961 310 Bluebird (I have an old shop manual for it!) Got driven to kindergarten in this car; my Mom had a 1959 210 Bluebird (both cars showed that Austin influence, including their powerplants). One was always aware of how much bigger most other cars were on the road (save for the ubiquitous Beetle), but by observation I learned how nimble these little cars could be, and years later had utmost confidence, driving my '78 Civic 1200 all over the place, including in the snow...
I remember having a purple Nissan Micra as a first car, my mom had one as well. It was a dead easy car to drive. The lack of a boot release on the outside was a silly design. I found this out when my dress got caught and couldn't open it. Had to get someone to pull the release by the drivers seat. Apart from that I loved it.
What a super little car. My wife's nan had one down in Abercynon and it's the only one I ever drove. I remember being totally surprised by how quick it seemed for a 1.0 litre engine! Ride and handling was good too even compared to my Rover Metro. These cars have such a clean design inside and out, with no unnecessary jewelry with little to go wrong. I would happily run one as a daily if I could find a rust free example.
My mother bought an 1 liter 3door 5-speed manual K11 March in 1994. It had hydraulic power steering, power window, electric mirror and CD player. Looking at this Micra Brings back memories of my childhood. Of course that was not fast not quiet car. But, even the kids knew it was a smooth running car. I was nothing to worried by that March.
Unfortunately, I didn't learn to drive on that March (It was a job for the Mazda Demio that my mother bought). but K11 is still nice little car!
Early Nissan CVTs weren't very good. Even in the later vehicles like the 3rd gen 2005 C25 Serena van had problems. Problems ironed now. Honda have good CVTs. You just have to learn how to drive them.
The Nissan Micra, Especially the Pre Facelift 1993 Micra is the closest car you can get to a Classic Mini.
My mom has driven one of these ever since 2001. I've grown up in that thing and now its my "first car" aswell. Unfortunately daily driving the little thing has taken its toll and we'll have to get a new one soon...
Good memories. As long as we have it, I'll continue to make new memories on it. :)
A car that addresses the Hubnut motoring Philosophy in many ways. The part of Canada I live in has seen Prices for 87 Petrol fall to 4 Pound, Fifty a Gallon lately. (After a threat for a price fixing Investigation) Reminds me of a Car dealer we had here called Nothing over 999 Sales. Their motto " Second Class Driving Beats First Class Walking Any Day" Cheers Ian.
K11's are very popular in banger racing in both the UK and the Netherlands, nowadays. That could be another reason why they are getting so rare. About 15 years ago my sister used to own a 1993 Micra 1.3 SLX. She bought it with about 170k miles on the clock and it had some reliability issues (electrics), but otherwise it was quite fun to drive mainly thanks to its low weight and punchy engine.
I had one, a Nissan Micra 1.0 Shape, 1996 N-Reg, exactly the same as this EXCEPT...mine was even more poverty spec than that example. I suspect that one was supplied with the optional "Winter Pack" (if memory serves), which gave it the rear wiper and a couple of other bits. Question: does it have an intermittent front wiper setting, because I think mine did not have that.
I had a K10 1.2 SGX (?), late model on a J plate in a nice light metallic blue, bought to sell on really. My boss in 1996 had an L reg K11 in grey, he had a good job but loved his little 1.0 lol.
Graham Stoodley, we had one a 1275 cc 4dr bought new in Australia ( around 1400 were imported ) kept for 21 yrs , brilliant car , only needing to replace the usual fast moving parts , at 20 yrs old drove it over night from Sydney to Melbourne, with no fuss , a quality car.
i bought exactly the same new in 1997. it cost £6890, ( with 3 years warranty, 2 years servicing, and 1 years insurance included) the shape was a special edition,based on the L model, but sold at a reduced price....the rear wash wipe was an optional extra!! (which i didnt bother buying,lol...
i have one. taken me 60k km's, from rome to stockholm and everything in between. moved friends with it even. absolutely amazing car, bought it when i was 18 (now 21) for 1920 euros and haven't had to do any major repairs, car is now at 130k total.
Looking at an old (1930's?) National Geographic magazine article. One if the photos were of a group of 4 Buddhist lamas, scenically posed in the sun. The caption noted their official title was "the four shapes".
Maybe this is related to this model's name.
Hi there..I have 2000 red 1lt 5 door as a daily driver .absolutely bulletproof never let's me down from new ..55000 miles....long my she last ...
In Australia it was the Nissan Pulsar that was the big volume seller for Nissan. Sold well in the Nineties and most of the Noughties. Mostly the later standard 1.8 litre four. So much so that Nissan were jokingly called the Pulsar car company for a while. Then Nissan wrecked things with the poorly received Tiida name and model change.
My feeling was the Micra sold only one twentieth the sales of the Pulsar here.
For the past few years you don't see any Sedans in Nissan and Mitsubishi dealerships in the rush to various forms of SUV and pick up trucks.
Nissan and Mitsubishi given up the declining smaller sedan market to Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia and some Chinese new makes.
Just in the past weeks Ford gave up on the hot hatch variations of the Focus and Fiesta models that struggled to maintain the tiny sales numbers they made. Ford becoming effectively the Ranger pickup car company. Without Ranger sales Ford would be at sub Chinese newby car levels.
Bit of a story this. My Breadvan Polo was in for body repairs after being t-boned by a yoof in a knackered Fiesta. I had one of these Micras as a rental, took my then friend to Llandudno, and that holiday we became a couple, and 24 years later we are still married. It was quite impressive, that 16v engine was quite a novelty, and very perky. I promise I didn't drive it like a rental 🤣, it was the hot tarmac that made the wheels 'squeak' officer.... Such an improvement over the K10 that I learned to drive in, that couldn't get out of its own way.
Bigger engine + auto means more relaxed cruising. My 1.4 auto does 2,600rpm at 70; it's actually a good motorway car.
Excellent to revisit this underrated little car, totally unburstable and only beaten by rust. Useful and dependable… as you say the pre facelift cars are rare as hens teeth now..
As a 90's kid I remember my aunt having a 1.3 version one of these. What I remember from these K11's they were actually comfortable and pretty spacious for their size, something that wasn't really common back in the 90's there were usually glaring compromises to smaller cars like not much room for the back passengers, a dinky boot and all that. I also remember the K11 of being really reliable and low fuss, my aunt had hers for almost 17 years and used it daily for shopping and work. I imagine because they were so common and liked if something did go wrong it was really easy to get fixed or replaced. I could see why first time drivers would find these really appealing, I often joke that the Nissan K11 was sort of the 90's generations mini cooper.
In comparism with my Citroën C1 this Micra is a full size car. But there are two thing they have in common: the origin and the color. Very nice road test, Ian and Cameralady. Thanks... 👍😃👍
These are such good little cars. My Mum had a 2001 1.4 activ, I used it briefly, very good solid car, she actually misses it. She had it for 12 years and was trouble free motoring. Plus they are still very cute. I rented a 1 litre facelift version, travelling on the motorway with four of us and luggage, was struggling a bit, but still a lovely car, the 1.4 version is a better choice if you are doing more demanding driving. I'm currently driving a 2005 mk1 Toyota Yaris 1.0 and even though the Micra's 1 litre engine is a good little unit, the Yaris' engine is much better, it has variable valve timing and 67hp, a much more punch to the engine and better performance
Funnily enough I've owned both a K11 Micra and mk1 Yaris at the same time and I agree Toyota got everything right with the Yaris when it was released in 99. So refined, really modern looking and clever inside. The K11 dated back to 92 so it was never going to compete, and I was never really attracted to the K12 Micras and whatever came after them (I've seen modern day ones, wtf do they look like now?! All character lost!).
I've had mk1 Yaris' alongside lots of naughties cars and nothing has come close to the refinement of the little Toyota. I had a 06 Agila that could have easily been from the start of the 90s and although I liked it, the Yaris was just so much more refined, had better performance (even on the 1.0) and yeah, it's comfy and cosy to be in.
I'm currently rocking a mk1 Yaris Verso alongside a mk1 regular Yaris. The Verso is as Hubnut as it gets for a 'modern-ish' car I reckon. It's so clever and ahead of its time. Ian should review one or come look at mine and compare it to his Berlingo. I want to see his face when he works out what the interior light in the boot can do.
They're vanishing because the good ones still left have been snapped up to build into Formula 1000 Rally Cars, and the crusty ones have become disposable Autosolo cars. Thrash them till the body falls apart, strip the oily bits, which will still be good, and scrap the remains.
The scrappage scheme saw off plenty of nice examples, unfortunately.
FWIW Chops Garage has a nice automatic purple Micra which he bought recently and may well want to discretely sell on.... My only dislike on K11's is the weird shape of the instrument needles.
We had one for 14 years, very reliable and actually pretty spacious from what I remember. Was a Hollywood model of which only 40 left on the roads apparently.