Spiny Norman Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 So yesterday I hopped on a train and went to pick up the 405's replacement, my third K11 Micra. I'm rubbish at collection threads and it wasn't that far away so the only 'en route' shot I have is of Stirling station as I left, heading further north to Dunblane. I love these wee cars and I'd decided after the first two Micras if I ever spotted a really nice one for sale at a good price I'd have it, even if I wasn't particularly needing to change cars, and when I saw this one on eBay on Thursday night with a BIN of £500 I pounced on it, phoned the seller and picked it up yesterday. It's a very late reg for a K11, I'm sure I've seen 52 plate K12s so it must be one of the very last off the line, I might do one of these VIN checker things to get a build date. Spec wise it's a 998cc Tempest with PAS, remote locking but keep fit windows. It's also got parking sensors on the back bumper. On a Micra... It's had two actual owners, being registered by Arnold Shark in Stirling before being sold to a little old dear who had it till she gave up driving, before being bought by the seller's missus. It's been well looked after, service history from day one, lots of bills for work done recently and it's one of the most rust free K11s I've ever seen. The arches are spotless, as is the crossmember which I assumed was a replacement when the seller showed me it, but it's the original one. The only spots of paint blistering are at the very back of one rear sill (TADTS- and it'll be getting fixed) and a wee spot round the boot lid handle. It drives like new, with only the customary wobbly gearshift due to the missing spring to detract from the tightness of it all. Enough waffle, time for some pics. This is it as I drove it home, I've now washed it and blasted the seats with a can of foaming goo which has improved their appearance quite a bit, once I get time I'll do a few better ones. davehedgehog31, dome, jumpingjehovahs and 19 others 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Who doesn't like K11s? I very nearly bought something similar but worse the other day. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F113814704295 Yours looks class. One of the last ones? Wiki says produced til 2002. Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loserone Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Nearly identical to Mrs L1'S old one, now in the car of Ms_Sterling. Getting rid of a 405 for one of these? They're dependable, but.. ? Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HillmanImp Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 GR11 CARZ. Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehedgehog31 Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 That looks magic. Fond memories of these, I had a purple one which done me well then lived on with a friends mother for another 80k. Tinworm is the only thing that gets them, so you've done very well indeed with this one! Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirley Knott Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Yup, I can't hide my love for K11's! I actually know little about them other than when I was coming of age in the late nineties pretty much everyone bar me drove one. Despite working as heavy goods fitter at the time and being involved in the motor industry they seemed modern/dull to me then and I never paid any attention to them. My best mate sold his with over 210k on the clock, covered in 'hot rocks' and deeply neglected all round but still running ok so they're clearly pretty tough. An anecdote I can share about them is that my MOT tester (He's a bit of a character) recently told me that he bought and sold literally hundreds of them back in the day, failing them for rusty crossmembers, buying/welding and re-selling. These days they look appealing, definitely would. Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 12 minutes ago, JoeyEunos said: An anecdote I can share about them is that my MOT tester (He's a bit of a character) recently told me that he bought and sold literally hundreds of them back in the day, failing them for rusty crossmembers, buying/welding and re-selling. Good on him for giving so many another couple of years on the road. Proper ECO motoring. Shirley Knott and Jim Bell 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumbler Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Me. I love them. I own one. I've seen a 53 plate one during travels and my village contains 02 and 52 plate Micras. 54 was the first year for the K12 Micra so these are fairly late! Yours even has less rust than mine, probably because they stonechipped the sills unlike on the original models. Apparently, a rusty crossmember on models with PAS will fail the MoT, whereas non-PAS models won't fail. Don't know how that works but still, it's a Micra, AKA win car. And you've got mudguards. And you have central locking. Very very nice. Slightly jealous. Father Fumbler owned one from 1994. Despite ragging it at ludicrous speeds to and from work, he could never get it below 40MPG. These are really economical little cars. Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Fumbler said: Despite ragging it at ludicrous speeds to and from work, he could never get it below 40MPG. These are really economical little cars. Aye, I generally hovered around the mid 40s in the first two I had. This one's the coilpack motor with a couple of extra bhps, it certainly feels a tiny bit more muscular on the motorway. People who've never owned one think they're slow, possibly due to the giffer ownership profile, but in town there's nothing faster away from the lights than a little K11. Lord Sterling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumbler Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Ludicrous fun at 40! Even with a 998CC engine! Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 The only thing they really don't do well is crash. This was my first one (bought off a mate on Facebook group) for £50. It was extremely tatty but I really wanted to see how long I could get out a £50 motor, and even spent more than double the purchase price when all it needed was a CV joint and a tweak on the headlamp alignment for an MOT, but it was all for naught when some bozo in a Cashcow pulled out a parking space right in front of me and stopped dead to do a U-turn in the middle of the road. I briefly tried to remember if I'd seen an ABS pump under the bonnet but the locked wheels on damp tarmac gave me the answer. It had looked like this before. mrbenn, HillmanImp, Jim Bell and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 Still, I'd got nearly 6 months out a car that had cost less than £200 including the MOT, and despite what looked like quite a severe bop on the nose I managed to wrestle the bonnet and slam panel into sufficient shape to knock around in it for a day or two afterwards. I only used it in daylight, honest.... privatewire, theshadow and Lacquer Peel 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom13 Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 Great cars. I went from a k10 to a k11 after a few years. Mine was a 998 and fast enough. Motorway was ok. But even my 1.2 k10 now cruises much nicer in my opinion. They handle well and are very tail happy as well on standard 13inch steels and you can initiate a drift without even using the handbrake on tight roundabouts in the wet for example. A cg13 two tone would be the dream though. I heard a story that the fireservice in my area used to (they may still do) use these for pumping water. They just run the engine flat out for hours then out it away until it's needed again. Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulplom Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 11 hours ago, Jim Bell said: Who doesn't like K11s? I very nearly bought something similar but worse the other day. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F113814704295 Yours looks class. One of the last ones? Wiki says produced til 2002. Does that mean your selling your vulva please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 49 minutes ago, paulplom said: Does that mean your selling your vulva please? Possibly man. Not really decided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeradoner Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 9 hours ago, Spiny Norman said: The only thing they really don't do well is crash. Im sorry but I have to disagree with you. They crash really well and keep on going. If you dont believe me ask The Dreamers banger racing team. Spiny Norman and Amishtat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 I just don't get them. K10? Hell yeah. I love the slabbiness of their design, the fact they weigh so little, and the fact they're so Japanese. In fact I'd go so far as to say that they're the first generation of J which is bulletproof, looks good (and timeless) and the build quality is along the same lines. They don't even tend to rot much. K11? None of the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 14, 2019 Author Share Posted July 14, 2019 55 minutes ago, primeradoner said: Im sorry but I have to disagree with you. They crash really well and keep on going. If you dont believe me ask The Dreamers banger racing team. Fair point, it drove perfectly well like that. Hadn't biffed the steering and once I'd pulled the crash bar and slam panel back into a vaguely straight shape, jumped up and down on the bonnet and cable tied it all back together it ran fine. It did make an awful mess for what felt like a light tap though. It was a grasstrack racer who bought it off me for £100, so I got back half what the car owed me. I hate having to scrap a car but the end-of-life racing brigade are far easier to deal with than the general public. Lad turned up on time, stuck it on his wagon, paid me the money and I was waving him goodbye after 10 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETCHY Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 Great little cars. The blue rinse image doesn't do them any favours but they're surprisingly brisk & fun to drive (if a bit wobbly in the corners) They just go on & on & have real character. Far better than the K12 that came after. Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dome Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 They're good but they're no Starlet? Spiny Norman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 23 hours ago, dome said: They're good but they're no Starlet? You may well have got a message about that if this hadn't popped up. Anyway, there's one or two minor bits needing doing to it, a couple of mechanical jobs that might well end up being the local garage's problem since I CBA grubbing around underneath it to fit a new gear selector spring, but the type of jobs I like are the cosmetic ones so today I set about the horrible grey plastic trim and was well chuffed with the results. Citrus degreaser for a bicycle followed by silicon spray, if anyone's curious. Lord Sterling, robinmasters, Lacquer Peel and 4 others 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Looks much smarter man, well done. Spiny Norman and mrbenn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshadow Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 just moted mine today,advise only smoll hole front crossmember,excellent on the emissions,even thou its done 127,000,will waxoil soon,... Jim Bell and Spiny Norman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sterling Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Oooh dear, love K11s with a passion. Have 2 of them and am seriously thinking of getting for my actual self. Ma's crashed one. It still runs and drives. Nearly taxed it just to use it to get to work and back when things got (and still are) tough. The Blue Micra is a tough old thing. It survived me and my ragging it as a yuuuffff. It survived me crashing it into a stationary car and its survived being crashed into recently by a BINI and punted into a Zafira taxi. Needs regigging and boot floor pulling back. New bumpers and a bonnet. Have this waiting in the car. Sis_Sterling's (and formally Mrs L1s) Micra Tempest. 998cc of pure fun. Trying (and failing) to negotiate using this for work commute. Due to be going to the Isle of Wight soon. The Blue Micra was a resident on there for a bit. Sis_Sterling doesn't actually hold a driving licence yet so Ma is using it a station and shopping car at the moment. It rarely leaves Birmingham. loserone, HarmonicCheeseburger, Spiny Norman and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marm Toastsmith Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Yeah, I love them. Actually a K11 is probably the car I most want in the world right now. I've never had one. There are still absolutely loads on the road round my way, although they come up for sale less frequently than they used to, Weirdly I actually prefer the styling of the 5 door version - it's quite unusual for that to be the case. Had use of a K10, that was pretty great too. What about the K12? Are they any good? They're getting to be about the same price these days and the styling has grown on me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sterling Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 13 minutes ago, marm said: Yeah, I love them. Actually a K11 is probably the car I most want in the world right now. I've never had one. There are still absolutely loads on the road round my What about the K12? Are they any good? They're getting to be about the same price these days and the styling has grown on me... K12s aren't that bad. They feel like a spacious Renault Clio 2 with a better, more direct driving position. But they don't feel as robust as the K11. They have even turned my eye. But survival rates don't seem to be as good as the Micra K11s. It's strange to see some sitting on driveways with moss growing on/around them or in such a scruffy state as many seem to be these days. Have also driven the K13. Nice car, a mixture of K12 styling and a bit of K11 robustness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiny Norman Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 A friend had a K12 and while he reckoned it was a good car it died a premature death due to the failure of some horribly expensive electrical part that scuppered numerous electrical functions. That's exactly why I prefer early 90s - tech cars. theshadow and Marm Toastsmith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumbler Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Brother Fumbler had a K12 courtesy car. Probably not the best example with a sticking throttle and vague steering. The family's really only had K11s so I obviously had to follow suit! theshadow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 just need to read up on the K12 steering issue , to realise its a big expensive fix with new parts because the old ones are "married" to the car , ruling out the use of donor parts .. then there is the K12 cam chain .... another expensive fix ..... and also given a big swerve by our local garage who decided to move over to rebuilding C1's and Aygo's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorRetro Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Would rather have a K10, but prices are on the up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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