Who else loves K11s?

[theshadow]

had a chance of a k10 body wise looked fine,1 owner,was well stuffed with tinworm,shite previous repairs..small hole on crossmember on k11 was fibreglassed over,than applied lidls finest red anti-rust ,than hammerite smooth red,tthe two plastic sheilds seem to promote rust,so i lobbed them,

[Fumbler]

They do indeed. I'm tempted to get rid of them as they hold in moisture from the other side of the crossmember. I only caught wind of the holes in mine because the shields were being pushed out by the rust.

[ETCHY]

Yeah those plastic bits a the end of the crossmember are a bugger for holding water against it.

I also never quite figured out where the drain holes in the sills were either on K11's. There's some rubber bungs but they never seemed to do much & proper drain holes weren't easily visible.

[bunglebus]

They've changed something in the Matrix

[jcr]

Bought this off Mr TheShadow today... it's brilliant! Thanks very much for the spares also - appreciated.

[Fumbler]

On 7/17/2019 at 4:45 PM, ETCHY said:

Yeah those plastic bits a the end of the crossmember are a bugger for holding water against it.

I also never quite figured out where the drain holes in the sills were either on K11's. There's some rubber bungs but they never seemed to do much & proper drain holes weren't easily visible.

I found the drains on mine. They're on the inner sill and are usually dry as a bone. This is because there is one per sill in the middle meaning all the water pools up at either end, hence having a hole in mine by the rear wheelarch. Natural pooling place of water thanks to the open seam.

14 minutes ago, jcr said:

Bought this off Mr TheShadow today... it's brilliant! Thanks very much for the spares also - appreciated.

And what a fine car that is!

[ETCHY]

48 minutes ago, jcr said:

Bought this off Mr TheShadow today... it's brilliant! Thanks very much for the spares also - appreciated.

Nice !

[leanycan]

I’ve had two. Brilliant little cars. The prices some people are asking for them is ridiculous. Find a good rust free one and you’ll have an appreciating classic on your hands. 

[Spiny Norman]

I was admiring that the other day, looks lovely.

I fitted new tooters to mine today.

 

[Spiny Norman]

2 minutes ago, leanycan said:

I’ve had two. Brilliant little cars. The prices some people are asking for them is ridiculous. Find a good rust free one and you’ll have an appreciating classic on your hands. 

I reckon they're just on the brink of their numbers being decimated. There are still lots of them around but go on the K11 group on FB and you'll see a hell of a lot of them getting scrapped or raced, changing hands for £100-£200.

They've lasted extremely well, but they're starting to be a less common sight on the roads. Still, given the newest ones are 16 years old like mine, that's not a bad innings.

[leanycan]

1 minute ago, Spiny Norman said:

I reckon they're just on the brink of their numbers being decimated. There are still lots of them around but go on the K11 group on FB and you'll see a hell of a lot of them getting scrapped or raced, changing hands for £100-£200.

They've lasted extremely well, but they're starting to be a less common sight on the roads. Still, given the newest ones are 16 years old like mine, that's not a bad innings.

To be honest I don’t think you are far wrong. It’s a shame. If there wasn’t as many rust issues with them there would a ton load more on the road. 

[Fumbler]

Some on AutoTrader look like a peach until you check their MoT history. It seems that, at a certain age and mileage, they'll decide to dissolve in all the wrong places. Over here the only K11s I see are K11C facelift models, apart from my car and an Uckfield commuter's. The rest are mainly from 2000-2002. For one I can physically see stonechip coating on the sills and better underneaths. For two they are quite young K11s as well so have plenty more life in them. However, I'm sure the story's different in other parts of the country.

[Spiny Norman]

This was my second one. Ultra basic equipment wise, even lacking things like a clock, trip meter and an intermittent wipe never mind electric windows or a sunroof.  Bought for £250-odd on eBay, I jumped on a train to Cumbria and drove it drove home fine.
I prefer the look of the pre-facelift cars if I'm honest but they've mostly all dissolved now and the ones that haven't are well into four figures, price wise.

 

[chris]

On 7/15/2019 at 11:10 PM, Lord Sterling said:

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.

the k12 would be fine without the renault leccy bits (avoid keyless entry models), and they don't rust. k13 err no the worst bits of both it looks bland and awful to drive. Made in india so build is cheap and nasty.

[ETCHY]

It is true that they're unfortunately starting to become a diminishing sight.

Another couple of bad winters & I reckon a heck of a lot will go. Scrappage schemes are starting to crop up too & that always has a detrimental effect on numbers of older cars.

The rustproofing on them was near non-existent & the dodgy sill drainage didn't help. It's a tribute to the little buggers that so many are still around - many owners have kept them going with welding repairs & people generally only bother with that on a car that's no trouble otherwise.

Great little cars, I still miss ours & it'll be a sad day when they're not seen bimbling around.

[drewd]

I spent some time this week going over the wife's K11 as she was complaining it wasn't running right.

I treated it to a new rotor arm, cleaned up the dizzy cap as the new one I bought didn't fit, and chucked on a set of leads I pulled off a car in a scrap yard last year as the ones on the car were the 19 year old originals. I also cleaned the IACV and it appears to be running fine again.

We bought this one based on the strength of the MOT history as it had never failed or had advisories for corrosion, and it's one of the last pre coilpack ones on a W plate. It was advertised as no running faults and FSH, neither were true but it was £350 on Gumtree.

It's done 60k miles and drives well enough, but it does have a dent in the side. Other than that it's had a service, front pads, a rear wheel cyclinder, a throttle body repair, a couple of tyres, a replacement rear bumper and rear light cluster as they were both cracked. Oh and a glove box catch. It's an old car and parts are cheap so I can live with that.

They're good little cars, easy to work on and easy to drive.

[drewd]

Re reading that list I've made the wife's one sound awful. It's actually not a bad car. It passed it's MOT in May after having a wheel cylinder replaced and the tester commented how solid it is for a K11, and that it's never been welded.

It's great around town and good fun on narrow country lanes, less happy at motorway speeds but can keep up with traffic easily enough. I can see why people like them.

[ETCHY]

42 minutes ago, drewd said:

Re reading that list I've made the wife's one sound awful. It's actually not a bad car. It passed it's MOT in May after having a wheel cylinder replaced and the tester commented how solid it is for a K11, and that it's never been welded.

It's great around town and good fun on narrow country lanes, less happy at motorway speeds but can keep up with traffic easily enough. I can see why people like them.

A K11 that's never been welded is I would imagine a rare beast these days. Might be prudent to Waxoyl it.

They do have a certain endearing character about them

[Spiny Norman]

Mine's never been welded, MOT history shows nothing more than the K11s only real mechanical weak spot, the brakes. Sticky calipers and knackered brake lines are really all it's ever failed a MOT on.

 

[Fumbler]

You definitely need a liquid undercoating with cars like these: stuff that doesn't crack after 5 years and makes the problems worse. I would kill for a pre-1996 model with the straight line grille. They look lovely in my opinion.

[drewd]

1 hour ago, ETCHY said:

A K11 that's never been welded is I would imagine a rare beast these days. Might be prudent to Waxoyl it.

They do have a certain endearing character about them

It's been on my to do list since it passed the MOT as there's some surface rust that could do with treating sooner rather than later. It's not been a priority as my wife is undecided as to whether to keep it or move it on and get something with a few more creature comforts such as central locking.

[Lord Sterling]

On 7/27/2019 at 4:19 AM, chris said:

the k12 would be fine without the renault leccy bits (avoid keyless entry models), and they don't rust. k13 err no the worst bits of both it looks bland and awful to drive. Made in india so build is cheap and nasty.

I didn't find the K12s thats bad to drive, neither did I the K13, though the latter feels a bit cheaper, it does seem popular. Both have thier good and bad bits about them. Of course the K10s and K11s are the real core Micras but again, I wouldnt turn down a cheap K12 or K13 for some cheap everyday wheels.