Another addition to the fleet!!

[Steve McF]

No, I haven't been acquiring any more Peugeot 107s, Ford Focus' or Saabs.

No 1 daughter, coming up to finishing uni after 4 years, decided she would need to look for her first car!!!

She's been sending me various car ads from autotrader, all based on her search filters for low road tax and cheap insurance. Earlier this week, she sent me an ad for a 15 plate Nissan Micra that was actually up the road in Coventry. She liked the look of this one, so I did a bit of digging: HPI check was all good, MOT history all good, it had just been MOT'ed and they fixed the advisories from the previous MOT. Car comes with 6 months warranty included and breakdown cover. And only got 67k miles on the clock.

She's still in Cardiff,the car is in Coventry, so we were asked to oblige in the 'going to have a look and a drive of the car' for her, before someone else bagged it.

We checked it all out - I did some research on what to check beforehand, and it was suggested to check all switches and electrics worked. They all did....but the a/c was not cold (and it was a hot humid day). They had regassed it after the MOT, but it definitely wasn't working now. So they said they'd get it checked out.

Took the car for a drive and it drove well for another 3 cylinder car, clutch good, gearshift good, engine nice and quiet. No nasty noises.

My son spotted some chipped paintwork on the roof above the windscreen - don't know how I didn't see it. Bit of a botched repair with what looked like some smooth Hammerite!!!  I couldn't negotiate them to fix that, but as the car is solid white colour, I think I can sort that after a visit to Paintstore for a colour matched aerosol.

So we've ended up going for it, and we might be picking it up tomorrow!!!

It's a pretty good spec to be honest. Aircon, alloy wheels, electric front windows, central locking, sat nav/touchscreen, bluetooth and......cruise control!!! And low mileage - although only part service history (but has just been serviced.and MOT'ed, new front brake discs and pads, new front lower arm, a/c sorted (hopefully), and comes with 6 months warranty and breakdown cover!).

So once we've sorted the road tax (£35), added it as a temp car on my insurance, I'll be trundling back to Warwick from the dealer's Leicester site tomorrow!!

And then my thorough checks at home, and sorting that paintwork will commence

[carrera]

Another car to learn about, new diagnostic software to acquire, all part  of life's learning

Pictures to follow ?

[sgould]

Good luck!

It's 14 years since we gave our old Saab 9-3 1.8t to our grandson in Leamington. His other grandfather had given him a nice shiny Nissan Micra for his 21st.  It had a "nice new MOT" from his local garage. The car failed its next MOT quite badly - no sills, no spring turrets!!  He was desperate for a car and we thought we could live with one car.  Within a few days we realised we needed two and she ended up with the 9-3 Carlsson.

[Steve McF]

Another car to learn about, new diagnostic software to acquire, all part  of life's learning

Pictures to follow ?

Absolutely  I've already managed to connect my Torque app and scan for faults, and there aren't any!!!! TPMS light was on on the dash though, but a quick check of tyre pressures revealed one tyre a bit low at the back, so I pumped that up, and voila, TPMS light went out 👍

Yes, I'm trying find out how to upload pics from my phone. Might need to do it from the laptop.

[Steve McF]

Managed to get a pic uploaded......

[sgould]

Looks tidy!

[Steve McF]

It's not bad at all. I'll try and get some more pics asap.

I've never been in one of these. I am assuming they were probably designed here (or perhaps back in Japan), but they were built in India, and it is definitely engineered to a budget, a bit like my 107. But it is bigger than the 107, with a bigger 3 cylindder engine (1.2), and this one at least has more of the tech stuff my daughter will appreciate!!

This one is an Accenta spec, which is normally Nissan's mid range model (our Qashqai is an Accenta too), and the other Micras of this model I have seen in Accenta spec don't have the satnav/CD player audio unit that this one has, so I assume first owner added that as an option. Bluetooth, USB and aux port too, as well as aircon/climate control (now working OK again), electric front windows, central locking, alloy wheels.

I have insured myself on it for a few days, by adding it as an additional car on my 107 policy for £23, so will use it to go to work this week and see how it feels. On the motorway/dual carriageways, it feels like there is a bit of a wheel balance issue somewhere, and the steering wheel is not quite on straight - presumeably following the replacement of one of the front lower arms, so I'll try and get those looked at this week.

I did a fault code check earlier, and there are no fault codes The TPMS light was on on the dash, but one tyre was a bit low on pressure, and once I pumped that up, TPMS light went out 

The car came with 6 months warranty, which we upgraded to 12 months for just another £99.

I had a bit of a look round and can see little bits of rust starting in a handful of areas, but nothing major. Being a white car it is easier to spot, and I have the Bilthamber Hydrate 80 to hand. At some point I want to get under the car and have a good look. I have stuck my head under the bumper/sills/wheelarches, and it seems OK, but you can't beat getting the car on ramps and crawling under to get a good butchers!!!! 

There is some paint damage on the roof just above the windscreen on the driver's side that has been touched up with what looks like Smoothrite, to protect the metal. I intend to go to Paintstore and get a colour matched aerosol and have a go at repairing that. Hopefully there will be enough left over to sort the other little spots here and there. I also need to refuyrb the headlightsa which are yellowing a bit - but I've already been through that process successfully on my son's Focus, so will use the same method.

The other challenge is how to get rid of that old mini cab smell in the car. Yes, it appears that the previous owner was a smoker, and whilst the car is clean inside (no cigarette burns or nicoteeen yellowing), there is an noticeable smell when you get in. I had something similar with my 9-3, and despite disinfecting the a/c over and over, and cleaning the interior, it never quite went away. I found some odour eliminator in amongst my car stuff, so have sprayed the headliner, seats, carpets and door trims - will see if that has any effect at all. I have also ordered a new cabin filter, and I have some a/c duct disinfectant foam/spray to try.

Or, I could look for some local valeter that can effectively sort the odour out....not sure how effective they are, and how much they cost. Has anyone else ever had to do this before? If so, did it work, and how much was it?

Already got a couple of ideas for other little upgrades - if my daughter can't insure/use it just yet, it'll sit in my garage, available for me to work on