thinking about buying Micra, guidance needed

elvis2002

My girlfriend has her eye on a micra. Had a look of it today. Its a 1998 edition, with 17000 miles on the clock. Does that sound realistic at all? Its the only point of the car that bothers me. 17000 miles just seems to be too good to be true tbh. Guy is looking for 4k for it, main selling point is the miles, as other Micra's from 1998 wouldnt be selling for 4k. But my gut is telling me something is wrong. I keep having the feeling the mileage is more like 117,000 miles.

Car also has alarm, sunroof, remote locking, air conditioning, and just a tape player.

Are the Mileage clocks on Micra's easily set??
Anything I should be looking out for particularly with Micra's ??

BrianD3

Has the car a service history? if the mileage is genuine a service history is a pretty good way of verifying it although it's not foolproof and many Irish cars have no service history at all....I wonder why

Also a 1998 car should have done the NCT several times by now. Ask to see old NCT certs. If the certs are "lost" I think you can get the NCT mileage data (maybe just for the most recent test) for for a fee from www.cartell.ie

ianobrien

If the milage is genuine, I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole. The milage is far too low. If the milage is 170,000, I'd go for it (max 400 euro!).

I got a car that had done about 1500 miles in the past three years, and I've had to replace the whole brake system, metal pipes included (I managed to reuse the brake pedal!), head gasket, wishbone bushings, exhaust, driveshaft gaiters and it's still not 100%!

We've put 160,000 miles on a 96 micra at home, and the things to watch are

1. Clutch. The clutch is small and will not take much abuse
2. Rear wheel cylinders. I had one set last 100,000 miles, and another last only 30,000 miles! (both Nissan parts)
3. The key is easy to bend
4. Bootlock can get stiff and break.
5. Waterpump can leak after 100,000 miles (it'll leave a stain on the drive under the car) If the loss of coolant is excessive, the car will overheat and the ECU will shut down the car (it happened to us!)
6. Rear anti roll bar bushings can wear and there will be a "knocking" sound from the rear of the car.
7. If the car has air conditioning, it's a UK import. Then check the sills, rear wheel arches, front cross member, etc for rust (they salt the roads over there)
8. Check if the Sunroof is a factory fit item (look for Nissan logos on the glass and winder handle). If not a factory fittem item, check for dampness in the interior.
9. Oil change every 6 months, or 5000 miles, or else the timing chain tensioner will not work properly (rattle from engine on startup that'll stop after a second or two)
10. Check the logo on the windscreen. If there is no nissan logo, it's been changed. If changed, check the windscreen surround for rust.

On another note, the figures in the odometer on our one never lined up from new, and after 160,000 miles, the corner of the clutch pedal was worn. The rest of the pedals were not worn! I spent a day cleaning the car and friends of mine in the motor trade could not believe that a car looking so good had such a high milage! Basically, they hide high milage well.

ianobrien

BrianD3 wrote:

Has the car a service history? if the mileage is genuine a service history is a pretty good way of verifying it although it's not foolproof and many Irish cars have no service history at all....I wonder why

None of our cars have full service history as the main dealer rates are crazy for stuff we can do ourselves at home (regular services). I admit that not many domestic garages have a pit!

BrianD3

ianobrien wrote:

If the milage is genuine, I wouldn't touch it with a 40 foot pole.

Depends on how it's been driven and maintained TBH. 17,000 miles on a 98 car is slightly under 40 miles per week. If that 40 miles consists of say 4x10 mile journies every week and the car has had yearly oil changes and maintenance then it could be a good car. On the other hand if the car has rarely been serviced, has never done a journey of more than 1/2 mile or has been sitting idle for weeks on end then it should be avoided.

Buying 2nd hand is always something of a gamble as you never know for sure how the car has been treated.

mickjohnlong

ianobrien wrote:

7. If the car has air conditioning, it's a UK import. Then check the sills, rear wheel arches, front cross member, etc for rust (they salt the roads over there)
.

could be a jap import if it has air con defo get it checked out but i have seen cars with that mileage on it and it checked out could of been a second car for bring the kids to school and back while the main car was been used to go work just be carefull and get it checked out

edit: same as what briand3 said

colm_mcm

lots of micras and yaris's have insanely low mileage.

Tipsy Mac

If it's 98 with air con its a Jap Import, milage should be completely discarded unless you can give the last owner a call and speak to him in Japanese about how she was

Ask to see the auction sheet from Japan, dealer won't show as she's clocked, case closed.

bazz26

Special editions of UK Micras may have had air conditioning too. Jap import will have the speedo/odometer in kph and rear large square number plate.

colm_mcm

.....and also won't be called a Micra