1993 Nissan Micra 1.3 LX review from Netherlands

(My native language is Dutch, since I'm from the Netherlands. So please ignore or change any spell errors which I'll probably make ;) )

- Bought it with badly worn clutch, let a Nissan dealer replace it. I cannot tell why the clutch was in such a bad shape, but after 188,000 km (116 817 miles) it's not an unusual problem.

- Front beam (below radiator) was in bad shape. I let the Nissan dealer replace it, this was also necessary for the Dutch MOT. This problem could have been solved easily, but because the previous owner knows nothing about cars this didn't happen and the problem got too bad to solve easily.

-catalyst cap started to rattle at certain speeds, easy fix. I mean the one under the car, the second catalyst.

-All kinds of rattles in the dash, fixed easily using tie-wraps to re-fix the brake lines etc. under the hood. After the years the plastic joints keeping the brake lines etc. in place become loose.

The car always runs, also with low temperatures. For example on my ski holiday in the Czech Republic after a week on the parking lot. The car started effortlessly with a temperature in the morning of only -14 degrees centigrade (7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Reliability is perfect, even after 198.500 km (123 342 miles) everything is still working. From the blower to the rear window heating, you name it, it works. No rust is showing on the outside of the car. The paintwork is still "shiny". I had to fix some problems on the inside of the door on the steering-side however. (my version is left-hand drive) There is a piece of foam inside the door, which catches the window when you turn it down. This piece of foam started to collect moisture, and thus the underside of the door started to rust.

Since I have the 1.3 LX version the car is quite fast for it's size. It only weighs 800 kg, but has 75 HP (56 KW) of power. This means it handles quite well on the motorway, better than the 1.0 version which a friend of my has. The engine is smooth and revvy, but also economical when you drive easily. Fuel consumption varies from 13 (36.72 GB mpg) to 16 (45.2 GB mpg) KM per litre depending on the type of traffic and the weather.

I live about 20 km from the German border, and so I have easy access to the autobahn. I tried the car on the autobahn and it effortlessly reaches 160 km/h (about 100 mph) and it can go even faster, but than the car becomes uncomfortable. Quite nice for a little Nissan Micra.

Affordability is also a good point. As it is quite expensive to own a car in the Netherlands because of taxes, it costs me only about 27 euro/month for insurance and road tax to own it (that's about 18,1 pounds). The maintenance is relatively cheap, because it doesn't need much and never breaks down. Since I'm a student and it's my first car, this is great.

There is only one downside, the image. Almost all people in The Netherlands driving a Nissan Micra are old, very old. It's known here as a old woman's car. (this seems to be the case in most countries) However I don't care, I like my reliable Nissan Micra!