<best make a brew for this and grab a couple of hob nobs.... I have rambled on a bit 
>
As you may have spotted in another thread, in a few days, we will no longer own our K13 Micra which we have owned for 11 years, and will be the first time since I started driving many (many!) years ago that I will not have a Nissan to my name or on the drive (I'm sure I have a rap sheet somewhere - I am more known for owning a P11 Primera SRi which I stripped out, bucket seat+ harnesses and BTCC touring car stickered up)!! Been a member on here (on this and its former setup) for, probably 20-odd years since I was rocking my mum's Micra after passing my test!
It will be a sad day to leave it behind when we go to pick up its replacement, having a car for so long, it starts to work its way into your life as a significant entity. It has seen us through the birth of our 2 kids, a (very stressful) house move, countless 'firsts' as well as saving a week away when my fuel pump failed on my Megane 4RS, amongst others.
Our goal was to get it over 10 years old and >100,000 miles.... we are just shy of the latter (96k), but the time is now right for us as a family to move on to something new. Yes, it was getting long in the tooth, but there was nothing particularly wrong with it other than age creeping in and it took some consideration and deliberation to part with it.
My lasting thoughts are.... dependable and very cost-effective over the long term! It has bearly caused us any grief under our ownership, collecting it for £8300 in Jan 2013 as an ex-Sunderland factory workers car, with the the only big bill we have had was £700ish on the belt tensioners about 3 or 4 years ago. Of course like all K13's, we have had suspension work every other year but when you take into account the £0 road tax, we somewhat saw the suspension as a sort of road tax! The supercharger whine will never get old and whilst the suspension has seen better days and would benefit from a refresh, it's still just about good enough for a hoon around country roads as well as able to keep up with motorway traffic (although it really could have done with a 6th gear!). In comparison, I both love and hate taking my Megane on the same winding roads due to how big the car is, whereas the Micra is small enough to not be an issue!
Why didn't we go for another Nissan despite my (and parents!) very long history as a Nissan owner? Simply put, they didn't have anything to offer! I had bad luck with a J11 Nissan Qashqai with the 'broken by design' 1.2 TCE engine and how they handled it which put a dent in my confidence with the brand and looking around, all marks now seem to be just as reliable as each other. For the first time, it's allowed my mind to 'reset' from a Nissan only mindset I have held for so long and look everywhere else with a level playing field (well, that sort of started that with the Megane, but I very much wanted a hot hatch something Nissan moved away from many years ago and any attempts were often lukewarm at best), and simply find the right car with the right spec that fits our needs (although, quickly discounting Ford once I worked out what a wet belt was!)
After looking at the K14, in my opinion, Nissan tried too hard with it, they tried to make it something it wasn't, possibly to try and appeal to the younger generation that Ford and VW have quite a grasp of with the Fiesta and Polo, and appeared half baked and lackluster compared to its direct competitors. I had not realised until recently that they had stopped making them some 12-18 months ago and likely be replaced with a full electric based on Renault's new R5 in a year or 2 (although nothing has been announced).
I did float the idea of getting another K13 DIG-S, but the newest we could find, however, that was shot down quite quickly. Whilst we have enjoyed our time with the K13, and has done us well, it no longer appeals to us enough.
I do regret getting rid of our Nissan Pulsar 1.6DIG-T when I traded it in for the Megane, despite it being a bigger car, the wife didn't seem to mind driving it and in hindsight would be been a good car to replace the Micra (At the time - I've had the Megane now ~3.5 years), wasn't a bad cabin to be in and the 1.6 DIG-T's was a good match. However, I would not touch another 1.2 DIG-T and the 1.6 very rarely comes up for sale. They also stopped selling them some years ago and we wanted something newer. The Juke is just a no, and the Leaf is an ell electric, we are not ready for it.
Overall, it's been difficult to find something to replace it with as it seems cars today seem to sacrifice rear legroom or are less than generous, something that is important to us as our lads start getting into their teenage years. We ended up buying 2023 Seat Ibiza 1.0TSI (110PS). It ticked all of the boxes and is the car my wife kept going back to when ever we were looking at alternatives - just enough features for a modern car, the right amount of space in the cabin and boot (it is an ever so slightly bigger car overall compared to the K13), ticked my box of having a minimum of 100hp and whilst it was still an eye-watering amount to spend, the cost was 'about right' not inexpensive, but not extortionate either. Bonus that it has a sportier suspension so for me at least, it keeps that small chuckable car vibe!
I hope my posts on here about our journey and knowledge dumps will continue to be useful to others.... I will probably stick around for a bit and help where I can, but without the car itself, i will soon drift away.
Sorry Nissan, you just don't cut it for us any more!
>As you may have spotted in another thread, in a few days, we will no longer own our K13 Micra which we have owned for 11 years, and will be the first time since I started driving many (many!) years ago that I will not have a Nissan to my name or on the drive (I'm sure I have a rap sheet somewhere - I am more known for owning a P11 Primera SRi which I stripped out, bucket seat+ harnesses and BTCC touring car stickered up)!! Been a member on here (on this and its former setup) for, probably 20-odd years since I was rocking my mum's Micra after passing my test!
It will be a sad day to leave it behind when we go to pick up its replacement, having a car for so long, it starts to work its way into your life as a significant entity. It has seen us through the birth of our 2 kids, a (very stressful) house move, countless 'firsts' as well as saving a week away when my fuel pump failed on my Megane 4RS, amongst others.
Our goal was to get it over 10 years old and >100,000 miles.... we are just shy of the latter (96k), but the time is now right for us as a family to move on to something new. Yes, it was getting long in the tooth, but there was nothing particularly wrong with it other than age creeping in and it took some consideration and deliberation to part with it.
My lasting thoughts are.... dependable and very cost-effective over the long term! It has bearly caused us any grief under our ownership, collecting it for £8300 in Jan 2013 as an ex-Sunderland factory workers car, with the the only big bill we have had was £700ish on the belt tensioners about 3 or 4 years ago. Of course like all K13's, we have had suspension work every other year but when you take into account the £0 road tax, we somewhat saw the suspension as a sort of road tax! The supercharger whine will never get old and whilst the suspension has seen better days and would benefit from a refresh, it's still just about good enough for a hoon around country roads as well as able to keep up with motorway traffic (although it really could have done with a 6th gear!). In comparison, I both love and hate taking my Megane on the same winding roads due to how big the car is, whereas the Micra is small enough to not be an issue!
Why didn't we go for another Nissan despite my (and parents!) very long history as a Nissan owner? Simply put, they didn't have anything to offer! I had bad luck with a J11 Nissan Qashqai with the 'broken by design' 1.2 TCE engine and how they handled it which put a dent in my confidence with the brand and looking around, all marks now seem to be just as reliable as each other. For the first time, it's allowed my mind to 'reset' from a Nissan only mindset I have held for so long and look everywhere else with a level playing field (well, that sort of started that with the Megane, but I very much wanted a hot hatch something Nissan moved away from many years ago and any attempts were often lukewarm at best), and simply find the right car with the right spec that fits our needs (although, quickly discounting Ford once I worked out what a wet belt was!)
After looking at the K14, in my opinion, Nissan tried too hard with it, they tried to make it something it wasn't, possibly to try and appeal to the younger generation that Ford and VW have quite a grasp of with the Fiesta and Polo, and appeared half baked and lackluster compared to its direct competitors. I had not realised until recently that they had stopped making them some 12-18 months ago and likely be replaced with a full electric based on Renault's new R5 in a year or 2 (although nothing has been announced).
I did float the idea of getting another K13 DIG-S, but the newest we could find, however, that was shot down quite quickly. Whilst we have enjoyed our time with the K13, and has done us well, it no longer appeals to us enough.
I do regret getting rid of our Nissan Pulsar 1.6DIG-T when I traded it in for the Megane, despite it being a bigger car, the wife didn't seem to mind driving it and in hindsight would be been a good car to replace the Micra (At the time - I've had the Megane now ~3.5 years), wasn't a bad cabin to be in and the 1.6 DIG-T's was a good match. However, I would not touch another 1.2 DIG-T and the 1.6 very rarely comes up for sale. They also stopped selling them some years ago and we wanted something newer. The Juke is just a no, and the Leaf is an ell electric, we are not ready for it.
Overall, it's been difficult to find something to replace it with as it seems cars today seem to sacrifice rear legroom or are less than generous, something that is important to us as our lads start getting into their teenage years. We ended up buying 2023 Seat Ibiza 1.0TSI (110PS). It ticked all of the boxes and is the car my wife kept going back to when ever we were looking at alternatives - just enough features for a modern car, the right amount of space in the cabin and boot (it is an ever so slightly bigger car overall compared to the K13), ticked my box of having a minimum of 100hp and whilst it was still an eye-watering amount to spend, the cost was 'about right' not inexpensive, but not extortionate either. Bonus that it has a sportier suspension so for me at least, it keeps that small chuckable car vibe!
I hope my posts on here about our journey and knowledge dumps will continue to be useful to others.... I will probably stick around for a bit and help where I can, but without the car itself, i will soon drift away.
Sorry Nissan, you just don't cut it for us any more!
