Car's For Mum...

Tesla · 17 Jan 2006 at 23:45

Mum's little old Micra is showing it's age and me and Dad were going to fit new brakes all round but the car is a bit rotten underneath so we have decided not too and are going to get Mum something newer.

The car is pretty abused so we have decided against new and gone for more budget.

I think about £2k is what they want to spend but are prepared to consider anything within reason.

This is literally on the door step so they are going to look at this:
http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WW...category=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200602220873366

That was my recommendation and it seems a load of car for the money. Mum wouldnt want anything bigger than that size of car.

Things like electric windows, remote central locking, air bags and possibly air con would all be welcomed upgrades as the Micra has none of that.

Morba · 17 Jan 2006 at 23:56

mondeo?

agw_01 · 18 Jan 2006 at 00:02

Tesla said:
This is literally on the door step so they are going to look at this:
http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WW...category=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200602220873366

That was my recommendation and it seems a load of car for the money. Mum wouldnt want anything bigger than that size of car.

Haha, I knew it! You've got the Rover bug

Didn't know the Si's came with leather interior though... thought it was only the Vi's and iS's.

In fact, that even has the iS alloys...

rG-tom · 18 Jan 2006 at 00:03

morba, tesla is one of the biggest mondeo enthusiasts on here after fox, if one fit the bill i'm sure he wouldn't have even asked

OP blatantly says the 214 is pretty much upper limit sizewise so im afraid mondy is out

Tom.

[TW]Fox · 18 Jan 2006 at 00:09

Don't forget to buy some spare headgaskets, alternatively you could go for something that will be 100% reliable and trouble free - go for a K11 Nissan Micra.

agw_01 · 18 Jan 2006 at 00:14

Actually, that's a good point.

Pre 96 engines were mostly dry-liner and thus weren't as prone to HGF as the post 96 engines which were a wet-liner (hollow block).

Saying that, it's passed 25-30k which is when they normally go on the wet liner blocks.

Apart from the head gaskets, you can't go wrong with a 1.4 16v K-Series. I can't stress this enough but I ******* LOVE mine

<3

Morba · 18 Jan 2006 at 00:49

rG-tom said:
morba, tesla is one of the biggest mondeo enthusiasts on here after fox, if one fit the bill i'm sure he wouldn't have even asked OP blatantly says the 214 is pretty much upper limit sizewise so im afraid mondy is out

Tom.

clearly my comedy option wasnt noticed

hell, all we keep being told is people shouldnt be scared of larger cars

moss · 18 Jan 2006 at 00:59

[TW]Fox said:
Don't forget to buy some spare headgaskets, alternatively you could go for something that will be 100% reliable and trouble free - go for a K11 Nissan Micra.

I'd have to agree 100%, the only thing to look out for is the sills rusting at the rear.
The micra doesnt come with a great deal of kit, but £2k should get a nice one and it'll never let you down.

I work in a motorfactors and I sell a silly amount of k-series head gaskets, at least 10 times more than any other.

agw_01 · 18 Jan 2006 at 01:03

It's a shame about the K-series. It's not an engine fault, it's actually to do with the positioning of the thermostat which causes the head to change shape periodically when fitted to a wet liner block.

Cool water from the raditor rushes into the block and causes hot-spots in the engine which eventually causes the beading along the gasket to wear out which causes the HGF.

Rover changed to steel dowels later on which did help reduce HGF's but didn't cure the problem totally.

A real shame, as the K-series is a good engine otherwise.

thedazman67 · 18 Jan 2006 at 02:33

Why the purple cloth on the seats of all colours rover chose purple.

thedazman

Zefan · 18 Jan 2006 at 03:03

RX7. Wankel > *

:edit: Just realised, too pricey anyway

vanpeebles · 18 Jan 2006 at 08:33

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-DAIHATSU...605551784QQcategoryZ30164QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

tell them to look at that, air con, leccy windows, power steering, plus a crisp 102bhp 1.3 engine. far better than a micra!

Tesla · 18 Jan 2006 at 08:58

I thought the Rover HGF was a misconception blown out of proportion? Doesn't sound like it

Slime101 · 18 Jan 2006 at 09:07

Tesla said:
I thought the Rover HGF was a misconception blown out of proportion? Doesn't sound like it

It is!

The HGF really doesnt affect the 1.4 anything like it does on the 1.8 - which is the engine they fitted to the MGF, the car which suffers the most failures.

A 1.4 will be fine.

[TW]Fox · 18 Jan 2006 at 09:16

Tesla said:
I thought the Rover HGF was a misconception blown out of proportion? Doesn't sound like it

'The K Series head gasket issue is a misconception, they are very reliable engines!'

austinpowers · 18 Jan 2006 at 09:30

I had a 214sli has a company car in 95, the hg on that was fine it was the gearbox that gave up on me..

agw_01 · 18 Jan 2006 at 10:29

[TW]Fox said:
'The K Series head gasket issue is a misconception, they are very reliable engines!'

Like I said, the engines are very very reliable. It's the placement of the thermostat which causes the HG problems.

And what Slime101 said is true as well. The 1.8 blocks are bored out wet-liners and suffer from more HGF's than any other K. The 1.4's are pretty bullet proof as long as you look after them.

moss · 18 Jan 2006 at 10:44

I still seem to sell loads of headgaskets for 1.4 Kseries, infact i'd say I sell more 1.4 and 1.6 hg's than the 1.8's.

willd58 · 18 Jan 2006 at 11:30

Id agree with the K11 micra, amazing little lady's cars.
Allthough im actually quite impressed with the Daihatsu suggestion, i dont know anything about them.

vanpeebles · 18 Jan 2006 at 11:38

smashing little cars, the engine is one of the best small engines out at the moment. its also used in turbo charged form in the yrv turbo, thats 130 bhp and soon to be coming out in the new daihatsu x4, that will push 180 bhp! daihatsu also developed the engine for use by toyota in the yaris.