One of my pupils has her own car, Old style nissan micra, we went out for a driving lesson in it today... and oh, dear....

started with the smoking..... i asked if it normally smoked and smelled of burning oil..... (i'd never been in the car before..)

'no' she says.....

Have you checked the oil and water recently?

'er.... how do I do that?' ....

the smoke got worse.... temperature started to go up...... rattling noise from the top of engine.... (no oil left I thought..) power loss (drastic power loss) engine stopping when clutch depressed (changing gear)

at which point we stopped.....

ah well... 106,000 miles on the old girl (and about 18 years!) and it gave up!!

it was a "mini" adventure.......

Any idea what the problem was? We had a few Micra's that all took a lot of abuse (2 people learning on them) and hit 100k in under 3 years and they were indestructible!

Chris

mmm, that old model was a favorite of driving schools because it was so reliable....

i think it was terminal... we got it going again when it cooled down, put some more oil and water in it, but it had gone from running fine to dead within about 5 miles....

second time it stopped, we couldn't get it started... didn't seem to be any compression to me.... it wasn't smoking like a blocked breather, it was smoking in a "police will pull you up" kind of way..... :(

seemed alot more serious than a head gasket or anything like that, there wasn't a 'bang' or anything though... just seemed to suddenly deteriorate after a few miles...... we stopped as soon as it was safe (we were on a 60mph a-road, so had to keep going to a safe turn off area....)

I guess I'll find out her next lesson (in my car this time!) but I think they'll just scrap it and get another old runabout.... not really worth repairing things that old and chaep ..

I dunno, I bought i fiesta for

mmm, that old model was a favorite of driving schools because it was so reliable....

Out of interest, what's the word on Instructor Street about the reliability of the newer models?

Rob.

Out of interest, what's the word on Instructor Street about the reliability of the newer models?

Rob.

the latest ones are reliable, apart from the clutch... seems to wear out every 30k.....

(my vRS did 80k of driving learners, and the clutch still felt as good as new..)

otherwise, still popular...

most reliable for driving scools seems to be the toyota yaris..... basically indestructable!

The clutches do seem to be quite "sharp" on them, wonder if that helps contribute to the quick wear.

Good to hear the new ones are reliable though... Especially as I've just bought one...

Rob.

SWMBO has had a 1.5 dCi micra SX for 3 and a half years and 44,000 miles and it has been pretty much faultless. Does 62mpg all the time and is surprisingly quick.

The smoked perspex headlamp covers were replaced under warranty as UV got to them but that's about it.

It's now being sold to cover the deposit on her new vRS

The clutches do seem to be quite "sharp" on them, wonder if that helps contribute to the quick wear.

Good to hear the new ones are reliable though... Especially as I've just bought one...

Rob.

You seem very keen to announce that to all and sundry.:P

You seem very keen to announce that to all and sundry.:P

Well, it's to replace the smart so butchness (or lack thereof) wasn't an issue.

Though that said, it was the Micra or this:

I stand by my decision...

Rob.

Micra C+C perhaps....................

Nah, couldn't afford a C+C.

Er, not that I'd have bought one even I could...

Rob

Tell me it's not pink Rob, please.......

( Although I have my doubts about you:D )

No offence intended of course love.

They only did pink on the C+Cs AFAIK - mine's a more masculine sounding "Blade Silver"...

Rob.

Atleast its not "Spakling Silver" like the Produa Kelisa.

Though that said, it was the Micra or this:

I cringe every time I see that pic LOL