Well it looks like my tintop is going to the scrappy in the sky....
My 11 year old Micra is reaching the end on the basis that

1) the tyres are knackered
2) the clutch is knackered
3) the idle air valve is knackered (heel + toe braking when cold to keep the revs up else it stalls- yey!)
4) the bodywork is dented
5) the front bumper is cracked
6) the offside CVJ is clacking like a pair of castanets
7) the sills are rotting and require regular welding to get through MOT
8) the paintworks peeling
9) the front brake discs are wafer thin
10) it needs a full service including timing chain change

other than that it's all good
and the rear seat is in as new condition

As much as I love the car (had it since new) the time and effort involved in doing all this is stupid (there's not much worth saving on the car- I think the hifi is the best thing!!)...

So I'm looking at "upgrading" to something more family friendly (assuming my nuts aren't pickled by beer already and I'm able to do the deed with the seed)....

I'm looking @ a '02 HONDA Accord 1.8i VTEC Sport but it's insurance group 9.... (I think my micra is 3!)

Does that make much of a difference to the premium? I'm paying about £300 (protected no claims) at the moment which seems good...

Any Locostbuilders owned one of these cars with feedback?

I test drove one and did like it. Found it a little slow but was coming from a Subaru Impreza WRX as my tintop at the time. I bought a Peugeot 406 Coupe instead and really regret selling that car - it was better handling than the Scooby!!

As to the insurance - its so variable that you are best just calling your existing insurance provider for a quote to upgrade, and also run a quote on one of the comparrison sites. Try http://www.moneysupermarket.com/motor/ - always seem to give the cheapest quote for me of the similar sites.

Paul

Anything is faster than a Micra

Good idea re the comparison sites. I wondered about ringing my insurer but they ask so many stupid questions nowadays it seemed a waste if it was going to be OTT.... Off to moneysupermarket I go....

The comparison sites only show the companies who subcribe to them. Try Performance Direct and Adrian Flux.

Well the good news is that even just using the ones on moneysupermarket there is a premium which is only about £60 more than the premium for my Micra