My wife is interested in buying a 2-owner, 2008 Micra 'Acenta' 16 valve, 1.4 petrol manual car that has FSH and a very low mileage of approx. 37,000, so I thought I'd come here to ask if they're any good. The car is for sale locally, so we can view and test-drive it without difficulty. The MOT history is almost flawless, with just a few tyre and wiper blade 'advisories'.

What issues can arise with this model? Is it a reasonably safe used buy at that age and mileage? The Parker's and What Car? on-line reviews are generally positive, but it's always best to seek the views of people with long-term 'real world' ownership, I think.

My mum had a 2005 model that was bought new, and I remember being very impressed by the build quality and ease of driving, but apart from the clutch going at a mere 3,000 miles, it needed three batteries in two years. At the time, I'd put this down to lack of use, but I've been reading some very worrying articles lately about the immobiliser draining the battery and other issues that can only be fixed with software upgrades and / or many hours of expensive troubleshooting. I've also read that the rear hatch can let rainwater in - a rainwater leak that's so far proving impossible to trace has caused several problems on my wife's Fiat Punto, which would be fine otherwise, so if this is a common issue, we'll probably look for something else - but we'd rather not as the Micra ticks a lot of boxes.

Also, does anyone here have a link to an easy-to-read service schedule for this car? - I'm not having much luck there - only finding huge workshop manuals!