Hi everyone , first post here although been registered since God knows how long. 

Just bought a Micra k11 Activ 1.4 2001 , 87k from an elderly gent.  Few bits and pieces need doing, nothing major. 11 months MOT. Paid for it , took the logbook and receipt signed by the owner saying I paid for it. 

I had to leave the keys with the owner as he had a lot of stuff to take out and I was very late for work. 

The car is an hour away from me and arranged to pick it up in a few days. 

Got a call from him today saying he used the car ( he shouldnt have ) and the exhaust has gone. It did have a slight leak when I bought it. He's now saying it's very loud and not really driveable and his brother in law who is a mechanic is advising him to scrap the car. He's offered me my money back by bank transfer ( although I have lost a bit of time and money in fuel costs , Dartford crossing fees etc) then I will send him back the V5 / log book by post. I said I will call him back tomorrow as I was working when he called. Afaic it's my car now , although as I said , he has the car outside his place and the key. 

I'm really not sure if he is telling the truth as he said when I looked at the car he had a lot of interest in the car, which im sure was true, I just got their first , a matter of hours after it was first advertised. It wasn't expensive at all , not much more than the scrap price.

I'm wondering if he has had a substantially better offer for the car from someone else.

It does have some corrosion on the roof and higher up on the vehicle from birds poo that was left for a long period of time and ate away at the paintwork but seems solid on the doors and sills and has passed the MOT without any fails or advisories for the last seven years which does make me suspicious as his brother in law does all the work on the car and works at or owns a local garage. The drivers door window keeps coming off the runner and the e/ window switch has been disconnected so it can't be used. A couple of other jobs to do but nothing major. The interior is lovely , , in very good order. 

My question(s) are : 

Is this model rare these days ? Is it worth anything ? 

I didn't even know it was a 1.4 Activ until I was there and about to buy it.

Do I have the right to decide if I want to keep the car?  He is saying it's better he scraps it and gives me my money back.  

It's a long way for me to go just to check if he is telling the truth but when I suggested rather than he send me my money back by bank transfer and I post him the log book back , I go there to his and get the cash back and give him the log book back by hand ( I can then check to see if the exhaust really is that bad ) he was against the idea saying the first way is better as it saves me making a long journey. 

I will have to speak to him later today and not sure it's worth spending the time sorting out the bits on the car and fighting to get the car. I was half and half I had my made the right decision buying it as I don't have much time or mechanical knowledge to do most of these repairs. Just depends if the car is sought after and worth anything as to whether I insist on the keys and taking the car. 

Any advice on the above would be appreciated asap. 

 

 

If I were you, I would get a refund and walk away as far too many alarm bells ringing on this one and loads of work to do on the car.
They are not that rare, although to find one in really good condition is worth buying and possibly hanging onto as a future classic