Faults:

Universal joints

Bushes in starter motor

Plastics cracked due to sun

Paint flaking

Water pump

Battery Terminals.

General Comments:

Very reliable car for a first buyer

Easy to work on

Fuel Consumption: ~7L/100Km (hwy driving)

The coupe gives the car a "sports car" look (without the performance)

Cheap to run (fuel and insurance)

Starts first time even in -10c frosts.

My first car, bought for $800 still going strong.

Faults:

Blown engine.

Blown diff.

Broken engine mount.

Crashed into a tree.

Heater didn't work although I am very lazy at changing fuses.

General Comments:

I only knew this car for a short time however we had an instant bond. When I took delivery of it a friend of a friend (the previous owner) had tried to kill it for about two years without success.

The body was in terrible condition thanks to a screwdriver that had been punched through every panel on the car.

I used the car for my CAREER as a pizza boy for about three or four months during which time I gently drove into a tree one night sustaining non fatal damage. OH yeah... ALL pizza boys really do drive like maniacs all the time.

I only ever remember filling the pathetically small fuel tank a few times in four months.

It was quite good mechanically with the exception of the diff which was already on the way out and due to stupid burnout antics I quickly blew it up.

I seized the engine by not checking the oil often enough.

If I actually had a mechanically sympathetic bone in my body my little car would have lasted a very long time indeed.

On the positive side it was only $500 to buy, the new diff cost $80 from a friend and I didn't put much petrol in the tank over it's time with me. It was also a fun little thing to drive, always happy to rev until valve bounce cut in or the steering wheel shake got too bad at around 170 km/h. No really that's what the speedo said.

After the engine died the car was broken into whilst sitting under a tree out the front of my house causing me to get upset and GIVE THE CAR AWAY!! I don't think anyone would have payed me to take it off my hands anyway.

It was rough, cheap, basic, dangerous, uncomfortable, reasonably reliable and a lot of fun. Given a chance though I would definitely buy another. It served me well at the time and I get the same silly grin on my face now just thinking of it, as I did when driving it as a pimply faced teen.

Faults:

What hasn't gone wrong? Let's just look at two incidents:

Boiling green water:

An incident that stands out is when the heater core plumbing leaked. Hot coolant spewed throughout the cabin as though a sprinkler was on. Apart from minor burns, totally ruining my slack suit, and lots of inconvenience, there was a short circuit in the electrical system, which resulted in the horn sounding continually with a ominous electrical burning smell being emitted from somewhere inside the dash.

Rust:

As I am a caterer, and am continually on-the-go with delicacies destined for some of Sydney's most exclusive parties, I decided I liked the look of the coupe model; its huge lift back and sleek styling really appealed to me. A pity I didn't realise that this area is prone to rust. It had eaten through the back end of the car, and it was only after I had some people complain about my quiches, that I discovered that they had been eating rust as well as my delicacies. I mean that's really shocking.

General Comments:

My car has space for the kids, the shopping, the pets, as well as being comfortably cool all year round. When I bought the 120 it had this really great little fan attached to the top of the dash that blows air. Keeps me cool all year 'round (takes Datsun to think of that).