Faults:

Rust throughout the car, especially in the roof, bonnet, and possibly the rear chassis.

Alternator repeatedly drained the battery, partially due to the repair shop not checking the alternator function, despite being asked to.

Metallic paint fading badly on the bonnet, and doing little better on the rest of the car.

Brakes never worked properly.

Front left wheel out of alignment, causing vibration over about 105km/h.

Leak under back seat (possibly rust) filled the spare wheel well and back seat floor with water.

Oil hose broke, spraying oil all over the engine. Some smoke from exhaust pipe heating up oil, but no fire started.

Heater hose broke, but car ran well if it was kept filled up with water until it could be fixed.

Oil leak slowly drains oil.

Fuel gauge inaccurate.

Heater very poor.

Other minor wear and tear issues associated with a 21-year-old car.

General Comments:

Despite its problems, I love this car. Before I got it, it had sat in a field for more than a year, and before that the owner had not looked after it all that well. I put most of its problems down to this neglect. But it keeps on going.

The air conditioner is the best I've ever come across, the car is roomy in the front seats (not so much in the back), and is quite comfortable. It is also very nice to drive.

The car is also surprisingly quick for an older, small car with an automatic transmission. But it isn't particularly fuel efficient for a car of its size either, I find it extremely difficult to average less than 10 l/100 km, even when driven carefully and avoiding traffic, and can go as bad as 12 l/100 km when driven sportily or in traffic.

Sadly, because of the rust problem, and the fact that last year it went through A$1,000 in repairs (but $350 to a repairer that did not do their job properly and refused to refund the money), I will be getting rid of this car soon. It will be sadly missed.

My advice to anyone thinking of buying this car is to buy one that has been cared for. Mine was not, and it has deteriorated rapidly. But the fact that I still see many of these driving around, makes me sure that if mine had been looked after, it would have run almost forever.

Faults:

I have constant problems with overheating, and the fan kicks on at strange times, so I want to bypass it completely (to have on constantly, I live in a hot environment), but cannot figure out how its currently wired. Looks like a thermo sensor tells it it's, hot and kicks in the fan at a specific point. Been told to bridge this sensor out onto the negative on the car. Anyone help?

General Comments:

It's OK, overheats, primitive EFI, big power band in 3rd & 4th, handles poor in the wet and with weight in it.

The suspension sags, and the exhaust and sump sit too low.

Faults:

At 146ooo kilometers I had to replace my power steering pump.

General Comments:

That minor problem was the only problem I have ever had with this car since I got it. It is very reliable and never breaks down. I have driven very long distance with this car and performed spectacular for a 17 year old hatch.

Faults:

Where do I start?

Engine Computer x 4 (replaced by dealer trying to explain ECU light)

Air Conditioner x 2 (compressor failed, then hoses)

Dash Cluster x 2 (odometer stopped then tacho)

Radio x 3 (wouldn't scan stations, then wouldn't store stations then stopped altogether)

CV Joints x 2 (noisy)

Gearbox x 1 (rebuild)

Engine (rebuilt then swapped with another)

Power Steering (leaky)

Car Alarms x 2 (int. going off, stopping motor while driving)

Oil Lines from Gearbox to Radiator

Fuel Lines (Split)

Fuel Tank (Split)

Plastic Trim (broken)

Hatch (leaky)

Door Locks x 2 (won't lock)

Window Winders x 3 (break when closing window)

Seat Adjusters x 2 (1 seat dropped all the way back)

Lumbar Support Adjuster

Brake Calipers (loose causing clunk)

General Comments:

Hmmm.. What can I say... LEMON!

This car cost us time, money and heartache. Luckily we bought it from a (hard to deal with) car dealership. The car would be booked in for a day and would stay for upto 2 weeks, only for it to return back to the dealership only hours later with further problems. I wanted to keep the car as I thought it would be reliable when some of the "little" things were fixed. I bowed to the pressure and sold it for a Pintara.

When it went properly it was a wonderful car, being fuel efficient and having plenty of power for its size. The car was inspected by the motor association here and passed with flying colours (even though I found minor faults with lights etc).