Faults:

There were some major rust spots in the wheel arches and on the floor, and minor rust spots almost everywhere.

Clutch cable broke at 280.000 km.

General Comments:

My first car, so I have only good memories! I got it even before I got my license, and it drove great! The only problem was rust, which was appearing everywhere. I drove this car for one year and a half, after which I got my dad's old Renault 19.

Now, five years later, I am driving a Mercedes E-Class, but sometimes I still miss my old Opel Kadett...

Faults:

The only real trouble I had was a broken accelerator cable, for which I had to call in the road assistance, because I forgot to take my toolbox with me.

A cooling hose started to leak because of age. Took me more time to get to the parts store by bicycle than the replacement itself.

The light bulbs in the dashboard went out, also because of age.

I replaced the front shock absorbers, which relieved the feeling of sea-sickness when driving on bumpy roads.

What finally killed the car, was rust. I had already done welding on the front suspension mounts and the bottom sills, but the wheel arches rusted tremendously and when the bottom started to rust as well (the passenger floor got wet when it was raining), it was time to say goodbye.

General Comments:

It was my first car, I bought it when I was a student.

There is virtually nothing what can go wrong on this car and should anything go wrong, you can fix it yourself with simple tools. It is amazing how accessible all mechanics are. If you look under the hood, there's so much space, you can almost mount a second engine!

The car was designated "Luxus", this meant there was a clock and a windshield wiper with interval setting. However, I could not find anything else what could be called luxury, as the car is extremely basic. On the other hand, there isn't really much what can break down.

There is a lot of space, due to the boxy, square design of the car. Fold away the rear seats and you'll be surprised how much you can carry.

The 1.2 liter OHV engine is not very powerful (54 bhp) and definitely not fuel-economic (drinks 9 liters of leaded 98 RON every 100 km), but unbelievably reliable. It never let me down.

Faults:

The car is very reliable, but one time the engine was full of petrol due to a small error in the carburettor which was solved in no time.

Also the bottom of the car had some bad spots before I started to drive it.

General Comments:

This car is not a really quick car, but it isn't slow either; it's quicker than other 1300cc cars in its class. In spite of the fact that this engine only develops 60 HP, a well fitting gear-box delivers a lot of driving pleasure.

The handling of the car is really nice; it has a quite good traction, but above all it is very predictable. Due to this the car is all so really easy to correct.

But probably the strongest aspect of this German "legend" is the reliability; except the one time the engine was filled with petrol, the car has never let me down, not even in extreme cold or foggy weather.

Faults:

Nothing special. Sometimes problems with engine running while stationary when the weather is cold and wet. Engine tends to stop very often until it reaches its normal operating temperature. This is most probably an electronic problem. This problem hasn't been solved yet.

General Comments:

Front tires and shock absorbers need to be replaced more frequently than usual. 1.8 motor gives good performance, but fuel efficiency is rather low (about 11 l per 100 km). Steering when parking the car requires strong arms! Rust problems in various places.