Faults:

Car starts with difficulty and/or immediately stalls when cold. I have to press down slightly on the accelerator and hold it until the engine warms up (about 5 min.) in order to shift it into gear and drive without the engine stalling. However, it works normally if it has been driven less than 2 hours before.

Passenger side headlamp is cracked.

Oil leaks from the front axle on the driver's side.

Middle rear brake light burned out.

Engine vibrates excessively and surges when idling, causing the entire car to rattle.

Battery and battery terminals needed to be replaced.

Seats are badly worn. Believe me, you don't want to know what they look like underneath the seat covers.

Dashboard was wired incorrectly, causing some electrical problems. An after-market stereo system, which the previous owner told me had been incorrectly wired, was probably the source of the problem. When that was fixed, everything worked fine.

Both rear tires were severely worn and leaking air, so they needed to be replaced immediately when I purchased the car.

A piece of plastic behind the hazard light on the dashboard cracked off in my hand the last time I tried to turn it on.

A/C won't blow cold. When I last attempted to use it, the compressor just ate up gas.

Wiper blades were shot and smeared the windshield instead of clearing it.

Windshield is scratched.

Paint has small nicks and scratches all over the car.

The plate holder on the front bumper was missing, and it must've been cracked off, judging by what was left of it.

General Comments:

I know that's a laundry list of issues, but since I only paid US $760 for a car whose value is close to US $1500, I expected to have problems.

For everything that's gone wrong, it's been reliable enough for me to use it as an everyday commuter.

Surprisingly, there is no rust anywhere on this car after 16 years of use.

Fuel economy is above-average, which is a huge advantage at the pump the way gas prices are right now.

Reliability and durability are amazing. Even with everything listed wrong, the car still started and got me home, about 50 miles away from where I bought it. Half of those things still haven't been fixed, and the car still runs well enough to be a daily driver. This thing must be invincible when everything works properly.

Steering is excellent. The car turns on a dime.

Since it has been rewired by a professional, the after-market stereo system works great. With the way I play my music, I'm a little shocked that I wasn't able to blow out the stock speakers with it.

Performance is about average. It takes a long time to get from 0 to 60 mph, but once it's up to speed, it can have enough power to pass other cars from time to time.

The entire frame sits so low to the ground that driving over visible bumps in the road or on some driveways is a nerve-wracking experience.

Brakes are slow to respond after pressing the brake pedal.

Engine sometimes hesitates to accelerate after pressing the gas pedal.

Transmission slightly hesitates to shift from Park to Drive.

The automatic transmission displays hunting between gears when going uphill.

Fit and finish does not appear to have been a priority for this model. The interior is as stripped-down as possible, and the exterior (probably made of fiberglass) rattles when driving or closing the doors.

The lack of a rear wiper makes driving unsafe in bad weather.

I can't believe there's an even smaller spare tire for a car with 13-inch wheels. I didn't know that was possible.