Faults:

Thermostat stuck (due to my lack of maintenance), causing the head gasket to blow at 122,000 miles.

Air conditioner stopped working at some point... probably because I never used it, since I almost ALWAYS have the top down.

Timing belt at 90,000 miles. (Again, due to my lack of maintenance.)

Original top replaced in 2005 at 133,000 miles.

Back windows stopped rolling down recently, and the front passenger side is getting REALLY slow. (Common problem, especially at this age, and in the Florida coastal climate.)

Reupholstered the driver's seat when the top was replaced. (My 225-pound frame wore it out.)

General Comments:

Despite the head gasket issue, this has been one unbelievable car. The Brazilian-made engine has been put to the test, since I do NOT drive this car easy. Very peppy, good gas mileage. When I left her sitting for a couple of months, she got a little cranky on me, but a tune-up brought her back to life.

It took me six months, but rather than pay the $1250 for a head gasket replacement at the shop, I paid $225 for a remanufactured, warrantied cylinder head and changed it myself. It's a fairly easy car to work on. While I had her disassembled, I changed ALL the belts, hoses, and re-insulated all the wiring. I swear she has more pep NOW than she did when I bought her. (Possibly due to the slightly increased compression, due to the shaved (re-manufactured) cylinder head.

GREAT sky blue paint job on this car. I've waxed it maybe 4 times since I bought it, and never been garaged. I live on the gulf coast of Florida, and the salt air tends to erode paint jobs rapidly, but this one still SHINES.

This car is also good for tall people (I'm 6'2"), because the seats are low in the car.

Faults:

Well, the only thing that's gone wrong with this car since I bought it was about a month ago when I'd driven to British Columbia (that's a 2000k+ round trip drive) and the brights quit, they didn't work at all.

I had a mechanic look at it after I'd purchased it so I knew what the scoop was. For a 14 year old car it's in amazing shape. The rear brake lines will need to be replaced within this next year, it needs a tune-up soon, and the serpentine belt will need to be replaced as well. I was quite impressed.

Now, the dash padding has started to come loose around the gauge panel and the AC/heater controls, but that's something I can fix on my own, so I'm not overly concerned about it.

General Comments:

For what I paid for this car and the lack of repairs I've had to put into it I think I got one heck of a bargain.

Talk about fun to drive too, for a 4 cylinder it has a nice kick to it and one can't complain about the fuel economy these days. Fantastic!!

Faults:

Well, where do I start. we had the car two weeks and the high side power-steering hose blew. we've also had the steel brake lines rust out, as well as the a/c went out this summer, it still has r12 freon. just recently the heater hose connection disIntegrated, and, is 1 heck of a pain to get to and fix. I like the car, but a lot of problems for just a year and a half of ownership.