Faults:

Rust, rust and again rust. This is the only major issue with this car. In 10 years I had to change twice the bodywork below the doors and the rear wheel arches.

General Comments:

Very reliable, and when it does break down or needs something replaced, parts are cheap, easy to find and simple to work on.

I bought the car used (9 years old), and in 10 years of ownership, apart from the normal fluid and filter changes, I changed the battery (twice), spark plugs and cables, water pump and timing belt, a hose, a couple of bushes and light bulbs, brake pads and rear brake drums and the rear exhaust (twice). That's all! Granted, an average of 5000 km/year is not much at all, but given its age and the very poor condition of the roads in Romania, it was easy on my pocket.

Comfortable, with a lot of room inside, a huge boot, power steering, good to drive on longer journeys, but in summer it can get unpleasant as it has no air conditioning.

Although 19 years old, it still accelerates well - when not fully loaded. I took it to 160km/h on the highway last year and it felt it could go faster still. But the economical max speed is around below 115-120km/h.

Average fuel consumption is 7,5-8 l / 100 km - on normal Romanian roads, through villages, not on the highway. In winter, on snow covered roads and with a max speed of 50-70 km/h, it ate 9,5-10liters/100km, again not bad at all for its age and road conditions.

Safety wise it has nothing - apart from seat belts - no airbags, no ABS, no fancy electronics to help you out.

I sold it last month, and I reckon with normal use it could easily have another 5-8 years on the roads.

Faults:

Nothing yet.. :)

General Comments:

Very good car for the money.

Roomy and comfortable, excellent family car. If it has all the safety systems like ABS, traction control and ESP packed with 10 airbags (like mine); also a very safe car, theoretically.

Fuel consumption OK for a 2.2 engine diesel.

Satisfactory performance, but a stable and solid feel when driving.

Maintenance is at normal prices not cheap, but also not so expensive compared to its other german rivals.

A thing that you have to get used to is the electronic direction switch.

What else I find under my expectations is the sound system, whatever this is, I suppose that the speakers are some kind of cheap stuff.

In winter, it gets hot quite quick, and in the summer cold, not noisy ventilation and a responsive sensor are making the air conditioning very good.

If well maintained, this car is very desirable second hand.

Faults:

The most annoying things were the buttons for operating the air-condition and the on-board computer. They work bad, maybe the previous owner has used some silicone for the dash and this has soiled the electrical contacts.

For the air-conditioning, I managed to remove the whole control unit and I used a contact spray on the trimmers. They work better now.

The interior is still in good shape, but on some parts the rubber peeled off.

Another thing is the cracking sound when I open the driver's door. I must change the door hinges, but it's a little bit complicated.

General Comments:

I bought myself this car from Germany. I like it. It’s roomy and reliable. I changed only the oil and the filters until now. A little bit expensive for the oil: about 5 l of very fine 0W30 full synthetic oil.

I have an automatic gear box and it is working fine, but it has a bit of lag when speeding in automatic mode.

For the consumption, it’s not an economic car, for sure. In urban areas I get between 11 and 13 litres per 100 Km. But on highways at 90-110 Km/h I can get 7 l/100Km, which is quite good for a 2200 cm3 petrol engine (Z22SE).

Luckily my car has parking sensors. I don’t know how I could park this car in the narrow European cities without it.

I especially don’t like the rain sensor, which sometimes makes the wipers turn crazy on a few drops of rain. And I don’t like the electronic turn signal.

As for the dual-zone air condition, I don’t find it very helpful.

Because I have the “Elegance” model, this car has air vents and reading lights for back passengers, and an arm rest between the front seats and a sunroof. So it’s a good car for long trips.