Faults:

Fuel return pipe worn away. £6 repair.

Metal coolant pipe corroded.

Brake shoes and exhaust.

General Comments:

I usually buy end of life cars (bar one), as after a few months, the car is just the car, so why bother forking out.

I'm pleased to report, other than one other in my 24 years of motoring, this one lives on with another.

In the two years I had it, it only broke down once when it was leaking water like a sieve from a metal coolant pipe that goes around the back of the engine. The AA man made a temporary repair, but although the new replacement is still in the boot, the repair lives on three years later.

Possibly one of the blandest looking cars ever made. Other than its freakishly deep lacquer, which means it never looks dirty, it is without doubt an understated marvel. Very nippy around town, and lots of oomph on the motorway. Brilliant diesel fuel economy and reliability. Everything still works, including the air con, which is crisp and fresh.

I'd still have it now, but it's a bit under powered for towing my caravan, so I gave it to my father two years ago. With the exception of one MoT, which cost £180, it's whistled through the others without so much as an advisory. I dare say it could out live us all!

I had a smaller caravan when I first got it, and it's done hundreds of miles of towing with no drama.

I can't speak highly enough of it. I'm not keen on the French, but having owned Renaults, Citroen and Peugeots, (currently a 406), I cannot fault their cars. Superb!

Faults:

Needed new tyres, exhaust and fault with the spare wheel carrier fixed.

PVC on the seat backs has cracked in places.

General Comments:

Car initially feels cheap and feeble, seats aren't very supportive and are quite saggy, but after owning this car for over six months, I have realised what a good car it is. Far more reliable and better made than the appalling 1998 VW Polo I owned before.

This car is in very good condition, rust free, and everything still works (which is more than you could have said about the similarly aged VW).

Handling is stodgy, but OK for normal driving, and the car feels a bit dull and uninteresting on the whole, with a bland, awkward looking dashboard, and dull black interior.

Faults:

The most unreliable car I have ever owned. In six months of ownership, we had the following 'issues':

Month 1: Engines starts to misfire - advised by garage it is the injectors. Turns out to be the coil pack - replaced at the cost of £120.

Later that month it starts to misfire again.. this time it's the MAP sensor. Another £80.

Month 3: Starts to idle oddly, dying at junctions. It's the idle control motor. New one costs £70.

Month 4: Engine speed varying wildly. This time it's a new throttle potentiometer. £55.

Month 5: both rear wheel brake cylinders have failed. Another £200.

Month 6: Head gasket blows. Cost too enormous, so scrap it for £80.

General Comments:

NEVER, EVER, buy one of these cars. There is just no reason. However cheap it is, just walk on by. Even if you do, by some miracle, get a good one you'll find the back window too small, and the idiotic placement of all the airbag sensors under the drivers seat means they disconnect whenever the seat is pushed back as far as it can go. (I nearly paid a rather large garage fee to fix this 'fault' before reading the solution online). But it's not really a solution, as every time the seat goes back, you have to reconnect the wiring.

Then there's the horrible clutch. Non adjustable, and far too low with a tiny biting area. The fuel consumption is worse than average - around 35 mpg. The parts are expensive, the dealerships worse.

I hope I've said enough to put potential buyers off. If you're unfortunate enough to have just bought one, then good luck. You'll need it!