Faults:

The engine was blown when I bought it, I put in a new engine, (surprisingly easy)

Transmission refused to kick-down, I cleaned the kick-down switch, and it cured the problem.

The distributer (still the original from 1989) broke down, this was replaced and the car is running like a clock again.

Just changed the timing belt, it took 20 minutes.

General Comments:

Although the list I have given above may sound like a lot of trouble, the car has been faultlessly reliable over the past 11,000 miles.

The Daihatsu dealers in Ireland have no information on pre 1992 cars, and this led to problems getting the distributer parts.

The interior of the car has held very well, and is still like new.

The bodywork is still rust free.

The Automatic transmission does take from the performance of the 1.0L engine, but it is quick off the mark in town, and will hold it's own at motorway speeds.

The 3 cylinder engine is very torquey, and it will rev safely past 5,000 RPM. with a lovely sound coming from in front of you.

The fact that the car is an automatic means that the fuel economy is not as good as the manual car. It is averaging about 40 to 45 mpg, compared to 45 to 50 for the manual.

The car is very comfortable to take on a long journey, and the cabin is surprisingly quiet when on the move.

The steering is unassisted, and therefore quite heavy when parking, but this doesn't cause too much bother as overall the car is very easy to maneuver.

Even with all it's faults, I absolutely love it!

Faults:

Unfortunately when I first got the car the main shaft in the turbo snapped which left me to believe this is a start of a beautiful relationship, apart from that I can't fault it.

General Comments:

In my eyes you won't find a faster car for such cheap money.

The power's there and after previously owning a nova I am no longer scared to take corner's over 20mph.

It handles like a dream and once you lower the little puppy the handling's 10 times better.

Faults:

When 'spinning' the Charade along the roads of Guernsey the four bar role cage has come into use. This low performance 'racer' has hit 50mph top speed. Anything over this speed does not allow speech to take place in the car due to the fan overheating and radiator rattling. Rust set in very quickly, meaning that the 'bulletproof' chasis is a load of crap.

General Comments:

As soon as you twist the key and the engine starts to purr, the driver realises the power they are going to experience. The 0.9 engine sits pretty next to the 50cc scotters, that it just beats in performance.

Faults:

Clutch needed replacing at 41,000.

Exhaust needed replacing at 51,000 (good excuse to get a sports one).

Rear shocks leaking due to having the car lowered 40mm.

Cambelt snapped even though I had one fitted 17,000 miles ago last year.

General Comments:

Very fast cheap car that will blow most cars off the road. Well worth buying if you can find a good one.

Bigwoody1@breathe.com