Faults:

Seats were uncomfortable and the upholstery was poor quality.

Stereo stopped working at 71,000 miles.

Rust was already appearing when I bought the car.

Broke down once just before I sold it.

General Comments:

Not very well built, but generally reliable and cheap to run. Driving experience wasn't too bad for a 1.1 mini car.

Paid £700 for the car when it was 11 years old and sold it the following year for £500. Its following owner kept it until it failed its MOT in 1999 after 17 years and 120,000 miles.

Faults:

Choke cable snapped. Cost me £3 to have it fixed.

Basic maintenance was needed when I first purchased it, eg. Air filter, Oil filter, New oil.

Locks were stiff due to the car being stored for 6 months.

General Comments:

The car was an excellent purchase.

The car was owned by an old man previously so the seats unfortunately were smelly, but otherwise the car was in mint condition.

This is an easy car to do up yourself.

It took little effort and very little money to put all these items on from my local scrap yards.

Recaro Bucket seats £40.

Interior XR2 Door skins £10.

4 Pepperpot XR2 alloy wheels £30.

XR2 bumpers and splitters £10.

XR2 Mk2 Steering wheel £2.

Many other little things to give the car an excellent look at the lights.

Faults:

NOTHING! Seeing that this is a twenty year old car it is in wonderful shape.

It is not a special 'one off' or anything, it has had its share of rust with two new sills and a front valance being replaced before I bought it.

The driver's seat leans to one side due to a bend or broken internal, and the heater doesn't work (and never did). I have tried replacing it with a MK2 heater and it doesn't fit.

The only money spent in a year has been on petrol, a little oil and a bit of water.

General Comments:

I bought the car for £270 and it was to be an in between car, but after driving it I realised that it was a little gem! A year later it doesn't owe me a penny and I still love it. I am a good tester of a car as I drive like a loonatic, therefore putting pressure on every part of the car and this little car has taken it all and has produced NO problems.

I have put alloy wheels on it because they were cheap and it handles very well, it is a great car and I have never seen a car take so much abuse!

If you are going to get one, check for rust in the engine bay, on the back of the wheel arches, and basically everywhere because I have seen rust appear in the strangest of places on other peoples.

A little louder exhuast note than the MK2, but I like it, to me it is a mini-Subaru Impreza because it roars up the revs and sounds like a monster! I am going to be sad to see this little car go.

The biggest downside has to be the four speed gear box, it sounds like it's about to blow up at 90mph, but then again why do 90 in a typically urban car?

The interior is nicer than the mark 2 standard and cars like this one may never be seen in 10 years time. Buy a good one, drive it, love it, and believe me, remember it for ever.