Faults:

Nothing so far, fingers crossed. I carried out a full service, as it had been off the road for 4 years before I bought it.

The gearbox synchro is getting weak, probably because of the necessity of thrashing it in the intermediate gears to make satisfactory progress.

General Comments:

This was bought firmly as a cheapy banger, and in this respect it excels. I am not someone who is happy to pay out £200 a month on a new car just to watch it depreciate.

Mine is one of the last fitted with the 2.3 Peugeot engine before they went to the 1.8 turbo Ford motor. It's pretty damned slow to tell the truth; my '92 Golf 1300 will leave it for dead, but this is only noticeable on the hills. For everyday driving it's fine, returning 45 mpg.

The cabin is basic, being only an L model, with manual windows and sunroof, but it's a comfy place to be, and any driver can find a comfortable seating position.

It's an easy vehicle to service and maintain; there isn't even a timing belt to worry about.

Mine has fared better than most with the rust, as it's spent most of its life in sunny Spain, but still has the odd rusty bit on the doors- still has its original sills though.

I would recommend one to anybody; there were enough of these around in the '80s, so they can't be that bad. They suffer a poverty spec image these days, when even Mondeos can be picked up for a couple of hundred quid, but I prefer the Sierra, a much more satisfying car.

Faults:

The cylinder head gasket had failed, and then it s tarted to burn oil.

General Comments:

I managed to fit a replacement engine from an injection granada, though my car is a carb model,the twin cam engine only needed the injector holes blanking off. 3 years later, it is still very fast, and generally reliable, though I never brag about the car as it is a model regarded as old hat now!!!

Faults:

Nothing as yet, replaced front brakes (£40 disks and pads, easily fit yourself), springs, couple of bulbs etc.

General Comments:

This car is amazing! Under £500 and you can have so much fun.

Fuel economy isn't so great; it's costing about £5 for 25miles. I bought it for motorway driving and it cruses @70MPH easily.

The original suspension was terrible, it rolled massively so I changed the springs and lowered it by 40mm. I then put an original set of 15" Cosworth wheels on and it handles incredibly since. That cost me £40 for the springs and £100 for the wheels with good tyres, I fitted it all myself so definitely worth it.

Just adjusted the valve clearances and it sounds much sweeter, exhaust is noisy, but £20 down the scrap yard and you've got an almost new one, £200 for a new one (+ fitting).

If you want a reliable family car that won't break down and you don't mind working on your car every once in a while then the sierra is a classic! Cheap to buy and if it dies, scrap it and move onto the next one, I've had 2 and I'm going to move onto a 2.9 GLS 4x4, that's 150BHP for ~