Faults:

Rear window de-mister bulb blown.

Some body rust around wheel arches and rear body.

Fuel line had to be replaced due to significant rust just behind the filler cap. The plastic mud guard seems to trap mud and dirt.

Front seats are worn, but the previous owner had put on a nice set of seat covers.

General Comments:

When I bought this, it was 12 years old with 180,000 miles on the clock.

Mechanically the car was fine, apart from some body rust and a rusty fuel line. Some signs of rust starting on the chassis, but nothing serious yet.

The interior has held up well, the dull plastic does last.

The 1.4 engine is not the most powerful, but still allows you to keep up with traffic and can move fast when you want to at junctions, etc. (tops out at 105mph)

The car now has 190,000 miles on it, and I would say mechanically it could do another 190,000 with the right care. However, rust has now taken a hold on some parts (due to previous accident damage and dodgy repair by a previous owner), so I might get another year out of it until the next NCT (MOT).

I paid €300 (about £250) for it so I got my monies worth out of it.

Faults:

No problems whatsoever.

Demolishes front tyres.

General Comments:

Bought my 1997 Almera GTi for £900 & have been very impressed.

Driven sensibly the car will do around 35mpg. The car is unresponsive & uninspiring when done so.

However, upward of 4000rpm the engine starts to work & you realise how the car was built to be driven. You have to come down a gear to overtake with authority, but when you do the car flies.

Unfortunately this makes putting your foot down & invariably, speeding all too easy.

It's a car which begs to be pushed & rewards you when you do. Drop a gear or 2 & all of a sudden you're at 70mph. The ride is hard, but exciting, a real driver's car.

On the motorway the car revs high & sounds like it's working even in 5th gear. It is uncomfortable for long motorway journeys & quite noisy.

Where the car really shines is on a twisty fast road. The handling is superb, sticking to the road like glue & you can't help, but put you foot down, again, resulting in speeding. The chassis is stiff & inspires confidence when cornering, helped by front & rear strut braces as standard. The car is fitted with discs all round which provide good braking.

It does everything you could want from a hot hatch & at the fraction of the price of a Golf Gti. Superb.

General Comments:

This car isn't a patch on my Primera SI which I lost in crash.

Decided to swap to almera GTI because its more sportier.

Very disappointed fuel consumption in the mid 20's and the ride is noisier and harsher than the Primera.

Very basic for top of the range model my standard Primera had more options on board our other car a Primera Gt is like a Rolls Royce compared.

As for pace I wouldn't know 30 in towns 60 on A roads and 70 on motorways will do me.