Faults:

Head Gasket failure, sometime below 30,000 miles. Failed again at after DIY repair 43,000. Moral of that story, get the head skimmed.

General Comments:

An old car, and it shows compared to more modern options, handling and ride comfort are not fantastic, but acceptable.

The 1.4 K Series 16v engine was, and remains a radical design, but true to the build quality of British cars, the corners cut always lead to problems, notably with head gasket failure that's hard to repair adequately.

That said, it's a good engine, the older single point injection SLI models are not as quick, but surprisingly economical.

The body wears reasonably well too, rust starts around the rear and front arches, but can progress a long way to quite a tatty looking car before it's an MOT failure.

Cheap as chips to buy, cheap to run and easy to work on, but watch that head gasket.

Faults:

No faults at all.

General Comments:

One of the best bangers money can buy.

SOHC 16v Honda engine is lively, frugal and flawlessly reliable. None of the head gasket concerns of the 1.4 K-series, and even at 111,000 miles idles smoothly, has no knocks or rattles, and doesn't use oil. Needs revs to give its best, but is actually surprisingly quick if you work it hard. Lovely knife through butter gearchange and light clutch. Low 5th gear can be a pain on the motorway though.

Classy interior for a car of this age. Nice, subtle use of wood on the door cappings and passenger side dash, good quality, airy trim materials and lovely comfy seats.

Bought as a station car to replace a 1990 Astra and it's ten times the car the Astra was. Still rust free, the paint still shines up well. Stingy spec - one electric mirror, electric front windows and a crappy radio cassette that sounds like a £4.99 portable radio from the local market.

But its reliable, inoffensive transport that is far better put together than an Astra or Escort of the same age, with a peach of an engine that knocks the stuffing out of the equivalent sized units from VW, Vauxhall or Ford of the time. 38 mpg on the commute and costs peanuts to maintain.

Disposable motoring has never been so pleasant.

Faults:

Head gasket failure at 28,000

N/S brake caliper seizure at 28,500.

Alternator at 100,000 miles.

Petrol tank re-welded and sealed twice (lovely, tedious job).

General Comments:

Been a good car all round, and has done some really long journeys, even after standing stationary for a number of months.

Wish the road noise was a little quieter (but it is 14 years old!)

Faults:

My front windscreen wiper motor started to act up at about 102,000 miles.

The water pump has started leaking at 103,000 miles.

I am getting a very noisy vibrating on the accelerator pedal at high revs while driving.

General Comments:

All round good little car.

Seems to be the same fault with the same model of car though.

General Comments:

I got this car one month ago and drove it home 100 miles for Christmas. When I got there there was no coolant left. I filled it and drove back 100 miles, and again almost no coolant. A lot of the time my foot was to the floor, however I never saw the temperature gauge get too high or too low (indicating no coolant left). Do you think I may have damaged the engine in any way?

From what I have read above, I think I have been lucky. For the record, it is winter and I am in Scotland, so maybe the cold weather saved my engine. I am still getting full power from it anyway.

I now keep a spare litre of water in the car. There is a comment above about using antifreeze even during summer. Can someone tell me why please?