Faults:

Distributor cap went only 5000 miles out of a major service (55,000 miles) destroying the cat (major backfire!).

Second cat went after a further 8000 miles (poor build quality) along with front pipe (expensive!!).

Alternator went at around 75,000, although this was due to powering an amp.

Rear lights have a tendency to go.

General Comments:

Downsides:

Paintwork is very thin, prone to scratching.

Brakes are on the dangerous side though can be easily upgraded for the same price as O.E.

Some dealer parts can be expensive: though not much seems to go wrong, if cared for.

Likes drinking fuel if pushed.

Engine on the harsh side at the top end.

Bad stereo.

Upsides:

Cheap to buy and generally cheap to run.

Performance from a 1.4 is good though low down torque is non-existent. To get the most from this engine it has to be above 4000rpm.

Equipment level is very good. I recommend the GTi/SEi interior.

Run on a Koni suspension set up, 15" alloys running 195/50/15 rubber for serious go-kart handling!!

Faults:

Broken central locking.

Broken drivers window winder.

Exhaust needed replacing.

General Comments:

A wonderful engine for only a 1.4, thrashes the pants off equivalent Fords and Vauxhalls, free-revving and great fun flat-out, but handling and steering both disappointing, especially in the wet.

Don't drive them thru puddles unless completely necessary as mine and my friends have both failed to start for 24hrs afterwards cos of damp engines - definitely a design fault.

Overall I love driving it on the motorway but I'm unhappy with everything but the engine.

Faults:

Blown head gasket at 30,000.

Battery mysteriously went flat.

Central locking failure.

General Comments:

Nice car let down by terrible build quality. The car was ex fleet with genuine 16,000 on clock and I have had no end of problems culminating in a blown head gasket (which took months before diagnosed by a garage).

As soon as this is fixed I'm selling it!

Faults:

Remote central locking stopped working on 1 of the 4 doors.

General Comments:

Reliable, comfortable medium sized car that performs reasonably well thanks to its 110 BHP Honda engine. However, it's not the most exciting car on the road and is not one for the badge/image conscious.

Faults:

It has never broken down, but has lots of annoying faults. Front brake pads wear at an uneven rate, courtesy light switches stopped working. Rear window started to leak and fill the boot with water which caused some corrosion on the rear parcel shelf, numerous rattles, gearbox whines slightly although hasn't got any worse in the last 20,000 miles. The only major problem was a mystery oil leak a week after I bought which took the dealer 2 weeks to fix!!, turned out to be a sump gasket. Only parts I have had to replace in two years are tyres and brake pads.

General Comments:

Reliable but build quality is not as high as I would have liked. Lots of wind and engine noise at speeds higher than 85 MPH, engine seems unrefined. Targa Top is a waste of time!