Faults:

The usual water leaks into the footwells (solved by completely removing the rubber strip from the bottom of the affected doors, and cutting a small V out of the rubber strip on the actual door sills, so the water simply drains away).

Note that there is > 110,000 miles on the car.

The starter motor is beginning to stick occasionally upon engine ignition.

Typical thirst for engine oil that these engines have with higher mileage.

Unsurprisingly, there is some wear on the clutch. (the car has a towing hitch fitted...)

Some thumping noises over rough roads.

The previous owner had to replace the exhaust and fitted a spurious one, which makes the car a little noisy.

General Comments:

A solid, stylish car that handles well and has given me very few problems.

Comfortable driving position.

The 1.4 engine is a little underpowered, and can be quite fuel thirsty if worked hard or at higher motorway speeds.

Easier to back into a parking space than they say, as the back of the car is almost straight down from the rear window.

The boot space is quite small.

The rear seats are low - you really sit down into the car. The driver's seat could be difficult for a person with reduced mobility to exit easily.

I put wind-deflectors on the front electric windows so that I can leave the windows open a crack, to ease window misting in the mornings.

Faults:

Simply - nothing. In 28000 miles it has required no repair at all.

General Comments:

This car has been reliable in the extreme (I had around 32 cars in 37 years of business motoring, starting with a Morris 1100, and finishing with a VW Jetta 2000 GL auto).

It has required a repair to a dent around the drivers door lock, and also to the roof when the garage door dropped on it. Otherwise nothing has been replaced outside normal servicing, other than the timing belt and the two front indicator bulbs where the yellow colouring had faded.

The two front tyres have also been replaced; the originals having worn through under-inflation.

It has been garaged throughout its life, and regularly hand-washed, including the front and rear plastic wheel-arch liners. The paint work is unblemished, as the car has never been through a car-wash.

The stereo still sounds superb, with the front speakers supporting a deep bass, and there is a 6-disc CD autochanger in the passenger glovebox.

The car is quick away from the lights due to the auto-box, and with motorway cruising speeds held down to 55-60mph, the engine returns 32mpg.

Apart from obvious wear and tear on the steering wheel and driver's door handle, the car is in mint condition and worth only around £2,500.