Faults:

1300 miles - CD player stops working. Replaced under warranty.

2500 miles - Rattle from underneath car combined with excessive (although not unpleasant) exhaust noise. Dealer diagnoses catalytic converter (over the phone, worryingly) and replaces it under warranty. Problem solved.

7000 miles - Repeat of catalyst problem. Dealer service manager lets on that it's happened to a few 190's they look after and thinks it's to do with the aggressive valve timing and lift over 6,000 RPM allowing unburnt fuel into the exhaust on the overrun. Great! Again, warranty pays up.

8000 miles - Notice the front tyres are worn unevenly. Dealer checks suspension geometry and finds several settings are massively out of kilter. Adjusts to spec. Promises to take up the case of a replacing a knackered set of P Zeros with Toyota.

9000 miles - First service and I ask for what sounds like a gearbox whine to be looked at, combined with some play in the gearchange. Change quality sorted by dealer, but noise is still there. Toyota won't budge on the tyres due to "excessive pre-damage wear".

14000 miles - Total gearbox failure on the M4. Leave the motorway slip and it refuses to shift out of 6th. Car is towed in. Gearbox dismantled and a retaining clip inside the gearbox is found to be missing. Toyota want to repair the 'box. I demand a replacement. After much arguing, a new style, stronger "T Sport" box is fitted under warranty.

16000 miles - Third catalyst goes pop. New firmware downloaded to ECU which should fix the problem. Car feels livelier "off cam" and pulls harder up top.

17000 miles - Vibration from steering at motorway speeds. Notice a front wheel rim is bent. Car has never been kerbed - no other damage to wheel. Smaller dink noticed on opposite side rear wheel. Dealer says the wheels are too soft and have been modified on new models. All four wheels replaced with new type under warranty (but not the tyres!)

23000 miles - Brake pedal goes to floor at a junction and then recovers. Dealer discovers a bulging hose and an iffy master cylinder. Replaced under warranty.

29000 miles - Engine management light comes on. Car runs normally, but starts drinking fuel. Dealer's diagnostic rig does not show a fault. I take a courtesy car until it is fixed. 6 weeks later, another "firmware upgrade" fixes the fault.

33000 miles - New gearbox has started whining just like the last one, and the engine is starting to sound rough, especially on cold. Lots of tappet noise and a hesitation when throttle is initially applied. Both are currently under investigation.

General Comments:

Very fast, gorgeous looking coupe with one of the best chassis around. But if mine is anything to go by, Toyota have regressed to reliability levels that Alfa Romeo would be crying over.

I love Celicas. My previous GT-Four was an absolute diamond and never let me down in 75,000 miles, but this one is a nightmare. The dealer has been the one good thing about owning this car, and they have literally bent over backwards to help, but the fact remains that my particular car is a liability. I can't believe it came from a manufacturer with such a reputation for quality.

In my heart of hearts, I know this is probably a one off, a "Friday" car, but that doesn't excuse it when you pay £24,000 for something which is this shoddily engineered. I would be lying if I said it hasn't made me think twice about buying Toyota again. Disappointing.

Faults:

False alarms from car alarm. Cured by a trip to dealer who advised me against keeping coins near the sensors, and also reduced sensitivity of interior sensor.

General Comments:

In the 140 bhp guise the car is still a complete hoot to drive. The gearchange has a lovely chunky feel to it, and a short gearstick with a small throw. The steering is beautifully weighted and gives excellent feedback of what’s going on with the front wheels. The car drives very tightly through bends with no bodyroll, and just begs to be driven enthusiastically.

On a more practical note, the insurance is not bad at group 13 – as a 29 year old with full no claims this sets me back £620 (fully comp, Oxfordshire). Driven sedately the car is economical on fuel as well – when running it in I managed about 37 - 38 mpg keeping below 70 mph on runs. Now I generally get around 31-32 mpg which includes an element of daily city driving.

Sorry to be dull, but the boot is also a really useful size (much larger than the ‘family car’ Ford Focus!).

On the downside, the seat recline adjustment is annoying to use and has no memory when accessing the back seats. The bulk of the dashboard also looks like cheap plastic, although to be fair, it is very solid. When a car looks so great and is such fun to drive, who cares though?

With my exuberant driving style I got through the original Yokohama tyres on the front in 10,800 miles. The tyre dealer suggested using more expensive Goodyear Eagle F1s as replacements which have lasted longer. At 21,000 they have around 2.5mm of tread left. The pair of Goodyears cost me £226.79 – Yokohamas would have been around 30 quid cheaper.

Even the entry-level model (which I have) comes pretty well kitted out, with good-looking 16in alloys, air con, ABS, EBD, front fogs, 4 airbags, single slot CD player etc etc.

The car also feels very well built – the doors are very heavy and solid and almost any other car will feel flimsy in comparison. As a three door car visibility is good too, with the B pillar far enough back to never block your view. Visibility out of the back isn’t bad, but you will have to learn where the front of the car is when parking, as the bonnet slopes out of view.

In summary, the car is fantastic to drive and is an incredibly viable everyday car for singletons and couples. For Mondeo money you can have something that is great fun to drive, not too expensive to run, and hopefully should keep its value better. It certainly looks an awful lot better too!