Faults:

C.V boots worn.

Fuel tank rotten.

Steering rack.

Rear brake drums distorted.

Bottom of doors rotten.

Rear arches scabby.

Front brake disks distorted.

General Comments:

The faults with my car seem a lot, but what can you expect for a car that's 14 years old?.

The engine is fantastic.

The Reliability of the car is great given that she has had to put up with my lead foot and late mornings.

Surprise's and even annoys newer car owners. eg VTR's.

My advice to anyone considering to buy one is that you should get a GSI not a GTE simply because it newer. rot is a issue here.

Watch out for boy racer abuse. (OK me)

Faults:

Rusty wheel arches@ 60000, New battery@36000, Brake servo@62000, new carburettor @ 53000.

General Comments:

Very cheap to run and fun to drive how ever slow on the motorways, but what do you expect from a 993cc engine. Annoying reverse gear stick poition though I'm always getting it stuck. Very comfortable seats, but very bland.

Faults:

Nothing yet, but I've only owned it for a month or so.

Handbrake rusted on, but that was my fault as I put the car away wet and it never moved for a week.

General Comments:

For a 1.2 its pretty nippy as it's a very light car. reaches 60 in a very reasonable time. Off the mark it will beat a Mk3 1.4 Astra. Hardly any rust for an E reg, but the owner looked after the car very well. interior rattles like an old bus and the seats look horrible, but what do you expect for an E reg. The car sometimes jerks slightly when given some stick, but hopefully a piper-cross induction kit will cure this and make it sound much nicer.

If you put a decent sound system in it then it sounds as loud on the outside as it does on the inside. De-badge the boot and it looks pretty sweet. I'm now the 11th person I know in my age group to own a Nova and they all swear by them, and so do i. Overall it's a great 1st car, will eat your mates 1.1 fiestas for breakfast and their reliable and if you want to modify it it will cost you next to nothing.

Faults:

The Car had stood for about a year so things had corroded like shock absorbers and brakes etc. But as the car is so common, parts are very cheap. The car is simple from an engineering point of view and is easy to maintain.

General Comments:

The Nova is renowned for its boy racer image, but the car itself isn't all that bad although it isn't anything special, I wouldn't recommend it to any new drivers as the insurance companies know well of the reputation for Novas and seem to think that everyone who drives one is a Kev head. I would go for a newer 1.4SRi or something as it is less likely to have any problems or rust. The engine, I think, is a very good design, hydraulic tappets, Over Head Cam, automatic choke. If the engine is in good working order then it is smooth and fairly responsive. I have modified my car and it is OK, but I wouldn't recommend modifying it too much if its your first car because you're not likely to keep it for long!! Also they don't hold their price very well unless they are in very good condition, an average SR you could expect to be about £500-700.

Faults:

Mechanical fuel pump failed instantly.

Distributor went a week later.

Rear wheel bearing was so worn the entire car resonated.

It had an uncanny habit of distorting a front tyre.

Drivers seat broke (backrest collapsed).

All the column switchgear failed to operate.

Heater blower failed and burnt out completely.

Rear spring burst through it's mounting point and came through the floor.

General Comments:

The steering on mine was so vague it was a danger to drive above 50mph.

I hate the way my foot rubs on the steering column when the clutch is depressed. Very worrying.

Something was also seriously wrong with the engine, (I hated the car so much I never investigated) it would rev so slowly (as if retarded) and sometimes scream off the rev counter to 8,000 RPM.

It had gorgeous blue carpets, very nice I thought.

My particular one had a Sebring exhaust, which sounded nice and throaty.

I have to admit it never really felt like a proper car, more like a wooden go-kart.

The brakes are the worst out of any car in the world.

It was rotten as an old pair, but I still sold it for what I paid.