Faults:

New buyer (my son) cannot get car smogged due to "engine" light coming on intermittently. Actual exhaust passes smog parameters, but engine light problem prevents a sign-off. Problem seems to be oil from an unknown source that is leaking into the wiring harness, causing erratic readings, flunking the test.

What might be the source of the oil leak?

Mechanics looked for 2 hours without success at finding the source. Mechanic will pass car for smog if the engine light would be fixed.

Thanks.

General Comments:

Car runs like a top.

Good acceleration, no visible external oil leaks either.

Faults:

Head gasket at 89,000 miles.

Turn signal switch would not re-center itself.

General Comments:

At 220,000 miles and 15 years, with most of it local driving, the only things not original are the head gasket, struts turn signal/bright light switch and headlights (I replaced them simply because the lense had turned an ugly yellow).

I consistently get MPGs in the mid 30s. It is quite roomy for a small car. The body has held up very well, with one small rust spot about 2" in diameter above the left rear wheel. I often wonder if the newer ones would hold up as well and be as economical to own.

Faults:

We purchased it brand new from a dealer in 1995, and ran 60,000 miles the first 5 years. Since then we used it for local commuting, mostly highway driving, and kept the car in the enclosed garage.

Now it has 110,000 miles. Still runs like a new car, we may need to upgrade the suspension to feel newness in ride.

Other than normal wear and tear, there really isn't a big complaint about this car, which used inexpensive parts to begin with as a sub-compact model.

We had issues with cooling system, which was repaired gradually in 4 months period, we used chemicals from Gunk to flush and seal, and along the way, changed the overflow bottles twice, since it got dirtier.

We have some engine oil leak issues; it is not excessive, but around one 12 oz soda can worth every month.

We found out that the 1995 model has the oil separator that later models don't have; this apparatus actually allows the engine to release internal pressure. Of course the repair shops want to run repairs that are costly. We added some dye to the engine oil, and will check where the source of leaks are.

General Comments:

Fun car to drive and reliable, and good performance with economy in gas mileage.

Faults:

Power steering pump shortly after I got it ($100).

Fuel filter came loose and poured gas all over the road ($50).

Cheap plastic interior is falling apart.

Clutch cable snapped at about 130000k ($150).

Clutch safety failed (just bypassed to fix).

Alternator died at 135000k ($250).

General Comments:

Overall, I got what I expected out of an economy car.

The 2.0L DOHC has lots of pep for a small car, and the transmission is fairly smooth (although it was damaged when the clutch cable snapped).

The things that have gone wrong have all been fixed in my driveway, so nothing really major has gone wrong, but the little things keep adding up.

I'm sure it has lots of life left, but it's becoming a bit of a headache to have to fix something every month or so. You get what you pay for I suppose.

Faults:

The windshield cracked and got worse at 126,000 miles or so.

Starter went at about 126,500.

Rotors and brakes were needed at about 124,000.

The car had trouble starting (pretty sure flywheel was going).

Heat fuse blew constantly in the cold.

Brake line blew at about 126,000.

In the cold the doors didn't want to close a lot of the time (they just would not catch).

Passenger side door panel was totally broken and didn't want to open a lot of the time.

General Comments:

For my first car, I can't assume to have an extraordinary car, but to be honest I hated this thing. It did me my purpose from work and to school I suppose, but the amount of money for a student not making much money to repair things was ridiculous.

I think it was very uncomfortable on the inside, and didn't have much power to it at all.

Overall I really didn't like, and the amount of money to replace everything just wasn't worth it.