Faults:

Both rear brake cylinders have exploded and become buckled.

Numerous simple oil leaks, through lack of maintenance.

Electrical fault in indicator/lights column control box.

A bit Smokey on startup (worn valve stem seals)

General Comments:

This car seems to be a compromise between many different worlds, the hot hatch, the shopping trolley and the sensible commuter.

It's not as quick or as 'raw' as my previous XR2's (both mk1 and mk2 variants) but it shares the mk2 XR2's engine, the mk3 XR2i's suspension and running gear and the basic mk3 Fiesta interior.

I bought the car because its cheap to insure, in fact its HALF the price of even the ancient mk1 XR2 but posses virtually identical power and performance.

Sadly the raw soil-yourself handling that was present in the previous XR2's has been lost, also the power of the newer XR2i's hasn't been achieved.

Luckily, being as though this is based on a now 20 yr old lump of an engine its really reliable. Brakes and other 'consumable' bits are cheap and easy to replace and its not too unrefined if its been well looked after.

In short, if you want a cheap, bullet-proof reliable car that you can drive like a nut case, but still sit in for hundreds of miles without any aches or pains this is it!

I did a 2000 mile tour of Ireland in mine with no sore backs or dead legs!

I bought mine for around 400 UK pounds, you can get em for half that now - that's the price of a mangy metro!

Faults:

Alternator failed and needed replacing.

Thermostat got stuck shut causing over heating after 2 minutes of idle.

Valve stem oil seals needed replacing.

Rust, rust everywhere!

General Comments:

I owned my XR2i for just over two years, in which time it was broken into or molested in some way 4 times. Being a hot hatch it was a target for thieves which lost me over a thousand pounds worth of stereo equipment in one incident alone.

A side this though, it was generally very reliable and hugely fun to drive. I even found it to be marginally quicker than my friends Nova GSis and a like. I especially liked the admiring looks I got while driving it, albeit only from other boy racers.

The exhaust had a nice bassy tone to it, but was let down by the engine that sounded like a bag of bolts being dragged down a cobbled path.

I was very sad to see her go, but she was getting on a bit and I was ready for a new car, in step a Toyota MR2!

Faults:

Not much really since I bought it.

The starter motor jammed about 2 days after I bought it, but before I bought it it was standing in a garage for nearly a year and was very sludged up!

A good thrashing down the motorway sorted that out!

General Comments:

Needs serious working to reach respectable speeds.

I've managed to hit 105mph, not bad considering the cars nearly done 150,000 miles!

Boring to drive in a straight line, fun when taking corners at speed though!

Starts well even in cold and hot weather.

Average comfort, especially if your tall.

Watch out for rust!

Faults:

Nothing much - just after buying I changed the rear suspension, air filter, oil filter.

The main minus is that the car is too cold for lets say -20 C, but it still runs well.

Some problems with carburetor now, but a half an hour at the auto-service should do it.

General Comments:

Car is really cheap, so it's a good car for a student, especially going on trips in summer :)

6 l/100 km, top speed reached 145km/h. For a 1.1 I think that's really enough.

Of course the comfort is minimal, but hey - if you buy a car for you, rebuild it as you like :)