Faults:

Nothing that bothered me enough to fix.

General Comments:

Purchased as a stop-gap off eBay for £225, so expected very little from it.

Surprisingly quick car and very sure-footed.

Huge load space, even with all seats in use.

Seats are comfortable, but not supportive enough if driving "enthusiastically"...

Very good fuel economy for a fairly big car.

The bumpers are made out of really brittle plastic and crack easily (newer ones are much better).

Parts are really cheap and mostly easy to fit.

Faults:

Water pump broke (no wonder, the original was plastic).

Heater speed only worked on high.

Heater speed only worked on lower settings.

Heater only worked on recirculated air.

Heater only worked on windscreen (each heater problem, was a separate problem at different times).

Front passenger electric window stopped working.

Rear right passenger electric window stopped working.

Traction control stopped working.

Speedometer became inaccurate and variable, and could not be corrected, even with replacing ALL parts: speedometer, wiring, cables, sensor, etc.

ABS warning light (seatbelt pre-tensioner) warning (five times).

Headlight relay stopped working.

Headlight bulb mount collapsed.

Dashboard lights stopped working (twice).

Heater fan ground to a permanent halt.

Wheel alignment was never able to be set right – always some wobble at some speed.

Power steering fluid leak – tank or piping.

Gear-shift / gear-box shaft snapped when changing gear.

Stereo display intermittently working, depending on humidity.

Number plate lights blew.

Cigarette lighter stopped working.

Driver's door leaked.

Boot leaked.

Some clamp inside the brake system broke.

Started blowing smoke at 80,000 miles.

That’s just the ones I can think of.

General Comments:

I bought this car for the handling, and have loved every minute of driving it in the last 8 years.

BUT, reliability is a different story:

Each three months, I have had more problems and spent more money in repairs, than the 13 years I had my previous car, a Toyota Starlet.

Faults:

Nothing yet, but existing faults are:

Indicators do not cancel.

Back bumper broken.

That's about it!

General Comments:

I bought this car as I was in the UK and stuck due to the volcanic ash cloud - Easyjet offered to put me on a flight 7 days later. I was at the Premier Inn. I am sure you'll understand my desire to escape.

So a quick go on autotrader.co.uk, found the car - a bright red 1997 GLX 1.8 - £450 later (ad for £495) and I was cruising down the motorway to Dover. 48 hours later I was pulling up in my driveway in the south of Spain (about as far south as you can go) - 1,600 miles from whence it came. The car has already done 163,000 miles. You would expect with a small engine it would be rattling smoking mess. Far from it. Smooth at idle, smooth at speed. No ticking, no smoke, no knocking - sounded like a 50,000 mile car to be honest. Body a bit rough, few scratches and dints, but generally presentable. Back bumper broken - obviously!

What a completely rock solid reliable car. I chose it since I had a few Mondeo's about 5 years ago and they were cast iron reliable. This was no different. Very impressed. Reasonable performance, good brakes, reasonable handling - given I drive a Porsche 911 X50 and a BMW M5, as well as a 740i as my daily driver, this is praise indeed.

I would recommend one of these cars to someone who needs a cheap, reliable, low cost run around or work machine. Very good car indeed.