Faults:
The alternator was replaced at about 100,000 miles. The clutch was replaced at about 150,000 miles. A valve in cylinder 3 burned up at about 200k miles. The water pump was replaced at about 210,000 miles. The head was replaced at about 255k miles. The radiator developed a leak at around 265,000 miles and the thermostat went out at the same time. After being _seriously_ abused for about 1 year and 35,000 miles, the car finally died at about 270,000 miles.
General Comments:
I know what happened before and after I owned the car because it was purchased from my parents and later sold to a family friend.
This was one incredibly reliable car. I once went for over 10,000 miles without an oil change and it didn't burn a drop. The car ran for over 270,000 miles even though it was once driven EXTREMELY hard while severely overheating for about 15 miles by its last owner. I also abused the car while I owned it, pushing it regularly.
The performance left a little to be desired. It was no slouch for acceleration, but it can't have had a top speed much over 90 mph. It handled VERY well its entire life, developing almost no body roll as it aged. This car hugged the curves like no other I've driven since.
The trade off to the handling, however, was the ride. It was stiff and uncomfortable. On rough pavement, driving quickly became a chore. The dials and switches were also poorly positioned and sometimes difficult to manipulate. The seats were not very supportive and were uncomfortable on long rides, though short and medium trips were never a problem.
One thing that always bugged me about the car was the shifting. You always had to throw the shifter a pretty good distance to get the car in gear, making it difficult at times to shift quickly. Shifting to reverse was frequently impossible. On more than one occasion, I had to put the car in neutral and let it drift a bit before I would be able to put the car in reverse.
Overall, however, for a price tag under ten grand, the car was incredibly reliable and fun to drive. To this day I wish I would have kept it and rebuilt it, as I've driven no car since that could provide such a fun trip on twisty roads.
4th May 2007, 18:19
This is an update to my original post. It's now May, 2007, and I've racked up 242,000 miles. The only thing I've replaced since I last checked in is one CV joint at 227,000. I drove the car from Seattle to Mexico, over to Vegas, and back. It ran perfectly until the joint cracked about 100 miles from home. I managed to get it home, and it was an easy and cheap fix, less than $100. I keep it garaged, and the interior and original gray metallic exterior are still beautiful. I've owned the car for 7 years now, and I plan to get it to at least 300K, and will keep it until it dies, which may never happen.