Faults:

Clutches burned, muffler came unbolted, maintenance issues, needed body work after a real fender bender (car had a bent fender and busted light), oil burner at high mileage.

General Comments:

Our little Peppermint Patti was the best car we had. She was completely reliable her whole life, excluding when she had burned clutches or an old battery. I think she was with us about 20 years. From the day we bought her, she was our compact workhorse and our everything car for just over 8.5 years, until we got another Prizm. Just a Polynesian Green purr machine to the end. I was 3 the day we met our little Patti, so I don't remember when the Valiant, Escort (LEMON) and (except for the final months) Aspen that were our previous family cars were on the road. Somehow, I remember my parents talking about the Prizm's color in winter '92-'93, so I remember it all. Though my memories of her early days are vague, I can say she taught me about sentiment regarding cars, and along with the other Prizms we've had, instilled Prizm love in me.

BTW, I know her name sounds like candy or a Peanuts cartoon character, but it wasn't anything to with those, just that she was green and my dad didn't think Peppermint was enough name. Since we live in NYS, she died of cancer (rust) and brake rotor issues. She was beautiful when young, but she didn't look nice when older and full of rust. When I was a preschooler, my class made "me books" and a picture of our car at the time's (year old Patti, if the picture was purpose taken) in it. We also have some pictures of my dad with new Patti. Once when she was old, my dad got her up to 100 (we live in a rural area).

Faults:

Alternator twice.

Broken door handle.

Timing belt changed once at 100K.

Speakers going bad.

Needs a paint job.

General Comments:

I have driven this car on CA freeways, all over LA, and it moved great in traffic.

Now live in the high desert; bad roads and a long distance to town, but still get 238 miles per fill up (same as LA) for $30 every 2 weeks.

I did car pool with 4 kids and 2 dogs, so the seats could use a cleaning.

Drove from the San Fernando Valley to Northern Arizona on a tank and a half of gas. That surprised me.

A/C works. So does the rear defroster

Faults:

Within the past year, I have had four episodes of brake malfunction - nothing previous to that in the 17 years I've owned the car. Bought it new in 1993.

All the episodes have been while approaching an intersection at a slow speed (under 5-10 mph), usually very soon after starting the car for the first time that day and within a mile of that start. The brake pedal goes down about an inch, and then won't go any further and the car will not stop.

One mechanic replaced front brake pads, another rear pads. Ran fine for 3 months, but last week it happened again.

Fortunately, I haven't hit anyone or anything yet, but it's just a matter of time.

A mechanic is now looking at the ABS sensor. The ABS light has been on most of the time I've owned the car. Do you think he's looking in the right place? Any other thoughts from anyone?