Faults:

Bought the car from a high school friend of mine, took it to the shop for a safety check and was handed pieces of the sub-frame and frame by the inspecting mechanic. That was the end of that idea.

General Comments:

It looked like a great car, air conditioning and fresh paint, and lots of goodies, bought it from a good friend who BABIED it beyond belief. Unfortunately, it was not able to pass a safety check and wound up in the scrap yard.

Faults:

Gone through 9 tires.

Needs a lot of alignments, and now the struts are shot (probably mainly my driving).

Fuel injection clogged, had to be replaced.

Fuel lines deteriorated, had to be replaced.

Air compressor froze, causing welds to break on the disk. Now I just drive it without that belt attached.

Speakers blown, even though the stereo never goes up past 1/4.

Felt around windows melted to windows.

General Comments:

This thing just keeps going. I keep abusing this car waiting for it to take it's last breath and it won't give up.

Not too comfy, but will keep running with cheap repair costs. Parts are easy to find and replace. Good car to learn some maintenance on.

Definitely worth the $1 I spent on it.

Faults:

My brake pads and rotors went bad.

My drum brake pistons started leaking.

My head gasket blew and coolant leaked.

My power steering pressure hose leaked.

My radiator had a huge leak.

My water pump failed.

My cylinder head was cracked (overheated).

My original speakers blew.

General Comments:

This is the best do-it-yourself car I have ever seen. You can virtually do anything yourself and save thousands on labor. Junkyards and auto stores have tons of parts for this vehicle. Due to it's non-flashy appeal, you can feel safe that nobody is interested in carjacking or breaking into the vehicle.

Faults:

Replaced front brakes at 118000 miles.

Replaced rear brakes at 122000 miles.

Replaced timing belt at 127000 miles after car broke down.

Replaced washer pump at 131000 miles.

Replaced oil pan and other lubrication related items at 134000 miles.

Replaced exhaust pipe at 135000 miles.

Replaced steering column (used) at 137000 miles.

Replaced radiator at 140000 miles.

General Comments:

This car has surprised us with its longevity. We purchased it as our work-horse from a friend of a friend for just under $200 and hoped it would last a year. That was two years ago and the engine continues to perform well.

However we have began having trouble with the body. One the windows no longer opens, the window washer fluid works sporadically, and electrical wiring is beginning to deteriorate.

Faults:

Sensors (many, many) needed to be replaced.

Fuel injector replaced.

Fuel system cleaned.

Suffers from extremely low gas mileage.

Torque converter slipping.

General Comments:

This car even to this date is a very reliable car. My K-Car is the sole longest surviving car in my family. Up until recently, it was very cheap to run, and even cheaper to maintain.

Unfortunately, my car started to smoke black smoke and idle hard. So I got a fuel system cleaning, which replaced my fuel filter, sensors, throttle body cleaning and fuel injector replacements. The mechanic I took it to said this was the problem, nothing else was wrong. 600 dollars later I suffer from the same problem. Yet the mechanic maintains that this is the best this car is gonna run.

The body is very strong on these cars. Very little rust and up till recently, very fun to drive. Not a bad car as this thing, even after all the problems, still manages to get me from point A to point B, and sometimes point C on weekends in a safe and reliable manner.