4th Feb 2007, 15:13
My father owned a Triumph Acclaim when I was a lad. He had it for about five years with no major problems. It only needed a new cam belt and alternator. This, you have to admit, was very impressive, considering the car was never serviced and driven for about 200 miles weekly.
Although the speedo only displayed 100MPH, the car had no trouble achieving this speed. The acceleration, due to the close ratio gearbox and light weight was fantastic.
My father decided to replace the Acclaim (March 1996) because of the noisy alternator, which unbeknown to him at the time was the problem. He thought it was a more serious problem. I was so impressed with the car, I wanted him to give it to me as I was nearing the legal driving age. But unfortunately, he sold it to a college student and I only saw it once after that.
The downfall of the car was rust. The door bottoms suffered badly from rust and the black paint work became a chore to keep clean.
Overall, a reliable, affordable, comfortable and fun car to drive. They are now a rare sight. I haven`t seen for for about a year.
30th Oct 2005, 04:51
Dear oh dear, a car over twenty years old and things went wrong with it! I suggest its mainly because you bought a bad one in the first place that was on its last legs. I have owned about twenty of these cars over the years. I have driven many thousands of miles in them. My family have all driven them. You can get a few negative comments about the image, but when you know how reliable they are and how cheap to run, then who cares? The rust gets most of them in the end, but apart from that, if looked after, very little will let you down. The alternators tend to go at about 110,000miles, but otherwise these are excellent cars.