2001 Daihatsu Terios CXS review from Portugal

Car-audio pre-installation of speakers had different type speakers on each door (smaller one on passenger door... could have been due to problems with alarm instalation, nobody's informed me, but importer has substituted the speaker promptly).

With almost 2000kms the orange engine light turned on and wouldn't go away. This was blamed on an excessively rich fuel-air mixture when the car was still cold (importer promptly fixed/repaired this problem).

Exhaust is held in place by several rubber blocks. 1 of these blocks broke and the exhaust is now hanging a few centimetres lower.

The Terios is not fast, does not handle like a sports car and does not have the space of a mono-volume van or the interior quality of an up-market sedan.

It does however provide great value for money.

Equipment levels are excellent particularly on the CXS model with sunroof, aircon, power windows and mirrors, power steering... comparing to 4x4 vehicles of similar size and price, space isn't too bad (at least there is luggage space!), new seats are much better than the ones in the previous Terios.

Gearing is perfect for the city, parking is easy for a 4x4, handling is predictable (although there is a lot of body-roll which can be scary on occasions) and off-road it never ceases to impress me.

It's not the best city car, or the best 4x4, but to me, it is definitely the best balance! It's not got the image of a great off-roader, but who cares, it is definitely more capable than it looks!