Faults:

IACV (idle air control valve) intermittently plays up, which is a common issue on these cars; either replace the unit or lightly keep your foot on the throttle to stop stalling. Only occurs occasionally on cold start up, and nothing else has gone wrong.

Note: these use a INVECSII transmission (F5a51) and are prone to failure, primarily due to the wavespring breaking and lodging in the transmission pump. If you purchase this vehicle, I recommend replacing the wavespring with a solid aftermarket unit and servicing the transmission approx. every 30,000km. It also doesn't hurt to purchase an additional transmission cooler to keep the ambient temperature down.

General Comments:

Surefooted, comfortable and practical ride, with near instant response from factory TD04-15T turbocharger. The engine is a detuned (177kW) version of the iconic 4G63T shared with the Evolution 7; 0-100km/h can be done with in approx. 7 seconds.

Maintenance is on the high side as this car won't tolerate poor servicing! Fuel economy is average (8.3l/100km open road, 15l/100km city).

Although it is classified as a SUV/station wagon, it is small, with just enough room to fit my families luggage for a weekend road trip, and the interior is plain and simple with no bells and whistles.

I bought this simply because of the practicality, reliability, safety and instant power that it offers. This is a very fun car to drive with many options to increase the power if you wish to do so.