1985 Daihatsu Charade 1.0

Summary:

This car is nothing short of superb

Faults:

Had to change distributor contact breakers.

Nothing other than this went wrong, however, I changed oil, filters, distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires etc as a routine service procedure.

Rear part of exhaust had a little hole; I fixed it with exhaust gum.

General Comments:

This car is wonderful; utter reliability, comfort, speed and economy.

I bought this car for 250 euros. And the previous owner was so careless, he never serviced the car for all the three years he owned it. When I drove it home for the first time, I had in mind that may be this car will drive a couple of months before she dies, I did not have much confidence since it was my first Daihatsu ever.

But I was wrong, now it's been almost two years, but this little car is still rolling, and I have a lot of confidence in this car, I can even take on long routes.

I service it at home, and nothing really went wrong with this car.

It's a good comfortable car for its size, however, the body work could have been better, the paint has faded off and there is cheap plastic coating at the door interiors. The engine is a little noisy, even though I have done valve clearance, but still.

Overall, I simply love this car. It's more comfortable and good looking than my previous K10 Micra, and equally reliable. However, the Micra has the edge of dealerships available throughout and cheap parts.

I'd definitely recommend this car, especially to students, the insurance is dirt cheap and all this car needs to run is petrol, that too is only 5 litres per 100kms.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th January, 2010

22nd Sep 2021, 09:53

Hey man, nice review especially because you have had both the cars I'm considering buying. I'm looking at a 1985 Daihatsu Charade (83k kilometers) and a 2006 Nissan Micra (100k kilometers), they're want 750 euros more for the Micra... I'm leaning towards the Daihatsu, what do you think? Do you still have yours?

22nd Sep 2021, 21:59

This review was written over 10 years ago, I doubt the original author will reply :)

Anyways I think the 2006 Micra would be a better choice, I had one, decent enough little car for basic transport, don't expect anything special.

23rd Sep 2021, 21:16

Not the OP, but I have owned both cars (86 Charade and 04 Micra), and the Daihatsu is the one I would have again, no question. I loved my Charade, but the Micra was just a machine to me. Just check you have found somewhere you can still get parts from before buying, just in case!