Faults:

The Axel went bad at 80,000 miles.

General Comments:

It was pretty fast for a automatic, it had stock seats that feel like racing seats and everything is easy to reach from your seat. it was light and easy to drive. I would buy this car new, but I had to sell it because I had to get a van for the familly.

Faults:

Nothing yet.

The car idles rough. The only code I get is 12 (EGR valve lift). For some reason I think this is not the problem. The car leaves a sooty film on the back of the car. I know the car is running rich. I'm currently getting around 18 city and 25 highway. I get 180 city miles a tank.

I have to add a quart of oil every two weeks. I later found out that the previous owner used synthetic oil only. I been using the basic oil. The funny thing is no blue smoke or leaks that I can see. I did notice small puddles of oil just sitting where the throttle body sits. The only smoke I see is a little black smoke that comes out.

When I first got the car running, under hard acceleration, I would leave a black smoke cloud. After a while it stopped. I checked the spark plugs, and they are brown, but from what I hear, that means that the motor is in good shape. No oil, no soot. I wonder where the oil is going?

Anything electrical will cause the motor to idle rougher (A/C, rear defroster, even opening the door). When I roll the window down when it's already down, it makes the idle go down and come back up again.

One more thing. On the way home from work one day at a red light, the idle fluctuated between normal to the point where it wanted to stall, and it hesitated when the light changed. As the car warmed up fully, it went away.

General Comments:

On to the good things about the car.

The previous owner took good care of the car for the amount of miles it has. The A/C works, but not as cold as it could be.

The car has good acceleration, doesn't hesitate to take off. The motor is mouse like, even though it idles rough.

The car handles well and sticks to the road without the tires screaming for mercy. It's more quick than fast, and I have no trouble keeping up with the flow of traffic. I rarely use sport mode, I guess to preserve the car, since it already has a high red line.

Now the bad.

When I took it to someone about the idle, they said the car was missing. Even though I know about cars, I couldn't tell the car was missing. He pulled the plug wires off one at a time and found a dead cylinder close to the distributor.

That's not all folks. You can hear a ticking sound coming from the cylinder. Told it could be a burnt valve, plug or injector gone bad. A burnt valve would lower my gas mileage to the point where the car is undriveable, it would hesitate, loss of power. I have none of these symptoms, but the rough idle. No check engine light; only for the EGR code. The only time the car stalls is when the wheel is turned all the way and the car is first started.

The back seat could be a little bigger. I've been a victim of the seat belt strangler. But they are helpful, but dangerous.

Also, how much gas does this car hold. Some say it holds 13 gallons, but mine holds 10. A half a tank really shows 3-4 gallons left.

I like the seats, but wish they were power operated.

I've had numerous headaches from hitting my head getting in and out the car. The engine bay is cramped, and must be worked on from underneath from what I've heard.

Even though the car has a few problems, it seems to me that they are common problems with any car. I don't regret buying it, and I hope to get my $1500 worth. Some say I paid too much for the car. What do you think about it?

Final words. Just go get one. You'll fall in love with it.