Faults:

Starter motor not working when I purchased the car.

General Comments:

Recently bought the car and felt the instant need to review it. I paid £300 for it since it wouldn't start. A new starter motor was £50 from Eurocarparts. It did, however, prove difficult to fit because of the out-of-the-way position behind the inlet manifold.

The handling is amazing. It's great fun to drive and the 125 bhp engine pulls smoothly through the gears.

The bodywork is a bit tinny for my liking, certainly not as robust as on the Sierra, but rust-free nonetheless.

The interior is comfortable, but dated, consisting mainly of plastic.

Haven't owned the car for long, so can't comment on reliability. Parts are easy to come by in the UK and cheap if you go to the right places. There does seem to be a price increase for the later 2.0i Kat models though.

In short it's a great car for the money. I thoroughly enjoy driving it, and would never go back to driving a Sierra (despite the slightly more luxurious interior and boot space!)

Faults:

Clutch cable snapped.

Clutch release arm broke - replaced along with a new clutch.

Boot leaking - rear light clusters had screws missing!

Exhaust blew - manifold and middle section replaced.

Car hitting speed bumps! Previous owner had lowered the already low original suspension.

Shock absorbers worn - nearly new suspension fitted from a 405 GTX.

Mis-fire cause by faulty rotor arm.

General Comments:

Having been very pleased with the performance of my 405 1.6 (carburettor).

I decided that the Mi16 must go like a rocket and had to be my next car.

One problem - lack of low rev torque.

The 405's 8-valve 1.9i has 127 lbs ft of torque and despite the extra 8 valves the Mi16 can only muster 133 lbs ft and the Mi16 is a heavier car.

Fortunately the Mi has has 35bhp more and it shows once the revs exceed about 4000 a minute.

The fastest Mi's are the ones without air-conditioning and pre-catalyst.

Despite the faults I've had I still love the car and its handling and grip are superb.

A 205 1.9 GTi may beat me from the lights, but on the right road the Mi16 is king!

Faults:

Oil breather pipes clogged up with creamy gunk (common fault).

Radiator leak.

Intermittent running probs, sometimes lovely, sometimes a dog!

N/S CV boot, N/S/F wheel bearing.

Sunroof gave up the ghost.

General Comments:

Despite these niggly problems I love this car! The gunking up of the breather pipes and oil filler had me worried briefly (cylinder head gasket?). Finally found that removing the two air breather pipes going to oil filler unit helped an awful lot & made no difference to the engine. The gunking problem is very common in these cars and can seriously affect engine performance, so make sure all the oil pipes are removed & cleaned with petrol when you do an oil change. Also check the filler unit, it has a gauze filter inside & may well need changing (only £10 from a dealer). Contrary to what some garages may tell you, it is an easy job! Get the Haynes manual & do the work yourself.

Found that changing plugs to Bosch super 4's and changing leads made a noticeable improvement to engine.

Sound system is fantastic for this level of car, boy is it loud!!

Handling is excellent, very predictable understeer at the limit.

Suspension... unbelievable, speed humps... pah!!

Seats are sporty but very comfortable, even on long journeys.

Overall, I would recommend these cars highly, look for one that has been maintained properly and you have everything you could need from a car. Best of all, they are ridiculously cheap to buy & insure!