Seized brake calliper - 61,000 miles.
Cracked distributor cap.
Re-conditioned gearbox and a new clutch at 67,500 miles.
Two new exhaust boxes.
Broken weld on the driver's seat.
Far less rust prone than most British contemporary super-minis.
Has never broken down, very quick and nippy around town.
Comfortable seats, quite good quality trim and a soft suspension with bags of grip.
Still gives superb economy on motorway runs, 50+ mpg.
Overall, reasonable performance and cheap to run and insure.
Rear seats fold down to provide plenty of space.
However, parts are too expensive and sometimes require unusual tools.
Uses quite a lot of choke on short urban runs.
A little noisy at high speed and prone to wheelslip in the wet and bodyroll when pushed hard.
Tends to sit on its springs when loaded with 4 adults.
I still prefer driving it to comparable Fiesta/Novas of a similar vintage because of the easy gear change and the quick acceleration.
Update - sadly the AX committed suicide in January 2001. A fire developed in the engine bay some 15-30 minutes after being parked up (after a fast 110 mile run). No idea why. A real pity, as it was going very well at 78,000 miles and there was virtually no corrosion anywhere.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site