Faults:

The cars has had no major faults to date.

We had was at 137500 was the sun visor split from the hinge, making it hard to retract.

The rear shelf clips that hold it to the back seat have snapped off 15000. However not a major worry, just lift shelf off and rest it onto the back seat.

General Comments:

This has been a fantastic little car. Its great for doing the shopping runs, taking kids to school, etc.

The only main gripe with the car is the engine size, it's a 993cc/1.0L which is connected to a 3 speed automatic, this make it very hard to get up hills, taking off from the lights. The automatic does not make it much easier either with its long ratios.

Apart from this, it has served our family well. The seat are a little uncomfortable, however just by putting sheep skin covers on, does the job.

Fuel economy is amazing on its 37 liter tank we can achieve around 600kms, however if you are constantly holding the pedal to the metal and over revving the engine, the fuel consumption can go up drastically.

This has been a great little car that has served it purpose (and still is)

Faults:

Radio cuts out intermittently.

General Comments:

An excellent car for the price, which these days is next to nothing. We use ours generally just for running around the city, and it does very well in this regard. Extremely light on fuel, very easy to park. Performance better than expected for such a tiny engine - keeps up with normal traffic pace with no trouble at all. No point pushing it hard though, you will gain very little. Does the speed limit on freeways, engine has an interesting sound, still looks neat and best of all, purchase and running costs couldn't get any lower. What more could you ask for in a runabout?

Faults:

Had to replace the water pump at around the 50,000km mark as it was making a noise -- bearings were shot, don't know what caused that but I have had no probs since. It only cost me $100 for a new one.

Had a hell of a time replacing the fuel filter the last time I did it. The nuts tend to seize up and have become a bit rounded now. Not looking forward to replacing it again (had to resort to multigrips last time to get it off). But this is a minor annoyance more than anything.

Put a new clutch in it after around 100,000km (didn't really need it but I was getting it done for free so I thought 'why not?'). For some reason the new clutch slips a bit when the engine is cold and you are accelerating hard or up a hill. Goes away once warmed up though, maybe I should have got the flywheel machined.

General Comments:

Good car, the quickest in it's class (small 'non sportscar' hatchback) for it's time (released late 1980's). Ahead of it's time in that it had 16valves EFI and fully independent rear suspension.

I have driven this car hard since I bought it and have had very little problems with it (touch wood). It handles well and the engine responds well when revved hard -- has a 7,000 rpm redline, max power comes in at 6,500 rpm.

I change the oil and filter every 5,000kms, and would recommend doing this, especially if like me you enjoy ringing the crap out of your cars.

Faults:

Rather noisy engine.

General Comments:

Packs a powerful punch for a small car like this. No major engine problems. Good acceleration and smooth gear changing. I would recomend this car for beginners.

Faults:

Replaced the brakes.

General Comments:

After 9 years and 162,000 km the engine and exhaust are still original! Mechanically it is still very reliable.

Faults:

After running 2 other Charades, I ran this one from zero to 305,000 km.

Exhaust replaced (front 1x, rear 3x).

All 4 McPherson dampers replaced with used ones.

Radiator replaced at 138,000 km.

Starter engine replaced.

Clutch etc at 149,000 km.

General Comments:

Never ever had to walk since driving 500,000 km or so in several Charades (diesel / turbo diesel / LPG).

Easy to maintain car. I do everything myself. Very cheap to run.

I check it every 500 km, and do an oil change every 15,000 km with spark plugs / breaker points etc. Every 30,000 km it gets an air filter.

I took it on several trips to Poland, and recently to Mostar, Sarajevo, Tuzla and Banja Luka. Nice to know that it is unlikely they'll rob you when driving a Charade.

Update 22 May 2000:

In the meantime I took it for a trip to the Nordkapp, and on to the Norwegian-Russian border, and for a skiing vacation to France.

The engine is getting rather noisy (I guess a main bearing has degraded a little), but I just drive on.