Bought the car ($1200) with a bad clutch and CV joint at 88K miles.
Installed a new water pump at 120k miles.
Tachometer and water temp go in and out, they have bad screw grounding inside the instrument panel.
Will tend to overheat, as the fan will not come on soon enough during in town driving. Some people put in a manual switch to turn the fan on.
The drivers' door hinges wear out because of the long door on the 2 door model, but that allows easy entry into the seat.
This car is great and it has taken me back and forth from California to Florida to Missouri, but now has 198000 miles on it and the head gasket is leaking some, but it still gets about 44 MPG on the road, and 39 MPG in town with its 5 speed.
I wish they would still make them like this. It has the largest 13 inch tires on it, and I had to pound down the inside of the back wheel wells so they would not hit the large metal seam, but that help me get the high MPG.
The AC unit installed in the USA is a little under powered for the car, but I know a guy who put in a bigger compressor that fixed it with only a small bracket change, and it works great.
I've owned my 1988 Daihatsu Charade CSX for 18 years and 120k miles and concur with all the praise expressed for this phenomenal car---well ahead of the times.
My CSX model is a sport model with the larger, 175 tires, alloy wheels, special seats, tach and superior handling. The standard, narrower, 155 tires (both are 13inch) will, contrary to another opinion I just read, will give slightly better fuel economy, having lesser rolling friction though they will not grip the road as well. Mine also gets 39 mpg around town and in the mid forties on the highway. It used to get 50 in its earlier days when fuel was better and so was it. I have run all synthetic lubricants in it, thankfully, so it still runs about as strong as when I bought it with 12,500 miles.
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