1992 Daihatsu Charade TS review from Australia and New Zealand

Tiny bit of surface rust starting to appear in a seal near the passenger side door.

Cocked one engine before, literally boiled it. Resulted in a cracked head = new engine.

Back seats have seen better days.

CV joints are starting to whine after 340,000.

Annoyingly slow.

Being the 993cc engine coupled with a 5 speed manual, it is basically a shopping trolley.

Tends to have a fair bit of body role, but never the less handles at an acceptable level.

Skinny tyres make driving in rain interesting.

Lacks power and top speed. Fastest I ever had the car was to 135km/h (aid of a hill too).

Fastest achieved, 60 in 2nd, 90 in 3rd, 120 in 4th, 135 in 5th. Not bad for 3 cylinders.

Due to low compression ratio, sounds good when rev-ed.

Drinks petrol heavily when being pushed at all.

Needs all those gears to climb any sort of hill.

If needed for navigating the city, perfect. For speed, don't even think about it.

No problems finding parts. New engine cost $400 Australian with 40,000km on it.