1992 Daihatsu Charade TS review from Australia and New Zealand

A loose bolt in the engine bay some how got into the belts where it was shot into the timing belt, which then shot it through the side of a part of the block and the bolt ended up in the sump. The timing belt did not break although a chuck was torn out, so I was able to drive it home... slowly.

I did not need to replace the block, just a piece which bolts on to the side, a simple weld at the dealer fixed this, but he welded over the timing marks which made it a lot of fun to try and get the timing right. After pulling down the engine to get to the timing belt 4 times, we finally got the timing right, we saved money, but not time by getting a friend who knows a thing or two about cars to fix it for me.

The head gasket blew after I thrashed it too hard, I will never do that again. Now I treat and drive my car with love; because I remember what it's like having a car sit in the garage pulled down and being unable to drive it when I want to go somewhere.

Although it's economical and "roomy" inside, the performance is non-existent with a little 3-cylinder 1.0L engine.

It's not actually as economical as I thought it was going to be, I get about 35mpg. I change gears every extra 20km/h. For example, up to 20 in 1st, up to 40 in 2nd, up to 60 in 3rd, up to 80 in 4th and then change to 5th. As you can see, the consumption is not that good for how light I drive my car.

Limited "luxury" items in the cabin, it only has air conditioning as a luxurious item.

Seats aren't that comfortable, I think it might be because previous owners were "large" so they wore out the seats a bit. No offense intended to anyone.

Low power means you can expect to be going very slow up hills.

Car gets "rickety" if you go fast around a corner.

This car has a lot of body-roll even though it has sway bars.