1997 Daihatsu Charade TSP from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

I bought my Charade new as my first car. I have done a lot of long distance traveling in it etg. 500kms at a time. The Charade coped with the long distances well.

After 4 years the seat covers have worn and the stitching on the seat covers has come undone in some areas.

I have had ongoing problems with the drivers side door handle. The handle mechanism slips and I cannot open my door from the outside, this is very frustrating.

After 4 years the seat belt stopped sliding back up into position when released, instead they just sag limply and get stuck in the door when I try to close it.

Brilliant sound system too.

This car is highly reliable. There is absolutely nothing to complain about in the engine. In the 5 years I've had the car nothing has gone wrong.

It is small, handles well, fits into tiny parking gaps, handles 140kms per hour well and runs on little petrol.

I would recommend this car to any person on a tight petrol budget who will be doing lots of traveling.

I would like to ask you what is the meaning of the warning lamp in the dashbord just over the parking brake light since my manual is in japanese it looks like a square with two pipes coming from the sides and like vapour from the top.

Thank you.

That is the symbol for the Catalytic Converter.

It need attention.

With the amount of time between your question & my post, I would say that the problem will have been sorted.

A question of my own. What Kilometers had the car done when the symbol apeard?

I bought a 1997 1.5l 4cylinder 4 door charade hatch new and have done 110,000km in 8 years. The boot lock doesn't work, but it can be opened from the latch near the driver's seat. The air-con still cools well. The car runs as well today as it did when I drove it out the yard. I have added yellow fog lights on the front bumper. I wear tyres (front) fairly quickly (3 sets so far). A recent brake check by a pro. said I can expect another 50,000km from the original pads. It uses no oil yet. Overall, it is so reliable that I expect to get another 5years before I trade to another Daihatsu. Probably a Sirion.

Hi, I'm just eighteen years and I've just begun to learn how to drive. And the car in witch I'm learning is a daihatsu. And I just want to say, that it's an extremely good car. It's an excellent car to start learning.