1998 Daihatsu Cuore from UK and Ireland - Comments

Exhaust rattle I STILL can't completely eliminate.

Sometimes a little slower to start than it should (service needed)

Seat belt don't retract that quick.

Got this car cause it was offered to me at a very cheap price. The car reminds me of a classic mini but not quite! Seemed silly I was driving to work in an estate car all on my own. With heavy fuel prices and tax, and the whole carbon footprint thing, this car seemed perfect.

Engine is the 3 cylinder one and at times sounds a bit like a motorbike. Very quiet engine and when chill driving the only noise you can hear is the gearbox whine (which apparently is a trait of the engine, again like the mini!).

Gear changes are smooth and not notchy. Doesn't feel horrible like some fords etc, and clutch etc feels good. Pedals are spaced nicely too and my big size 12 feet don't have a problem operating pedals.

Steering is nice, fairly light and precise.

Brakes are sharp and responsive, not sure the car's got ABS or not, but seems to stop in time.

Handling: It's what one would call 'nippy'. It steers direct and changes direction easy. However, the only downside is the body roll. You'd think for such a small car it'd ride real well, but feel if your having a little B-road blat, you have to take into consideration the lean factor when cornering.

It's hideous to drive in the wet, under-steers at every given opportunity, but starting to get used to it and it's becoming predictable, so as long as you don't stuff it into a corner, everything is correctable with ease.

Interior: Seats are big enough and comfy. Dash looks modern but basic. Everything is manual so there's less to go wrong - perfect. No split fold seats which is annoying and when you fold seats down, doesn't go flat and there's only fabric on the seat back which can see getting ripped at some point.

Space: It's weird, you look at it, it's tiny... you get in it and it's huge! Okay it's a narrow car so two adults in the front will brush shoulders but if your with your loved one, that's nice! lots of leg room and plenty of space in the rear.

I could go on, but I won't. It's a fantastic commuter car which has brought a smile back to my journeys to and from work. Get on the motorway, 65mph, and you get 60mpg from it. Wish I'd got one of these years ago!

Update on the car:

Mileage now done: 104,000 miles.

Parts are a little hard to get, the nearest Daihatsu place is miles away, Halfords don't stock parts, nor do Partco. Managed to find a place in Woodford Freen, Essex and they do mail order. Didn't seem too expensive, so managed to service the car okay.

After a month or so of ownership, the thing is growing on me more and more - such fun to drive, wet or dry...it's nice to be in something different!

Did a 150 mile drive in it the other week, and was being followed by a friend in a Vectra. Think I annoyed him a bit as he wanted to go 80mph most of the way, but the Cuore just isn't happy cruising at that speed; 65-70mph is fine.

Think it'd be okay doing longish drive in it, but would need a couple more stops and obviously not driven as fast as it'll go!

Daihatsu is one of the best cars I've owned (had 29 cars!) Will definitely be buying a new one when this is dead!

M.

I agree... I have this car too.

Its only just done over 40,000 and is fantastic little runabout.

I quite happily travel 160 miles to visit family in this car.

It only takes £26 to fill there car up too.

Its fantastic.

Does anyone know the PCD for the wheels on this car? The skinny little 12" rims aren't up to much in the wet, was going to try get something else, but finding out the PCD seems to be a bit of a task.

Thanks

Mark.

UPDATE: Car has now got 106k on the clock now, and to be honest, nothing has changed since first getting it.

Hasn't let me down once. Still don't like handling in the wet but forgivable if you drive slower.

Have stopped driving it nicely and regularly cruise at indicated 90mph (which is 85mph in real terms - tomtom corrected me!)

Brakes squeek a little on front but not too bad to change (£50 pads from dealer)

Other than that it's a gem, I'm racking up the miles and it's not even whimpering at the hard time I give it...

Reckon I'll get 150k out of this car with nothing more than servicing (and maybe a cambelt)

Will update again when it's done about 115k

thanks

mark.

Update: Car now has 116k on clock.

Just passed it MOT with nothing at all to do, other than rear tyres bald and headlight bulb needs replacing.

Nothing has changed with the car really. Still got the exhaust rattle. Doesn't use any water, doesn't overheat. Has slight oil leak coming from the top of the engine, but nothing too bad, just makes the engine look messy.

Economy goes up to 62mpg if you drive and cruise at 65mph, but not that realistic on the A roads I drive.

Really inspires me to do a long journey in it, but sadly I know after a few hours, my back will start to hurt and the in cabin noise will get a bit much.

Cambelt change next week, so nothing major until up to 150k other than oil changes. Will report at 125k miles.

Thanks, Mark.

Update: 116k.

Car has taken a turn for the worse ;-(

The car was starting to use oil and leak it from the top of the engine - only small I thought.

Driving on the motorway the other day, and car slowed from 70 to 50 and shook violently. Thought it was ignition misfire. To my horror, when investigated, there was no oil in car, so it had been burning more than I had thought.

However, with the damage I caused running the car without oil, after filling up, the car now smokes when I blip throttle or under load, so I think the rings have gone or something similar.

Think it's time to trade in and get something else.

Have thoroughly enjoyed the car, and as an introduction into the Daihatsu type Japanese cars, I am going to try and buy a brand new car shortly.

Excellent.

Hold on to see if the £2000 government scrappage allowance comes in - with that and the Citroen £1000 discount, a base C1 costs only £4400 OTR plus low rate finance buys it for only £100ish pcm.

Shame about your Cuore - it has given good service, but missing a simple job and the resulting lack of oil probably killed it..

If you like the Cuore and want a cheap car, take a quick look at a Perodua Kelisa - it is the same basic car, but Daihatsu made it in Malaysia. See my review "Proven Japanese..."; our 2002 car was mint, cost only £1700 and to date still remains my wife's favourite car to drive out of the 81 I have owned... Kelisas are still kicking about new at £3999 (Leighton Buzzard main dealer) and with the scrappage that would only be £1999 for a new car - Tata Nano territory! Shame it misses the £35 tax band by 1g/km though... and any crash protection or ABS.

Good luck!

Update: 124k.

Haha, bet you all thought it was dead! I thought it was.

Turned out that the weird running of the car turned out to be 3 burnt out spark plugs! Was amazed cause only changed them 6k miles ago but got to think, it's a very revvy car so maybe harder wearing on ignition parts.

Need to keep an eye on the oil level cause from empty it only holds something like 2.5 litres of oil, so a little burning will see you in trouble. So top up every 3 weeks to a month, not bad.

It seems to be 'breathing' which older cars do. This has resulted in making the car smoke. There's two breather pipes on the car, crankcase breather on top of the head and at the back of the engine. I have routed both these pipes to a coke bottle I've hidden under the bonnet. Since then, no more smoking, everything is breathing nicer. I change the coke bottle once a month and there's a bit of gunk in it, nothing terrible.

Cam belt was changed last week, so that's it now until 180k on the clock - let's see how long it'll last!!!

Will update in a few months! ta. Mark.

Hi Mark - good to hear the car is OK!

Since posting, I have looked at the scrappage deals and the fact is that last year you could sell your old car for say £500 and buy a Panda through fiatsupersaver for £4800 OTR - a total cost of £4300. Now, with the scrappage scheme allowance of £2000, the basic Panda is discounted to... £4995...costing £695 EXTRA, WITH the discount.

It is a better idea to keep old cars like yours going - with emissions of only 129 g/km, economy of 50-60mpg and 180,000 miles under its belt, it is more ecologically sound than any Prius or hybrid which will prove to be too expensive to repair economically before long.

I love these superbly engineered little Daihatsu engines; I have had four Daihatsus and have just bought my second Perodua Kelisa (same car, same engine, different trim) with only 9,000 miles on it. With a bit of luck, it will last as long as yours!

Look after it and keep on going... chuffed for you!

Hi, it's mark... ahh you got a Kelisa? Everyone laughed at me when I said I wanted one, cause I think they're great - modern styling I quite like (maybe I am weird) and with the great revvy little engines... just can't bring myself to throw a perfectly good car away.

However, will see how many miles I can rack up on this to see how well the engines last (and mine had a slightly hard time from the previous few owners!)

The most hidden bit of info seems to be about the breathing side of the engine and how they're restricted, but with oil catch tanks, I'm sure you could get one on ebay which states it's smokey for £100, put the catch tank on it and have a perfectly good car..

Kelisa is next on the list though.

Shame parts for my shape one are a bit rare and expensive, would love some slightly fatter wheels for better handling and you can get lowering springs on ebay for £45 for the facelift Cuore from 1999, but my old Mira shape one, it's £130, the cheek of it!

Either way, I have a Grand Cherokee for weekends, and this for the week, and think the Daihatsu wins for out and out fun!!

Cheers

Mark.

Update: 125k.

Oh dear, think this time it has finally come to a standstill and not to move again...

I opened the bonnet to find oil has shot out of something, hit top of bonnet and splatted all over engine, battery, air filters, the lot... there's a lot of oil everywhere, so not sure what's happened or where it's come from... car hasn't broken down, but won't drive it until I know what's going on... however, no mayo under oil cap, and no oil in the water, so can't be head gasket, must just be more blocked breather pipes???

I want to limp it on for longer so will investigate, but it's looking grim!

Would have another one of these for sure, or the Kelisa, or even a Nippa, but next time will aim for a tidy one with less than 100k on clock when I buy it - reckon if you service it often and look after it, it will see 150k easily... just mine had been abused somewhat earlier in it's life! doh...

See my two Kelisa reviews; 2002 (Japanese...) and 2004 (As cheap...)

I am a big Daihatsu fan and love the Daihatsu based Kelisa - would highly recommend them to anyone wanting to update from a Cuore as it is the same car built under licence - all part no. stickers are Daihatsu and identical engine/box supplied to Perodua factory in crate from Japan. You do lose the electric mirrors and a couple of bits, though.

If buying a Kelisa 989cc GXi check: cambelt has been done (6 years) all dash gauges work 100%, exhaust (expensive), corrosion under anti-chip film on rear arch lowers, remote locking fob is with it and it works. Good luck - we have just sold our 79k minter for £1300 and I see a 37k mile one on a popular car buying site today for £999. A great buy - but budget for cambelt and service etc if needed.