1999 Daihatsu Cuore Base review from UK and Ireland

Corrosion on the rear wheel arch suspension seam caused the car to fail the M.O.T.

Other than that, nothing major went wrong.

I purchased this car as an insurance write off for £450 from an auction. Repairing the damage cost more than the car! Didn't come with a master key either, so had to be exceptionally careful not to lose the only remaining key.

Performance was pretty spry, fastest I ever went was 90mph on a slight uphill gradient in 5th.

Acceleration was good, but it would tend to drink petrol if I became too enthusiastic, also high speed cruising tended to decrease fuel economy, at 70mph, plus it would drop to less than 40mpg. Keep it under 60mph and no harsh accelerating, and 50mpg plus was achievable.

Did suffer from punctures, managed to have 4 in the time I owned it, but tyres were cheap at around £25-£30.

Big problem was rust; it started to corrode quite bad for a 9 year old car. Weak spots were the rear wheel arches and below the fuel filler cap, which could have failed the next M.O.T. so decided to cut my losses and invest in something newer.

Wasn't really rustproofed with the British market in mind, I've seen 1993 Fiat Cinquecento's with less corrosion. Bodywork is very flimsy and easy to dent thanks to the thin metal, which results in the car being very light at 720kg.

Good legroom in the front and rear, but a bit cramped width-ways; two large passengers would tend to rub elbows occasionally.

The radio/cassette was crap with lousy FM reception, started a bad habit of taking my eyes off the road to re-tune it.

The engine is a gem, but tended to use a fair amount of oil, and filled up the car would billow blue smoke for about 10 seconds after starting from cold, then would clear.

Couldn't fault the reliability; started on the button 1st time every time. Sad to see it go.