Boot leak through o/s light cluster - cured with silicone sealant.
Rust developing along the n/s rear sill - not very clever for a six year old car.
Apart from that it has been totally reliable, although I only do around 6000 miles a year.
Overall a satisfactory car, but hardly one to set your pulse racing.
Has air-con and nice alloys, quite good to drive, grips the corners well, but the engine is not really up to the job, it does not really pull below 4000rpm (like most 16v engines), above this it is harsh and noisy.
Fuel economy is poor, I seem to average 27/28 mpg no matter how easy I take it.
The biggest downer is depreciation, I paid £4200 for it nearly 2 years ago, but would struggle to get half that for it now.
If you did 20k miles a year on a motorway this would probably be a good buy, but if you do my limited mileage each year I think you would be better off buying a small hatchback.
It has nothing to do with 16 valves engines. I hear this all the time and is a mistake.
Simply the engine is too small for the car. What do you expect?
I simply stated the fact that in common with the vast majority of 16v engines it needs to be revved hard to achieve decent performance, regardless of it being the 1.6, 1.8, 2.0 or 2.5 under the bonnet.
And yes, I quite agree the 1.8 is too small for this size/weight of car, hence my comment "but the engine is not really up to the job"!
Yes, but the 1.8 is a proven lump, that yields good torque and economy.
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