Faults:

Rust, rust, rust. Needed 2 paint jobs and welding within 8 years.

Gas leaked from the tank.

Engine replaced 2 times, only the last one (a 1.5 liter) held together.

It was very basic, not much else to go wrong.

General Comments:

Very comfortable and roomy for such a small car. (The smallest Ford of its time.)

Trunk was huge.

Column shifter was new to me, but I preferred it over a floor shifter.

It lacked a 5th gear of course.

Sometimes it selected 2 gears at once. Only remedy was to shut the engine off and open the hood to dislodge the linkage.

The clutch was adjustable while driving.

Parts were hard to get, but cheap.

McPherson suspension in front, leaf springs in the back. It handled great. Not to soft, not to firm. Good for driving long distances without getting tired.

Faults:

The car was in excellent shape for such an old and cheap (3500kr/about £350 in 2004) vehicle - the only things that went wrong was the wiper blade engine, where a plastic cogwheel was worn out according to my mechanic. It was really hard to get the cog back, but eventually I had to change the engine, which was kind of awkwardly placed.

Excellent interior condition due to ghastly purple plush covers.

Unfortunately the cylinder compression dropped due to an old packing, the cylinderhead needed a fix, and since I know nothing of cars I sold it as a spare-part car to an enthusiast.

General Comments:

My first car. It laid rather low, but felt nice and broad on the road for its size, although a little long in the front when parking. Slightly heavy steering, but actually a very nice ride. Impossible to chat when driving in high speed though, due to a bad soundproofing. The defrosting was really bad, and it handled badly when driving on icy roads.

Faults:

Nothing except for the front lights went out at 154000 km.

General Comments:

This is the best car I have ever driven.

Not much to look at, people make fun of me constantly, but I love my Taunus.