Distributer pin broke twice, leaving rotor spinning freely, and the cap and coil links were corroded to nothingness, at about 19500.
Back wheel hubs nearly impossible to get off, for easy replacement of rear brake shoes.
Drivers door is starting to sag (something to do with me sitting on the door when shut and window down?)
Drivers seat is badly worn, and side support bars have come out of the padding.
Hatch struts have gone, meaning a suitably sized stick is needed.
CV (drivers side) joint is gone, and has been since I bought the car.
Burns oil at full throttle, and leaks water somewhere.
Starter died at 180,000miles.
In general, this is a very nice, reliable little car.
There are some niggles, such as the oil and water, which might put people off, but this is the middle of Georgia, its hot here all the time, I don't think I've had a cold start since April. it moves well, handles well, and carries more than its size would suggest.
Power delivery is pretty good, considering it's an automatic, I'm still hesitant taking it into corners though, even after 18 months of driving it, because of unexpected gearshifts. it has more than enough power, even fully loaded, 100mph is possible, WITH the air conditioning turned on.
For $800, this is a very nice little car, and has more than repaid its cost, with low fuel consumption, comfort, and ride handling.
Ride is very good, although being a small low car, big curbs, and steep driveways can sometimes lead to a nasty grounding/grating sound. it smooths out railway tracks, and speed bumps better than trucks or minivans do. The instrumentation is basic, but functional, its easy to work on.
About the only things I have to gripe about are that it's an automatic with erratic gear changes and that the seats don't give me enough lower back support for long journeys (which was adjustable on my Volvo).
The basic chassis is strong too. Te wife hit a BIG deer on one of the local back-roads, in December. there a little damage to the bonnet (hood) the headlight unit is a little loose, and the plastic cover on the lights next to the headlight is broken, but all the lights still work. considering she hit it at about 60, that's not bad at all.
It's not a water leak, it's condensation from your air conditioner. Most older cars have that, I've even seen it on some newer cars. It's just like a glass of water with ice in it. Water droplets will form on the outside of the glass.
no, it is a water leak. as in "the level in the radiator goes down over time". Starting to get annoying too. I went to top it up, because i was worried it would be low after a high speed dash (averaging 85mph, peaks of about 100) i went to top it up, thought I'd depressurised the radiator, and hot my hand hit by the water.
It DOES LEAK WATER. Seems I cracked the radiator whilst getting to the resonator bottle - namely when i went to unbolt the intake tube from the rad. I'll keep something in place of the airfilter next time, so i don't drop tools in the box, and have them fall into the bottle.
(just FYI, I've been working on cars since i was 8, mainly race cars, Rally ones in fact. I know water leaks when I see them)
The Head Gaskets are fibrous, (Cardboard), and will eventually go bad. Honda, and many other manufacturers were to cheap to use a neoprene gasket. If you want the car to last it will eventually have to be replaced with a neoprene upgrade. And find a good mechanic to do this on the side. That's of course unless you know how to do it yourself.
The Hatchbacks, although handy, are overpriced on the used market!
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site