Faults:

Clutch, master bearing needed replacing at 125,000 miles.

Has lived most of it's life in New England, and is showing a fair amount of rust.

Alternator, brakes, tires replaced; though not more often than any other car I've owned.

General Comments:

This car has been a pleasure to own. Although it has only 2 seats, it has quite a bit of cargo space for it's size. It'll fit an 8' beam inside (though not so easily with a passenger!), and I even managed to fit my good-sized recliner inside it and close the hatch.

It gets great mileage which varies widely with temperature and tire quality. The mileage sways 40 to 50 MPG over temperature (20 degrees F to 90 degrees F) and about 5 MPG depending on the tire rolling resistance. The best I've achieved is 52 MPG, octane grade does not seem to affect mileage.

It's great in the snow, and handles pretty well. This car is NOT fast. It's light, but also has only 60-something horsepower, making it quite sluggish.

Rust is a problem if you are in an area with snow/salt.

I'm rolling over 200,000 miles this week, and I torture it in general. The car just won't die- maybe in the next 100k miles...

Faults:

Nothing! Thank god!

Supposed to be very expensive to fix, so glad they are reliable!

Runs a bit rich so flooded the engine twice and that's it! Nothing 2 more key turns didn't sort out!

General Comments:

Excellent! Love the looks, love the engine and the interior, especially the seats. Bit bad on petrol though, less than 30mpg with progressive driving!

Passengers moan there's not enough room in the back, but what do I care, I've got plenty of room in the front! Glad I got one cos they are different than XR Fords or other such cars which are good in their own right, but I wanted something different.

130bhp, 130mph (just!). Can also get sideways on wet roundabouts! How much fun is that!

Faults:

Only one fault - the distributor failed, very expensive at the time, but the car has more than made up for it.

The front springs cracked, but this was due to a very deep rut on road works on a German autobahn. And great speed!!!

General Comments:

A pleasure to own, always reliable, have travelled much of Europe with this car. The best car ever to tour the Austrian Alps with. Does not like French very low grade unleaded though (but what car does?)

A really good car for the single person, even at ten years old I think it has more style than many new cars. Still manages to look modern, more than can be said for the likes of Ford Escorts XR3i's etc.

A very quick car and yet manages to remain economical. The one slightly down side of the car would be the noise levels at autobahn speeds.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

This is a real toy. Very cool to drive. Very fast in cornering. Even though this car is 10 years old now it's very easy to find performance part. Lowering the car is a great idea. The car is a little bit too high when you got it stock.

Doesn't take too much fuel too (if you're not driving too fast! ;-)).

Faults:

Distributor cap went out, and cost $100 to fix (including labor).

General Comments:

This an excellent car if you're looking for a reliable, somewhat sporty car. I still get roughly 35-38 MPG and the car takes off nicely from stoplights.

I bought the car with a salvaged title in 1995 for $4500, and even being salvaged I've maybe put a total of $300 work into the car not counting regular maintenance (ie: brakes, tune up) and oil changes. I HIGHLY recommend this car to anyone.

Faults:

Needed a new CV joint.

General Comments:

Looks like it goes, very sexy and very fast. Loves high revs and handles like a dream.

Not ideal for taking passengers, but plenty of leg room for front two.

Insurance reasonable (Group 14) as I am a student!

Very ergonomic controls and interior.

I found the sports seats a little uncomfortable at first, but now think they are brilliant. BE VERY careful when buying one of these, unfortunately there are a few write-offs and abused ones which dealers try and sell. Just say 'NO!' :-)

Faults:

Other than regular maintenance, I've had to replace the clutch, CV joint, and brake caliper. I've done many other things, but they were all performance related.

General Comments:

Great car! Name one other car that can get close to 40mpg and be as fun to drive as this is! The stock suspension and light weight of this car makes it so nimble. Some call it a death trap, but that's only if you get into an accident. It stops faster and handles better to help keep you out of accidents.

Faults:

Nothing in 18 months - touch wood.

General Comments:

Excellent value for money sport (y) car. Real fun to drive and very good looking.