Faults:

Less ground clearance compare to some other manufacturers. I got stuck in snow couple of times, but nothing too much.

General Comments:

This car is extremely reliable. It is built rock solid. I did regular maintenance and this car ran forever. The only thing is it's a little slow, but that is expected with its 1.6 liter engine. This car is heck of a gas saver. My job requires a lot of travel, so most of the mileage on the car is highway mileage.

Faults:

Paint chip.

Tires.

Heater hose.

Alternator.

(all normal wear and tear for a 1996)

General Comments:

Low maintenance car.

Seats quite uncomfortable, but not that bad.

Small interior, duh, for a compact car.

Heat and A/C still work.

Parts are inexpensive; replaced:

All 4 tires under $80 (each).

Heater hose $7 (did it myself).

Alternator $40 (from junk yard).

I didn't put too much into this car, yet it held me down throughout nursing school, and my move from Florida to Pennsylvania.

Get it if you're thinking about it.

Faults:

New clutch cable at 105,000.

New clutch at 115,000 (I believe it was the first clutch replacement, but I'm not positive).

Needed new tires at 115,000.

Muffler extremely low to ground, I've busted the exhaust pipe 3 times. Easy welders fix (30-50 bucks).

Needs brake work at 120,000 (not exactly sure what needs to be done, the brakes work fine, they just make a rubbing noise, needs repairs though, for sure).

General Comments:

I really like this car. Its biggest fault is that it is only a few inches above the ground, and I live on rural roads so this is a problem. Doesn't get too much power, but I've driven it over almost every mountain range in the USA, and gotten to the top of plenty of crazy hills. Gets 45 miles to the gallon most of the time (highway miles at 55). Otherwise, 30-38 miles to the gallon.

Easy obvious repairs. I'm no mechanic, but it seems as if I can detect the problems before the becomes a huge problem.

Replaced the clutch. Needed this badly, but ran on a slipping clutch for almost 15,000 miles and it worked fine.

The inside of the car is extremely small. But that's what you get if you want a car that gets such good gas mileage. I do wish it was a hatch back.

Highly recommend this car. Mine is extremely rusty but again, it's working fine with the rust. She's a bucket of fun. Small, fast enough. Great mileage.

Faults:

Clutch replaced at 150,000 miles.

Front tie rods replaced at 150,000 miles.

Starter being replaced at 175,000 miles.

Brakes replaced once in 60,000 miles.

Tires replaced at 150,000 miles.

General Comments:

This is the cheapest car I have ever owned for this long. I have had it for 3 years now, and I can't believe that I have driven it so much and done so little to it.

It still runs almost as good as new. I know this because I used to sell this car new.

I really beat this poor little car up. I drive it every day for work on the highway, and it's great in the snow remarkably. I used to watch these little cars come into the service department with 300,000 miles and still going strong. My little car still feels like it has at least 200k more miles in it.

Faults:

Radio volume control quirky, IE adjust volume and nothing happens for minute or so.

Hood latch release is stuck, can't open hood.

Drivers door has excessive wind noise in gusty wind conditions.

General Comments:

Thanks to this site and those that have contributed, you were a big help in the selection of this type of car.

New owner, drove it 800 km's yesterday to get the car home in pretty nasty Canadian winter conditions and this car exceeded most of my expectations.

Drive train; not overpowered, but as expected, however the engine is much smoother than I expected. The clutch is a little abrupt and will take a bit of getting used to.

Comfort; better than expected, I'm 6'2" 230 lbs and I was quite comfy. Seats are stiff, but fit well. Back seats would not be to good for adults.

Handling: I drove 800 km's in variety of conditions (slush, ice, snow and drifting snow.) The car drove straight and tight, I thought I would need to slow down more to accommodate the smaller car and expected handling, but that was not the case. Good ride suspension not to stiff and didn't bottom out either.

30 mpg the first 200 km and 37 mpg the next 300 km.

If first impressions are anything to go with this car should serve me well for many years.