Faults:

Rear axle damaged at 175000km. Repair - 400USD.

Front mounting bushes often have to be changed, especially on Bulgarian roads.

Fuel injection problems. At 180000 - problems with cold start - over-rich mixture. At 195000 - poor mixture after the engine heats up to above 80C.

Noisy gear shift.

Engine mounting bush was worn out.

Cam-shaft toothed belt bearing worn out.

General Comments:

Excellent road handling and steering feel. The engine (1600cc, 89hp) is not powerful enough for this car, but the acceleration is reasonable.

Huge space inside, comfortable interior. This is probably the most roomy car from this class (compare with an Opel Vectra for example).

I drive on LPG (liquefied petroleum gasoline) - power decreases further, but this protects the engine (the LPG does not dissolve the oil film in the cylinder).

Engine is perfect, no major problems until now. No oil consumption whatsoever.

Poor gear-shift and clutch feel.

Lack of powersteering is a problem on this big car.

Faults:

Oil breather pipes clogged up with creamy gunk (common fault).

Radiator leak.

Intermittent running probs, sometimes lovely, sometimes a dog!

N/S CV boot, N/S/F wheel bearing.

Sunroof gave up the ghost.

General Comments:

Despite these niggly problems I love this car! The gunking up of the breather pipes and oil filler had me worried briefly (cylinder head gasket?). Finally found that removing the two air breather pipes going to oil filler unit helped an awful lot & made no difference to the engine. The gunking problem is very common in these cars and can seriously affect engine performance, so make sure all the oil pipes are removed & cleaned with petrol when you do an oil change. Also check the filler unit, it has a gauze filter inside & may well need changing (only £10 from a dealer). Contrary to what some garages may tell you, it is an easy job! Get the Haynes manual & do the work yourself.

Found that changing plugs to Bosch super 4's and changing leads made a noticeable improvement to engine.

Sound system is fantastic for this level of car, boy is it loud!!

Handling is excellent, very predictable understeer at the limit.

Suspension... unbelievable, speed humps... pah!!

Seats are sporty but very comfortable, even on long journeys.

Overall, I would recommend these cars highly, look for one that has been maintained properly and you have everything you could need from a car. Best of all, they are ridiculously cheap to buy & insure!

Faults:

Water hose went unexpectedly, but not expensive to fix.

Cambelt cost £200 (!) to renew!

Auto-choke stuck and cost £55 to clean out.

Brakes will need doing for its M.O.T (discs and pads).

General Comments:

Very nice to drive, and extremely comfortable.

Find a reputable independent garage for servicing and repairs - main dealers are expensive.

Faults:

Leaking heater matrix - twice!

Oil in the fuel warning sensor.

General Comments:

Good performance for a diesel, with reasonable economy.

Paintwork and trim still looks good at eight years old, despite a bare minimum of cleaning!

Faults:

Fuel injection pump fell apart.

Leaking injector.

Rear washer failed.

Wash wipers intermittently stop working.

Lazy electric window on the passenger side.

Various electrical gremlins.

General Comments:

The car is now mechanically reliable and with regular oil changes I would expect it to do another 100,000 miles.

The rest of the car is a catalogue of disaster with various bits of trim falling off and electrics that seem to have a mind of their own.

However, when it is running right it is smooth and quiet and costs next to nothing to run.

Faults:

Knocking in the front suspension.

Faulty power windows.

Dodgy central locking.

Had to replace the clutch.

Fan computer replaced.

Leaks a lot of oil and no-one can find the problem.

General Comments:

Overall the car has been great except for the little annoying problems. The performance is a bit sluggish, but I'm looking at a turbo and intercooler kit so that should help.

The car is very comfortable and handling is excellent.

Fuel economy is quite good as well. So I think all the little problems are worth the effort cause you become very attached to the car!!