Faults:

Paint needed a touch-up.

General Comments:

I got this car at an auction for around $2300 (just over $1000 American) and it had several previous owners, so I wasn't expecting too much. However, it's previous owners had obviously taken a lot of care- for a ten year old car, it was in near perfect condition.

The car itself handles quite well, and can go pretty fast for a 1500cc. I was toying with the idea of getting a 2000cc one instead, but at twice the price it wasn't really worth it.

The cars interior is very spacious, although the car itself is quite large, so it's not a big surprise.

The cars layout is... different. The indicator switch is on the opposite side to most cars in this country, which took a bit of getting used to. Pulling the indicator in flashes your lights to high beam, pushing it away locks it into position. several switches for doing various things, but once I got used to it, it was a lot easier to drive than other cars I have had experience with.

One of the first things I noticed is that this is pretty much a do-it-yourself car. Electric nothing, not even power steering. While this makes the car less prone to breaking down, it does make it a little tricky when your doing anything intricate at low speed. Certainly not a car for wimps, you'll need a good pair of arms to drive this one in comfort.

The air conditioning is impressive to say the least. For some reason the two middle vents only shoot hot air, while the outside pair shoot cold. And unlike most Japanese cars, hot is actually hot, and straight away as well. nothing like turning the car on in the middle of winter and getting a good hot blast in the face. (get your mind out of the gutter for a second, please)

The car handles well round corners, and is quite a smooth ride. I haven't exactly been pushing it to the limit, but I could go for quite a while before getting uncomfortable.

The car itself looks quite nice, with smooth lines and it's little kite logo thingy on the front.

The car is quite economical, and can run on an oily rag, as my dad would say.

If I have one problem, it's that the car tends to vibrate if you don't have your foot on the accelerator. Even in neutral. It isn't very noticeable, but it is there.

Faults:

Battery (original Delco Remy faded after almost 9 years of service).

Alternator brushes.

CV boots at 185000 km.

Wiper motor.

General Comments:

This car is cheap and modern.

Petrol consumption is a bit high with comparison to my previous Nissan.

I have had it for almost 4 years and have done more than 100000 km in various conditions and have never had any major trouble.

This car definitely lacks comfort, but is not bad otherwise.

Engine runs smoothly and can certainly outperform many Japanese imports.

Faults:

I bought the car with 50k miles for 500.00 and thought it was a steal. I replaced the tires and muffler.

After about a month the headliner fell down. Then it developed multiple electric problems. The dash lights work off and on. The fan motor switch has a short and either works on high or not at all.

I put new front brake pads on it and after a few more hundred miles the left front brake rotor broke in two due to the caliper slides rusting badly!

I replaced the left outer CV boot twice and now need to replace the actual joint.

The car leaks oil and needs a valve cover gasket as well as an oil pan gasket.

The car runs hot and loses coolant, although I haven't figured out where it is going.

In the winter the door locks tend to freeze up and I had to break a window to get into it this past December after leaving work at 1AM. Lock de-icer and other attempts didn't work.

General Comments:

This is the worst car ever put onto American roads. Spend your money on a good pair of walking shoes.