Faults:

Transmission whined from day one and had to be replaced within 6 months.

A lot of problems with the hydrolastic suspension. Various leaks and malfunctions.

Massive oil leaks from the engine in the end; had to add one litre of oil every second week.

Rusted like it was no tomorrow, zero rust treatment.

Leaking water into the compartment from all doors.

Fit and finish was a joke, interior falling apart.

Replaced clutch.

Various brake problems.

General Comments:

Innovative and practical, but build quality an absolute disaster. So much promise. When this car was bought by my step grandfather in 1973 it had so much promise. Years ahead of the German competition. FWD, 5 speed transmission, high output engine, hatchback, roomy. But constant repairs. My step dad got it basically for free when it was 6 years old. Spent a lot of time getting it repaired. It simply rusted to pieces. Sills and floor completely rotted out. Tried to jack it, but simply impossible, it was too rusty. Sent to the scrap yard when 7 years old. Complete piece of junk.

Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

Bought it as a replacement for my 1971 Vauxhall Victor while I was going to restore it to its former glory. I'm very pleased with this car, and its economy and comfortable (albeit a bit lazy) way that it delivers.

Faults:

Generally what you would expect from a car of this vintage.

Replaced battery and alternator.

Replaced radiator.

Developed an oil leak.

Hydragas gave lots of problems and hard to get spares.

General Comments:

Bought wanting a bit of 70s nostalgia.

Alternator went within a week of purchase. Battery soon after - left me marooned in an Oxford petrol station at 1.00am on my way home to London!

Engine generally good, but developed oil leaks.

Hydragas suspension was a constant headache. Very difficult to get spare displacer units and not many garages have the pumps anymore.

However, I enjoyed driving it. Good motorway performance and a big advantage that a car of this vintage had 5 gears.

Bodywork generally good. Brakes very good too.

Non-assisted steering good for getting you in shape!

Seats not very comfortable by modern standards and lack of headrests annoying.

Very practical for trips to Ikea - could fit whole full-length bookcase very easily.

Moved on to a 1980s Honda Accord Aerodeck - in short, this car has shown me why British Leyland no longer exists!

Faults:

Brake fluid started leaking at 54,000 miles.

Stereo buttons were very easy to pull off.

Tyres wore very quickly.

Left side passenger door handle broke at 57,000 miles.

Rust was starting to appear during final few weeks of ownership.

General Comments:

The Maxi stood the test of time and proved itself to be a reliable and solid family car.

I appreciated its practicality and ride comfort.

Was superb value at £440. Held its value well and sold it the following year for £370.

Faults:

The clutch master cylinder developed a leak which I had to bleed regularly during the last months of owning the car. Unfortunately when showing one prospective buyer the car I forgot to remove my spanner from the bleed nipple!

It failed the MoT on some minor welding and a rear suspension bush, which was the only garage job it ever needed.

The most awkward fault to fix was when the nearside wiper fell off (while raining, of course) due to the splined shaft shredding. Fitting the new driver (which incidentally is common to Jaguars) was a 4-hour job for anyone without 8-inch fingers.

General Comments:

I had many happy miles in this (my first) car and impressed my friends with its interior space and torquey engine when they all had 1-litre Fiestas and Minis. My Granddad had one too and we both concluded that they were a very under-rated workhorse which was usually OK if thoroughly maintained.