Faults:

I have only has the car for about 2 months so I cannot give an accurate report on this, so far though there have been no problems whatsoever!

The car has only had three owners and full Toyota history, the only thing that has gone wrong with the car in its service life is the exhaust which has been replaced by a full scorpion stainless item...

General Comments:

I have always been a Honda fan, but in the end I was willing to try anything Japanese. I came across this car in a private sale and it sounded like a bargain, full history, three owners, totally standard, and low mileage. I went to look at the car and it was in immaculate condition. I arranged the payments and took delivery of the car within a couple of days.

The car looks gorgeous! Full of curves and sweeping lines with an aggressive front end, I also love those headlights! The one let down was that the car sat far too high which led to the first modification on the list!

Performance wise I was slightly dissapointed, it is quick but nothing like the CRX that I had before. Notable improvements are the midrange torque which the CRX lacked and it does have a higher top speed.

The car handles very well, plenty of grip and has a very nice feel through the steering wheel. This is all helped by the very supportive seats, which brings me to...

The interior. It is very good. There are no squeaks or rattles, all the controls are in the correct place and within easy reach. Build is typical Japanese plastic, but it looks like it will wear quite well and there is an overall high quality feel.

Overall a top quality motor which is equally at home cruising the streets or racing at the lights. I highly recommend this car!

Faults:

As the car had been sitting unused in the docks for 4 months before I bought it, I had to replace the tyres and electric aerial motor (it had seized).

I had to replace the clutch and clutch master cylinder at 80000KMs.

The brakes were replaced at 90000Kms - only the fronts needed doing but I had all 4 done.

A frost plug behind the water pump went at 100500Kms - very cheap part but it takes almost 3 days labour to take apart the engine, replace it and put the engine back together again.

General Comments:

Even with the trouble I've had with this car, I love it. Also, the troubles are only due to the age of the car.

It is an extremely quick car - apparently at least as fast as the Impreza turbo. Overtaking maneuvers are a lot easier (and consequently safer) because of it.

It is also very agile for a heavy car, corners very flat at speed and the 4-wheel drive can pull you out of almost any trouble you get yourself into. It even makes driving on snow & ice that little bit easier.

There is tyre noise at speed intruding into the cabin so I would regard this as a sports coupe more so than a grand tourer.

The steering is very communicative and responsive and you can feel what the car is doing "through the seat of your pants" - it is definitely a drivers car!