Faults:

Water pump leaked and needed changing

Handbrake cable

Fuel pump/filter filled with water

Bracket that supported gear lever broke

Radiator leaked, changed

Steering rack changed (required for MOT)

Steering rack track rod ends

Brake hoses

Nylon gaiter for steering rack.

General Comments:

Must have been a reasonably good car as it was already old (85,000 miles) and survived two years of my driving. Interesting transmission layout: Engine, clutch, propshaft with gearbox/differential at rear, so good balance. Wouldn't handbrake turn well. When the bracket holding the gear change failed, I cut the propshaft tunnel with angle grinder to access and then weld bracket (as last owner you can do these things). Suspect the official method is to remove the engine.

With carb and mechanical fuel pump rather than fuel injection, engine will run on plastic bottle of petrol with washer hose direct to carb. Inadvertently filled with diesel, so got home feeding fuel directly. Kindly note fuel pump puts unwanted diesel directly onto road, so you tend to get sideways on roundabouts at 30mph.

Brake performance and play increased imperceptibly with age compared with newer model.

The hatchback is a lot more convenient than saloon.

Judged within its period (1980's) it was a reasonably OK car. Today, 85/115bhp from a 2.0-litre engine is a joke. The 175x13 tyres made a wet road seem like driving on snow. Got airborne nicely. No street cred, so didn't attract joy riders or the plods.

Driving a relatively low performance car hard increases maintenance costs. No overheating problems (except when water pump failed). Had intermittent engine problem, finally traced to water in fuel pump. Front brake pads easy to change, rears more difficult, but they never wore out. No welding problems for MOT. Only time it went to a service station was for MOT. All servicing was straightforward with Haynes Manual.

Faults:

The little reader that tells you how many km's died just before 70,000 km. not a major problem and probably easily fixed.

The muffler completely fell off 2 months ago (after 19 years of ownership). My step-father used to drive the car 40km every day 6 times a week for 7 years. So for how long the cars been going this isn't surprising.

PLENTY of problems with the brakes today. Read brake shoes soaked with brake fluid, lots and lots of leaks. I have to top up the reservoir every month.

Major oil leaks in the engine, but the car is very old so I guess it's not surprising.

Very odd rattling noise when I between 1900 and 2200 rpm. I suspect a loose bearing.

When changing into reverse gear it crunches like mad. I have to turn the car off, change to reverse then turn it on again.

Very strange sound that sounds like something is about to fall off when I depress clutch. Unknown problem, seems very bad, but at the moment doens't affect driving.

General Comments:

Very forgiving car. I thought my step-father was doing oil changes, he thought I was. This lasted for about 3 years. Car didn't seem to mind.

Very good acceleration in third and fourth gears. Slow acceleration in 1st, 2nd and 5th.

Corners well, I have no problem accelerating around a corner at high speeds just for the thrill.

All the problems listed above are for a 19 year old car that has had a lot of use. Over the past 3 years it has had horrible servicing and would be in a better state had I of had more time and more knowledge to give it the proper care it deserves.