1988 Daihatsu Charade CX from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

While driving there is a stink of fuel if I top it up at the bowser, but maybe it just needs a new fuel cap.

The rev counter plays up, and only works half the time.

The locks on the front doors don't work. The key turns, but the lock buttons don't go up or down.

The windscreen wiper water jets are blocked up, and the motor that pushes the water through is seized up with rust.

The driver's seat belt is fraying (on a small area).

These cars look good for their age, IMHO they won't look out of place on the roads in 20 year's time and seem to hold their value well.

Respectable performance for a non-turbo 1-litre automatic. Don't expect to go 0-100 Km/h in less than 10 seconds and you won't be disappointed.

Has very good economy (about 5 litres per 100Km's). Is cheap to maintain in almost every respect and parts are thankfully easy and fairly cheap to get too.

Comfortable inside for 4 adult passengers (leg room is a little limited in the back seat though). Still very good for a small car.

These cars don't seem to rust, ours is 15 years old as of writing and there is no considerable rust anywhere. I have hardly seen a badly rusted Daihatsu of any model anywhere (they seem to use better steel).

One gripe I have is that the back seat doesn't fold right down flat. You have to contend with the seat sticking up at an angle if you want to put something big in the back of the car.

Update on review...

I had the car fixed by a reputable mechanic and found out the cause of the fuel stink - there was a pinhole leak in the fuel line, right next to the distributer cap!

Just changed the timing belt on the Charade too. The car had done 207000 Km's so it was quite due.

Well this car is really economical than other cars... now its more than five years with me... but I don't like to sell this or go for another car.. according to the pattern of other cars this car is more than that and the coolest thing is its 19 year old car.. but I have put some new parts and other modifications... well about the speed.. its bit slow in the beginning, but then its like a rocket... easy to drive.. can modify nicely.. a cool car.

I had the same problem with the front doors not wanting to open.

The cause was a screw moving, when it shouldn't have moved. I just put something in the hole the screw was in (which was of course inside the door) to make the screw stick in place and voila!

Hope this helps :)