1991 Lancia Thema SE from UK and Ireland - Comments

Rear calipers needed replacement at 155,000 miles (not bad)

Cam belt snapped due to incompetent mechanics damaging a pulley (not the car's fault)

Intermittent setting on wipers stopped at 103K, but a replacement motor only cost £10 from Thema Consortium (www.lancia-tdc.co.uk)

Nothing else other than wear and tear on suspension bushes, but after 166K miles you would expect that!!!

I've done 100,000 miles in my car and it still looks as if it could be less than 3 yrs old. I love this car and have no desire to sell it. The car is great to drive at 95mph on Motorways and can still be hustled along country roads at similar speeds. The steering is perfectly weighted for my tastes, but drivers of Japanese executive cars may prefer something more assisted.

The interior style is one of the car's strongest points with the Grey Alcantara and Dark Rosewood creating a really luxurious cabin that's always a pleasure to sit in. Be sure to put a cover on the driver's seat though as the Alcantara can wear out otherwise.

Throttle response is crisp, steering precise, ride smooth and the exhaust note makes you roll down the windows every time you are driving down a lane with brick walls. This car has character and charm which is so often lacking in other cars these days.

People have for too long ignored Lancias because of "some bloke down the pub" who told them that they're unreliable and rusty. My advice is try to drive one or speak to someone who has actually owned one. And as for the criticisms of unrelaiabilty, can I suggest you look at the carsurvey comments for the VW Polo!!!

Absolutely true, especially the remarks about their reputation. All of this talk about Lancias and rust is basically down to a problem with the Betas in the 70's. A problem which, incidentally, Lancia owned up to and cured while Ford and Rover just kept churning out cars which rotted away, but never admitted to it.

Talking about great automotive cover ups, have you ever wondered how Mercedes managed to getaway with making such scandalously rusty cars in the 1990's. I've seen T reg Mercs S-Classes with rust on panels that you could stick a finger through!