2006 Daihatsu Sirion GS from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

None to date.

Bought a second hand Sirion GS a few weeks ago after test driving a number of smaller cars. I was tempted to buy new, but this was a bargain, and best of the bunch I had considered.

Without doubt, this is the best car I have ever driven: it has excellent equipment, bags of space for passengers (all five of them), good all-round visibility, a remarkably quiet engine even on motorways, and plenty of power when needed with an automatic gearbox.

The Sirion is incredibly spacious for its size and has loads of kit for the money. It is solidly built, too.

The car is very comfortable and is superb to drive plus good on fuel economy.

I find it easy to get in and out, and really fun to drive and easy to park. The driving position is perfect with good visibility, and there's an airy feel to the cabin due to big glass areas. The interior is made of nice looking, durable fabrics.

I tried and considered - Honda Jazz, Suzuki Swift, Mitsubishi Colt, Mazda 2, Nissan and Mercedes a series.

In my research I talked to a lot of owners and have heard that there have been very expensive servicing bills and spares.

My verdict: Excellent value for money, and also a stylish modern funky car, and with the right marketing, Toyota Daihatsu could sell millions. It will sell itself if allowed!! Or with a good marketing approach - racing, modern paint jobs etc etc.

You never know it could end up as a classic like Fiat 500, Mini, VW Beetle, 2CV, Morris Minor, etc etc.

Good Day.

I'm hoping someone can tell me how this vehicle performs at highway speeds, and whether it is comfortable during long trips. Would it hold up during long range travel? I'm talking 3000 miles over the course of 1-2 weeks in temperatures of 100 degrees (35-40C).

Thanks to anyone who can help me out with this information.

Hi.

I wrote the original comment on the car and I have now done 23,000 and I think the car is great and I would buy one again.

Re your comment long distance travel over Easter I have just done 1400ks Auckland to wellington and the car performed great the odd thing after driving 700ks in 8hrs with only 3 minor stops I did not fill fatigued at the end of it???. Odd as I am use to long distance driving in much larger cars.

On the trip I travelled between 90 and 110 ks which is around our legal limit in New Zealand the car averaged 7.3litres to 100k, s not bad for a auto!!! (No motorways here as there almost unheard in gods own-thank god) Its worth noting when doing these speeds the rev counter was in region of 2500 to 2800rpm so the engine was not labouring.

One must accept with a car of this size when overtaking timing is most important and one normally has to go in the slow lanes when there are any long steep hills. For me its no problem as I can always enjoy the beautiful country side.

To sum up great little car performing well and economical to!!! For me it is a joy to drive and its ahead turner!

Hi.

I have a new Sirion 1300 automatic. It has a front wheel disc - brake scuffing sound at low speeds (forward and reverse) on the drivers side.

That is, when you start to drive off and touch the brake a scuffing sound is heard, as though the disc was scuffing against the rotor (?)

It is not noticeable at faster speed braking - but this may be because of road noises (traffic etc,).

Any advice will be appreciated.

Eddie.

Re: Issue with noise from front disc.

It is possible to get a small stone between the disc pad and the brake disc surface. Suggest you apply brakes slightly and drive forwards slowly then in reverse this some time dislodges the stone. If this dose not work pop into your local garage it will not take long to sort out.

I personally have not experienced any problems similar to you the car has now done 30,000 k, s.

I’m still very pleased with my car and have done a second trip of 1500k. The car went very well and I suffered no fatigue at all, The car performed very well as we were loaded up with a lot of luggage.

I highly recommend this car.

Chris J C.

I have one of these as a work car.

Have to say that coming from a performance background, they're pretty good for what they are.

Only problem I've noticed is that the front discs have a tendency to warp. I've confirmed this with the service manager of my local Toyota dealer.

In low speed (Sub 100kph) areas with winding roads, it's a great handler for something with 175 tyres all round. It looks more top heavy than it is. You can still feel a lot of body roll, but it gets to a certain point (Without the springs being bound or hitting bump stops) where the suspension just seems to stiffen right up.

In high speed areas (Over 110kph), you have to be very weary. Cornering at high speed feels very unbalanced and slight bumps in the road transfers to a huge shifting of weight sensation which is very unnerving. It felt as if it were going to tip before it would loose traction and under/oversteer.

For a 1.3 litre, it's quite gutsy. Being that the car is quite light, it manages to have an apparent torque because of it. Throttle control is needed to get the maximum performance out of the little thing though. You definitely notice the difference between easing the throttle on through the rev range and just going wide open.

Weight is something that you definitely notice. Put another person in the car, and its like you've got a 1 litre engine. Even 20Kg's can make a difference. Not only in power to weight ratio, but in handling.

Another bit of a downer on the experience is taking off from the line. Its quite easy to give the wheels a bit of a spin off the line. On a hill start, its even more difficult. You COULD slip the clutch, but the amount you need slip puts a cringe on your face.

And in the wet... Well, I'm sure you can imagine from what I've said.

My fuel economy isn't too bad, I typically get 400km to a tank, however I am known to be a bit tough on cars. I'm sure this is still pretty good, my driving style taken into consideration.

The interior is large and deceiving. Much larger than it looks on the outside. The boot space leaves something to be desired however.

On the topic of the exterior. It is a face that not even a mother could love. In short, it's ugly. There are factory kits with side skirts and the like, which do pretty it up somewhat, but in the end, its still mutton dressed up as lamb.

All in all, I think this car is one deceiving little package. It has the persona of being a car a granny would drive to go get 'chow' for little mittens and the 8 other cats she has, but it's also has one that you could take to the markets for her. And have a lot of fun which barely stays in the boundaries of being legal while you're at it.

Good Day. I wrote the original article. My car has now done 50,000ks and is still going like a sewing machine.

- Re- rubbing sound on front brakes – My car has developed the same problem?? I asked Toyota to have a look while doing my last service. They reported they stripped the calipers and checked the pads, disc, and attachments to car and found all OK? I’m still experiencing a problem but it’s not a major! I will get them to check at next service. I wonder if it is a design problem. You should not I’m not a high-speed driver and or a hard braker.

- re driving in heat no problem as we get temps in range of 28 to 35 degs C here in New Zealand.

- re Overall performance and satisfaction of car it’s just great! Smooth ride economical, useful (when I moved some household effects) and best of all it looks great!!

- I’m seriously considering getting another Daihatsu Materia as a second car for my partner and she can get rid of her obsolete Fiat Punto.

- I would defiantly buy another one, maybe the 1500cc version that’s now on market now.