Colt 1.3 Triptonic/automatic 2005

practical, comfortable, good value for money

Bought this car with 84Km at the clock, now nearly 100K km.

pros:
comfortable front seat
comfortable at the back too ( quality seats with head rest)
spacious car
cruises well on the motorway,
sophisticated gears and engine ( 6 speed auto / allshift)
Good design ( sportier look than the Mazda 2 or Micra -comparing same year obviously-....the former, although very reliable looks too boxy and the later has a design for grannies)
relatively well built (60% of part shared with smart forfour)
nice triptonic gear once you get used to it (= semi automatic...also possible to go fully auto)
pleasant drive
good value for money (noone think of the Colt in Ireland ..most people consider the over rated VW Polo, over priced Toyota Yaris or granny looking Micra)
good user manual
reasonable insurance (350 euro)

Cons:
-clutch actuator seems to have quality problem! ( failing at 90Km) resulting in car juddering in 1st / reverse gear...can be dangerous and requires to be change ( pricy)..others reported the same issue on internet.
-although this has a Japanese badge, this is built in the Netherland and uses a lot of parts from the Smart forFour, and that probably explains the flaw with the clutch actuator before 100Km...this would certainly not happen with a car produced in Japan where almost all cars are automatic...This would certainly not happen on a Micra/March, Yaris or Demio/Mazda 2
In many respect, despite some Japanese design for the engine, this is a European car. (engine built in Eastern Germany, French designer, German parts...)
rubber around gear stick comes off
box gloves broke easily
hard to change the low beam bulb
130 euro for a new set of key at the Mitsu dealer (simplest key available..with no remote control)

if I could come back on my decision, I would buy the same car, but a Japanese import..as I bet the built quality is superior, with more options and very likely different parts would be used for the automatic clutch. ( the Nissan March was like this: better built quality for the Japanese built one (March vs Micra), with different parts and more options (AC + better radio etc..)

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