Energy 1.4 16v 100 5dr

Underpowered and somewhat unreliable

Bought used for £2900 with 86k on the clock. Luckily came with 3 months warranty - within that time the catalytic converter went, the rear discs were warped and a wheel bearing ceased completely meaning a new gearbox. Needed new tyres straight away, not uncommon for used cars, but they were all different so clearly hadn't spent much maintaining it prior to me.

Since then I have changed light clusters (rusted connections), the ignition coil (literally cracked and melting) and spark plugs. Replaced MAP controlled thermostat was malfunctioning and causing engine to overheat under load). Cracked rear spring (recent MOT picked it up, not changed by me).

You might argue this is all general wear and tear for a car of this age (now 101k) but in my limited opinion it all points to a car that needs more power and as such has been ragged a little to get any kind of performance out of it.

I manage to get 400+ miles out of a tank (before the light comes on) on a normal basis (urban driving with weekend excursions) and 600+ out of it on long trips which seems ok given mpgs on this site.

It's pretty spacious and you can squeeze more than you think in there. Never really used the sideways sliding rear seats but imagine they could be useful for 4 adults. Suicide doors are fine and can even be useful in places like the beach to provide cover.

Not unhappy with the sound system, copes fine with bassy stuff at a reasonable volume.

Since the thermostat change I've had no problems with it (touch wood) but I'm just waiting for the head gasket to pack in and its going to the sc***heap.

Report as offensive