Daihatsu Charade Hatchback 2003-2005

The very first generation of the Charade in 1977 is the sort of a car that is commonly referred to as a 'banger'. It was really badly built and unreliable, but the small Japanese company has really moved on a lot since then. The post-2003 Charade is a decent car and although we cannot agree with the Japanese manufacturers' classification of the car - they wanted to market it as "large compact" but it's doubtful it would ever be anything more than a supermini to everyone else - but low-budget car buyers may want to consider this car as it's much cheaper than similar European vehicles.

Pros and Cons:

• Seats four comfortably
  Low-maintenance
  Excellent fuel economy

• A high level of body-roll
  Cant handle motorway speeds

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Exterior and Interior

You can't say much about the exterior of the Charade. The designers have made it look like a pretty standard, but quite boring, car with no real thrills. The upright seating position is comfortable and there's plenty of legroom with enough space for 4 adults, or 5 at a squeeze for shorter trips. The main trade-off that comes with straight seats is that they are uncomfortable during longer journeys. However, with an overheating 1.0-litre engine, the former becomes a questionable endeavour anyway.

You cannot fault the interior quality. The materials are low-cost but classier than you would expect and tough, so you can expect them to last. The Charade came with three trim levels ‐ Basic, SL and EL. There's not much to be said about the basic model. The EL did have sufficient equipment such as electric front windows, central locking and a CD player. The SL (short for Super Lux) came with air-con, alloys and side airbags, but was only available in five-door bodies.

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Engines

The Charade is only available in the UK with one engine, a small 1.0-litre 58BHP petrol engine.

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Performance and Economy

The only engine available in the UK, the 1.0-litre petrol unit is quick enough for urban driving, accelerating to 30mph surprisingly quickly. It also manages an impressive 58-60mpg and with it falling into groups 3 and 5, for the 3-door and 5-door models respectively, it is very cheap to run.

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What it's like to Drive

The Charade is a great cheap city car that provides a reasonably comfortable low-speed ride. It simply gets you from A to B, and once you get there you will be able to park it with ease. Venturing outside the city won't go down too well with the Charade, the excessive noise from the engine and the gearbox signals just how much it hates motorways and the body roll along country roads indicates its dislike for the countryside as well. This car was designed specifically for city driving so it's probably best to keep it there.

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Faults and Repairs

Daihatsu prides itself on a meticulous craftsmanship. Although cheap materials are used, they're bolted together in a reliable manner; hence the Charade rarely breaks down. Being a simple and a tough car it won't normally come up with massive faults. The weak point of the Charade is its suspension and it is bound to be noisy on a used Charade, but that doesn't mean it will pack up. If you commit to avoiding high-speed cornering, you should be able to get away without having to repair the suspension, you may just need to get used to the noise. The engines on these are usually in a decent state because due to their low-powered character they would have rarely seen high-speeds. It does require servicing, but only at basic and regular intervals to ensure everything is running smoothly.

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