Daihatsu Charade

...above!!**

The Daihatsu Charade wasn’t a car I was thinking about buying when I was looking through Auto Trader, infact, I had never heard of it before. This was until I went to the local garage which I swore I would never go too as their prices are a bit on the steep side and spotted what I thought was quite a groovy looking car in stunning red that had the look of a bit of a beast about it. I looked at it a couple of times while driving ...
...car in question is a Daihatsu Charade GSXi 1.6. What this means is that it is nothing like the Daihatsu charades from the 80’s you see going around, oh no, this one is one of the few made GSXi ones which basically means you get the following: Front and Rear Spoilers, Electric Windows, Sunroof, ABS, Power Steering, Electric Windows, Central Locking, Alarm, Immobiliser, Alloys and some form of Air Con. It’s a 94 M reg model which I paid just over £1300 ... more

**I'd just like to say, my car don't look like the one in the picture above!!**

The Daihatsu Charade wasn’t a car I was thinking about buying when I was looking through Auto Trader, infact, I had never heard of it before. This was until I went to the local garage which I swore I would never go too as their prices are a bit on the steep side and spotted what I thought was quite a groovy looking car in stunning red that had the look of a bit of a beast about it. I looked at it a couple of times while driving past and decided to give it a test drive.

After the test drive I was extremely impressed and it was time to check it out properly! The car in question is a Daihatsu Charade GSXi 1.6. What this means is that it is nothing like the Daihatsu charades from the 80’s you see going around, oh no, this one is one of the few made GSXi ones which basically means you get the following: Front and Rear Spoilers, Electric Windows, Sunroof, ABS, Power Steering, Electric Windows, Central Locking, Alarm, Immobiliser, Alloys and some form of Air Con. It’s a 94 M reg model which I paid just over £1300 for with 94,000 on the clock. I had done my research on this car, checked out the parkers pricing guide and this was a very good price for the type of car and also because of it’s rarity. It also helped when I found out that the last owner worked for Daihatsu and it had a hell of a lot of history.

Next was the insurance. “errr….you must be kidding right…no sorry…could you repeat that?….HOW MUCH!?” was basically my telephone convo with Tesco’s motor insurance….Group 11 I will have you know and that for a 22 year old means quite a bit of dosh…£970 to be precise for the year. The only reason I went ahead with it was because I was paying for the car in cash so thought I could pay the insurance monthly, working out at £102 per month for comprehensive cover with legal stuff etc etc. Not cheap, but worth it.

THE CAR

The car to look at is completely different from any other car on the market. The front end is a bit like a XR3i Ford Escort, with indicators built into the colour coded bumper and twin headlights, though not separate. You have a nice little grill in the centre with the letters 16v sitting proudly! The back however is a completely different ball game and one which seems to disagree with me! It’s a bit curved, and I’m sure I’ll get used to it, it just looks a bit weird. This is helped though by the rear top spoiler which helps the look of the back! The alloys set the car off quite well and along with the mud flaps, gives the car that bit of ‘growl’ appeal…whatever that is!

Inside it’s a bit on the basic side, or it gives that impression while not being basic at all. Most of the ‘auxiliary’ buttons are behind the steering wheel, which sounds cumbersome, but actually works quite well, which leaves just the fan and heater controls aswell as the stereo in the centre console. This is quite good though as it has a nifty little space under the stereo which works great for mobiles and then under the cigarette lighter and ashtray you have a huge space for anything, along with extra spaces for your little bits and pieces behind the gear stick and also behind the handbrake. On the floor by the drivers seat there are 2 small levers, one opens the boot and the other opens the fuel cap, which is extremely useful.

Controls for the electric windows are on the door handles, with the driver door having controls for both front windows and also a control to lock the windows in position, making it impossible to control the windows until you turn the switch off…what this is good for I really don’t know…I have only found one use so far and I can’t say what that is on here!! The passenger door holds just the passenger window controls. On top of the dash you have your digital clock and nothing else, but the dash is quite big, giving you plenty of space for your mcdonalds!

One of the things that really got me about this car was the fact that it is Japanese. Ok, I have nothing against Japan, but the controls are the wrong way around! Your indicators are on your right and your wipers on your left, which really does confuse you to start with! After the first hundred miles or so it seems natural for them to be on that side, and personally, I prefer it that way round now and I never thought I would get used to it after driving fords all my driving life!

THE DRIVE

Scared. That’s what I was when I first took this car out. The pedals are like feathers to start with, especially if your used to fords which require more interaction from the driver, well, at least the older ones did. There is a hell of a lot of power, I believe this car has 130bhp, which is a lot for a car similar to the size of a fiesta. It should get you from 0-60 in under 9 secs, though I have never had cause to try it as yet. Top speed is 120mph, should you wish to be chased up the M5 by a strange flashing light.

The drive is extremely nice, with stiff suspension making it easy to glide round corners, but giving a more uncomfortable drive when driving at lower speeds as you tend to feel the bumps more. The tyres grip the road well with them being 185’s. The gearbox is still very smooth, despite the amount of miles on the clock, which is something not a lot of cars can live up to. The position however is a little strange, even though I am just over 6 foot, I find I have loads of headroom left, at least 6 inches, and feel a little bit low compared to my last 2 cars. Just feels strange for the moment, I can’t see the bonnet at all!

The noise from the engine and exhaust really will please some of you blokes out there. It gives a growling noise to start off with, along with a distant purr, hit the 4,000 revs mark and you’ve really got a growl going now, along with a whirring noise and a hissing noise coming from the exhaust (which is supposed to be there!! One thing I checked before I bought it!). It will pull you up hills with extreme ease with power left to overtake standard town cars on hills should you wish to do so. I manage to go most places in 5th, thus keeping the fuel economy going!

Talking of fuel economy, this being the 1.6 16v version, it does just as well, if not better than my old 1.4 8v fiesta. I clocked in 106miles on a tank of £10, though it would of done more, I didn’t want to conk out somewhere just so that I could squeeze the last mile out of the last drop of fuel! The tank will take about £35 worth of fuel on todays prices (87p a litre roughly around here).

One thing I did notice about this car, which may annoy some of you is that theres no where to put your foot when your not using it to accelerate or brake. On the fiesta, you could rest it to the side on the wheel arch, not so on this car, and there’s no where you can put it apart from the floor underneath the pedal, which does make your leg a bit tired when your dangling it there. However, on the plus side, for your left foot, you do have a plate where your foot can rest and it really is quite comfortable…hey now, you can’t have it all!!

The car is a little hard to control at low speeds. In1st gear you will have a hard time going slow as a fraction more on the accelerater and off it growls, however, put it in second and you can use this as if it were first a lot of the time, taking into consideration that you’ll probably be wearing your clutch a lot more than normal! At higher speeds, this car comes into it’s own, cruising round corners with ease, gripping the road perfectly, and the ABS stops you very quickly without skidding should you need too. It’s got a good lot of power left in 5th too, when doing 50mph you can still accelerate pretty hard in 5th, something which a lot of other smaller hatchbacks would find it hard to match. The only time I find it necessary to drop down into fourth gear on the open road is when I’m behind the annoying driver in the Rover Metro or Vauxhall Corsa!! (sorry Metro or Corsa drivers, but it’s true, you do go damn slow!!)

COMFORT

To me, comfort is quite ahigh priority to me, I won’t say it’s the highest as the looks normally are to me! However, when sitting in a car for the amount of time I do sometimes, it’s nice to at least be comfortable! This car does that quite well. The front seats are GTI seats, which grip you well when your going round corners a slight bit too fast and fit me (and you could say I’m a big build) well.

The back seats are a 40/60 split fold and have 2 mini headrests built into the seat. They are a kind of bucket shape seat which helps the back passengers sit there a bit easier when they have to put up with me who thinks he’s part of Formula 1!

All seats are made up of a tough wearing cloth type stuff, wouldn’t really know what to call it, and are also on the middle of the scale when it comes to the harder seats they seem to be putting in cars these days. These seats are not hugely soft, but they are not hard either, which a lot of sports seats are these days.

It's not the best car for a family as room for the passengers in the back is limited, especially for their legs. However, theres loads of room in the front, so your passenger can move forward quite a lot to allow more room in the back. As for the driver, well, it's best to keep your best seating position, regardless of the lanky so and so in the back!!

PARTS

Now, as I have only owned the car for a week, I haven’t needed to get any parts for the car, though I imagine if I do need to get some parts for the car, I won’t be able to find them half as easy as I did with my old fiesta. Things like Breaks, Clutch, Exhaust, Tyres, Battery, etc etc are all standard parts and you will be able to get most of these wearable parts from places like Kwif-Fit and ATS, however, if you wanted something bigger, maybe a gearbox or engine mounts etc, you could find yourself in a tricky situation. I have never in my life seen another one of these types of cars, not that I can remember anyway. This will make it hard to pick up major parts.

However, on the other side of the coin, the Daihatsu dealers seem quite friendly. When I bought the car, I demanded a new cambelt, this was sought by the Daihatsu dealer for no charge so the garage I bought it off told me. Before I bought the car I rad the nearest Daihatsu dealer up (not that many around, though I seem to be quite lucky in my corner of the world and have one in Plymouth and Exeter) and asked them a few questions about how hard parts would be to come across. It wouldn’t be that hard, but it would be a bit more expensive that it would be for a standard Ford, you’d also be hard pushed to find a garage who knows the engines as the engine I have is so rare. Haynes don’t even make manuals for Daihatsu’s, so that’s something to bear in mind, you will need mechanical knowledge from the outset if you want to carry out any DIY on these cars.

OVERALL

I’m very impressed with the car. I like to be unique, though I’m scared about anything major going wrong and not being able to replace the parts. The drive is excellent, it’s fast and you’ll give those XR2i drivers a run for their money when you pull up next to them at the lights, or that citreon VTR that finds it difficult to get past you going uphill on a dual carriageway (that was so much fun!). I’d recommended it, but only if your prepared for bigger repair bills and are aware of it’s rare nature.

Just a footnote. Due to it being a highly nickable car (according to my insurers) you will need an alarm and immobiliser fitted to your car, which comes as standard, but make sure it works. You will then need proof that it works correctly, from a reputable garage before you are insured for theft and damage.
 

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