Daihatsu Move > Reviews (3)

If you are reading this review then you are probably interested in owning, or maybe already do own a Daihatsu Move. In which case, you know what it looks like, and quite clearly don't care that it looks a bit like a microwave oven with a spoiler.

'The BBC Top Gear Book of Crap Cars' is a sometimes funny trawl through the horrorific failures of the automotive world. Each vehicle is ridiculed for its poor name, bad ride, quality, handling, reliability, etc.
The list includes the poor old Daihatsu Move, and it is treated very unfairly. Instead of a lengthy description of yet another dire vehicle (which the Move is certainly not.) the entry for the Move reads 'You have a choice, ride around in one of these or bang a rusty nail into your head.... I'll get the hammer.'

It seems therefore, that the Move was sent to Top Gear's Room 101 of motoring because they don't like the way it looks. This is a little unjust.

Sure, it's taller than it is wide, but that's the perfect shape for the city. And this makes the Move the perfect city car. The handling is suprisingly good thanks to a low centre of gravity, it is a similar size to, and far more practical than a Smart Car (It seats four for a start), it has great fuel economy, froma suprisingly sprightly 850cc engine. It is narrow enough to squeeze through tiny gaps in the traffic usually exploited only by motor cyclists, and, if you are unfortunate enough to get stuck in the heavy traffic of Tokyo for hours on end, the seats fold flat into a bed, and you can even have a nap in it.
Speaking of the seats, each passenger gets their own individual unit, which reclines independently of the others, and the upright seating position allows the move to boast passenger legroom puts that of many larger vehicles to shame.

I owned one of these for four years and I loved it. I know It looks unconventional, people did occasionaly point and laugh at this most ingenious of superminis, but that's part of it's charm.
Like Fiat did with the Multipla, Daihatsu threw away the rule book when they designed this car, and produced something that worked, and worked very well. That some people find it aesthetically challenging oughtn't put you off considering it.
My only concern about it was that when I sold it it was five years old and already had signs of rust on the wheel arches, so that may be something worth checking for when looking at a used example.