by Leon » Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:05 pm
Depends on the price really ... you're buying a bit of an orphan in the sense that there weren't many sold here, and they're very old. I've had a Daihatsu Mira (1989?) and it was cheap to run, but absolutely *awful* to drive. Loud, bouncy, diabolical handling, non existant brakes.
Whereas if you buy something more run of the mill, then you get a much better car for your money. The g/f has had two EE90 Corolla's ($500 for one, $750 for the other). They're as common as muck, really easy to get any parts for, run on the smell of an oily rag, and they're a good car for getting from A to B in. We took one up to Taupo and back, got 15km per litre and got up to a speed that really surprised me on the desert road (say no more ). Plus, it's easy to get wheels and tires to suit, and even springs and shocks if you want to get it handling a bit nicer.
My old Mira highway use would get 20 km/l, the EE90's are getting 15 km/l highway, so the trade off isn't huge. That said, my AE111 4AFE Corolla stationwagon, and Charade DeTomaso also get 15km/l. So you're sacrificing a WHOLE lot of comfort and usability for getting that extra 5km/l.
But, all that said, the old Daihatsu would be a hard case little hackabout. I'd actually like to get a Mira stationwagon, circa about 1990. Because it's just such a funny looking thing. My Mira was actually astonishingly roomy inside, with (no kidding around) plenty of room for four people just beacuse it was so tall.