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Last Chance To Buy: Daihatsu Sirion

Tuesday 15 February 2005 01:00 GMT
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When is it going?

When is it going?

Not until next month, but it is best to get in early if you want one of the

old ones. The new Sirion is more grown up and better in lots of ways, but there is a lot to be said for the original which was always a more than competent small car.

What's good about it?

At just 3.6 metres long the Sirion does not take up more road space than it really ought to. The Sirion was also environmentally friendly. Not only that, its exhaust emissions are amongst the world's cleanest. The Sirion also cared about its occupants with more safety features than any other car in its class. What you do notice apart from the distinctive front-end styling is the high roofline, which is in proportion and for once means that rear seat passengers get a fair deal in terms of headroom. The Sirion was properly packaged with a decent sized boot, standard five-door body, plenty of oddments storage. Standard specification was always over generous. Just as sitting in a Sirion is not an unpleasant experience neither is driving one. The frugal three cylinder engine accelerates well at low speeds and especially when linked to the automatic gearbox.

What's bad about it?

It's old. The competition has caught up in terms of pricing and specification. Compared to the competition, the Daihatsu feels less grown-up and a tad more tinny. Not poorly put together, just a little light in build quality terms and a touch more raucous, but not unpleasantly so and you have trouble spotting that it only has three cylinders.

How much?

At the time of writing Daihatsu had no special offers to tempt buyers. Mostly you should be able to get £400 to £500 off. We found that Broadspeed.com offered the entry level 1.0 Deluxe that retails at £8945 for £8229. The fun £11,445 1.3 Rally 4 was up at £10,529. Meanwhile Autoebid invites potential buyers to bid below £8,441.57 for the cheapest model.

Any snags?

The Sirion has an unburstable engine and gearbox. Scruffy interiors and dinged bodies are as bad as it gets. Recalls amounted to both the headlights and horn failing unexpectedly in 1999/2000.

FACT FILE

Launched 1998

Engine 1.0, 1.0DVT, 1.3, 1.3 Rally 2

Performance 1.0: top speed 90mph 0-60mph 15.1 secs

Economy 1.0 51.4mpg

NCAP Three stars

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