Anyone know much about these..... Thinking of maybe getting one in the future as they are meant to be economical

 

They do have plenty poke about them, although they are prone to issues with the swirl flaps failing and thats about £1500 to fix (new inlet manifold) not sure when they revised the design but certainly the earlier 2006/07 cars have this problem. Other than that they are good cars, you can get a DTI tuning box for about £300 and that will up the power to around 200bhp and lots of torque (cant mind the figures tho) which makes it a very quick car and a hoot to drive - almost VXR performance but 45mpg comfortably.

If you can afford the extra the 888 version is the one to get as they have the uprated suspension, wheels, factory remap & 330mm Alcon 4 pots all as standard, unfortunately they only amde 100 of them, but they do hold the value well and probably a future classic.

 

I've got the 5dr hatch and it's a cracking car but reliability isn't up there with Subarus. Mine is a MY05 with 50k miles and have had it for 18 months. So far I have had to replace a wheel bearing (£400) and the alternator (£400). I was quite annoyed at the alternator as these should last the life of the car and the service department seemed to think it was fine that this was a common fault, pretty feckin expensive common fault if you ask me!

The good points are they are very solid and the build quality is mile better than the Scoob also they are very nippy once up to speed.

Bad points, don't expect 50mpg

 

Swirl flaps are not really an issue, the biggest issue is the water pump, its recommended to replace this (very) cheap and crappy part at 50k (you just have to look at the lovely plastic parts to see how much of a quality job it is ) and you can get 50mpg out of one of these easily (I run the 120 16v, same economy etc).
The only issue I have had is the boost solenoid went, about 80 quid to replace, similar for the water pump, no other issues otherwise, thats 34k's worth of driving

Tony

 

I had an estate version for four years - swirl flaps went on mine and I was VERY glad I had a warranty.

Other than that, it was a decent motor - pretty nippy when pushed, handled well, huge boot, nice spec. Noisy though. Mpg was about 42ish overall.