USED Mitsubishi Colt Hatchback (96 - 04)

My car

This was my second car; it replaced a god-awful Clio Biarritz that turned out to be clocked.

I was hesitant about buying another cheap 'n' cheerful car but I needed one quickly. I've owned her for about 4 months now and use it most days and I have no real complaints at all aside from the fact that anyone I give a lift to can't find the seat adjusters (nor can they fit big hands down the side of the seat).

Otherwise, it's great - even now with fuel at £1.18/litre for unleaded I get between 350 and 400 miles per tank. 13" wheels make finding part worns great, the insurance is cheap (£600 fully comp with me as a named driver, license since the January 2010).

It's nippy, cheap to run, reliable and quite hard to come by - having a metallic purple one helps it stand out in the car park too! On the whole, I'm genuinely pleased with my wee little car; my girlfriend has ear-marked it as her first but I don't have the heart to tell her it's going to be mine until the day it dies!

My car

This is the most reliable car we have ever owned! After 112K miles it has only ever had routine maintenance every 10k from our local garage. It definitely benefits from Shell petrol and Dunlop Speed tyres which improve economy, ride and handling over budget alternatives. It's no fun in the back, true, and spares like exhausts are expensive. The only failure has been the ignition key code which baffled the RAC and added it to their website after 2 hours of dismantling the car to find the non-starting fault.

My car

My first car and it was very nippy. Ideal for lone drivers on motorways.

My car

The "What car" review is written by a person who did it not leaving the office armchair!!!

"The lifeless steering ruins the handling" - not true!!! The great feedback from the ground, sharp reaction too, almost the best steering adjustments, especially concerning the modern steering with electrical drive!!! "Two engines are available, and the 74bhp 1.3 is the best bet. It's cheaper to run than the 89bhp 1.6 and not that much slower." - False!!! Have you tried to drive 1.6??? It is much more faster than 1.3! 1.6 is the best bet because of it is longer liver comparing to 1.3, what is especially important for used car!!! "Cars built before 2001 needed crankshaft work” - What engine type do you mean, author? What was the car mileage? Something new about this car type ;) Alex