Daihatsu Cuore/Mira Avanzato: Any good?

[dpbird90]

So, I'm still looking for a Seicento replacement, and started looking at Japanese cars. Dad is trying to persuade me to get a cheap as chips to buy, insure, tax and run stbox, to which you might say, keep the Seicento. Problem is, I'm not really keen on doing that, and the Sei was a Sporting so it was quite a giggle to drive. Before I go on please nobody mention MX5, I've looked and while they are in my £3.5-4k budget (just!) the insurance is a killer for a 19 year old lad with 2 years NCB, PassPlus but one claim for a non fault accident (still puts it right up!)
So, looking at Seicento alternatives, the Daihatsu Cuore/Mira comes up, a car I remember tuning to 300bhp.... on Gran Turismo 2, when I was 10. The boggo versions aren't really my cup of tea, mainly sub 1 litre engines! But I have came across the quite rare Avanzato version. 660cc, 4WD and 0-60 in less than 8 seconds, which sounds great, only problem I initially thought of was this monstrous performance was due to a huge turbo, which sticks out like a porno star's cock on the insurance form. But no, I can insure it for £900, which is excellent considered what the car is(anything sub £1k for me is considered cheap insurance), and apparantly they're a hoot to drive. If I can find a UK spec one and not a Jap import (like the one I got a quote for) then it'll be even cheaper!

So really I'm just after advice, what are these cars like, do they really drive that well, are they cheap to run (I've heard stories of >45mpg which is excellent as the Fiat did 40mpg tops, but that was ragging the arse off it but still not touching the speed limit, I need to lose weight for it to do more than 65ish), what's it going to cost IF it goes wrong (I've heard they're pretty robust, Jap quality etc) and is £2250 for a Jap import one I saw good value?

Cheers,

Dan

[bazking69]

Any unsustainable and largely pub blag BS figures aside, have you actually seen these cars inside and out...

[Tyre_Tread]

Have a look at a Charade GTti.

Brilliant, fun and fast. Can be frugal when you want to be.

I'll let you google it for the stats.

[dpbird90]

Nope, not even seen one in the flesh, just took a look on the classifieds, saw one then googled the stats.

Do like the Charade GTti, loads more on insurance though, it's group 11 but the Cuore is only 7

[dpbird90]

Come on, surely there's a current or former Avanzato owner on here?
I'm really interested in these cars, please help!

[Tyre_Tread]

Have a look here ;http://www.daihard.org/

[irish boy]

i drove one when they came out (mate worked in a dealership and had one home once) and it was great fun.....tho i was 18 and driving a suzuki sj410 so just what i would think of it now is another question!

best advice is find one, then drive it and see if you like it!

[dpbird90]

Thanks very much, just taking a look at the site now.
Yeah I am looking for one for sale, the one I saw on PH classifieds went for £2250, was there yesterday, gone today there's another one on Car & Classic at £2600, I'm expecting c£2200 out of the insurance on the Seicento, but am keeping it, so if I like the way the Avanzato drives then I'll try and beat him down a bit. I dug out the old PS2 and a copy of GT4 and thought I'd have a play on there with one, which was quite fun but strange as since passing my test I've not really played the PS2 much, and yes I do know the car in the game isn't really anything like the real thing, but if the real one is any bit as good as the in game one (which is FWD not 4WD) then I'm sure I will want.

ETA link: http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C49907/

Edited by dpbird90 on Monday 9th March 16:13

[morgrp]

just because a motor has a 1.0litre or less engine doesn't mean it will be cheap to insure - its all based on where you live, your age, sex, convictions and claims - At your age, anything quick or "sporty" will be expensive to insure regardless of the engine size - bear in mind too that the Daihatsu will more than likely be an import and a lot of insurance companies won't touch import cars over a certain age

[dpbird90]

morgrp said:

just because a motor has a 1.0litre or less engine doesn't mean it will be cheap to insure - its all based on where you live, your age, sex, convictions and claims - At your age, anything quick or "sporty" will be expensive to insure regardless of the engine size - bear in mind too that the Daihatsu will more than likely be an import and a lot of insurance companies won't touch import cars over a certain age

I know, it is a bit more expensive than the Seicento to insure (4 groups higher, but it's £150 dearer but I don't mind it as that was fully comp and the Fiat was TPFT so it's kind of similar). I have 2 years NCB and PassPlus, one no fault claim (long story short, car tried to overtake me while I was already in the middle of the road overtaking a parked car) and live in one of the UK's safest postcodes, they should know really that I'm not a boy racer, as I said in an earlier post I stuck it in insuresupermarket.com and got back a quote of £900 fully comp on a Jap Import model not the UK spec car, which if I can find one in budget will be cheaper to insure I take it. It's really the perfect car for me, small, practical, cheap, very fast.

[Tyre_Tread]

Daniel, looks like you're in the same county as me.

If you want to experience the madness that is the GTti then give me a shout.

[dpbird90]

Tyre_Tread said:

Daniel, looks like you're in the same county as me.

If you want to experience the madness that is the GTti then give me a shout.

Yeah I am actually, just looked at your site, you're about 10 miles away from me!

[avanzato]

hi, i'm new on the gassing station thing, get an avanzato, they rock!

[EDLT]

I find 0-60 in 7 seconds a little unbelievable from a car with around 80hp (iirc) a much lighter 7-clone would struggle with that kind our power.

[dpbird90]

EDLT said:

I find 0-60 in 7 seconds a little unbelievable from a car with around 80hp (iirc) a much lighter 7-clone would struggle with that kind our power.

So do I, a 700cc car with so little power that is able to get that kind of 0-60 time is too good to be true, I've seen many different figures between 7 and 8 seconds. There's also a nice S Reg one on eBay at the minute £2850 classified ad. If only the insurance company will hurry up

[GreatGranny]

Can a 15 year old Jap bussbox really be worth nearly £3K?

Wouldn't something like a Puma/Fezza etc be a better buy?

You can pick up a tidy 1.4 Puma for less than £2k leaving loads more for insurance, ditto a 1.4 Fezza.

What about a Punto Sporting, they look ok and only group 7 insurance, 2002/03 cars are easy less than £2500. Might be able to get one with A/C if you're lucky.

[Marf]

GreatGranny said:

Can a 15 year old Jap bussbox really be worth nearly £3K?

I sold my 20 year old Charade GTxx for £3k, but then it was the only UK delivered example in the country and it had 160hp.

The rarity of these hot Daihatsus makes them quite valuable to enthusiasts. The Avanzatos are very very rare, and with the right mods can be made very rapid. Ditto the Sirion/Storia X4, with the right bolt on mods you can squeeze 180hp out of its puny little 720cc engine.

[Gompo]

I was thinking about this when he had it for sale http://www.u-ukhbc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=2591

He also had a Honda City Turbo for sale a bit back, which again was tempting me.

I dont think I'd go for that one on E-bay at that money.

City Turbo he had:

[Marf]

That Honda is uber cool, reminds me of my Charade GTxx, it was black and I had the same white wedsports wheels.

[Tyre_Tread]

The sort of cult following of these GTti's is indicated by the situation on Tuesday when I had 2 people on separate occasions ask me if I wanted to sell my car. Both knew what it was and had owned one before and regretted selling.

I followed a 55 plate Audi A4 2.0 turbo home from Leicester yesterday via the back roads and just sat on his boot lid. Sch is te guts of these little cars.