Mk 6

Comfortable, practical and quite good fun.

I purchased a top of the range 1.6 automatic with about 130,000 miles on the clock and a few signs of wear. The driver's window was a bit out of alignment and the odd drop of rain came through. Also the heated rear screen didn't work (but door mirrors were more than adequate). Mechanically though, it drove perfectly.

My previous car was a 1991 Honda GL 2-door whose passenger seat folded flat so I could get a long load in. Not possible with this one so not as practical.

Not many problems except one day when drive failed completely. The recovery chap looked under the bonnet and said "You've got a broken driveshaft". My local garage who fixed it reckoned it must have been a lurking manufacturing fault.

"Comfy as an old pair of slippers" was how I described it. Nimble enough to be practical round town but also a relaxed motorway cruiser. On the occasions when I had a bit of fun on twisty roads it went through the corners competently enough. Steering though, was a little bit vague.

I'd have liked a few more horsepower out of the engine but it was plenty adequate. The autobox was a gem. No 'sport' mode but I appreciated the D3 setting to keep it out of top in hilly areas. It kicked down nicely and worked very smoothly.

I kept a close eye on fuel consumption logging petrol purchases against mileage. It managed a respectable 37 mpg!

After 4 years the MOT caught up with it. Corrosion near a seat belt mounting and a faulty ABS light (which had actually always been intermittent but until then behaved itself at MOT time).

I put it on Ebay and it bid up to £134. Chap came to collect with a low loader. I assumed it would be banger raced but asked the driver what would happen to it.
"Going for export" was the surprising answer. Seems there's a shortage of decent second hand cars in some parts of Africa. Hopefully my old Honda lives on somewhere. I shall never know.

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