Daihatsu Sirion

Finally - I found a GREAT CAR!!!! – I was skeptical about my 2002 Daihatsu Sirion M100 Automatic at first but its now the best all around car I have ever owned. I paid $2000 for it with 65000ks on it. The car had been driven up over a car park stop and the suspension support was bent causing play in the steering. I took it to a Steering shop in Seaford South Australia and they… Read more

removed my front suspension and replaced it with a suspension from a Sirion that had been hit in the boot. A great job was done and now the car drives like new. Just replaced the timing belt and waters pump only because of the cars age. I change the oil every 3000 ks. Its a 10 minute job. What a gem of a car. Note - due to the high compression of all Daihatsu motors - Only run 98 fuel or you will have valve issues !!!!! Use only 98 fuel !!! Period !!!!

Best car I ever bought! – I have used this car to road trip around Western Australia and to commute to work. I use it every single day and it’s never let me down. It takes only a tiny amount of fuel and the only issues I’ve ever had are that it’s getting old and needs parts replaced. Show details

Great little car, fun to drive and cheap to run and maintain – The car is used daily for work, and longer Trip's for holidays, the car is serviced once a year, no issues on MOT, just had break pads and discs done, Show details

The 2002 update cars with the fried egg are the ones to get – This is an amazing little car. Even now, in 2018, it is the class bully in the city car class, revving to 7750 before cut out. And if you want to go quickly you will get to know the 4750-7750 band pretty well. Drive modestly and fuel usage is excellent. Interior quality is much improved in the 2002-5 cars. It boasts an amazing number of places… Read more

to put stuff, like 2 gloveboxes and a lift up lid on the centre top. I love my GTvi so much so that when a careless driver took out my red one I travellked from Canberra to Melbourne to get another one.

Great car but – I have a Gtvi 2003 model. Its a cracker of a car, great on fuel, fun to drive. I have noticed a lot of sirions, even the 1 litre 3 cylinder models for sale with burned out valves (just as mine was when i got it). What everyone needs to realise is that these little cars REQUIRE premium unleaded, yes, even the 1.0L 3 cylinder does. It has a 10:1… Read more

compression ratio and the gtvi is 11:1 meaning, premium is a MUST. If you run normal fuel, prepare for issues.

A great car – M100 2004, bought it second hand 2012, did 50 000kms until a truck lost control and creamed it. Had a 1999 Sirion before and drove it until the gearbox died at 200 000kms both were fantastic cars. If diahatsu brought one out again I would buy it. I have bought the Toyota Yaris which I believe is the Toyota's version.  Show details

Bargain price, cheap to run. Gives Hybrids a run for their money – Paid $300 for my 2004 Sirion. Have driven over 100, 000km in it without fault. Very underrated little car. Excellent fuel economy (average 5.5 per 100) in traffic WITH air con running. Driven normally its fine, but push it to its limits in corners you'll realise its not meant for sports driving. No problems in getting parts, plenty from Toyota and… Read more

wreckers.

PLUS

Well built, cheap to run, cheap to insure. Kind of fun. Some parts shared with toyota and can still buy new. Awesome turning circle, very easy to park and to drive. Great vision all round, very simple functional and logical dash.

AGAINST

Dash tends to rattle for multiple places. Some body parts no longer available new.Suspension gets upset when pushed to limits on bumps when cornering. Motors have been known to randomly blow smoke, but then stop blowing smoke. Weird. Need to change oil regularly if you want it to last as can build up sludge easily. Old school interior, dont expect central locking which can be a bummer. Front sears are hard, benifit from sheepskin covers. Seems to run better with premium fuel.

Great economical small car – The Daihatsu Sirion 2003 manual model is a great reliable little car, it features a carborated engine and takes about $50 to fill a tank that you can get around for weeks on. Not only is it economic but even though it only features a 3 cyl engine, can still get up to speeds of 130km + although I have only taken it to the speed limit of 110, you… Read more

can feel the potential to go faster. This car is lightweight and comes in a range of colors, myself having a white Sirion, it also features Crome Edgings along the front of the vehicle which give is a modern 'cute' look. I haven't had an issue with the 2002 manual sirion yet, given it is only a 3 cyl motor, most parts are easy to come across, the only downside is that daihatsu do not ship parts to Australia so if a door switch goes out, your best bet is ebay. This would be a perfect car for learner drivers. Not having any previous manual driving experience, I found driving the manual diahatsu sirion extremely easy having to learn on my own. The interior is very neat and edgy/modern.

Best car I've ever had – My sirion is a 1999 model no ac and no power steering. The I bought it with 160000 km on it for $300. It had led a very very hard life as a plasterers work car. Upon getting it home I found it had driven the whole 750km trip with only a smear of oil in the sump I thought I'd have ruined it. But after a good service And a good clean inside it is… Read more

just perfect. It runs superbly the engine is sweet revs well it's quite as a mouse at idle the gears change with no effort at all. For a car that's had little to no service history and did a 750km trip with no oil it's running like my Astra did when it was new. It's comfortable the kids fit in the back only 2 car seats will fit though. but if You don't need car seats you'll get 3 kids or 2 adults in the back. I guess the only negative is it's a little gutless sometimes but it's also only a 989cc engine. It came with a pioneer head unit so if yours has a smashed screen like mine replacing it is super easy because the wiring is the same as a new unit. A brilliant little cheap to run car.

Comfy, spacious and maneuvrable – Love to drive it round the town, amazingly cheap to run, worth its price every penny no doubt, some minor probs with rust at window's legdes, some suspension defects and somewhat leaking trunk after downpours water can be found round the spare wheel- otherwise excellent! It's smooth to drive, easy to drive for a woman!  Show details

Very comfy & smooth – Bought this 6 months ago, a 2004 model with low 35,000 km mileage. (Although mine is badged a Toyota Passo, it's the same as the Sirion). It is high and its doors open wide, making it very easy to enter and exit. What also impressed is its Tardis interior - plenty of room especially width wise. Good legroom and headroom too. No surprise that the… Read more

hatch is spacious and easy to load/unload as it opens wide. Both rear seats can be folded flat and it was great when moving house as it could easily swallow heaps of stuff :)

The car feels structurally robust, which helps explain why its ride is quite supple and comfy on post-quake Christchurch streets. Feels and handles more like a medium sized car. While rather strong on the flat, its weakness is its lack of torque when climbing steeper hills. Just glad it's a 1300 and not a 1000 cc, an engine size which is more commonly imported used from Japan. Probably the rare 1500cc version has the perfect blend of power, torque and ride.

Anyway, will keep readers posted as time passes.

Sirion 2001 – Zippy, reliable and cheap to run. Goes easily up hills at 100k if the accelerator is slid forward instead of flat to the floor. Mine has never broken down, has done well over 270,000k over dusty country roads and in terrible weather. There is no rust yet! Visibility is excellent. Light to drive, easy to manoeuvre. Very economical.  Show details ·  4

Worst car I have ever driven – Before I launch into this review, I will point out that I have owned a year 2000 Sirion and found it to be excellent, but the newer model (I drove a 2008) is the first car that I have ever driven that is a step backwards from it's predecessor. I drove one of these for a week in NZ and had the following gripes; 1) Noisy. OMG, when the engine… Read more

wasn't shouting at a deafening roar, the gearbox was whining and whinging in an annyoyingly loud manner. Anyone who has driven an old school mini will be familiar with the characteristic whine that the transmission has - we call it retro charm, but the Sirion was just loud, coarse and anything but charming. At 100km/h the gearbox and road noise combination meant that polite conversation was impossible, shouting or sign language was the only way to communicate

2) Slow. I hired a Sirion based on my experience of the older model and it's powerful engine combination. How on earth they managed to take the same engine and make it so that when going up NZ hills in fourth that it slows down is beyond me. Admittedly when I filled it with high octane fuel and thrashed it, the performance did improve a bit, but it was still nowhere near the level of performance the older model gave.

3) Cheap shoddy interior. The older Sirion (which my mum still drives BTW) is a luxury car in comparison to the newer model, it's interior is sporty, comfortable and looks good. The entire interior on the new model however screamed cheap and nasty and would be more at home on a Chinese made vehicle than a Japanese brand that Toyota owns. It was full of nasty cheap looking hard plastics that produced creaks and rattles, and the rear seats were impossibly fiddly to fold down. The boot was also smaller, not being able to taken even one normal sized suitcase with the rear seats up.

4) Fuel economy - I averaged between 5.9 and 6.3 litres / 100 km on the open road. I thought this was very average for a car that is less accommodating and less powerful than it's much more worthy ancestor. For a car that is powered by a 1.3 engine this is pretty poor to be honest, when I have owned a much older (1995) VW Passat with a 2.0 engine that could do 6.5km / 100l on the open road here in Aussie. Absolutely nothing Underpowered, thirsty, noisy, poor quality interior, step backwards from the earlier model.

Excellent – The only way to get a clear idea about Sirion is to discover it closely. it is made by toyota and that is enough. This car is really economic car and the best in its range. Adding more, it is like a magic box looks small from external, and comfortable inside. I got this car brand new for about one and half years. If you just think about the all… Read more

features like, ABS CD player, power steering & electric windows. I really recommend this car for town use and small family uses. The main disadvantage is that the engine power. People mostly like cars with 1.6 or 1.8 engine, but for light driving town purpose no need for high litre engine, except for hot countries like gulf. Anyway I still see this car the best compared with it is range.

Good – We had this sort of car as a hire vehicle for 2 weeks around New Zealand. Driving in severely cold weather it never had a problem. It hardly used any fuel and it always drove well. It would be a perfect city car for its size, would happily fit 4 adults in this car. Seats a little uncomfortable. Great fuel economy. Used around 5.5L/ 100km when… Read more ·  1

driving around semi-city areas. Good boot size for a small car, lots of storage pockets for things. Good vision out of front window. Uncomfortable and hard seats, poor sound system, has no guts up hills.

Excellent – I bought this car new in Dec 2001, so that was 8 years ago. It still runs like a top and has never given me a bit of trouble. Great buy!! Everything! Gorgeous little 3 cylinder hatchback runabout that is so easy to handle. Fits in any parking bay and turns on a dime. Fuel economy is outstanding - saved me from going broke when petrol prices… Read more ·  1

skyrocketed. Service and parts are inexpensive (hint: this car has the same engine and parts as a ride-on mower so you can interchange them). Adjustable front seat belts, electronic mirror adjustment and central locking. My friends are green with envy. Be nice if it had air conditioning but that would drain all the power. Seat belts do not drop low enough for a petite person like me so it tends to cut across my neck even in the lowest position, but I find a lot of larger cars do that too.

Love my sirion – I bought a Sirion in 2000 and have never had a problems with it. It drives well, has excellent fuel economy and is surprisingly roomy - I regularly go camping with two kids and two dogs plus all camping gear. Great little engine that has never let me down. So easy to park. The reliability and fuel efficiency.  Show 2 replies

Excellent – This has been the best car I've ever owned. I will be very sad to see it go as my main car, but it eventually has to happen. As new safety features become available, cars with them become the safer and more logical choice. I bought the prototype Sirion from 1998. In the last 12 years, it has only stopped once due to a flat battery, and I kind of… Read more

knew I should've changed it a week before. This car has done 212,000 and I'm planning to run it to around 250,000 before retiring it to a farm car. It spent the first 9 years of its life as a city car and comfortably plies the highways now at 110kph, day after day. Its pros are economy, reliability, interior space for driver (nice high roof), seat comfort, boot versatility and character. Not too much. Adjustable steering height would've been nice but you get used to it. Also, the '98 model had no air con or power steering and came with a cassette deck, but I have no regrets at all. This was the only model to come with 4 electric windows wihch has kept me cool.

Excellent – Bought secondhand, with fairly high km's on odo. Do most driving around town, some longer road trips. Occasionally takes full sized passengers, but mostly just two adults in this little gem. An absolute stunner of a car, unbelievably economic (avg 17.5km/lit driving around town & also very cheap to get serviced, small tyres, etc), more than… Read more

spacious enough for two including luggage for a week's trip, extremely reliable.

With four big adults the car starts feeling cramped and performance drops significantly - remember it is a 1000cc 3 cylinder.

Overall I love our little car! If you and your missus/man mostly drive around town with the odd away trip and/or passenger this car is hard to beat! Economy. Reliability. Size. Size. Thrust-you-back-in-your-seat acceleration.

Fantastic first car – I bought a second hand Sirion for my first car and it has been the best car I've ever driven. It's small size is perfect to park, it still has a lot of "grunt" even for a little car and is zoomy on the highway, it's boot space is big enough to fit your groceries. I never, ever had a problem with my Sirion in the time I owned it. It was always… Read more ·  1

reliable and efficient.

It's what I would consider a "no frills" car. If you want all the extra features that a lot of other cars have then go for something else, but if you want a great little car that won't cost much at the bowser to fill up, can still fit 4 people people comfortably and is zoomy for around town, then this car is perfect.

I was sad to sell my car and I really miss it, especially when I'm now trying to park our big bulky car at the shopping centre. I would easily buy another Sirion any day. Perfect first car. Cheap to run. Reliable. Cost efficient. Zoomy. Easy to park.