Need guidance about Daihatsu Charade CX, Model 1985

[gardenair]

AOA,
I am interested in to buy a old car especially " Daihatsu Charade CX " Model 1985 or above for my family. Mostly people says that do not buy Daihatsu Charade because its parts are too much expensive and there is also shortage of its mechanic in the market. Some people also said that Daihatsu Charade need much more work (Often Workshop) as compared to Suzuki cars.

The 2nd draw back which people said that once you buy " Charade " car it will be very hard to sell (In future in you want).

Kindly what do you suggest about it ? What is your valuable suggestion about this old model car ?

thank
Farman

[fyq]

totally wrong concept bro.
i have 3 n all were as gud as i can tell u..
no spare parts issue faced ever.
resale is good
but plz do not buy any rusty car.
it shud b in a gud nik, n try to find one with sound engine.
these instructions are same as for any other car.
dunno y ppl say so..but in my opinion charade rocks

[gardenair]

Thanks a lot for the reply. Well in different car web sites (Buying/selling) i can see Charade car price which people mentioned are max Rs 3,00,000=/ So what do you think that a good condition charade car should be in between Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 3,00,000=/ ?

What is the actual market price of a good condition sound engine ? In Rawalpindi/Islamabad where I can buy Charade CX ? Dealers or Sunday market ?

Waiting for your kind reply,
Farman

[adrenalini]

^100% agreed
it indeed is a lovely car. We have one with us from 1991 and believe me it is running perfectly fine till now and is worth keeping. Everything is bone stock and timely maintained. Spares are not an issue. Yes you sometimes will need to go to junk if u need genuine parts like brake callipers, hub, steering column/cross etc but i think its not an issue because these parts need replacement after years. and even you have to go to junk in search of parts if u have any old suzuki or any other old car. Rest most of the new genuine parts like lights, bumpers, handles etc are available with some dealers. Maintenance parts like spark plugs, oil/air filters, plug cables etc are widely available and some of the good quality chinese made parts of charade like CV joints, ball joints, axle boots are even better and long lasting than genuine suzuki parts.
Of course resale is not as good as mehran or a corolla but a neat car up for sale doesn't last for a week if demand set is reasonable, that i think is considered as a good resale.
I would suggest you to buy any charade in its stock engine specially if you are planning for 84-86 shape with original wiring not messed up and of course with minimum rust (as you might find it hard to get a 26-27 years old car totaly rust free). stock engine(cb23) is excellent powerful and economical on both cng as well on petrol and also VERY SILENT, i wonder why engines of most of the charades sound like a tractor's engine. No Bara Bol but i m getting exactly 14km/l on petrol with a/c within city at speed averaging 60-70km/h and 160km+ in a full cng tank of 50kgs. engine has covered around 97000km uptil now after the engine overhaul was done at 3,80000kms :D.

As far as mechanics are concerned, stock engine is very simple and very easily understandable. any good mechanic can work on it. Never trust any mechanic who says charade is fazool gari. I totaly disagree with the people who say charade requires regular mechanic visits. if a good work is done it will stay trouble free for long.
One thing which is the most important one to remember, NO COURE PART PROPERLY FITS IN CHARADE. it is a total ******** said by the mechanics.
Rest i'll give this car 10/10 in every aspect.

[asad1]

Charade is 100 time better than local crap like mehran ,alto ,cuore n cultus if u find it in good condition
and charade parts last longer than other strong n reliable car

[gardenair]

Thanks a lot all of you. I appreciate your kind suggestion.

[smam55]

Dear Brother

I am facing problem of my charade 88 carburetor. I am looking for working carburetor. As most of them available in market are rusty. Can you suggest some place, from where i can buy some good one. You help in this regards will be helpful.

[CarSaaz]

There is only one thing better then having a charade...... and that is to have 2 charades...... my 86 g11 has been with my family since oct 86. Shes the only car weve never sold despite selling many of the other nice cars we kept like 95 corolla gli , 97 margalla ga , khyber 98 , vti 96 and much more. There is something special about this little wonder. We kept her stock and maintained her on regular intervals. 70 percent of her outer body is still in genuine paint. The interior is immaculate and still holds the orignal shiny paint. Shes still running on petrol from day one and MASHALLAH gives around 13-14 and even dragged it to 15 since my driving speed is limited to 60-70 km per hour. Im a slow and cautious driver. The comfort level is wonderful.. the seats , suspension , steering wheel are all very soft. The space is ample compared to cars like cultus , santro , khyber etc. Th ac is amazing despite having been installed in my car for the last 26 years.The engine is very responsive and economical. Parts have never been an issue. You just have to pamper her and treat her like a car and not a 4X4 attempting to get an entry in the famed paris-dakkar rally.. this would apply to every car.

Now the challange is to get a good condition charade and that too in a good price... try to get an 85-86 model even if its a cg base model. the prices would be 250,000 to 350,000 with a prestine condition car with almost all working parts. please avoid the 88 model and definately avoid the 82 model. The 83-84 is also a nice choice which can be available between 200000 to 300000. If you have a small family then even 2 door models will suffice. The only other car i can think of which is better would be an 88-90 starlet.

take a look at her

https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/body-work-interior-paint-glass-appearance/197081-my-charade-86-g11-after-visit-body-shop?highlight=

best of luck in your car hunt.

[shariqak1]

There is only one thing better then having a charade...... and that is to have 2 charades...... my 86 g11 has been with my family since oct 86. Shes the only car weve never sold despite selling many of the other nice cars we kept like 95 corolla gli , 97 margalla ga , khyber 98 , vti 96 and much more. There is something special about this little wonder. We kept her stock and maintained her on regular intervals. 70 percent of her outer body is still in genuine paint. The interior is immaculate and still holds the orignal shiny paint. Shes still running on petrol from day one and MASHALLAH gives around 13-14 and even dragged it to 15 since my driving speed is limited to 60-70 km per hour. Im a slow and cautious driver. The comfort level is wonderful.. the seats , suspension , steering wheel are all very soft. The space is ample compared to cars like cultus , santro , khyber etc. Th ac is amazing despite having been installed in my car for the last 26 years.The engine is very responsive and economical. Parts have never been an issue. You just have to pamper her and treat her like a car and not a 4X4 attempting to get an entry in the famed paris-dakkar rally.. this would apply to every car.

Now the challange is to get a good condition charade and that too in a good price... try to get an 85-86 model even if its a cg base model. the prices would be 250,000 to 350,000 with a prestine condition car with almost all working parts. please avoid the 88 model and definately avoid the 82 model. The 83-84 is also a nice choice which can be available between 200000 to 300000. If you have a small family then even 2 door models will suffice. The only other car i can think of which is better would be an 88-90 starlet.

take a look at her

https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/body-work-interior-paint-glass-appearance/197081-my-charade-86-g11-after-visit-body-shop?highlight=

best of luck in your car hunt.

Its a good lengthy explanation you described in ur post. However I am planning to go for charade but this time i am more interested in EGG shaped(88-93). I wonder why are you saying to avoid the 88 model. Isn't this model has got more spare parts cuz its newer and more chances of getting her in good condition?

[CarSaaz]

best of luck shariq... what ever model you go for just ensure its i good shape else charades can become a nightmare.

there is a hell lot of difference between 86 cg g11 and 88 gtti....

mines g11 base model .. simple engineering.....if youre going for a base model 88 then no pbm....

Its a good lengthy explanation you described in ur post. However I am planning to go for charade but this time i am more interested in EGG shaped(88-93). I wonder why are you saying to avoid the 88 model. Isn't this model has got more spare parts cuz its newer and more chances of getting her in good condition?

[gardenair]

Thanks all for the reply. Well In different web sites I saw the price of Charade starting from Rs 1,70,000 to 3,50,000. It is good price for a good Charade CX model with max Rs 3,00,000 ?

Mostly Charade are on CNG and few one are on Petrol. The thing which i am also searching is Diesel Engine but I does not know that Charade Diesel engine is batter or Petrol. One thing I know that with diesel the car have good power as compared to petrol or CNG running but again the question raise the diesel engine maintenance/understanding is easy than Petrol engine for a mechanic ?
So what u suggest me during searching should I also focus on Diesel or petrol Charade car ?

As "adrenalini" said about "stock engine" what does it mean ? All engin are not stock engine ? Please en-light on it.

Your valuable suggestion would help me a lot.
reagrds

[faiz.aslam.121]

Hi.
Not sure about Diesel or Petrol engine, but stock engine is something i can explain:)

Charade is approx. 25 years old, and the engine must have been over-hauled numerous times, and when the engine gives up, they replace it with another engine. Stay away from these cars with swapped engines, too much hassle in documentation etc.

[gardenair]

Actually I have capacity of Rs 2,50,000 to buy a car. Charade is the Car which full in this range.It is 1000 cc and good for family.Yes it is too much old car but still in the roads it has its own value by power & road grip.
As you said "too much hassle in documentation" so it mean i should be v v careful in this case.
what alternate car you suggest me instead of Charade ?

[faiz.aslam.121]

What i meant with "too much hassle in documents" is because of a swapped engine:)
Sometimes they forget to add new engine number etc. in the cars documents.

Charade is an awesome car, and there are many in Karachi. Go for it and enjoy it:P

[Haroon_Tarar]

Stock means no alterations done to the engine.

Swapped engine is not an issue provided;
The new engine is the same which came with the car originally.
No further alterations have been done.

It would be no wonder if you find a car with a swapped engine and in a very good condition otherwise.
What do you expect brother? A 26-29 year old car having a swapped engine would be lots better than a car with weak original engine or over hauled engine.

And there is no hassle in papers. All you need to do is make sure that the new engine number is present on the book. Normally its not needed but some crook police wala may become a nuisance for you if its not there.

Charade is a good car. Get a petrol charade. I have kept one for 3 years and have bought another 84 last week for home use

Sent from my GT-I9100 using PW Forums mobile app

[zoensa]

well i am also a proud charade owner. i import charade G11 from japan in 1994 and still keeping it. it the best car in its class. have a very chilled AC compared to new car. and its parts are easily available and cheap as well. so just buy and drive and we welcome you to charade Club

[gardenair]

Thanks all of you for guiding me and it will really help me to buy Charade. Well as "Haroon_Tarar" said about swapped engine. The question raise in my mind that is still new Charade engine is available in the market ? The car is 26 years old so still its engine is available ?

If new charade engine is available then I think there is really no need to worry about it. You guise can guide me batter about the engine.
I only know about Charade CX version and it is my favorite. Is Charade G11 is different than CX ?

waiting for your valuable guidance.

[Haroon_Tarar]

Not new engine brother. They are used engines imported from japan

Sent from my GT-I9100 using PW Forums mobile app

[gardenair]

Thanks a lot for helping me. One more thing i want to discuss is the Charade body height which is far from the scope of this thread but will help me. The thing is normally when this car is fully loaded and it moves from any pakistani speed breaker the floor of the body touches the speed breaker.I am not talking about the standard speed breakers but normally which are mad in "Galee Muhalha" .

The same passengers if u take them in Suzuki Mehran,Alto,Khyber it moves smoothly from such bad speed breakers.

The issue is height from road to Charade floor. My question is is there any way to keep Charade body high as we can see in Suzuki Mehran or it is not possible in Charade case.
Thanks.

[umarpal7]

For that issue put spacers in rear springs. Work as a charm. My car didnt hit any speed breaker after I put spacers in the rear springs. Costed me 600 rs, i still remember. And about swapped engine. I have got a swapped engine in my charade. Got a kabuli one from bilal gunj for 45000. its working like a charm too.