Hi Everyone, newbie to the group and looking for a bit of advice.
After much looking around for a first car for my daughter she finally settled on a 2005 1.3SE Sirion with 42000 miles in Coral Pink(to be honest mainly because it is pink and looks "Cute").
Part of the reason we looked at the Sirion was that frankly, finding a bad review is nigh on impossible, they just seem to be so much more reliable than other small cars.
The test drive was eventful as we ended up in a queue of traffic as an articulated lorry broke down across an island (literally, across an island!)
After the test drive we agreed that there was "clunking" from the steering and the brakes were quite low so the dealer said it will be prepared with a new MOT and 6 months road tax and steering / brakes sorted.
We are paying what I consider to be a little above top book price (based on web sites that show prices) from the dealer but it does come with a 3 year warranty so as its her first car I thought it was worth it(for her and my piece of mind for her early driving years.)
We agreed to buy last Monday(17th) and Wednesday 19th the dealer rings and says it needs a new steering rack and will be ready by Friday 21st. We then get a call on Friday saying they are having difficulty getting a steering rack and it won't be ready until 27th.
So my question is, are parts for Diahatsu really that difficult to get hold of? I know that Diahatsu are somewhat of a minority car in the UK but 7 days for a steering rack seems a little excessive. We are still having the car as it was the best of all we looked at (and boy did we see some rubbish!) but I'm wondering if I should be storing up spare parts, especially as Diahatsu are pulling out of the UK next year.
Having said all that, I'm genuinely surprised at the Sirion, it seems a very well equipped car and is so roomy for its size. The steering rack aside, I'm hoping it makes a great little first car for my daughter to make her first steps onto our chaotic UK roads.

Pete