Hi, and a silly question.

Hello Tim.

I've had my 1.3 Copen for not quite a year and although I hadn't done any research into it all, I'm glad that I ended up with the bigger engine. Later, I was toying with either replacing the 1.3 with a 659, or (ridiculously, p'raps!) getting a 659 as well. Each time I test drove a 659, I was left with the impression of distinctly less power, esp. on a 'big' road.

When I added in the practical advantages of a 1.3, namely:

There's much more chance of ending up with a newer, lower mileage example (less chance of the deadly rust);
The servicing schedule is much less burdensome; and
There's no turbo to go wrong

this further confirmed my choice, even though the 1.3s are something like £1,000 more expensive for comparable models.

Assuming that they will become rarer as time marches on, I've been collecting various spare parts - mainly from eBay - as & when they come up and as far as I can tell (and apart from engine parts), the spares fit both models.

But there are many more experienced and expert Copenistas on this site who will certainly take a contrary view!

Good luck with your search; I expect you've seen that you might end up having to travel quite a long way to find a good one.

(P.S. I've now lost my fear of asking daft questions on this forum....)

 

Hi Tim,

A further advantage (or two) is that the 1.3 is nominally better on fuel and also a cheaper VED bracket.

I've had mine since February this year and have done around 1,500 miles of mixed driving since then, although no really lengthy trips > 50 miles. It started off at around 45 mpg, dipped to about 41 mpg when it was much colder and is now returning 48 mpg which is quite impressive. The only thing I'm careful about with all the cars I've owned is making sure they warm up before giving it some beans, and then giving it some beans ! I don't do repositioning on the drive either.

I rarely use the X5 these days which has covered around 600 miles in the same period.

 

The wife has had her 1.3 for almost 9 years. Though it's low millage (25k) it's been very reliable - the only issue I've had has been a dead battery.

 

My wife is the same

 

used to commute 60 miles /day in my 1.3 no worries. It's done 115,000 miles and is still reliable. 1.3 cf 660 discussed several times on here (try a search). 660 requires more frequent servicing (3 times more) but tuners like 660s as they can fit bigger turbo etc to boost power. Any saving in purchase price will be eaten by servicing costs on 660 (unless you only do low miles/yr). Buy a 660 if you are into tuning, otherwise I'd say get a 1.3.

 

Mine is red with black cloth seats & I'm pretty sure it's standard.... Another thing you'll have to think abt is leather vs cloth seats; I think most Copen owners prefer the former.

 

red with black seats is one of the standard colors. Here in Japan, where I live, silver is by far the most common. Searching goo-net in Japanese, about 730 L880 Copens are listed; silver is about 197 of them, 86 are red (but that includes some of the dark red / purple). To spend hours looking at Copen pics, figure out what color & interior you like best, search Japanese used cars and Japanese imports | Goo-net Exchange Find Japanese used vehicles From the menus, search for Daihatsu - Copen, see the results then for L880 models, in the Year menu go ~ 2013, that should do it. Red models are from about page 16.
Good luck in your Copen search

 

Welcome to the club. We need pics now of course.

 

That could be a while

 

Really good point, we should no longer let the rain stop us from photographing our beautiful Copens! Be free!