Hi all, Newbie here based in Surrey. My wifes Copen turbo has a squeaky clutch pedal and the Stealers (Kinghams of Croydon) say its normal?!?!?! She bought it from Kinghams and it was noisy but has got progressively louder over the past 3 years. Its on 39,000 miles main dealer serviced every 6/12. Any ideas on this? New clutch cable? Also I've found the dreaded rot since last sumer on the front and rear arches with rust colour but no bubbling showing on the front of the sills. Already feels like the rear arches have been repaired but there nothing in the service history/receipts. Does anyone know the rough cost of repair and can you recommend a reputable place. Kinghams are almost as bad as VW main dealers. Thanks in advance benji
Hi I can't agree more, Kinghams of Croydon are absolutely terrible. We named the salesman we had dealings with the 'Basil Fawlty' of the motor trade. Apart from that, finding someone at Kinghams who can help with service and parts is a joke even if you can ever get them to return your telephone call or reply to an E-mail. There must be someone or somewhere in Croydon/Surrey that can offer professional Copen service and support? Has anybody got any ideas? As for the squeaking clutch, I do not think it is normal (although ours does click a bit at the very bottom of the pedals travel) and as for the rust, we have exactly the same issue (2004 model) - surface rust around the inside edges of the wheel arches so I think this is a far more common problem. KS
Basil fawlty:-(p...AKA KEITH KINGHAM the big cheese himself! They were the stealers that left off the jubilee clamp on the turbo boost hose at a service and I lost all power on Tower Bridge. Regarding the squaking, I am going to try and get my head in the footwell (I'm 6ft tall) and try and grease the pedal cluster where it meets the cable as seen on http://www.daihatsu-drivers.co.uk/node/5089 I hope this link wont get me banned. Any help in finding a reputable independent for the rust issues would be greatly appreciated. From what I have been reading, sanding down rust and repainting is what Diahatsu dealers have routinely been doing. SHOCKING! These should have had new panels fitted as a product recall!
LoL! I'm sure nobody can get banned for being honest. A friend of mine who runs a bodywork shop in Beckenham is going to have a look at our Copen and advise about the surface rust. I will let you know what he says. I have seen posts on this forum about the clutch cable replacement which might also give you further insight, but I think a good oil and grease up may be the first step. All the best KS
Just following on from my last post, I left the rust issue throughout the summer but decided to get my friend to take a look before the winter weather set in. I was getting surface rust on the inside edges of the front wheel arches and there was some minor bubbling on the outside surfaces of both the rear wheel arches. My friend sent me an image of what he found when he investigated the bubbling which was rather an eye opener. I think my advice to all Copen owners is to get any indication of rust looked at sooner rather than later! Now had the old Copen patched up and it's looking very pretty again KS
Patching it up won`t solve the problem!!!! The issue lies around the INNER ARCH, if you dont cut out and repair the rust in that area it will just keep coming back!!:-(( I know all about this problem as i have recently got my copen back from the bodyshop near me. Having spent THOUSAND`S and THOUSAND`s of pounds getting it properly repaired . IE new front wing`s new rear quaters And a full respray. The rear rust issue seems to stem from the factory itself. It appears, after talking to my restorer, that Daihatsu never bothered to paint the inside of the rear quater panel`s with any type of protection at all!!!!!!!!!!!! If you don`t get the inner arch repaired it will just come back AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN Hope this help`s Remember " CHECK THOSE CORNER`S " Check out the " keeping the rust worm at bay" topic you will find some picture`s of my own car and the work that went into it
or its more out weather is too good! does Australia have the same problem or other warmer countries like Italy?
Italian cars don't rust until they get exported over here. I had a fiat regatta and if I was bored I would go outside and watch it rust, they were that bad. Most manufacturers, including fiat now, fully dip their cars into various dips or electronically coat them which is almost as good as galvanising. I'd guess that daihatsu dont do this and just rely on undercoats of paint. No good in salty road winters.
