Hello, I’ve been offered a 97 Daihatsu Charade Centro, 4 door automatic for a good price from a family friend as it has some minor problems. I intend to use this car to replace my current daily 94 Daihatsu Charade G200.
The good: Price, low kilometres (20,xxx), service history log books, 100+ year old previous owner, 6 months registration, near new tires, interior neat, body straight (minor car park dents and scratches)
The bad: Rear windscreen smashed, front left indicator lens broken, interior roof lining sagging, engine stops at highway speeds (80km+) but will start again, hole in exhaust, needs battery, due for a service (oil black), sat in weather for 1 year (with plastic and tape sealing broken window)
After inspecting I jump started and test drove the car briefly around the block. It idled, shifted, stopped and steered nicely but I did not experience the engine shutting off at those speeds. We’re in the process of transferring registration and I will now be looking for replacement parts to prepare for road worthy.
If anybody has spare parts to suit or any idea what could be causing the engine to stop please let me know. I will update with photos this week.
Welcome to the forum, can’t wait to see pics of this gem being that it has sat for a while i would be looking at draining and flushing the fuel system, checking and replacing fuel filters, spark plugs etc.
welcome and sounds like an interesting project you have got. As for engine speed stopping. If you didn’t experience it then it may have been something intermittent. It could be anything from a fuel filter to pump to wiring etc I am also looking forward to seeing some pics
You’re all so kind, thank you for the warm welcome and helpful advice. There is a small dent on the front drivers guard and on the other side of the car not yet pictured is quite a deep scratch and dent over the rear door - fuel cap - rear quarter panel area (will update with photo when I have the car).
The front headrests appear to be missing so I’m hoping the G200 ones will fit as I believe it is a safety requirement for road worthy sake. If they don’t fit I don’t think the seats will directly bolt in without modifying the seat rails?
Only one auto glass supplier had a rear windscreen but their price was $350 to buy + $110 to fit. I understand parts for these are scarce but his advice was to try find a used replacement online which led me here. Is it correct that 3 door and 5 door hatch’s share the same rear windscreen?
The front left indicator lens in the bumper I’ve only been able to find on ebay for $180+. I was going to attempt to fit the smaller G200 one for the 5 minute drive to bring the car home. This is another part I may need advice on how to source one reasonably price.
best bet is to try wrecker’s and keep an eye on anywhere that may advertise one forsale or wrecking. The indicator’s for the bumper can be hard to source.
You could try the daihatsu wrecker’s in Archerfield QLD and see if they will post if they have any. They are not as good as they used to be though.
The hatch on all L500 whether it is charade centro or handivan should be the same.
Also do you have an ef/gl (twin cam carb still uses an ecu) or a en ef/el engine (efi). I am just curois on that one lol. The easiest way to tell is the square air box is efgl while a skinnier oblong air box it efel.
As for the seats from the charade, sorry but they wont just bolt in.
I will try that wreckers as all the expensive ebay options seem to be in UK where this model was probably more popular. I believe the 70 year old current owner said her 100 year old aunt imported the car new from Japan although I did notice the Charade Centro sticker on the rear hatch for the Australian market and not Mira L500 as sold there. They’d regularly get the car serviced at Toyota (parent company of Daihatsu). Since Toyota pulled Daihatsu’s here in 2005 I doubt their spare parts centre would be of much help?
I honestly did not pay much attention to which engine it had but I think it was EFI. I’ll be considering a possible engine swap and manual conversion in the distant future though so open to recommendations as well as suspension and wheel options.
being that it has sat for a while i would be looking at draining and flushing the fuel system, checking and replacing fuel filters, spark plugs etc.
