man for a first time thats pretty bloody good. I have done 2 cars and My first was way worse and my second was slighlty better but, honestly dont be too concerned. 
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There doesen’t seem to be a comparative shortage of Applauses in Serbia. Do they even salt the roadways, in Winter there?
Were these sold new, in Serbia, or are they mostly imported?
When I was last vacationing in former Yugoslavia (Slovenia transit and Croatia) I only noticed vintage Renault 4s. But never recall ever seeing even one Daihatsu
Uhh, there is a lot of shortage here 
Well… Applause was sold new in 1990 (1.6x) and early 1991 (1.6Xi) after that started war in ex Yugoslavia so nothing was imported at that time. Later after war, only used one was imported from EU. Mk1 restyling and MK2 has never sold as new here.
Roads are salted all the time, and they are rusting on the rear like crazy. I got lucky this time with a green one mk2. It has a few dots of rust and one small hole on the rear floor panel.
They have never been popular here, only in 1990 when the price of new applause was a bit higher than the national car company car “Zastava 101”
People here drives mostly german cars because of the service and parts supply.
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[quote=“Bane, post:23, topic:6003”]…the price of new applause was a bit higher than the national car company car “Zastava 101”…[/quote]This is what we call “false economy”. In other words, it’s when somebody chooses a lower-priced item to buy, instead of a higher quality higher-priced. In the long run, this buyer ends up spending more money on the less expensive item, during its service life. This is what enabled China to build an enormous navy fleet and enable many new millionaires there, through following this policy since 1971.
For an intelligent buyer, there is no comparisson between a made in Japan vehicle and a built under license FIAT 128. Where I used to be employed, we had two lorries in service for delivering beverages. One was an IVECO made in Italy and the other was an old Mercedes. Guess which one would always start up and would fill customer orders dependably while the other one was often in the repair shop.
Speaking of the EU of which your leader is wishing to join, EU taxation policies are the reason as to why Daihatsu no longer does business in Europe. Other Japanese manufacturers have circumvented this import taxation, through erecting factories within the EU. Primarilly in lower-waged member countries. These vehicles are second rate, given the difference in assembly quality between genuine Japanese vehicles and those assembled elsewhere.
I should know, because I own both a Daihatsu and an assembled in the EU Suzuki
[quote=“Bane, post:23, topic:6003”]…Roads are salted all the time…[/quote]There have been complaints about unnecessary salting, here in southern Germany. I myself have driven behind a salting lorry of which was dumping salt on a roadway of which was warm enough to melt falling snow. It never froze over that night. The problem is an absence of oversight and accountability anchored in a poorly-designed burocracy.
If you could afford to own a supplemental vehicle for winter, the Daihatsu shouldn’t rust that badly, when never driven on salty roadways. The remaining rust caused by internal structural condensation can be managed