Daihatsu Sirion Review Covering 2005 To Date

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Quick Summary of the Daihatsu Sirion

OVERALL

Spacious city car or small supermini, the Daihatsu Sirion serves up an interesting take on the compact car genre. The car is certainly well packaged with its modest size hiding a spacious interior that’s impressively practical. Some of the materials aren’t great and engine noise can be an issue but the Daihatsu is highly adept around town with its sprightly handling and the prices you can get them for these days leave little room for argument. There are plusher-feeling options out there but what the Sirion does, it does very well.

SUPER CITY MINI CAR

Small is beautiful, or so they say. Who says it? Well, being Japanese, the people at Daihatsu may not but they would probably concur with the sentiment. If there’s one thing that most obviously binds Daihatsu models together, it’s smallness. The Sirion is a supermini by Daihatsu’s reckoning but its dimensions correspond better to what the rest of the market dubs a city car. It has small petrol engines like a city car and a lively lightweight feel like a city car. From new, it was even priced like a city car. In the end, where the Sirion fits into the grand scheme of things isn’t too important. What could be is that Daihatsu knows small cars and the Sirion is a small car from Daihatsu.
Used Daihatsu Sirion for sale

History of the Sirion

It’s the second generation of the Sirion that we’re examining here. The original model arrived in 1998 and was shoehorned into a Daihatsu range that already included the Cuore, the Move and the Grand Move, all of which were small city cars not unlike the Sirion. An effort to differentiate the original Sirion from its stablemates in this overcrowded line-up could be the thinking behind its billing as a supermini but it was better justified then in any case as that was before the leading superminis grew so much bigger. Today, superminis routinely exceed four meters in length while city cars tend to huddle around the three and a half meter mark, the second generation Sirion as introduced in 2005 is 3.6 meters from nose to tail so if it is a supermini, it’s not a big one.The Sirion was launched with two engines, a 1.0-litre and a 1.3-litre but a 1.5-litre unit was introduced late on in 2007 to bolster the range. Trim levels run from S through SE to SX in that order.
Used Daihatsu Sirion for sale

Daihatsu Sirion Road Test

If you can operate a payphone, you should have no difficulty with the Sirion. No, scrub that. I’ve been into some payphones that are a whole lot trickier to figure out than a Sirion. All the controls are legibly marked, the steering is light and the ride is surprisingly supple for a small car. The manual gearbox probably isn’t as direct as it could be and the windscreen pillars can be intrusive when negotiating tight roundabouts but other than that this is an extremely easy car to drive. Performance from the 1.0-litre engine is best described as unhurried, the 68bhp unit getting the Sirion to 60mph in 13.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 99mph. Though a little noisy at speed, the off-beat three-cylinder thrum is deeper and more charismatic than the rather anodyne engine note of the 1.3-litre model and for that reason alone, it would be my pick. The fuel consumption is not to be sniffed at either, the 1.0-litre managing a combined total off 56.5 miles per gallon. Carbon dioxide emissions are pegged at a lowly 118g/km.The 1.3 or 1.5-litre models were offered with a four-speed automatic. Unless 90 per cent of your driving is in stop/start city traffic, we’d stick to the manual car. The automatic tends to hang onto gears in a manner that could well set your teeth on edge and doesn’t make for a very relaxing experience. Performance of the 1.3-litre manual model is respectable, getting to 60mph in 11 seconds and on to a top speed of 106mph, but this car isn’t about speed. It’s a little bit better acclimatised to open road driving than the three-cylinder variant and the fuel consumption of 48.7mpg and the emissions of 137g/km aren’t too far behind either.
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Buying a Daihatsu Sirion

This Daihatsu Sirion was also sold as the Toyota Passo in Japan and anything with a Toyota badge tends to be flawlessly reliable. The usual precautionary checks should be made never the less. Prospective buyers should pay particular attention to any scuffed wheels or parking knocks that the Sirion has picked up over the course of its likely urban car role.
Used Daihatsu Sirion for sale

Daihatsu Sirion Typical Pricing

The Sirion was never very expensive in the first place and prices on the used market are distinctly reasonable. £4,000 is the starting point for a 54-plater with the 1.0-litre engine and S trim. SE trim adds £300 or so and the 1.3-litre engine is another £300 extra model for model. An automatic gearbox was available with the 1.3-litre car and if you can track one of these Sirions down, it’ll command about £5,000 on a 54-plate in SE trim or £6,800 for a later 57-plate model.
Used Daihatsu Sirion for sale

Daihatsu Sirion Parts

(Estimated prices, based on a 2005 Sirion) A clutch assembly totals £130, whilst a complete exhaust system will see change from £180. A pair of front brake pads are just over £40, whilst a replacement headlamp is around £80.
Used Daihatsu Sirion for sale

Daihatsu Sirion Rated

Performance Performance 2.5 out of 5

Comfort

Handling

Economy

Styling

Equipment

Build

Depreciation Depreciation 3.5 out of 5

Insurance

Value

Daihatsu Sirion Review2005 To Date