5 Things I dislike about my Copen

I have owned Sachihiro the Copen for about 8 months now and I have learnt quite a bit more about him.
Here are 5 things I don’t like so much about him.
This is gonna be difficult…

1. The roof can become a squeaky rattly boi

No convertible is without its faults and the Copen is no exception. The roof is prone to rattling and squeaking and it can get very annoying after a while.
Luckily it is a pretty easy fix that just involves tightening up some nuts and bolts and applying some rubber lubricant on the seals.

2. They are prone to rust

Copens haven’t got much to protect them against rusting. Luckily Sachihiro isn’t so bad with most of it being surface rust, but most Copens that I’ve seen in person aren’t so lucky…
Good news is it shouldn’t cost too much to fix since they are so tiny!

3. Some cheap feeling bits and bobs

The arm rest. Not arm rests, just the one arm rest is probably the cheapest feeling part of the interior.
It is made of a hard, cheap, textured plastic that kinda flexes and can bend. It doesn’t really feel that good to be honest.
But then again a really cheap thing is to be expected from a car that cost £13,332 from new in 2004.

….
hmmm what else don’t I like about him…

tbh I can’t really think of much more…

Oh I know what I dislike!

4. That damn oil filter!

The oil filter is a huge pain to get to, especially if you are using a non Daihatsu branded oil filter (which 99% of UK Copens are using)

The reason why it is a pain to get to is because you must access it from underneath the car.
But there is a problem. The engine mount is in the way!
It is possible to get the tool in there if you slide it in at an angle then rotate it once its in there but there is another problem.

The Daihatsu filter is designed short enough so it can just fit through the gap in the engine mount.
But, there are no Daihatsu dealers in the UK anymore so like 99% of Copens in the UK have aftermarket ones. They work fine but most of the aftermarket ones are slightly taller than the Daihatsu one.

Just tall enough that they wont fit through the gap…
So the only other option is to do as follows…

1. Remove grille.
2. Remove wheel arch liners
3. Disconnect fog light/ indicator assembly
4. Remove bumper.
5. Remove air box.
6. Remove pipe that connects turbo to intercooler

And once all of that is done you can finally reach the filter from the front.
And then you have to put everything back together again…
It is a bit of a pain in the bum.
Next time I’d just import a bunch of genuine Daihatsu filters in bulk from Japan.

5. There isn't much choice regarding tyres in the UK

This isn’t so much the Copens fault as I have discovered that some places have plenty of choices for tyres in this size. In the UK there are only like 2 choices.

1. Nankang NS2
2. Some really trashy budget tyre (Sachihiro currently wears some on the front and they are terrible!)

I’m kinda surprised at how little choice there is for tyres for this car.
It’s not really the fault of Sachihiro but rather the market as few cars in England use such small tyres, but in Japan this size is quite common as they have lots of kei cars using similar sized tyres. Now I just wonder if and how I can import tyres from Japan…

So those are 5 things I don’t like so much about Sachihiro. It was pretty hard thinking of what to put on this list as I absolutely adore him!
To know the 5 things I most love about him why not read my list of 5 things I love about my Copen

Thanks for reading! ^-^