I knew it would fail, but a failure is still a bit disappointing even when predicted! Quite rightly, the tester took one look at the sills and warmed up his refusal pen. He didn’t bother chalking the problem areas. They’re obvious enough – it’s the bits that aren’t the same colour as his chalk!

This is the Welsh for FAIL!

I put it in for a test knowing it would fail. I’ve already spoken to someone about repairing the sills, but what’s the point in having a load of welding done if there are other major failure points? There was one other significant failure – emissions. It needs a new catalytic converter and lambda sensor. I knew there was a reason I don’t own modern cars!

I’m waiting to price up the parts, but I’m sure they won’t be cheap, even if they are actually available. I can get pretty much any part I need for my 2CV, but the Sirion lacks that same comprehensive support. It could well be the end of the line for the cheery Sirion. It has a few weeks of MOT left so I need to decide on a course of action.

1) Discover money I didn’t know I had and get the Sirion fixed. My estimated expenditure is £300, but that’s a very rough guess! Fixing rot ALWAYS unearths yet more rot.

2) Flog it as a going concern. Might get £100 for it if I’m lucky! Scrap value isn’t very high. It is still road legal though.

3) Park it up, use it as a spares car, buy another Sirion. Not very appealing to be honest.

What I find most sad is that this car has done less than 76,000 miles. That’s barely run in! Seems ridiculous that a car with such mileage should be fit for the shredder. If only Daihatsu had done a better job of preventing them from rotting. It’s a great little car! But sadly one on life support.