Worst Car Ever Bought?

[sdk778]

Mine was a Saab 900i, 1996 on a P, within 10 days of owning it the air con compressor gave up shortly followed by the head gasket, the gearbox linkage fell off too.
Cracker that was.

[dansansome]

bought a 1991 pug 309GTI to replace a 1989 pug 309gti that got written off with very light damage. i got left with the wreck, so thought i could use it as a spares source for the new one.

luckily for me, the slight facelift between models also included a myriad of engine stuff. all of which went wrong after a week of owning it. never had the thing on the road for longer than a week at a time in the year i owned it. sold it for peanuts to a guy who dropped a 406 MI16 lump in it. (and it worked perfectly after that :zx11:

[bora(ing) nick]

Ford escort mk6/7, 1.3.

Absolute howler of a car. the heater matrix blew on it a week into ownership, so i had soiled, boiling water pouring into the footwell.

With it only being a 1.3, it was so under powered that when i fitted 195 ?? 15" alloys to it, and turned the wheel whilst still, the engine would stall.

God rid of that for my trusty old Nissan Sunny. Now that was a car.

[Col]

The Mrs got a 1999 Astra 2.0 Diesel.

The fuel pump went on that, unlike VAG everything upon everything is built into the pump. Only do-able by Vauxhall, the quote we had was £1500 plus labour which was another £1000. Not bad for a car worth £2000, we flogged it! Also durig owner ship of that car a wheel bolt snapped off in one of the rear hubs. Unlike most VAG and Fords etc where you can buy a new drive / bearing flange for maybe £20 to £30, yep, This thing had it all in one including ABS sensor bearings etc and cost £186 and was a complete **** to fit, the amount of dismantling to remove it was unreal.

Flogged it to a bloke out of the paper, you know "cars bought for cash", got £800 for it as a non runner which I thought was a cracking deal considering what needed to be done.

A hateful car to work on and buy bits for.



Interestingly I still rate Ford very highly for ease of maintenence compared even to the VAG stuff. Saying that I've not owned a modern one (Mrs currently has a KA of which the design is 10+ years old, the engine design is 40+ years old) so don't know if they are currently as tricky as everything seems to be.

And alos interstingly do any of you lot think manurfacturers are deliberatley making things more difficult to work on as a ploy to stop people messing with their own cars?

[Dudey Head]

And alos interstingly do any of you lot think manurfacturers are deliberatley making things more difficult to work on as a ploy to stop people messing with their own cars?

What a hateful, slanderous suggestion! They wouldn't makes us go to one of their dealerships & pay labour rates that are more like a solicitors rate & a huge mark up on parts. Perish the thought... ;)

[Dudey Head]

My first car was a Nova saloon. It was a hardy little thing, it got myself & four mates from the middle of Chehsire to the Reading festival & back with all our camping gear. But god the brakes were woeful. The said trip to Reading with that much weight on bored was terrifying! Everything always rattled & shook whether it was laden or not & you could actually hear fluids moving around it from inside!!
I can't slag it off though, fond memories of good times had! Four us went to Devon & back in it once as well!

[bonerpart1]

Hi My worst car was a mercedes A class 1999 1.6 avangarde, it was returned to the garage 22 times.
The day we went to pick it up with18 miles on the clock and was waiting to pull out of the garage for the first time when steam started to pour out of the bonnet with a damaged radiator
Every other day it was returned with loads of annoying problems UNTIL 30th june 2000 my wife returned the car to the garage with an terrible smell, she was waiting at the service desk to be served when someone come running in saying theres a car on fire call the fire brigade so my wife run to see what was happening and as the wind blew the smoke around she could see her car on fire, give the garage its dues they said we could choose any car to drive home to us until ours was replaced so my wife choose a 2 seater for her and the baby i could of cried:aargh4:

[VAG_SNR]

h reg escort 1.4 lx bought it for £1200 and spent about £1100 on it over the period of a year before i crashed it because of a wrongly fitted steering rack so all in all a £1200 car cost me £2300 mins lol

[StuPDi]

Vauxhall Cavalier 1.7TD LS *runs and hides in shame*

i had a rover 220 GTi turbo, beautiful car back in it's day. unfortunately i had a little incident involving a black-ice and a kerb that did £800 suspension damage. That and the check-strap breaking swinging the door the whole way round creasing the door, front wing and twisting the A-pillar, it had to go. So, time to grow up and have a nice "family car"

Having done a lot of searching, the chavalier seemed to fit the bill, but this one turned up, very clean, low mileage, good price etc, etc.

So, off i go to look at it, "sorry the guy says, it's at the valeters" (a term i later found out meant, it was being clocked)

the wife (now ex-wife) went to have a look, and decided that coz it was lower mileage and cheaper than everything else we'd looked at, it was the one :(

it was the most hideous blue imaginable, like Thomas the tank engine!!

the interior was blue, seats, carpet, dash board, even the feckin seatbelts were blue :puke:

well, i didn't like this car, and the more i looked at it, the more i didn't like it!!

there were an awful lot of drill holes in the boot floor, glovebox and centre console that suggested it had more than just a car phone installed!

the paintwork was shoddy, and had signs of a front end respray.
i didn't believe the mileage, but it came with an "independant check"

well, to cut a long story short,i believe the car was a taxi, i believe it was in a horrible accident, and i don't believe the car i bought was the actual one that belonged to the paperwork that came with it!!

after very short ownership, i decided to cut my loss and trade it back for a Rover GTi, the 216 5-door twin cam 1 :)

couldn't find one anywhere at a good price Vs. condition, so settled for a Mazda 323f GT.

was very startled to receive a letter from the department of trade and industry asking if i had just bought a vauxhall cavalier (and quoted my reg number) and did i doubt the mileage??

Couple of phone calls later, turned out the car had covered 120k more miles than was on the clock, because the guy i was on the phone talking to, was at the auction the car was sold at and had all the details recorded!!!

he asked where and when i purchased the car and when i told him, he informed me there wer 9 other offences they were dealing with from the same garage!! Dunno how many others were not found out!!

Stu

[RichardCranium]

A Nova that was a rebuilt write off, was a fairly bad move!!

The second one was an 02 Laguna. I didnt buy it, because it was company, but I still chose it!! My god, what a terrible car. When I people ask me why, my stock answer is 'I did 10500 miles in courtesy and hire cars in the 1st 18months'! Go figure.

2 turbo's
2 intercoolers
kept cutting out on hot days
igntion key reader failed (silly credit card ignition key thingy)

One of colleagues got one at a similar time. We could also play Laguna Breakdown Top Trumps it was that bad.

And the dealer network? Not good! Vowed never to buy a Renault again

[Dudey Head]

he asked where and when i purchased the car and when i told him, he informed me there wer 9 other offences they were dealing with from the same garage!! Dunno how many others were not found out!!

Stu

I hope they got nailed?

[paulthefox]

the worst car i have ever owned was ford corsair with a column change it was a rust bucket from day 1

the rust even eat its way threw the floor pan behind drivers side:D but that old banger was my first car and will always remember it because it took us to blackpool many times even though it cost a bloody fortune in repair bills

it went to the scrap yard in the sky:arms:

paul

[StuPDi]

I hope they got nailed?


absolutely!!!!

trouble for me was, the car in question i had aleady part-exed to a main dealer.
they gave me £4200 for it, but with it's mileage adjust, it was only worth £2900 and they couldn't sell it!!

the dealer either wanted me to cough up the difference, or they wouldn't do my warranty work til the DTI had resolved it!!

Guess it was resolved one-way-or-another (queue music :lol: ) coz my warranty paintwork was done, with a very nice courtesy car while i waited and i never heard another word :)




Whoever bought my last car (peugeot 406) will most definitely have the worst car they ever bought!!

good points (yes it's a peugeot)

large family saloon
comfortable
economical 2.0 diesel (52mpg av over 40k)
very well equipped
elec windows all round
8-way elec heated seats
climate control (digital)
cruise control
factory JBL sound system inc harman kardon speakers and amps with column mounted remote controls and 6-disc boot changer
rear sun blinds
speedline factory alloys(same company that make for Subaru Impreza)
courtesy and puddle lighting front and rear
blah blah blah etc etc
safe
euro ncap rated
5 proper 3pt seatbelts (none of this lap belt crap)
lotsa airbags (driver/passenger/sips/curtain)
not a bad looking car considering its heritage :lol:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c153/vicky6963/newfrontleds.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c153/vicky6963/hisnhersdirtycars.jpg

the bad points:aargh4:
124000 miles, (40k of those driven by me!!)
it's a peugeot!!
it's french!!
abs fault, lights came on after going round a left hand bend
after the above, the brake pedal sank to the floor feeling spongy
suspension damage (hit a roundabout in fog on nye at 630 in the morning)
110ps HDi although economical, not a match for the VAG 130pd engines
my ex other half's car was a Seat Ibiza FR, and being a member of seatcupra.net, they all took the p1$$ out of me!!!!!

here was the toy at the time
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c153/vicky6963/PA190025.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c153/vicky6963/25102006090.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c153/vicky6963/25102006087.jpg



Stu

[AndyE66]

Worst car was a Peugeot 206 GLX bought brand-new in 1999. It spent more time in the garage than every other car I've owned put together - not helped by the worst dealer I've ever known. At that time they came with a 1 year warranty.

Some of the faults were:

ABS sensors failing - three days in the garage before they could fix this - one to diagnose, one to fit new sensor only to find that they'd got the wrong one, another day to finally fit the right one.

Front shocks leaking - two days to fix this, plus one set of incorrect shock supplied to the garage.

Ignition barrel failing - off the road for a week awaiting a replacement.

Earthing problem causing all the electrics to reset, garage twice just reset the dash electronics and told me it was not a fault. Ultimately the car cut out completely and after 3 more days in the workshop the fault was finally resolved.

Various bits of interior trim just dropping off.

The final nail in its coffin was the £1000 bill to get it through its first MOT because the rear suspension had almost corroded away (in just 3 years).

Serves me right for buying non-German!

[Panzerdriver]

Worst car was a Vauxhall Calibra 16v, within 2000 miles knock sensor failed and failed and failed and failed never got fixed vauxhall clueless, complete respray bearing in mind this was a brand new car, new ecu to try and fix knock sensor, new catalytic converter, new front shock insert, new wiring harness to try and fix knock sensor, light switch surround replaced due to monkey mechanic with a screwdriver. :aargh4:

[STEWY L]

The Mrs got a 1999 Astra 2.0 Diesel.


And alos interstingly do any of you lot think manurfacturers are deliberatley making things more difficult to work on as a ploy to stop people messing with their own cars?
you have a point there.
the engines/electronics we can't argue with, they had to go that way to comply with emission controls,and to be honest,we can't complain with the
fuel consumption figures that came out of it, and indeed,the performance we get out of a pd 130.
but wheel bearings that were once just two tappered roller bearings and cups,which you could get anywhere,change in half an hour,without having to get a hub,why can't we still have them?
the answer is simply production costs.
push a bearing into a hub against a shoulder,bang it on a shaft,no adjustment needed. no one needs to be trained,or paid to assemble it,
and by the time it fails the owner will be faced with the cost of replacing a hub rather than a bearing.
if the rest of the car,as a whole, appeals to buyers,they will sell it.
most of the vag range do that. from around 99 to 2005/6, the build quality
was brilliant,unfortunately dipping somewhat these days.
earlier models were better equipped as standard,although you can now get so much more as "options",at a price.
i can't possibly complain about my 2001 bora 130 sport,other than the soft paint which seems to attract shopping trolleys,it does it all for me.
just wish that all the everyday bills like food etc. would leave me alone for a couple of months and the steinbauer p box would be a reality.
regards,
stewy.

[a5tra5]

Have had 2 crap cars, firts was an 86 Ford escort xr3i was ny first car. I think it was two cars as it had been thrashed smashed and welded up. The front was held together by the rust, it got nicked fortunately.
The other was an X plate Vauxhall Astra, ended up spending £500 quid 'cos vauxhall could'nt tell me exactly why the engine management light kept coming on !! Finally gave up and saw the light and got my first water cooled VW it was a Y plate Bora 1.6 Se nowt went wrong with that. Now have an 05 Golf GT TDi 140, loving it. :biglaugh:

[paul b]

Worst car... got to be one of 3 I have owned!

The first was reliable, but such a disappointment. It was a 1998 Mercedes C200 Estate Auto, it wasn't big enough to be the company car I wanted it to be for my own business. So I gave it to my wife to use to go back and forth from Gatley to Macclesfield each day, and to run around for my kids, they were younger then! The Merc was bought brand new from Portmans Mercedes, and it seemed well underpowered. I thought it was just going to be the usual running in period, but no... it never changed. It was just as underpowered when I sold it on 35k miles as it was the day I picked it up!

The second was an E reg BMW 520i saloon, I bought it for just 250 quid broken, to save money as I was strapped for cash at the time. It had trouble from day one. It constantly overheated, and was mixing water with the oil. I changed many engine parts, fitted a new head gasket and got the head skimmed, and it seemed to have done the trick. Then a month later my wife calls me with my son (10 years old at the time) telling me she has had to pull off the motorway near Macclesfield because it was overheating again. It was freezing cold... 4 days till Christmas! Snow was everywhere... and theres my wife and son sat there in a overheated shed of a BMW.
I got sick of it and put it up for sale, only 2 days before someone was due to come and view it... it developed a water leak, thus overheating again. I sold it as it was! The poor guy who bought it must have been devastated!

The third is a car I still own and is going tomorrow!!! :biglaugh:
It's a 2000 Vauxhall Astra Estate 1.6 Auto. I bought it in bad condition, the thing was 3 different shades of red, had a misfire on tickover, the brakes were dreadful as it hadn't moved a muscle in about 6 months. I painted it myself, replaced the brake discs and pads and replaced the flat-spotted tyre that was doing my head in. Then tryng to cure the misfire, I replaced the coilpack, the head gasket and a timing belt change and it still misfired. Then just to take the ****, on tickover (while misfiring) I had the oil pressure warning light illuminate. I sourced a new engine from a 1.6 manual, converted it to run from an automatic gearbox and fitted it, all myself. While replacing the engine (which had done 15k less than the original) I noticed the brake servo. It was knackered. I carried on to fit the new engine and it ran better, with no more oil pressure warning, but still the missfire. Then I replaced the brake servo. SORTED!

This Astra is going tomorrow, it's been traded in for a van. That says it all. But it is a VW Transporter T5... :D

Paul

[MalcQV]

I think it is a toss up between an 89 Renault 19 and an 88 Volvo 340. Nothing went wrong with any of them, they both did around 50k + in the year I owned them. They were just rubbish cars.

[solorider]

my worst car ever was my last car,a 2000 w reg citroen xsara vts,it went very well (167bhp) but would cut out when the engine was ticking over,sometimes it was ok,the revs hunted at times as well,fitted a new idle motor and no difference,i could not sell the piece of s**t even for £800,in the end my nephew was going to buy it off me as his car had broken down,a day later the xsara broke down,it broke down due to the instruments,all are showing a reading and none of the panel lights work,citroen wat £200 for a new cluster plus a minimum of £100 diognostics charge with no guaranties to fix the car,to fix the car it would cost more than the car was worth as it also needed a complete exhaust sysyem,new discs and pads and loads more.
equal to this was a 1987 fiat panda 750,i had it 2 days and it broke down,had the aa out and got it going,next day it broke down again and never went again,fitted a new dizzy cap,rotor,points,condensor and leads and could only get it to run if i turned the dizzy past its stop,there was no way to secure the dizzy and it only ran for a couple of seconds,the car was scrapped by the council

[MalcQV]

...the car was scrapped by the council

Funnily enough the two I mentioned were both scrapped. End Of Life vehicle collection :p

[audipersempre]

1992 Rover 820Si. Leaked gearbox oil, leaked engine oil, leaked coolant, electric window switch pack replaced three times. There was more but it's too painful to re live the experience :zx11:

Spent more time back at the dealer I bought it from than it did on the road for the 7 months I owned it.

[MalcQV]

Steve they got better I think. Though I never owned an 8 series I leased 4 and 6 series. Did about 50k a year so only kept them for about 6-7 months on average. I never had a single fault. I ran them between 1995-97.

[StuPDi]

i had 3 200's, 216GSi, 220GTi turbo and a 216GTi twin cam, never had a problem either.
My sister had a 92 827si, not really much bother apart from the fuel consumption, then later she had a 820 sli, again with no issues.

seems you got a duff one mate, they happen every now and again :(

Stu

[KQuattro]

Ford Orion 1.4 Biscayn

Light blue with white hub caps....the car was a dog.

[audipersempre]

Nah, I think a few people got lucky the 820 with the Montego block plus 16 valve head slapped on it was never really any good neither was the transmission.

827 yes and I had one for 3 years with no problems..............but that was a Honda engine as were some of the others in the smaller Rovers.

Smart people bought Rover's with Honda engines ;)

[paul b]

Nah, I think a few people got lucky the 820 with the Montego block plus 16 valve head slapped on it was never really any good neither was the transmission.

827 yes and I had one for 3 years with no problems..............but that was a Honda engine as were some of the others in the smaller Rovers.

Smart people bought Rover's with Honda engines ;)
Or they could have just bought a Honda... ;)

Paul

[StuPDi]

Ford Orion 1.4 Biscayn

Light blue with white hub caps....the car was a dog.


nice colour though :)

i had 3 orions, they were ok considering how little i paid for them!!

My mum worked for Ford when they were released in 1984 and we had 1 for 3 days before they were launched!! as we also did with the Sierra in 1982!!

Stu

[Combover]

Mine was my Citroen C3, which I bought brand new from the dealer in 2003. I was dead proud, being a new dad and having a nice new car etc.

Anyway, about 3 months in there was a problem in that the car was only working on 3 cylinders instead of 4, so lost all power.

Took it to citroen who 'fixed' it.

Well, safe to say they hadnt. By the end of this saga, the guy on the maintenance desk knew my reg just by looking at me.

Then it would just cut out without warning, engine management light, then cut out. Restart 3 times and it would clear the error.

I then caugh it on a post in a car park and put a crease the full height of it.

Then.......some silly old cow in a Volvo pulled out from a side road on a dual carriage way type road, right into my path and I hit her full pelt at 60mph and did 4 grands worth of damage.

And finally, to top it off.......some mofo nicked it!!!

I now drive a very old, but very reliable Golf!

[dandam]

Worst was an Orion 1.6i Ghia, nice enough car but never managed two weeks without something going wrong, lasted 4 months before being pushed (literally) through an auction.

Best in many ways is my A6, comfortable and economical, though the mk1 is far more fun.

Most surprising was a 406 pug, 2.0 LX petrol, had it for four and a half years, sold it with 173k miles on it and never let us down - went through headlight bulbs like nothing else I have had, at least four every year, engine had a bit of piston slap by the time we sold it, but all in all was worth every penny that we paid for it. Sold it onto a friend over two years ago and he's still driving around in it, still nothing goes wrong - is this a unique 406 I wonder ??? ;)

[hagis]

My 306 used to go through brake lights like nobody's business. It must be true what they say about the electrics being poor on French cars.

[MalcQV]

My 306 used to go through brake lights like nobody's business. It must be true what they say about the electrics being poor on French cars.

Think it has something to do with the Voltage regulator and/or rectifier on the alternator being of poor design (some bit on the back of the alternator anyway). Rovers and Vauxhalls I seem to remember were notorious for this in the mid-late 90's.

[Desertfish]

Worst car...? Sad to say but this must have been my N-Reg Golf MK3 Convertible... Gearbox broke less than a week after I bought it. Had a whole saga going on with the dealer I bought it from when tye wouldn't believe me when I told them it was caused by the clutch... In the mean time, the pedal box went, the electric roof isn't working anymore, the passanger side window is locked up, there is a rattle in back which no one seems to be able to diagnose, there is a weird tick in the dash and the electrics are effed... Ans I barely did 2000 miles with that car...

Best car I ever had so far was my Rover 420 TDi (With Honda engine). Bought it when it was 2 years old with 31K and did 150K with it myself in just over 3 years. The only time the car broke down was also a fatal one; diesel timing pump went and would have cost me £1800 to fix, so I got rid of it. But it was a joy to drive.

It's still no match for my current Passat. That's a much smoother drive, much quicker and a lot more aggressive... Can't call it my best car yet as I only had it for 3 months and barely done 3000 miles with it. But if it will last me as long as my Rover, it will be by far the best car I had. Fingers crossed... :D

[Desertfish]

...most of the vag range do that. from around 99 to 2005/6, the build quality was brilliant,unfortunately dipping somewhat these days. Earlier models were better equipped as standard,although you can now get so much more as "options",at a price.
stewy.

Yep, but some things should come as standard. Had 54-Reg MK5 Golf 1.9 TDi as a company car for about 6 months. Lovely thing to drive. Not I got a 1.9 TDi Passat. For cars like that, that have been built to be on the road, I personally think that radio controls on the steering wheel should come as standard... but they don't.

[Clinterous]

Fiat Punto purchased for the other half, still in service. It's a 100% chod beast.

[MalcQV]

Fiat Punto purchased for the other half, still in service. It's a 100% chod beast.

I got a Fiat Mondial, best car by such a margin :p

[Dudey Head]

It's a 100% chod beast.

:biglaugh:

[paul b]

I got a Fiat Mondial, best car by such a margin :p
Aye, a rather noisy, fast(er) Fiat. ;)

Paul

[Dudey Head]

Aye, a rather noisy, fast(er) Fiat. ;)

Paul

Don't all Italian cars fall apart quite easily? ;)

[paul b]

Don't all Italian cars fall apart quite easily? ;)
Well, I've had 5 Fiats in the past. 4 vans, 1x 1995 Fiat Fiorino, 2x 2000 Fiat Scudo's, and a 2002 Fiat Doblo. Plus the 1 car, a 1996 Fiat Punto 'Selecta'.

Apart from the Fiorino, they were all quite reasonable cars. I say apart from the Fiorino because it was rubbish, but very reliable and took many poundings when I passed it on to the engineer who worked for the company I owned. Including going through brake pads in 8k... I had to warn him about that...

The Punto was great, well compared to the black E reg BMW 520i (aka Cain Dingle car) I had before. The Punto was stolen (stealing a Fiat ? :confused:) and I never saw it again. It was probably stolen to order, because the 'Selecta' models were fitted with a very unreliable automatic gearbox that had a special design. A powder clutch.

Well having said that, I did buy the Punto broken :o. I paid £300, when the real value at the time was £1400. I bought it with a broken powder clutch, fitted a re-conditioned one for £500, and then received £1200 from the insurance company when it was stolen. So I didn't do too badly I suppose. :p

Alfa Romeos are probably far more unreliabe though ! ;)

Paul

[Dudey Head]

I was just being a cheeky chops winding Malc up.
Top Gear had a knackered Alfa Romeo think going on last week, highly amusing how they fall apart! I considered a GTV before I bought a coupe but a mate of mine knew a mechanic who worked at an Alfa garage & when he mentioned I was thinking about a GTV his response was simply "tell your mate that unless he's got a bottomless pit of money, not to bother!"
Needless to say, I didn't!

[paul b]

I was just being a cheeky chops winding Malc up.
Top Gear had a knackered Alfa Romeo think going on last week, highly amusing how they fall apart! I considered a GTV before I bought a coupe but a mate of mine knew a mechanic who worked at an Alfa garage & when he mentioned I was thinking about a GTV his response was simply "tell your mate that unless he's got a bottomless pit of money, not to bother!"
Needless to say, I didn't!
Was probably good advice ! :D I saw the Top Gear episode too. :biglaugh:

I've never owned an Alfa, the depreciation alone puts me off.

Mind you, I've been told many times I was lucky with my Fiats... :confused:

Paul

[MalcQV]

I was at the Top Gear episode :p well sort of.

The 1983 Fiat I have has been far more reliable than my Passat. She takes her time to start on occasion (electrics, the Itals ain't good with them).

It certainly sounds better, goes better, smells better, looks way better and would you believe has fewer rattles. Just a shame I can't afford to run a 3.0 V8 all the time :o

It does not like the British weather too much though. It does not leak like the Passat but the metal turns to dust in water :D

[a5tra5]

Here is a pic of the nail I got for my 1st car, i'm the Ug in the middle !!

[Smutts]

Ford escort Mk4 diesel. Thank the Lord it was a company car. Mostly it was just the most unpleasant thing to drive. But the steering was something else. South Devon has lots of these things called corners. It also has lots of things called big trees, and lots of massively steep hills, and bloody solid scenery. Also plenty of bizzarre camber changes. With 38 turns lock to lock and added randomness, I crossed Ford off my shopping list. Thankfully they have all rusted to dust now. Hatefull thing.:zx11:

[Dudey Head]

Ford escort Mk4 diesel. Thank the Lord it was a company car. Mostly it was just the most unpleasant thing to drive. But the steering was something else. South Devon has lots of these things called corners. It also has lots of things called big trees, and lots of massively steep hills, and bloody solid scenery. Also plenty of bizzarre camber changes. With 38 turns lock to lock and added randomness, I crossed Ford off my shopping list. Thankfully they have all rusted to dust now. Hatefull thing.:zx11:

At least it wasn't an Orion, it'd have been just as bad but uglier & lots of weight sticking out at the back! :puke:

[Jimbo_S3]

:(Embarressed to admit to it but a Daihatsu Fourtrack TDX 2.8L. My reasons at the time were clouded. The belt failed at 20k and cooked the engine, leaving 6 of us stranded on the m4 near Bath. The dealer put it back on the road and it was never the same. Should have listened to my Dad. I part ex'd it for a new 1.6 SE golf Mk IV. My mate worked in the dealership's van centre and said that when they had a proper look at the fourtrack they could see it was ******* and put it on the next transporter to the auctions. They gave me £12k for it and my mate recons that they easy lost £3k on it.

Sign the paperwork and run away!!!!!!!!!:D

[GarJE]

My current Mk5 2.0 TDI.

[paul b]

My current Mk5 2.0 TDI.
I would have thought that would have been a good car...

Safe to say you think not... :(

Paul

[BDT]

I considered a GTV before I bought a coupe but a mate of mine knew a mechanic who worked at an Alfa garage & when he mentioned I was thinking about a GTV his response was simply "tell your mate that unless he's got a bottomless pit of money, not to bother!"
Needless to say, I didn't!

I wish someone would have told me that :(

I bought a Giulia Super 1.3 in the late eighties from a car auction, but i rushed in and bought it thinking it was a GT Veloce or Sprint, but as i wasn't that clued up on them, and got it totally wrong :mad:

I walked in the door, saw the alfa badge, heard "going once for £260", and dived in and poached it for £285.

Paid the geezer in the doggy suit with the Irish accent, and drove home in a car that i could see the floor through the carpet!!!

When i stripped it at home, it was only rust holding it together.

I sold the engine and box to a bloke with a triumph dolomite for 200 quid and scrapped the rest for 30.........

My one and only alfa i ever owned........ :biglaugh:

[A3some]

Volvo 343 GL. Need I say more? OK I didn't have much money back then...;)

What was the saying? 'Street Credibility Zero.'

[lanciamug]

Not really a bad car but more a bad car company. I bought a 1989 Lancia Delta turbo, new for £9600. At 19000 miles the rear brakes seized, a common fault on Fiat group cars, it cost £500 to fix. Within a week of getting the car back, the turbo went. I could have had it fixed for £700 but if Fiat were to make a contribution, it would have to be done at a Fiat main dealer for£1500. The stripping down revealed the cause of the failure as carbonisation of the oil, not a manufacturing fault! So, no contribution! I persued my case as I had always been careful to cool the car before switching off. Turned out the wrong oil was used, should have been fully synthetic and wasn't. Not my problem I thought as all maintenance had been carried out by a main dealer. BUT the dealer had since left the Fiat network, so Fiat didn't want to know. Sold the car for £2000 the exact same amount I had paid to get it back on the road! ie 100% depreciation in 19000miles (2 years) Swore I would never by another Fiat. Now fancying a 500.

[paul b]

The 500s do look very cute don't they ?

Paul

[STEWY L]

Volvo 343 GL. Need I say more? OK I didn't have much money back then...;)

What was the saying? 'Street Credibility Zero.'
either one step up,or one step down from a mobility scooter!
no offence intended anywhere,
stewy.

[mark_88_turbo]

1972 Hillman Avenger. Top speed of 65mph, 0-60 in about a minute and corner like a wheel barrow. I had the car for 5 horrible years and never want to see another one.
Mark.
www.lotusespritturbo.com

[Neerazan]

Talbot Samba for £400

It was so bad that I had it for six months and I spent more time underneath it fixing it than in it. In the end I put sawdust in it to hide the various clunks and sold it for £50 more than I bought it for.

All-in-all, a terrible rust-bucket of something that could only loosely be termed a 'vehicle'

[bora23]

2004 Megane Dynamique dci 100, spent £2700 repairing it after turbo went, brakes seized, engine management went mad (windows lept opening, door kept unlocking when it was parked), ecu £800, doorhandle. Overall i paid £7,600 for it including repairs. After a legal battle renault paid me £2700 for the repairs. Never ever buy a renault again. I sold my bora v5 to buy that and i missed the bora terribly.

[MalcQV]

Volvo 343 GL. Need I say more? OK I didn't have much money back then...;)

What was the saying? 'Street Credibility Zero.'

I had one. It was a crap car but reliable and excellent for the 180 mile/day return trip to and from work. Cost me £800 and owed me nowt after I 360'd it on the M61 and wrote it off :p

[tim7900]

It has to be my Pug 205 gti 1600 that i purchased back in 1993. She was in gleaming white paintwork with wheels from a 1.9 gti.

I bought it from manchester off this dodgy looking bloke and decided to completely ignore the fact that it had a strange rusty patch by the sill near the rear wheel on both sides? it drove well so the money was exchanged...

a week or so later the exhaust went so it was taken to the nearest Smiley's (remember them?) they stripped down the centre exhaust and decided to tell me that there was some strange welding underneath??? the car was lowered off the ramp and my carpet was pulled up inside! All welding was aparent in there too!!! yes, my car was officially a cut-n-shut..

I continued to drive the car as i had no other means of transport, the clutch went the week after the exhaust, i found the dipstick was welded in, i had no key for the locking wheel nuts, someone kicked off both wing mirrors whilst in a council car park... it just wasnt meant to be... the guy in manchester mysteriously vanished and i sold the car as spares....

have to say while it worked well (for one week) it didnt half handle.... it was almost as good as my MG metro :o

[badtiguan]

Unfortunately my worst car ever happens to be my latest vehicle, a Tiguan Sport TDI 170PS which I took delivery of last week. Safety being a major issue. What a dog.

[paulthefox]

on a new car its hard to believe what safety issues are you taliking about i take it you have been to garage with it and complained big time

let us know how what happens:beerchug:

paul

[SEMKY]

Amazing that VW can produce something that bad....shame I rather liked the Tiguan too.


Worst motor I ever had....Astra SR. Bought it for 125 quid knowing that the big-end bearings were occasionally a little noisy, but otherwise the car was immaculate, with a long MoT. Was on my way home to do the big-ends when the crankshaft oil seal blew, dumped its oil on the M3, smoke, rattle death.:rolleyes:
Of course, the crank was badly scored after that and ended up buying a mot failure astravan with a similar engine....swapped them over and it never went properly after that...(funnily enough!) Was a student at the time...hence the bodge repair:o

So I suppose I couldn't really blame the car for all that...muppet.

[zollaf]

my worst car was a landrover that i built from scrap and stuck a v8 in with a holly carb on top. always falling to pieces and robbed me blind, the amount of petrol it could consume. 7 mpg on the way to work was not funny, but so much fun.

[SEMKY]

my worst car was a landrover that i built from scrap and stuck a v8 in with a holly carb on top. always falling to pieces and robbed me blind, the amount of petrol it could consume. 7 mpg on the way to work was not funny, but so much fun.


Pal of mine at college did the same thing...SWB Landy Pickup with the V8...he was commuting about 40 miles a day in that thing.....never once did he come out to play....now with 7mpg I can understand where his money was going:biglaugh:

[brybrybry]

Worst car I ever had was a S reg Fiat Punto 75 SX, days after buying it the ECU blew up, not long after that the head gaskets blew, suspension failure on every corner over the course of 6 months, clutch failed, exhaust had a habit of rusting and falling off, electrics in it were a nightmare with windows going up an down on their own or just not at all, rear windscreen wiper and the heated window wouldnt work which was great in the winter :)

Eventually got rid of it, sold it to a family member and advised that there was a problem with the rear off side wheel, eventually the rear wheel collapsed on him on the motorway, luckily he was in lane 1 and got over to the hard shoulder, the bolt through the suspension arm had snapped in the middle and had slowly been working its way out.

[MalcQV]

Eventually got rid of it, sold it to a family member and advised that there was a problem with the rear off side wheel, eventually the rear wheel collapsed on him on the motorway, luckily he was in lane 1 and got over to the hard shoulder, the bolt through the suspension arm had snapped in the middle and had slowly been working its way out.

You obviously did not like this family member :p

[brybrybry]

You obviously did not like this family member :p

Hehe my dad sold it to my cousin on my behalf so I blame him :biglaugh:. Every time it went over 60 the whole car would vibrate violently so its not like it was a small issue.

I think the car should have been scrapped a long time ago, my cousin has since sold it (probably the wisest move he ever made) and I recently saw it bombing it round the Trafford Centre car parks with a bad boy exhaust and tinted windows, at least it has made some chav happy in the end :biglaugh: untill it breaks again that is.

[Motorway]

The worst car i have had was a 1978 Talbot Horizon 1300cc it was a one lady owner car with 23k on the clock. it made more noise than a tractor. i kept it six months and got rid.

just a quick note about V8 Land Rovers i have had three over the years and driving reasonably carefull i regular got 27-28mpg.

however the Range Rover i have at present as a weekend toy has a six cylendar Merc sprinter engine fitted, and i get about 33-37mpg at motorway speeds, a real surprise on a trip to the lakes a couple of weeks ago.

[swivelonit]

Peugeot 307 SW Hdi, on the day it was collected the emmisions warning came up on the dash, £550 later for a FAP filter and fluid for it! nice dealer. Next problem was ABS, light came on and then flashed and then STOP in big letters on the dash and when the brakes were applied it felt like when you brake in the snow the pedal moves and makes a racket, I was told it was a wheel sensor, needed to be bought from a dealer, then read a forum and just cleaned them moved them closer to the hub with a washer and they are fine now, so Dealer 1-1 Me, finally driving along and I heard a bang, the car lurched but continued albeit with a squeak, got home to find the front suspension coil spring had snapped! Piece of s!it car! Springs replaced and car was carefully disposed of to a lovely guy who thought Peugeot are the best car ever, hope he liked this bag of bolts!
now have an A4 and it is good.

[tonyerc]

Worst car I ever had was my first car. A 1979 T reg Morris Marina. What a piece of crap ! Here's some of the things I can remember . Gear stick came of in my hand; rear view mirror fell off; heaviest steering ever; rust every where ; gear stick rattled like hell when it didn't fall out; one front brake failed; wipers failed; radio faced the passenger; boot leaked; noisy ; slow; handbrake would ever stay working for long....... There are people to consider this to be classic !!! :(

[Col]

Top work for dragging this thread back to life.

Here is the time data....



It is 1860 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date
Or 5 years, 1 month, 4 days excluding the end date


1860 days can be converted to one of these units:
160,704,000 seconds
2,678,400 minutes
44,640 hours
1860 days
265 weeks (rounded down)



Just sold it and defended it to the hilt whilst I owned it but the Ford Focus diesel. Rust being the reason.

[Leglessracing]

I bought a vectra, ended up driving 25 mins and the gearbox crapped itself all over the road!

[bora23]

Peugeot 307 SW Hdi, on the day it was collected the emmisions warning came up on the dash, £550 later for a FAP filter and fluid for it! nice dealer. Next problem was ABS, light came on and then flashed and then STOP in big letters on the dash and when the brakes were applied it felt like when you brake in the snow the pedal moves and makes a racket, I was told it was a wheel sensor, needed to be bought from a dealer, then read a forum and just cleaned them moved them closer to the hub with a washer and they are fine now, so Dealer 1-1 Me, finally driving along and I heard a bang, the car lurched but continued albeit with a squeak, got home to find the front suspension coil spring had snapped! Piece of s!it car! Springs replaced and car was carefully disposed of to a lovely guy who thought Peugeot are the best car ever, hope he liked this bag of bolts!
now have an A4 and it is good.

My wife has had a 307 SW HDI from new in 2004, we still have it now 10 years on covered 144,000 and apart from a clutch/flywheel it's been trouble free!




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[green A8]

Austin Montego Estate! Words (polite ones) can't describe this horor story of automotive junk! It was a company pool car that didn't very often leave the company car park. But every time it did venture out onto the road it came back with the help of a tow truck! I used it four times and it broke down four times. Once the drive shaft sheared at the inner joint on one of Oxfords busiest roundabouts. All of the other breakdowns were electrical and not so dramatic. In the end the alternator got over excited and the whole car cremated itself, this happened at the hapless Austin Rover main agent's workshops while they were trying to get the headlights working! The car died just a couple of days after it's first birthday with less than 6,000 miles on the clock.

Second prize for the worst ever car had to be a Talbot Avenger estate 1.6 I think? It failed to start on it's first day with the company. Turned out there was a wasps nest inside the air filter. I've never seen an RAC man move so fast in my life, poor chap. The wasps won the race and showed their displeasure in the way wasps do. That car got through two engines and at least one gearbox in it's two years with us. It also seemed to suffer from lots of fuel leaks, though sadly it never suffered the same demise as the Montego above. I seem to remember it was written off but can't remember what caused the happy event.

Oh and then there were the Allegros and Marinas and Simca's. But I don't want to frighten you.