# Worst Car You Have Owned or Driven????



## BondandBigM

Mine was a convertible but what was I thinking about


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## mrteatime

BondandBigM said:


> Mine was a convertible but what was I thinking about


 that is awesome......what you talking abbbahhhhht :huh:


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## BondandBigM

Could have been worse, anybody remember the film Manta Manta. Fortunately I resisted the temptation to do it to the couple of GTE's I had


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## thunderbolt

Worst was one of these, in dark brown with dysentery beige interior. Seats with as much padding as a cheap jiffy bag. Sold it after 6 months. :laugh:


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## Andy Tims

My worst by miles - A Lada Riva.


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## Paul Jones

My worst had to be the Fiat Brava I bought NEW! Stupid. Put together from a bag of bits and if you breathed on it the paint scratched, it was also more unreliable than my first car which was a 15 year old Morris Marina bought for £200 at college (the coupe version).

No pictures - this thread has brought back enough bad memories

Paul


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## William_Wilson

Andy Tims said:


> My worst by miles - A Lada Riva.


 You must have been popular with the ladies. :lol: In Canada they started out as the 2105, then they were given the name Signet. They were top drawer without a doubt. A friend of mine was the mechanic at the Lada dealer in Whitby Ontario for awhile. I dropped in one day when he was doing a predelivery inspection and I reached under the hood and pulled out a piece of rusty sandpaper stuck between the inner and outer fender panels. It came with factory rust. :lol: In the early 90's one of the factory engineers moved to Canada and went to work for Lada Canada and later worked for the dealer in Richmond Hill. He told me when they do the quality control inspections on new vehicles, any parts that fail are removed and packed as spares for export.  I asked him one day why the marker light housings kept melting on my Niva. He told me in his thick Russian accent "Because they're made from seagull ****!".

Later,

William


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## Fray Bentos

A Talbot Horizon......V reg......too embarassed even for a pic, still it was my first car, and did I feel good cruising around in that in the late 80s


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## chris l

There was a Lada... and a Fiat 127.

A Ford Orion. A VW 411E...

No, it's too awful to think about; I can't go on...


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## MarkF

Got a Vectra when they came out in 1996, I was mesmerised by the integrated wing mirrors. It was a crap car, shoddily built, 1.7TD with a too high first gear, pulling out of any junction was like Russian roulette. My first and last diesel.


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## mrteatime

funnily enough, mine was a diesel vectra.......it was a 1998 1.7 diesel in british racing green (i kid you not).......the first time i took it to work the fuggin thing broke down on the M25 coming back from enfield on a friday morning at 8am....not even had the car 18 hours.....it was a quick fix, got it back in the afternoon. Then the following monday, me and the 710 were going from romford to chigwell and was just going up hog hill, when bang it blew up......all the oil was sucked out, and pistons shot thru......

had major grief with the fella that sold me the car, as it was fooked.....and he was a prick.....but, after a little gentle persuasion, he finally came round to my way of thinking....i got my money back plus a little bit more for my trouble.....


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## rhodes

Smart For 2!

I didn't strictly own the car, it was a company car. I went for my 2nd interview, was offered the job, with a company car to be available after 6 months. On leaving the building I found my car (Rover 220 Coupe) had been stolen neverto be seen again! My new employer was very keen to show good will and offered me a 'solution on your start day'

The solution was the Smart.

Slow, horrible ride, awful sequential gearbox and the worst thing of all....All other Smart drivers flash their lights and wave at you! The only comfort I could take from the situation was that I hadn'e actually wasted any of my OWN money on the thing, unlike some others.


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## PhilM

Had a few lemons, but the worst had to be an Alfa 156, the front d/s window leaked whenever it rained, the main dashboard failed on me twice in just over 6 months.... and finally the skirts on the side fell off the first time it rained :cry2:


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## Mutley

:cry2: A 51 plate Renault Laguna, lots of electrical stuff that could (and did) go wrong & the fact that most of the problems had to be fixed by a Renault garage, I remember my old man telling me (the day after I bought it) that his Renault was always going wrong / expensive to fix & he would never have another one. Thanks Dad


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## pg tips

I've been quite lucky really, all my old bangers have been better than expected for the money I spent on them, and if they did go wrong they were normally cheap fixes, even the datsun Cherry i bought for Â£50, failed it's mot where the rear suspesion mounts were welded (How the r/n/s suspension never left the car I'll never know). I migged it up got a ticket and flogged it for Â£100!

I've had some right old bangers in my time but none of them ever broke down to an extent I couldn't limp them home and fix them.

I have seen and heard of loads of lemons over the years though, met a guy with a saab 9-3 last week, alternator packed up (not uncommon). He told me how this one had proved to be very reliable but the one before had spent 13 of it's 1st 16 weeks in the dealers, they eventually gave up and gave him a new car!


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## bry1975

Red Maestro 1.3 ABSOLUTE bag of CRAP!

Speedo needle would flap in the wind use to have to guess your mph h34r:


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## Robert

Worst car? Mmm

Bronze Mini 1000 - before I passed my test and it never moved until the scrappie collected it

Orange Marina 1800TC with beige vinyl roof - saving grace was I paid £500 and sold it for £525

MG Maestro - awful but it was only temporary after my car was stolen. Hated the way it spoke to me and told my 'low fuel' etc


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## BondandBigM

Robert said:


> MG Maestro - awful but it was only temporary after my car was stolen. Hated the way it spoke to me and told my 'low fuel' etc


 I borrowed one of those once and it kept saying "low Oil Pressure" to me when I was going round roundabouts :laugh:


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## Stuart Davies

Peugeot 106 GTI

Pre-ordered and waited 6-months for it to arrive when first released...don't get me wrong it was fast and fun to drive but it spent sooooooo many day's in the garage with soooooooo many faults it had to go in the end...


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## Roger

Ford Escort Cayman.

Returned to the Dealer 7 times in the first week (3 times in one day)...sometimes the doors would not lock...other times wouldnt unlock etc etc

Renault Meganne...real bag of crap, but I suppose, quite average for a french car.


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## Parabola

I've owned three cars two hand me downs and one I bought...

First off a 1.1l 1990 Ford Fiesta with 130,000 miles... Died at 132,000 miles.

Then a 1.4l 1995 Fiat Tipo with 78,000 miles... Died at 91,000 miles (Italian crap)

Finally a 1.8l 1995 Vauxhall Cavalier with 92,000 miles... died at around 105,000 miles paid 300 quid for that...

I consider myself 'in to' cars but I haven't owned anything since 2004

:biggrin:


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## bry1975

Sounds like you've owned some SHEDS chap! :laugh:

I know the Maestro 78,000miles and it was ruff as a rough badgers blah blah!

Get yaself a Merc diesel van 1/2million can be done on the first engine!



Parabola said:


> I've owned three cars two hand me downs and one I bought...
> 
> First off a 1.1l 1990 Ford Fiesta with 130,000 miles... Died at 132,000 miles.
> 
> Then a 1.4l 1995 Fiat Tipo with 78,000 miles... Died at 91,000 miles (Italian crap)
> 
> Finally a 1.8l 1995 Vauxhall Cavalier with 92,000 miles... died at around 105,000 miles paid 300 quid for that...
> 
> I consider myself 'in to' cars but I haven't owned anything since 2004


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## Parabola

bry1975 said:


> Sounds like you've owned some SHEDS chap!
> 
> I know the Maestro 78,000miles and it was ruff as a rough badgers blah blah!
> 
> Get yaself a Merc diesel van 1/2million can be done on the first engine!


 Yeah I'll probably get a Merc diesel if and when I make my next purchase


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## Pokie

My worst car was a Bugatti Veyron.

Overweight gas guzzling behmoth.


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## bry1975

:huh: a wha :biggrin: you a millionaire by any chance?



Pokie said:


> My worst car was a Bugatti Veyron.
> 
> Overweight gas guzzling behmoth.


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## Kidsteruk

A V reg Fiat Punto which needed a new water pump, cylinder head gasket and many hundred pounds of servicing.

When I traded it in the dealer cut his trade in value once he saw its history!

Shocking pile of oops:


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## ollyhock

potz said:


> 1976 Renault 5. Hand-me-down from my Mum and I learned to drive in it. Never looked at a French car since.


if youd have gotten in the gt turbo youd have loved it. ive still got mine 60k on the clock ,one owner and its mint

never had a spanner to it, dont beleive all the bad press


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## pg tips

good luck when it needs a new clutch cable! :laugh:


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## ollyhock

pg tips said:


> good luck when it needs a new clutch cable!


 its all old school stuff, its no harder than anything about now . and its not like the new cars that have had all the fun taken out of them, its an awsome car to drive for sheer fun and thrills


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## pg tips

once saw one that a young lad had changed a wheel after a puncture about 15 minutes earlier. Never tightened the nuts properly, he lost the O/s/f at around 95 whilst approaching the old double bends on the A1 NB at the old Brampton hut. There was literally nothing left of the car, how he ever got out I'll never know, not a scratch on him!

I decided to call them "Gord"onlyknows (instead of Gordini) after that


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## JonF

Worst one I've owned was a VW Passat Tdi. In some ways it was OK, decent pull from the engine, and comfy enough. But it was really unreliable, with loads of things going wrong that I've never had a problem with on any other car. This was compounded by the service from the only VW dealership in the area being absolutely abysmal - they've gone bust now.

Worst car I've ever _driven_ was an Austin Maestro 1.3 when I worked in the car trade. Slow, bouncy ride, noisy, ugly and unbelievably unreliable. I was driving one past the Barbican once and the gear lever just fell off. I just got out and left it. Never did find out what had happened to it.


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## sonyman

this i think was my worst first car at 17 cost £200 in 1983 used it for discos and stuff mine was blue and dull.


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## Boxbrownie

Pokie said:


> My worst car was a Bugatti Veyron.
> 
> Overweight gas guzzling behmoth.


Oh really.....I find the fuel economy fine....but the lumbar support is lacking.


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## hlovett

Zastava YUGO.....I looked like Noddy!!

It could not pull the skin off a rice pudding!!


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## Andy Tims

William_Wilson said:


> You must have been popular with the ladies.


 I was actually. In fact back then, I was a complete fanny magnet despite the car. :biggrin:

From a reliability point my worst was an early Lotus Elise - great to drive when it was running well but a complete PITA most of the time. Whilst I have had plenty of new company cars, this is the only car I've ever bought brand new with my own money. I had to pay full list & wait 9 months. The car had so many faults it was a complete nighmare - most were niggling minor things, but it actually broke down 5 times in 10 months. The 5th & final time was after getting home from a trip to the factory, arranged after I'd demanded a new car from Lotus themselves. They'd ask for the factory engineers to give my car a thorough going over. I got home after a very enjoyable day having had a personal factory tour, driven round (and been driven round) the test track in both a "test bed" upgraded Elise & a V8 Esprit Turbo, been given loads of goodies and generally sent away feeling like a really valued customer. I parked the car outside the house as we had someone parked in the drive & when I went to move it later the clutch had gone. The air was pretty blue next morning when I phoned Lotus. Within a few days they had promised me a replacement car.

I had to wait about 2 months, but my 2nd Elise was fantastic. Lots of the design & early manufacturing issues had by then been sorted & it was completely reliable. Trouble was I was never confident my luck would last & I sold it after only a year. I replaced it with something even sillier as my only car - a Caterham 7, but that's another storey.................


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## JonW

worst car.... 1990 BMW 318i... Povo spec (no roof or alloys... WTF was I thinking! sigh), slow and duller than dishwater... I should never have bought it (had a Jetta GTi 16v previously)... traded it for an almost new Corrado... bliss...


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## Filterlab

BMW 740i V8.

Pile of absolutely embarrassing, badly made, under powered, over-priced, unreliable dog sh*t. A complete disgrace to BMW, Germany and German engineering.

Nowadays I only drive Volvos and I've owned four of them - all superb, especially my current one.


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## Filterlab

bry1975 said:


> you a millionaire by any chance?


 A dreamer perhaps. A car that rare will have been purchased as an investment rather than a 'car' to be driven - which is a sodding shame.


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## Griff

Hillman Avenger estate.

It was a rust bucket and the engine sounded like a wounded cement mixer.


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## JTW

Mine was my first car - an oldish Chrysler 180, a car built fir the European market, never was very popular. looked a bit like an overgrown Avenger.

It's worst point was a brake failure on day 2 , ran into the back of another car when a valve leaked brake fluid all over the road. Very annoying, the insurance proposal form was in my pocket at the time. it was a bit worrying but the broker was a nice chap and looked after me.

A couple of months later it slid into a kerb on ice and the rust all fell apart.

I'm still a bit annoyed with my dad for selling me that car!

Ian


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## pauluspaolo

My worst car was probably my first car - namely a pageant blue Morris Marina. Even when new it must have been a complete dog ... I hated it ! JFR947S Where are you now (hopeful it's been turned into a fridge by now!)?? I don't have a picture of it & can't be bothered looking one up on the internet.

My friend & I used to own a Chris Hollier Mosquito & this must rank as the most uncomfortable & unreliable car I've ever had - the Marina was just awful this was awful yet strangely addictive! It used to break down a lot - in fact it was rare for us to take it out on a drive without it breaking down. We never went too far in it - partly because of the discomfort (you were battered by both the noise & the wind) & partly because of the fear of breaking down miles away from home. The things that went wrong were usually pretty simple things &, more often than not, our own fault for taking it out before we'd fully fettled it!! It was as mad as a box of badgers &, rather stupidly, great fun to drive (once you'd got the hang of the awful gear change) - as I recall it was a fantastic way of clearing the mind after a big night out :blink: My friend & I piled loads of cash into it - new engine, radiator, expansion tank, hoses, brakes, ball joints etc etc etc etc &, unsurprisingly, we ended up selling it for a huge loss

I wonder where it is now - I suspect that it might well have been broken for parts. Ahh well, great fun while it lasted


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## oddgitt

I've only owned two cars, but due to certain, ahem, occurences, I've had more than my fair share of courtesy cars. And the worst was a Rover 45. Absolutely terrible drive.


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## Guest

my worse car was a opel manta, looked good until you got close and saw the rust, the 2.0ltr engine was pants-the gear box even worse!


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## young_bairn

Only had 2 cars.

My first was a 1995 Citreon ZX Elation.

My second and current car is an 02 plate Ford Focus ST170.

Can't fault either cars but obviously the ZX was the worse of the 2. Was a great runner though and made weekly round trips of 500 miles and never a problem. In fact my sister still runs about in it these days.


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## Charlie_Croker

Lancia Beta VolumeX Coupe.

2.0 litre supercharged with Italian electrics, torque steering only, (just aim it and touch throttle) and a propensity to rust to nothing if you even used the windscreen washers, (which luckily stopped working). Clarkson used to say the old Focus RS could put you in a ditch due to the Quaife LSD, well I have owned both and the RS is a pussycat.

The Electrics deserve particular mention, Turn on the radio and the aerial would raise electrically, then the passenger side window would open by 2 inches? Occasionally the Cigarette lighter would also switch on the Hazards.

Steering was amazing, providing real accuracy and great roadholding, until you actually released the handbrake and started moving, whereupon the slightest brush of the accelerator would reveal the car's suicidal tendencies and it would immediately look for nearest large object to wrap itself around.

This isn't mine, but one plucked from the net so you can recognise pure evil should you see one.


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## powelly

I've owned many rusty old heaps, most of them with a Triumph badge, fortunatley they were either free or dirt cheap, I expected nothing but trouble from them, the most surprisingly unreliable car I had though was a Mk3 Golf GTi, it lunched 3 gearboxes in the space of 6 months, to be fair it wasn't the cars fault, more the idiot I entrusted to do the gearbox rebuild.


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## Roger

Strangest/funniest experice during my 30 years with BT was this.....

We were having morning coffee at the depot canteen when the Workshop Foreman walked in, splitting his sides with laughter................

sez he....."I know what you all think of BL vans, but if anyone wants a laugh, come and take a look"

He was doing a delivery-acceptance check of a brand-new, off the transporter Morris Marina Van.

We all trooped into the MT workshop and there was this Marina Van on the hoist with both front wheels removed.

So what? was the general reaction..........look closely sez the Foreman, and, there it was.......

A disc brake on one side and a drum on the other.

BL quality control at its best


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## dazaa

pauluspaolo said:


> My worst car was probably my first car - namely a pageant blue Morris Marina. Even when new it must have been a complete dog ... I hated it ! JFR947S Where are you now (hopefull it's been turned into a fridge by now!)?? I don't have a picture of it & can't be bothered looking one up on the internet.
> 
> My friend & I used to own a Chris Hollier Mosquito & this must rank as the most uncomfortable & unreliable car I've ever had - the Marina was just awful this was awful yet strangely addictive! It used to break down a lot - in fact it was rare for us to take it out on a drive without it breaking down. We never went too far in it - partly because of the discomfort (you were battered by both the noise & the wind) & partly because of the fear of breaking down miles away from home. The things that went wrong were usually pretty simple things &, more often than not, our own fault for taking it out before we'd fully fettled it!! It was as mad as a box of badgers &, rather stupidly, great fun to drive (once you'd got the hang of the awful gearchange) - as I recall it was a fantastic way of clearing the mind after a big night out :blink: My friend & I piled loads of cash into it - new engine, radiator, expansion tank, hoses, brakes, ball joints etc etc etc etc &, unsurprisingly, we ended up selling it for a huge loss :cry2:
> 
> I wonder where it is now - I suspect that it might well have been broken for parts  Ahh well, great fun while it lasted


Funnilly enough your old morris marina was last used in 1990.....probably a pile of rust now...


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## catch21

Austin 1300! No pics, went to the scrapyard some years ago. It wouldnt go most of the time and when it did it wouldnt stop again. Dreadful thing. Rusty, worn out after 50,000 miles knackered CVs, UJs, etc etc.


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## rednotdead

Fiat Tipo 1.4. Bought new in 1990, sold in 1991. Biggest pile of ***** ever, had a very worrying tendency to cut out at any speed and not start again  Spent more time in the workshop than on the road....... Will never ever ever ever ever ever ever consider a Fiat again after that although the new 500 tempted me til the wife slapped me in the chops and bought me to my senses.


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## Who. Me?

Charlie_Croker said:


> The Electrics deserve particular mention, Turn on the radio and the aerial would raise electrically, then the passenger side window would open by 2 inches? Occasionally the Cigarette lighter would also switch on the Hazards.


 I think the French have picked up the challenge from the Italians for the worst electrics. My old Megane (54 plate) had some bizarre electrical 'quirks'.

Made the mistake of trying to turn the wipers off, and indicate at the same time as turning the steering wheel. Main beams came on, wouldn't go off until I pulled over and turned the engine off and on again. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Wasn't my worst car though. I had a Morris Ital 1.7HLS when I was a student. Pile of cack, but it was cheap.

It had rusted so bad I had to cut up the lid of an old washing machine and rivet it in to the front wings.

Still, I'm not sure it deserved its fate...

...maybe they turned it back into a washing machine after.


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## Filterlab

Roger said:


> A disc brake on one side and a drum on the other.
> 
> BL quality control at its best


Unbelievable! And they wonder why the British motor industry collapsed. :lol:


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## frogspawn

Worst car - Renault 5 Gordini - if I remember correctly lasted less than a week before going back to the dealer and never being seen again, broke down on average 4 times a day and was just ****.


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## TomWazza

I think it's got to be my first car, it didn't take the corners that great...

(Didn't stop me from buying another one tho

Tom.


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## RussellB

Talbot Samba

Worst car ever

Its the same as the Pug 104 and some Citroen thing too


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## seikology

fiat panda


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## Defender

1992 Ford Escort 1.4LX 5 door.

My first Ford and not a good introduction

After the '89 Astra it replaced, it was something of a shock just how bad a car could be. The first day of production they had to stop the production line to retro fit modifications

I remember reading that when Ford did a face lift/upgrade of it a couple of years later there were over 1100 detail changes, but the man from Ford claimed there was nothing wrong with the old one

It did nothing well, it was slow, rough, uncomfortable with really heavy steering and dead brakes, but the only time it let me down was with a puncture that was hardly it's fault

After 3 and a bit years it went and was replaced with a '94 Cavalier 1.8 LS, sheer luxury!

Best regards,

Defender.


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## handlehall

Best was my first MX5 'Gleneagles' worst was Citroen C3 renter in Spain Flimsy,gutless


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## BondandBigM

There was a guy along from my office built a convertible one of these from a shell, Mohair hood and all the running gear as per the hard top Turbo. Sounds childish but I so wanted it, I made him several offers well above the what it was worth and he wouldn't sell me it. That being said he did spend a lot of money putting it together. He used to say he would never part with it no matter how much I offered.


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## Javaman365

Worst:

Peugeot 205 1.1 Look, in white. it was so high up off the ground it was unreal.

Also, prone to leaking badly....

Best:

A gently modified VW Passat 1.9TDI. Died when i hit a lamp post and sheared off the the front wing and wheel


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## mattbeef

Best car was a Lambo Murcielago in the ASBO green colour

Worst was Vitara Jeep that we hired in Cyprus


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## pauluspaolo

This Midas Bronze is the best car I've ever owned/driven - 1275cc's of fun, fun, fun, it went like stink & handled brilliantly  Downsides? Well it wasn't the most practical, or comfortable, of cars .... neither of which stopped me from keeping it for 9 years as my only car 










The Morris Marina is the worst car I've ever owned/driven (though a Reliant Robin I drove round the car park at work comes a very close second) - this one looks quite good (I think) in matte black but it isn't my car, mine was pageant blue with a brown velour interior :crybaby: , handling was non-existant as was performance after 60mph (which was about as fast as you were ever likely to want to go in it). It was my first car & was hideous in the extreme. I part exchanged it for an "X" reg Toyota Celica which was an entirley nicer experience in every way, shape & form ....... until I crashed it


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## Parabola

Best was a Ford Puma 1.7... Wors twas a 1.4 Fiat Tipo


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## Griff

Worst was a Hillman Avenger estate. A complete rust ridden bucket of sh1te

Best was a Volvo 2.3i 740 GLE estate with full electrics and leather that went like stink on the motorway and had astonishing acceleration in 2nd gear


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## rednotdead

Parabola said:


> Wors twas a 1.4 Fiat Tipo


+1 I had one of those in the early 90's. Biggest pile of poo I've ever owned. Had a nasty habit of cutting out at any moment, not good on the German autobahn at 90+ leptons 

Most fun I've had driving a car was a smart cabrio - 700cc's, short but wide with big rubber = go-kart.


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## Chukas

Worst was my first car - a citroen saxo VTR, My BMW is a close second though it is just sh**e in rain and snow.

Best i have driven is my Dad's Audi S6 - An absolute beast but extremley smooth and fast,lucky he likes nice cars as i've driven a few good ones


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## Griff

..........Liked the Saxo's a lot


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## Chukas

Griff,it was my boy racer days

Had full body kit,rock hard suspension as it was that close to the ground.

The birds didn't mind it though :biggrin:


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## PaulBoy

Got to drive a lot of nice cars when I was in the 'old bill' - Worst was an invalid carriage which I had to drive to the nick when the driver was arrested for +ve breath test! - Best was a Ford Escort RS Turbo which had been 'tweaked' by a specialist rally firm - Incredibly quick (about 90 in 2nd ) - Strangley though the 10 mile trip to the nick took about 1/2 an hour

Paul


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## johnbrigade

Worst - toss up between Fiat Uno 45S and a Mitsubishi Carisma

Best - probably the new Scirocco


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## frogspawn

Worst - a yaris hire car in france - don't think the gear stick was attached to the box.


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## Boxbrownie

Yes yes, but more importantly how is the Dino coming along, I almost bought one of those back in the early eighties when they were a total pool of piss to collectors, it was up for around £200 :crybaby: like a pratt I bought a Lotus Elan DHC BV Sprint instead, well actually not so prattish as the Elan was easily restored at home, the Dino would have been a different matter!

Still one of my all time favourite cars though, so under appreciated....and just look at those lines


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## frogspawn

Boxbrownie said:


> Yes yes, but more importantely how is the Dino coming along, I almost bought one of those back in the early eighties when they were a total pool of piss to collectors, it was up for around Â£200 :crybaby: like a pratt I bought a Lotus Elan DHC BV Sprint instead, well actually not so prattish as the Elan was easily restored at home, the Dino would have been a different matter!
> 
> Still one of my all time favourite cars though, so under appreciated....and just look at those lines :drool:


Engine fully rebuilt, should be back with me tomorrow -its in for a service after its running in trip (Honfleur and back)

Bit of bodywork to tidy up and Bobs your aunt.

Hope to take it to Dino day at Gaydon on Sunday.


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## sparkyhx

I can't say I've had a really bad car - I suppose its the 1.3 Marina I had for 4 years, but even that had its plus points

No heater, steering that required two people to move when parked, I used to have to hit the starter motor with a hammer after long journeys, the boot leaked like a sieve the Vinyl roof had all but peeled off - but it was a hoot to drive cos of the lack of grip - sideways round roundabouts before any of the drifting malarky came along, I used to practice clutchless gearchanges, I learnt to double my clutch in it and it just ran and ran and ran no matter what abuse I heaped on it. It cost me £400 and I ran it for 4 years and serviced it once a year


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## Boxbrownie

frogspawn said:


> Engine fully rebuilt, should be back with me tomorrow -its in for a service after its running in trip (Honfleur and back)
> 
> Bit of bodywork to tidy up and Bobs your aunt.
> 
> Hope to take it to Dino day at Gaydon on Sunday.


 Now your just rubbing it in, one of my favourite cars taken to one of my favourite places in France


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## Mutley

Worst

Volvo 340DL


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## JonW

Worst... I hired an Opel Belmont once in Portugal, it was new... Not only was it an awful ugly car but the rear brakes would lock on as the handbrake was badly adjusted... I drove it to Lisbon for the day from the Algarve, it was not my best road trip!


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## Stuart Davies

Renault Megane 1.6 Coupe (gutless, crap engine, gear box and seats - yuck!)


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## Boxbrownie

Loads of them....but maybe the Indian made Maruti I took to Millbrook a few years ago....what a POS!


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## Arbs

Worst car driven - Hyundai Accent


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## Julian Latham

Worst - toss up between a Mk1 Hillman Imp with pneumatic throttle ! - Could be a really nippy car when it chose - which wasn't often :wallbash: - and a Peugeot 106 diesel.

Julian (L)


----------



## socrates

Worst - a MK 2 Triumph Spitfire which I had lusted after and scrimped for, for ages. As fast as a not-very-fast thing, it could beat most vehicles at the lights, provided these vehicles were buses or taxis, but even they would catch up with before the next lights. Reliable as Scottish weather and so uncomfortable that after any journey of 50 miles or more you were numb from the waist down. Taking the hood down numbed the back of your head after three miles in even the warmest days. The spitfire was collected by an oncoming Granada on the wrong side of a country road. Granada 1, Spifire nil.


----------



## bry1975

Biggest pile of crap I've driven was a Red Maestro, I use to drive it like a TANK straight down the middle of the ROAD! B)

The whole vehicle was DREADFUL, The speedometer needle would flap in the wind as it had not been critically damped!

Nippiest was a BMW Mini cooper S!

WORST lorry would have to be a Mitsubishi CANTER absolute @H1T*


----------



## StevenJJ

Hyundai Accent - this particular generation. I understand the new stuff is up there but this was terrible


----------



## tixntox

Morris Marina.


----------



## brgkster

the one that i disliked was a austin a40, a heart break for the electric petrol pump, it had a set of points, with a mind of their own.


----------



## dobra

Now own up!!

The late David Vine (him with the glasses) launched the Austin Metro for a Camberley garage, and we were invited. Very impressed with it, and even had a test drive. We had a Triumph 1500 at the time. Our finances wouldn't stretch to a new car at the time, so I kept it in my to-do file. Eventually, bought a nearly new one in red and cream, and became quite a local bighead.

Drove to the Black Forest and to Frankfurt a M for a holiday, and there were a lot of Germans fascinated by the car. Performed without a fault. Now comes the bad bits. Incurable brake judder, then at 40k, the engine seized, and a local chap rebuilt it for £400. Basically, the concept was good, road holding and comfort good but build quality at BL levels!!!

What's your worst car?

Mike


----------



## Guest

top of the range granada scorpio, stunning car, but the electronics went wrong on what seemed like a daily basis..everything from ecu to abs sensors, 1 month it cost me over £1000 in parts, that was the final straw


----------



## Redmonds

Not a car, but as a biker, it was my first one, a Piaggio Zip Scooter (50cc) plodded along at 25 MPH, I was just a moving target on any A road artytime: Wouldn't ever start, kickstart didn't work, wouldn't tick over!

Local dealer told me to scrap it, to repair the CVT would have cost more than I bought it for


----------



## BondandBigM

Where to start

:laugh: :laugh:

But possibly the worst was an old ex gasboard Viva van that I bought for a knock about, it did everything except go, left me stranded all over the place even the AA couldn't get it going one night.

And motorbikes, I bought one of the first LC Yamaha's that came into a local dealer, couldn't wait to get my hands on one, see above I pushed it more often than I rode it.

:biggrin:


----------



## fastmongrel

Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5. It was at the same time a brilliant car and a crap car. When it all worked the flat 4 engine had tons of smooth power and the car would corner on rails whilst looking awesomely pretty in a true Italian way.

Unfortunately it only worked about 1 day in 4 and suffered really bad Tin worm in fact if it rained there would be a blue tinge to the puddle underneath the car as the paint washed off. The electrics were a joke and the car would cut out and all the electrics would go out if you hit a bump flat out.


----------



## Guest

fastmongrel said:


> Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5. It was at the same time a brilliant car and a crap car. When it all worked the flat 4 engine had tons of smooth power and the car would corner on rails whilst looking awesomely pretty in a true Italian way.
> 
> Unfortunately it only worked about 1 day in 4 and suffered really bad Tin worm in fact if it rained there would be a blue tinge to the puddle underneath the car as the paint washed off. The electrics were a joke and the car would cut out and all the electrics would go out if you hit a bump flat out.


i forgot about that one, forever replacing cam belts and cylinder heads but as you say when it worked it was superb


----------



## PC-Magician

Not had a bad one.

Japanese all the way. :biggrin:


----------



## Stan

Volvo 345, rotted like a pear, incurable pinking, rubbish handling.

Brakes weren't bad though. :biggrin:


----------



## BondandBigM

fastmongrel said:


> Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5. It was at the same time a brilliant car and a crap car. When it all worked the flat 4 engine had tons of smooth power and the car would corner on rails whilst looking awesomely pretty in a true Italian way.
> 
> Unfortunately it only worked about 1 day in 4 and suffered really bad Tin worm in fact if it rained there would be a blue tinge to the puddle underneath the car as the paint washed off. The electrics were a joke and the car would cut out and all the electrics would go out if you hit a bump flat out.


An Alfa was a one of my contenders that I thought about, an old 70's GTV, but even though it had all of the issues you describe and some on the occasional day when it just went it was a joy to behold hence I couldn't justify putting it down as the worst that I owned.


----------



## Gpts

fastmongrel said:


> Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5. It was at the same time a brilliant car and a crap car. When it all worked the flat 4 engine had tons of smooth power and the car would corner on rails whilst looking awesomely pretty in a true Italian way.
> 
> Unfortunately it only worked about 1 day in 4 and suffered really bad Tin worm in fact if it rained there would be a blue tinge to the puddle underneath the car as the paint washed off. The electrics were a joke and the car would cut out and all the electrics would go out if you hit a bump flat out.


Had one of them in non metallic blue with orange seats? Ran perfect ( with some wd40 in the rain) for a few years with no servicing until it said hello to a tree and bust it's guts.


----------



## DJH584

Fiat Strada. Went like a rocket but you try stopping the bloody thing!!!!


----------



## Gpts

Austin Princess. Say no more.


----------



## harryblakes7

Wow, my dad had an Austin 1800....... every year we changed the clutch on it!! :laugh:


----------



## BondandBigM

Gpts said:


> Austin Princess. Say no more.


Maybe but back in the day when you think about what was on offer they did look good


----------



## harryblakes7

My uncle had a far superior car...........an Austin Ambassador!!!

It was great till he hit the back of a Cortina one day and took his headlights out, i had to rebuild it and straighten out the front bumper..........


----------



## Gpts

BondandBigM said:


> Gpts said:
> 
> 
> 
> Austin Princess. Say no more.
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe but back in the day when you think about what was on offer they did look good
Click to expand...

Only lasted a couple of weeks and blew the piston rings. Bought it cheap in the trade and got what I paid for. There was some ugly stuff around then, but also lovely things like the Lancia HPE.


----------



## mexico75

Fiat Bravo HGT, I loved the car it handled great and went like **** off a shovel. The problem was it only handled great and went like **** off a shovel for about 6 months in every twelve. After I paid for a second £1200 fuel injector in 3 months, and being told that once one goes they all go soon after I sold it, as the cost of replacing the fuel injectors would be more than I paid for the car.

There's a reason that despite the last ones only being produced 10 years ago it's a rare day you see one on the road.


----------



## BondandBigM

Gpts said:


> Only lasted a couple of weeks and blew the piston rings. Bought it cheap in the trade and got what I paid for. There was some ugly stuff around then, but also lovely things like the Lancia HPE.


 My mate had a supercharged one, a bit of the "in the eye of the beholder" but granted compared to what was around at the time there was nothing wrong with a bit of Italian exotica










A lot of Italian stuff getting a bad rep but I passed my driving test in a Fiat 128 and at that time as far as I was concerned it was the best thing since sliced bread.


----------



## lewjamben

A Vauxhall Calibra. It looked good, but that was about it. It was off the road more than it was on it!

Pictured next to the far far far superior car that replaced it! (Excuse the poor quality photo).


----------



## dobra

Oh - tales of woe!

I had an Austin 1800 company car and later in a different company, an Austin Princess. The latter was very comfortable over long distances. Both reliable, although build quality was krap!

Mike


----------



## martinzx

Never had a bad car, had some lemons that cost me ££££ in repairs Alpha GTV, Nissan Z, etc, but I love cars as much as watches....

Cheers Martin 

But when they were good they were real good!!


----------



## greasemonk

after a lifetime in the motor trade i have bought/sold/interfered with many of the vehicles already mentioned and agree mostly with the comments about them but my candidate for the worst vehicle must be anything with the rover "K" series engine.the running joke in the trade was,"dont leave it out in the sun,the head gasket will go",seriously i used to maintain a fleet of driving school metro's and not one would go though its service life without having the head gasket done at least 3 times...greasemonk..


----------



## scottswatches

anything french


----------



## Who. Me?

A '54 plate Renault Megane 1.6 (the 'shakin that ass' type).

The rattling trim drove me mad - it was like driving inside a kid's plastic toy box - but the VVT engine was the final nail in its coffin. It would stick in the advanced cam position after a fast run, so when you tried to pull away at traffic lights etc, it would stall because the exhaust and inlet valves would still be overlapping. In the three years that I owned it, Renault had the top end off and replaced the cam pulley at least four times.

I couldn't wait to get rid of that car. I had more confidence in some of the rubbish I drove as a student.


----------



## Timez Own

Renault 5, paper thin body and bounced like a pogo stick


----------



## dobra

Surprised nobody has had a Marina!


----------



## fastmongrel

> after a lifetime in the motor trade i have bought/sold/interfered with many of the vehicles already mentioned and agree mostly with the comments about them but my candidate for the worst vehicle must be anything with the rover "K" series engine.the running joke in the trade was,"dont leave it out in the sun,the head gasket will go",seriously i used to maintain a fleet of driving school metro's and not one would go though its service life without having the head gasket done at least 3 times...greasemonk..


Used to see a lot of them myself got so I could do a gasket change with a cuppa in one hand and doing the bolts with the other :biggrin: the main problem was backflushing everything to try and get the mayonaisse out.

Its been solved with a steel head gasket and we dont see them anymore but I have been told it was a fundamental problem with the engine design the bolt through head bolts allowed the block to move slightly if the engine was revved hard whilst still cold this plus badly made wet liners meant they did steam engine impressions quite easily. Could have been a fantastic engine for Rover as when they were on song they were great little engines.



> Surprised nobody has had a Marina!


They were duller than a wet weekend in October but they were comfy, dirt cheap and actually were quite reliable apart from the bodywork rusting. I drove a 1.7 for a while with the O series overhead cam engine and it never let me down apart from the battery used to go flat if it was cold.


----------



## Guest

dobra said:


> Surprised nobody has had a Marina!


nobody willing to admit it :biggrin:


----------



## hughlle

worst car I've ever owned is controversial because it was one of my favourites. 03 skoda fabia 1.2L petrol. It was a great car to tear around the countryside in, however I despised it because anything that could go wrong did go wrong, and every MOT was almost guaranteed to be £300+ and that became completely unfeasible to keep running. In the end even though it only had 60k on the clock I just sold it for scrap for £50


----------



## Nigelp

Oh I've jut remembered I had one of these with a 2ltr V6 makes the old British Leyland stuff from the 70's seem good. It was about as reliable as a British summer and less fun. Looked ok if a bit geriatric was about the best compliment I could give it


----------



## BondandBigM

Never been much interested in Jap stuff although I did have an old 80's Supra but whilst reasonably reliable in common with most cars of that age it was a complete rust bucket.

Another one that springs to mind that was a dog and left me stranded all over the place was a P100 pickup, how they ever managed to sell any I'll never know, it was a hateful thing. The only bonus was that it was from work and free.


----------



## jmm1

The worse one that I ever had was a Montego with the added extra of a sun room. The only problem is that is sealed down with bathroom sealant to stop it from leaking. Those were the days.


----------



## Dr.f

Definitely my Fiat 126,absolutely awful.


----------



## Nigelp

I've just read the title again if its worst car of all time that is a difficult one but at a guess having no experience of owning one this?










Isn't it why we stopped getting Lancia in the UK? I remember a neighbour buying one new when I lived in Nelson Lancashire and after 12 months the first quarter of the bonnet had gone like this chap had nipped it


----------



## BondandBigM

People pay good money for that look these days

:laugh: :laugh:


----------



## Always"watching"

Has to be the silver Astra Mk2 estate car that Kristina was given by her father in lieu of all the driving about she did for him after her mother died.

The car was fine to start with and we were very pleased to get it, especially as we were in the antiques game at the time. However, it wasn't long before the paint started to shed for some inexplicable reason, and with Vauxhall clearly unable to shed any light or money on the matter, the paint all came off in the end, and we were left with just a tatty primer-surfaced vehicle. I will never forget taking the car into the back garden and desperately attempting to recreate as much of the paint surface as we could with cans of spray car paint. In the end, we gave up, only to discover that the fault lay with the priming process at the factory.


----------



## Who. Me?

> Surprised nobody has had a Marina!


I had an Ital. Ugly as f**k,but even that was more reliable than the Megane


----------



## mel

I was down on my luck Guv', out of work, no job, then got a job - - but needed a car 'cos the job was unsocial hours and 60 miles away.

The only thing I could afford out of the savings was an -------

*FSO Polski Fiat*

in Blue with a white and grey gofaster stripe and a sunroof - - well it was a top of the range model :toot:

Nothing was ever quite right with that car, but nothing ever went wrong. The seats were'nt right, they were bloody bum numbing three minutes after you sat down, the gears were somewhere, I'm not sure if I ever found them all ! The electrics were fascinating, when you selected left, the RH indicator came on on the dash, but was ok on the car.

Easy fix, swap the wires behind the dash - - that made the dash ok, but the car went opposite then. The heater control (fan) turned on the interior light, but you turned off the light, the heater kept running till the next time you turned on the heater - - and so on :bash:

The sunroof was about the only thing that was good, it tilted, turned, even lifted right out if you wanted - - brill! Three months till I got enough together to sell the thing (for £30 more than I paid for it) and buy a LADA 1500 - - times were still hard and I had bairns to feed

Cue violins and tissues :whistling:


----------



## mcb2007

Every car that I've had under 30k , :watch: that'll be them all then.

a VW golf that when you stopped at a red light so did it and never wanted to restart effin thing got really embarrassing .oh and a sunroof that let the sun in and also the rain,fun when you stopped at a red light in the rain.

had an MG maestro with a pond in the boot .


----------



## bridgeman

Fiat Uno Turbo. Was very quick and good top speed but had some kind of fault with the engine management electrics box.

Because it was intermittent the supplying garage could not initially track the reason it wouldn't start or cut out,these electrically box of tricks were pretty new then ,when a new box arrived from Italy (eventually) it cured the problem but confidence had gone and expectant wife found driving position difficult.


----------



## William_Wilson

Always said:


> Has to be the silver Astra Mk2 estate car that Kristina was given by her father in lieu of all the driving about she did for him after her mother died.
> 
> The car was fine to start with and we were very pleased to get it, especially as we were in the antiques game at the time. However, it wasn't long before the paint started to shed for some inexplicable reason, and with Vauxhall clearly unable to shed any light or money on the matter, the paint all came off in the end, and we were left with just a tatty primer-surfaced vehicle. I will never forget taking the car into the back garden and desperately attempting to recreate as much of the paint surface as we could with cans of spray car paint. In the end, we gave up, only to discover that the fault lay with the priming process at the factory.


 There are three reasons for paint failure with an automobile, improper body prep, improper/defective primer or improper/defective paint. Manufacturers and dealers are notorious for blaming the customer and pretending it's a big mystery.









Later,
William


----------



## jmm1

BondandBigM said:


> People pay good money for that look these days
> 
> :laugh: :laugh:


Would love to see the end product. I bet it looks pretty good.


----------



## Haggis

Dacia Sandero Stepway, total crap, I had it for 6 weeks and traded it back in. Arnold Clark were terrible to deal with. The Dacia range is absolute *****, lift up the back seat and see foam, no cloth just foam. Electrics fail, rust is a major issue with the Duster, you do the maths. No wonder so many Romanians leave Romania if this is the best car they can make.

Ashamed to admit the above, but my mind was on my Dad at the time, just realised he wasn't going to make it. Bought this the same weekend.


----------



## mel

I can remember A C (as a person), there *was* a real person with kinda'scruffy "garage(s)" in Glasgow, around the Kelvinbridge areas of the city. Then of course was entirely second user (being polite, might have been seventh user) cars, no, never bought one - - :whistling:


----------



## trackrat

For me it would be a toss up between a Austin allegro and a Triumph TR7.

The allegro used to go through alternators on average every nine months, this was a brand new an d after having elentropic ignition fitted the or lasted bit longer.

The TR7 again brand new was a disaster of the 10 months we owned it it was being rectified for numerous faults.

The pop headlights would d ice up in the winter, so would burn the motors out.

The butterfly valves on the dual carbs would jam open, so the car just kept on accelerating, and it leaked like a sieve in heavy rain.


----------



## Ryan P

PC-Magician said:


> Not had a bad one.
> 
> Japanese all the way. :biggrin:


Not including Mazda.

Had a new RX-8 that went in 20 times in 21 months for recalls/updates/warranty stuff. At the same time also had a Tribute that was just as bad, leaky sunroof, 3rd gear selector probs & engine cutting out at anytime it felt like it, no servo for steering or brakes is not funny in the outside lane of the M6.

Never again


----------



## PC-Magician

Ryan P said:


> Not including Mazda.
> 
> Had a new RX-8 that went in 20 times in 21 months for recalls/updates/warranty stuff. At the same time also had a Tribute that was just as bad, leaky sunroof, 3rd gear selector probs & engine cutting out at anytime it felt like it, no servo for steering or brakes is not funny in the outside lane of the M6.
> 
> Never again


 They did indeed have problems. Avoid


----------



## marley

A Peugeot..

load of crap! I cant even remember what model it was.......it was in the 80s, it was pretty old then, so I imagine it was born in the 70s?!

It was unbelievalbly rubbish. I spent more time kicking it or hitting in! (in frustrated desperation! a la john cleese!) than actually driving the damn thing.

To this day, I would NEVER EVER! buy a French car.....................Maybe they are better these days? No way in gods green earth! would I have ANY!! French car now!

Ah OK rant over........I do feel much better though!

104?? "Think" it was something like that? Boxy square looking load of ***** in white it was!


----------



## DJH584

> To this day, I would NEVER EVER! buy a French car...........


And I understand what you are saying. Electrics are a pain. I bought a Citroen C5 2002 HDI estate car. Every time I indicated left or right, the mainbeam headlights would come on.
Could I get that fixed - no way without a huge bill. I needed a new caliper on the rear nearside - the bill £500 - the calipers also incorporate the rear suspension units.

I got rid of it and traded it in for a Mondeo. Parts are less expensive and the motor doesn't let me down.

David

And why is my post still in italic despite the fact I have used the appropriate code to switch it off?


----------



## Davey P

Had this bad boy a few years ago:










Absolutely stunning to drive, and looked fantastic. Can anyone guess what happened? Yep, with just over 50k miles on the clock, the engine went belly up (main bearing failure) 

To be honest, it was such a great car while it was working, I could almost forgive it for all the money I'd spent :laugh:


----------



## Alas

Decided after owning Scoobs for years to downsize lierally to a Mini. First one I had was a Cooper, nice, no problems but no guts. So bought a Cooper S Checkmate with supercharger and every extra possible for a bit of fun as I only do a couple of thousand miles per year. In the first 8 months it cost me over £3 grand. New clutch, exhaust, brakes, throttle body, replace tyres with runflats etc. still enjoy it though, so much I'm trying to find a JCW model.


----------



## ETCHY

Austin Metro 1.3HLS (X reg)

I carried spare cans of oil wherever I went & when I started it up, it was enveloped in blue smoke.

Final straw was when smoke started coming from the glovebox but oddly the car wasn't on fire !

God know why I bought it, but I was young & stupid :bash:


----------



## KO_81

It wasn't my car but we had a mk3 Ford Fiesta 1.1 as a third car once. Slow, rattly, just all round a complete dog.

Looked something like this.......


----------



## Littlelegs

When I started working I was skint and could only afford a skoda estelle in mushy pea green. It was a px a dealer wanted rid of. 1.1litre petrol, dog slow and used to snap gear linkages for fun. This was cleverly pre-empted by skoda who had a plate in the transmission tunnel which allowed you to clamp some mole grips on the gear linkage and get 2, sometimes 3 gears. Got home several times using that trick.

The starter used to stick on a regular basis but again was accessible from a hatch in the floor behind the rear seats and a good crack with a 2lb lump hammer usually sorted that...-)

The locks used to freeze on any frosty night but would crack open if hot water was poured on the door skin. The seats were basic to say the least and interior comforts nonexistent. Strangely I got to quite like it. It finally died due to rot in the sills.

My mate who worked at skoda got me another in white for £100 with a 12mth mot and tax! I blew the side of the engine out of that taking it beyond its limit when late for work. Fortunately I'd kept the engine out of the green one and we just swapped it over on his yard with a rope tied to it draped over my shoulders and the car on ramps and him jacking the engine and gearbox.

crap cars but did the job...-)


----------



## dobra

Anyone going to own up to having a Lada? Remember a sales director who at the annual sales targets review with the sales force, took the BMW off the poorest performer for one month, and gave him a Lada. Much to the mirth and mick taking that went on from customers...

MIke


----------



## handlehall

dobra said:


> Anyone going to own up to having a Lada?


Not a Lada but my mum had a Moskvitch van or whatever they called it.

my dad thought it would be a good idea for when she was taking me back to boarding school!

seem to remember it came with a full tool kit in a roll and had a radiator blind for those - 50 degree winters we had in Bolton :biggrin:

I think it did about 77 mph tops


----------



## Stan

Littlelegs said:


> When I started working I was skint and could only afford a skoda estelle in mushy pea green. It was a px a dealer wanted rid of. 1.1litre petrol, dog slow and used to snap gear linkages for fun. This was cleverly pre-empted by skoda who had a plate in the transmission tunnel which allowed you to clamp some mole grips on the gear linkage and get 2, sometimes 3 gears. Got home several times using that trick.
> 
> The starter used to stick on a regular basis but again was accessible from a hatch in the floor behind the rear seats and a good crack with a 2lb lump hammer usually sorted that...-)
> 
> The locks used to freeze on any frosty night but would crack open if hot water was poured on the door skin. The seats were basic to say the least and interior comforts nonexistent. Strangely I got to quite like it. It finally died due to rot in the sills.
> 
> My mate who worked at skoda got me another in white for £100 with a 12mth mot and tax! I blew the side of the engine out of that taking it beyond its limit when late for work. Fortunately I'd kept the engine out of the green one and we just swapped it over on his yard with a rope tied to it draped over my shoulders and the car on ramps and him jacking the engine and gearbox.
> 
> crap cars but did the job...-)


I had a friend who bought an Estelle 120 something new from a main dealer. He covered about 500 miles a week in it (visiting his future wife at weekends).

It never broke down in the over 100, 000 miles he had it whilst he worked with me. The main reason, I suspect, was that he had it serviced at the specified intervals by the MD.

Not a brilliant car by Western standards but his worked okay and he was happy with it, he didn't treat it like a cheap throw away and it rewarded him for looking after it. :yes:


----------



## BondandBigM

dobra said:


> Anyone going to own up to having a Lada? Remember a sales director who at the annual sales targets review with the sales force, took the BMW off the poorest performer for one month, and gave him a Lada. Much to the mirth and mick taking that went on from customers...
> 
> MIke


Yep, my old man had two and I had one, to be fair mechanically whilst a bit agricultural we never had to much problem with them but all sorts of other issues. All three rotted away to early deaths.


----------



## DJH584

> Anyone going to own up to having a Lada?


Yep. Bought one brand new in 1990. A Riva 1300 with 5 speed box. Needless to say performance was a bit lame until it was discovered that there was a restrictor valve on the carb. Once that was removed it started motoring and went right of the clock at the top end. Traded it in after a few years for 1987 Merc 190 2 litre carburettor version. Best economical car I ever had - 64 mpg on a run using 4 star petrol.


----------



## vinn

"japs all the way" thats right mate, cars and cameras --- even out did the germans i dont know about their watches,but the early sako took apart was extreamly well made


----------



## autochrono

Vauxhall Astra GTE, 1986 model. The doom started when I collected the car brand new from the dealer on August the 1st. It had a problem with the hatch catching on the bodywork, I pointed this out to the employee handing the car over to me, he looked irritated and said in an offhand way, "you'll have to book it in with the body shop" !!! I now realise that I should have refused to take delivery there and then.

Consequently it had driveline vibration which took months to sort out and I was never given an actual reason for it. Intermittent cold start failure. The handling was terrible at high speed. Initially I tried to drive it as hard as the car it replaced, an Alfasud 1.5 Ti Green Clover Leaf, and it tried to kill me with highly throttle sensitive oversteer at high speed. It had bad vibration from the front discs when braking from high speed, never fully resolved

Very uncomfortable drivers seat, noisy, nasty gearbox, etc, etc.

The only thing it never suffered from was the failure of the electronic instrument display, which apparently was very troublesome.

The dealer was one of the worst I've ever experienced and as a result I vowed never to own another Vauxhall, and never have.


----------



## richy176

My first car was a mid 1950's Ford poplar.

Would love to tell you all about the incredible air conditioning, super efficient heating, fantastic sound quality from the radio, how quickly the heated rear window cleared any misting and the easy to use cruise controls BUT - it didn't have any of these features. Not even sure if they could have been optional extras at that time.

I have a feeling that it may have had auto pilot because the drink/drive rules were very different back then and there were times when I remember leaving a party but no idea of the bit between that and waking up in my bed.


----------



## artistmike

My worst was a Peugeot Coupe, it rusted so fast that the power to weight ratio improved every time I took it out, as it got lighter as bits kept falling off.... :biggrin:


----------



## Steve72

Any Fiat. I'm told it stands for " Fix it again tomorrow ". From experience I'd agree


----------



## Lou61

Not a car, but a bike (it's only got two more wheels!). Moto Guzzi V50. This is a 500cc bike, but it spent more time as a 250 because one of the pots would often stop playing. Handled like a wardrobe and rusted like a bu66er. I swear every time I rode it something fell off.

Sounded great tho...


----------



## dobra

I forgot, I had an Austin Princess 2 litre with every thing extra. Company car, and was a dreadful driver, used engine oil (bit like pouring water on to sand), but was comfortable on long motorway journeys.

Mike


----------



## vinn

ive had a few bad ones,but the one i want to talk about is the MOSCOWOITZ (SP). on a trip to finnland about 1979 i was shown about 100 of them rusting away on a dock in the harbor. aparently a trade for wheat with the rusians - gone bad a few years previous.


----------



## scottswatches

I nominate this FIAT Panda Cross



This POS hire car is one of the worst things I have driven, and I drove a CityRover. FIAT were so confident it would break down they fitted double towing eyes on the front, then painted them red to make them easier to find. The engine, for want of a better word, sounds and feels like a lawnmower hitting a tree root. Lots of gadgets inside, but none of them work properly and were fitted to add to the spec sheet. For example, the heated front seats only heat the Base, not the back, and you have a choice of off or scalded bum. I had no idea that people still made cars this bad.

The CityRover did used to hold the title, but a Lancia Ypsilon ran it close. What new cars have left you wondering how these ever sell?


----------



## Karrusel

Hi Scott

I'm assuming your flying into Geneva-Cointrin where there is a raft of car rental firms.

On the last 3 occasions I've used Alamo & so far not faulted their service, always nice clean new cars.

Last time was June last year where I had a Peugeot 208 with all the bells & whistles, 2 named drivers, 5 days for £152 all in.

Don't know how this compares to your experience, although prices I know do vary considerably (including hotels) throughout the seasons.


----------



## scottswatches

with SIHH on all prices are even higher than normal. That car cost £172 for four days. Another £20 and I could have bought it :laugh:

TBF to Sixt, they originally had a Smart ForFour but i rejected that as it was auto and i prefer a manual in the snow.


----------



## WRENCH

Never had a bad car, but this is the worst motorcycle I've ever owned.










New 1978 Triumph T140 750, 3 sets of carburetors, 2 alternators, p!$$ed oil everywhere, handled like a sponge. Looked good, but got fed up after 4000 miles of torture, and bought a Guzzi.


----------



## fastmongrel

Citroen AX diesel, it had a 1.0 litre non turbocharged engine which just about had enough power to turn the page of a newspaper. The interior was a vibrating plastic hell and even though it weighed next to nothing the steering was heavier than a Landrover. It was a hire car provided by the insurance company after a teenager ran me off the road I drove it for 2 days and then rang the company and told them to take it back.


----------



## Noslho

Original style Jeep Cherokee, steering inputs required Mystic Meg levels of prediction ability to allow sufficient time for the car to actually respond! Big, slow, cheap finish. Horrid.


----------



## Muddy D

Twostand out for me. Firstly a Ford KA courtesy vehicle. The clutch broke 2 miles from the car rental company. I asked the company to pick me up as it had broken down, just minutes after picking it up and they refused, basically telling me to call a breakdown service. Needless to say I drove it back in first gear and gave them a diatribe. The other, and probably worse car was a Suzuki Alto I hired in Cyprus. It had so little power that when I had parked it facing down hill and had to reverse out (uphill), I had to get out of the car and push it. I took it on a motorway and it was practically going backwards.


----------



## BondandBigM

European was a Skoda Fabia, they gave me it as a company car when I worked in the Czech Republic, absolute rock bottom spec. It was just a tin can on wheels, horrible thing. The first opportunity to go home and I picked up and drove my old 90's spec MK2 Golf GTI back to Prague and gave them the Fabia back, even as old as it was it was twice the car and some that the Skoda was.

American was an early 70's Ford Torino, just a barge on wheels spent more time not going than going. It consumed petrol, oil and transmission fluid like it was going out of fashion and you could have ran faster than it.

British was a Dolly Sprint, again did everything except go probably even after spending more than I paid for it is was still a totally unreliable bag of sh!te.


----------



## frogspawn

Toyota Yaris hire car, l'm convinced it was driven by elastic band wound by a crack team of acrobatic elfs and the gear stick was not attached to anything.


----------



## Bob Sheruncle

frogspawn said:


> Toyota Yaris hire car, l'm convinced it was driven by elastic band wound by a crack team of acrobatic elfs and the gear stick was not attached to anything.


 Strange. My Yaris (manual gearbox) is the best car I've ever had.

Worst was a brand new Fiesta (current model) that quickly developed a whole host of problems that eventually got me so fed up I took the hit and got rid of it.


----------



## Mr Levity

We were looking for a cheap and economical car just for commuting a few years ago. I took a Peugeot 106 out for a test drive. 1.1 petrol, I think. A sewing machine on wheels ! Drove it 2 miles and took it back. Bought a Citroen C3 1.4 HDi (for the same price). What a difference. :jawdrop1:


----------



## Nigelp

Surprisingly a nearly new Jaguar XJ8 X350 I bought in 2006, they got the air suspension set up completely wrong. Some how it always felt unnerving, floaty and too light on its chassis. A big let down after the lovely ride on the old coils of the previous generation one I had. I think it is why Jaguar returned to coils on the front of the 351 in 2010. The set up on the Mercedes S Class in both air suspension on the saloon and the fluid ABC system on the coupe. Is much much better.

One of these it always felt wrong in so many ways. Couldn't even get comfy in the driving position I was either to low in it or to high. Just very odd.


----------



## graham1981

Peugeot 206. Bought it secondhand but it was still only 5 years old. The glove box fell off before I even got off the forecourt, then the electric wing mirrors packed up, then the electric front windows *sigh*. The seats felt like a bit of sponge with fabric over it. The interior had more flimsy plastic than a 99p store ... I could go on lol Needless to say I will never buy a Peugeot again!


----------



## pauluspaolo

Worst car I've ever driven was a Morris Marina. This was my first car but the Marina was a pile of pooh even when new. Mine was some years old & far from new, hadn't been looked after by any of its zillions of previous owners & was mostly body filler. The 1800 engine gave it a bit of pep but the handling & brakes were appalling so you never wanted to go fast in it. It lasted as long as the MOT it came with (nothing like a year). It had zero chance of getting another (legal) MOT so I scrapped it & bought a 1981 Toyota Celica which as good as the Marina was bad.

The Marina lives long in my memory for all the wrong reasons :bash:


----------



## Barry Mclean

I am showing my age here the worst car I ave owned was a Triumph Acclaim. It was very under powered it took me a while to convince the wife it had to go then one day whilst she was out in it she tried to pull out at a junction and nothing happened straight afterwards she said get rid of it.


----------



## myrolexuk

Fiat 500 but i have not driven a lot of old cars.

The 500 feels fragile otherwise a nice little car


----------



## fastmongrel

I had to drive my sister's Nissan Micra this morning to get it tested. I have never driven a worse car it was wandering all over the place and the brakes barely worked, was scaring me daft. My sister said she hadn't noticed anything wrong, turns out the bushes on in the front suspension were gone I don't mean a bit worn I mean so worn it was metal to metal and the brake pads were shot as well. How the hell she has been driving it I don't know.

It's only 3 years old and she bought it 2 years ago, needs about a grand spending on it. Not the cars fault just my sister seems to think servicing is an optional extra.


----------



## bridgeman

Fiat 131 mirafioi 1300 engine. 3 box type Even though new! Watched it rust and paint bleb every day back and back to dealers so test drove as courtesy cars every model in the fiat range,some were better,that is faster ,particularly a UNO turbo....wow....remember sharing the then bit of dual carriageway on the A1 around Cockburnspath with a Jag ,,is it just the young that think they are immortal?


----------



## Karrusel

bridgeman said:


> Fiat 131 mirafioi 1300 engine. 3 box type Even though new! Watched it rust and paint bleb every day back and back to dealers so test drove as courtesy cars every model in the fiat range,some were better,that is faster ,particularly a UNO turbo....wow....remember sharing the then bit of dual carriageway on the A1 around Cockburnspath with a Jag ,,is it just the young that think they are immortal?


 DC had a 131 estate back in late 70's, started rusting in the showroom I think.

What with electrical problems got rid after about 15 months but to be honest, was one of the most 'comfortable' car's we've ever had.


----------



## Tomh1982

Would probably have to say a Ford Ka just for the sheer minute size of it!


----------



## tixntox

Mum's Fiat 500 was the worst drive but the most fun. You didn't have to do much to have it "On the edge"!

Mike


----------



## Padders

tixntox said:


> Mum's Fiat 500 was the worst drive but the most fun. You didn't have to do much to have it "On the edge"!
> 
> Mike


 Are we talking about a 60s/70s one or the more recent reboot?


----------



## sssammm

Honest truth, a 2012 Aston Martin Vantage Convertible, for such a high quality car, the auto gearchange was awful, could not get it right, I backed the car after 2 days


----------



## WRENCH

Karrusel said:


> DC had a 131 estate back in late 70's, started rusting in the showroom


 That was quite late.

What about that pinnacle of British motor engineering excellence,










Or are you all too ashamed.


----------



## PC-Magician

Ford KA and Fiat 500, thankfully too sensible to buy either and walked away rather quickly in fact could be described as doing a runner they were that bad.

TRULY appalling would rather have pins in eyes.


----------



## BondandBigM

bridgeman said:


> Fiat 131 mirafioi 1300 engine. 3 box type Even though new! Watched it rust and paint bleb every day back and back to dealers so test drove as courtesy cars every model in the fiat range,some were better,that is faster ,particularly a UNO turbo....wow....remember sharing the then bit of dual carriageway on the A1 around Cockburnspath with a Jag ,,is it just the young that think they are immortal?





Karrusel said:


> DC had a 131 estate back in late 70's, started rusting in the showroom I think.
> 
> What with electrical problems got rid after about 15 months but to be honest, was one of the most 'comfortable' car's we've ever had.


 I learned to drive in an old Fiat 128, apart from it rusting to death it wasn't a bad wee car. Back in the 70's whilst Italian stuff had a bad reputation there's a bit of rose tinted glasses going on so did just about everything else from that era. Fords, Vauxhalls anything from BL, MG's Jags even Porches, Beemers and old Mercs they were all rust buckets. My girlfriend of the time had an old Viva and the engine literally fell out of it on the duel carriageway one night.



bridgeman said:


> Fiat 131 mirafioi 1300 engine. 3 box type Even though new! Watched it rust and paint bleb every day back and back to dealers so test drove as courtesy cars every model in the fiat range,some were better,that is faster ,particularly a UNO turbo....wow....remember sharing the then bit of dual carriageway on the A1 around Cockburnspath with a Jag ,,is it just the young that think they are immortal?





Karrusel said:


> DC had a 131 estate back in late 70's, started rusting in the showroom I think.
> 
> What with electrical problems got rid after about 15 months but to be honest, was one of the most 'comfortable' car's we've ever had.


 I learned to drive in an old Fiat 128, apart from it rusting to death it wasn't a bad wee car. Back in the 70's whilst Italian stuff had a bad reputation there's a bit of rose tinted glasses going on so did just about everything else from that era. Fords, Vauxhalls anything from BL, MG's Jags even Porches, Beemers and old Mercs they were all rust buckets. My girlfriend of the time had an old Viva and the engine literally fell out of it on the duel carriageway one night.



bridgeman said:


> Fiat 131 mirafioi 1300 engine. 3 box type Even though new! Watched it rust and paint bleb every day back and back to dealers so test drove as courtesy cars every model in the fiat range,some were better,that is faster ,particularly a UNO turbo....wow....remember sharing the then bit of dual carriageway on the A1 around Cockburnspath with a Jag ,,is it just the young that think they are immortal?





Karrusel said:


> DC had a 131 estate back in late 70's, started rusting in the showroom I think.
> 
> What with electrical problems got rid after about 15 months but to be honest, was one of the most 'comfortable' car's we've ever had.


 I learned to drive in an old Fiat 128, apart from it rusting to death it wasn't a bad wee car. Back in the 70's whilst Italian stuff had a bad reputation there's a bit of rose tinted glasses going on so did just about everything else from that era. Fords, Vauxhalls anything from BL, MG's Jags even Porches, Beemers and old Mercs they were all rust buckets. My girlfriend of the time had an old Viva and the engine literally fell out of it on the duel carriageway one night.


----------



## Karrusel

BondandBigM said:


> I learned to drive in an old Fiat 128, apart from it rusting to death it wasn't a bad wee car. Back in the 70's whilst Italian stuff had a bad reputation there's a bit of rose tinted glasses going on so did just about everything else from that era. Fords, Vauxhalls anything from BL, MG's Jags even Porches, Beemers and old Mercs they were all rust buckets. My girlfriend of the time had an old Viva and the engine literally fell out of it on the duel carriageway one night.
> 
> I learned to drive in an old Fiat 128, apart from it rusting to death it wasn't a bad wee car. Back in the 70's whilst Italian stuff had a bad reputation there's a bit of rose tinted glasses going on so did just about everything else from that era. Fords, Vauxhalls anything from BL, MG's Jags even Porches, Beemers and old Mercs they were all rust buckets. My girlfriend of the time had an old Viva and the engine literally fell out of it on the duel carriageway one night.


 When you think about it, very true.

It was only the influx of the Japanese motors that European manufacturers had to up their game.


----------



## bridgeman

Alfasud anyone? :laugh:



WRENCH said:


> That was quite late.
> 
> What about that pinnacle of British motor engineering excellence,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Or are you all too ashamed.


 With a quartic steering wheel?


----------



## BondandBigM

Karrusel said:


> When you think about it, very true.
> 
> It was only the influx of the Japanese motors that European manufacturers had to up their game.


 Even the Jap stuff wasn't much better. Did you ever see a 70's Datsun that was all in one piece after a few years or rode an old Kawazaki with it's rubber frame, I bought a brand new LC Yamaha back in the day that was never out of the dealership with all sorts of problems and recently a near £1500 quid Panasonic telly that packed up a few months out of warranty with the black stripe of death. This idea that Japanese stuff was or even now is superior quality and uber reliable is just an urban myth promoted with a lot of smoke mirrors and clever marketing. Skips and scrap yards are littered with failed Jim the Jap products.


----------



## Karrusel

BondandBigM said:


> Even the Jap stuff wasn't much better. Did you ever see a 70's Datsun that was all in one piece after a few years or rode an old Kawazaki with it's rubber frame, I bought a brand new LC Yamaha back in the day that was never out of the dealership with all sorts of problems and recently a near £1500 quid Panasonic telly that packed up a few months out of warranty with the black stripe of death. This idea that Japanese stuff was or even now is superior quality and uber reliable is just an urban myth promoted with a lot of smoke mirrors and clever marketing. Skips and scrap yards are littered with failed Jim the Jap products.


 Having reflected 'again' on your comment, correct, it was mainly the attraction of all the extras that came as standard which shook up the European counterparts.

Although, as you say, were marginally better. :biggrin:


----------



## WRENCH

bridgeman said:


> Alfasud anyone? :laugh:
> 
> With a quartic steering wheel?


 That was the good bit. I remember following one down tha A1 south of Edinburgh with a truck load of generators heading for Cambridge. The Allegro gassed me, and I couldn't pass it so I stopped for a break and then started to smell it again just south of Gateshead, [email protected]$tard thing.


----------



## richy176

Although it was fine at the time. I would have to say that my worst car was my first one - an early 1950's Ford Poplar - the sit up and beg shape.

These were the days when fittings such as a heater, radio or heated rear window were either luxury extras or just not available. Air conditioning Sir? This handle winds down the window.


----------



## WRENCH

richy176 said:


> Although it was fine at the time. I would have to say that my worst car was my first one - an early 1950's Ford Poplar - the sit up and beg shape.
> 
> These were the days when fittings such as a heater, radio or heated rear window were either luxury extras or just not available. Air conditioning Sir? This handle winds down the window.


 but when they broke down, a man with a flat cap would fix it in a jiffy with a bicycle spanner, and you still had










Left for a can of spam. :laugh:


----------



## taffyman

Ford Anglia with 3 speed crash box .My 1st car wot a nightmare ahhhh


----------



## Matt6r

Definitely a biege 1973 Vauxhall Viva. It had tyres made by esso and was the worst handling car I ever had. My 3 litre Capri went round corners in the wet better than the viva in the dry!


----------



## Littlelegs

A diesel Peugeot 206 work car. It was the worst bag of poo I've ever driven. You'd to floor the accelerator and wait an eon for the engine to respond. The electrics were a law unto themselves and the electric Windows used to just fall into the doors at random for no apparent reason. Steering response was non existent. Eventually everyone refused to drive it. My old Skoda Estelle beat it hands down for reliability and running and that was basic beyond belief.


----------



## WRENCH

Because of some of the remote places I've lived, I've worked on all manner of stuff, old Ladas, Wartburgs, Moskovitch, but the worst were these;

Yugo Zastava.










And the original 4 x 4 Dacia to appear on these shores, possibly the most appalling "thing" on four wheels I've ever experienced.


----------



## Bahnstormer_vRS

I like my cars to be fun and entertaining to drive with a bit of brio.

OK, I've had a few run of the mill uninspiring hacks over the years e.g. VW Golf 1.3C FormelE (30 years ago and it had an economy stop/start system, even back then) but the worst car was. . .

....... for a couple of months about 7 years ago an Audi A5 2.0TDI Quattro.

An undeniably fine piece of engineering but, oh my gawd, the most uninspiring, uninvolving, soulless piece of metal I've every had the misfortune to drive.

Guy

Sent from my Xperia Z5 Premium


----------



## carlgulliver

Range rover HSE for me, it was roly in corners and had no power off the mark what so ever, typical Rover really lol


----------



## dodsi

A brand new (in 2015) 1.4 Honda Civic we had on loan while our 2.2 turbo diesel was in for a repair... gutless thing with **** mpg.


----------



## Ging

Mine was a Citroen xantia I put 3 gearboxes in before I gave up it once went towing a caravan to Wales but still had 2 nd 4 th and reverse so carried on had a great holiday and it got use back sold it to the nabour he put 2 boxes in it then scrapped it


----------



## xellos99

Vauxhall Nova 1.2. Best was a Mitsubishi Colt I modified with rally gas shock absorbers.


----------



## KevG

Probably Lada 1200










Underpowered heavy as lead on the steering cruddy brakes etc etc

But I've driven some right Carp over the years

Kev


----------



## dobra

I remember one large company where the naughty salesman of the month had to give up his Beemer and drive a Lada from the pool. :bash:


----------



## WRENCH

O.k. it's not a car, but a Commer Karrier Bantam truck is, by a long way, the worst thing I have ever driven. A four cylinder Perkins diesel knocking two feet from your ears, steering that required one foot on the dash to act as leverage for tight turns, 45mph on a good day, and brakes that locked everything up in the wet, and left the whole show hurtling uncontrollably forwards. Driving one would give a saint anger management problems.


----------



## Bonzodog

Lotus Elite,damn near finished me .


----------



## WRENCH

Never really had a bad car, as I've always fixed any problems. I have had one memorable bad bike. A Kawasaki KL250, which defied the laws of engineering. I got it with under 4000 miles on the clock, and later discovered the dealer had taken it back from the first owner because of problems, and the second owner got rid of it quick too. Like this one. They were generally a good reliable workhorse, and relatively trouble free. I had another, and it was flawless.


----------



## spinynorman

This is a tough pick. Having owned: an Austin Allegro 1750, an R reg TR7, a Morris Ital, a Talbot Sunbeam, a Volvo V40 automatic, a Citroen Xantia, how do you choose the worst?

In the Xantia, you had to enter a code on keypad to start the engine. I lent it to a colleague and forgot to give them the code. Before the days of mobile phones.

The TR7 was pretty bad. The throttle would stick open, the cooling system emptied itself while leaving the expansion bottle full, and the wipers lost contact with the screen at 70mph.

I was test driving an early 1970s Renault - maybe an 18 - when the gear lever came out in my hand. But I didn't own that.


----------



## Delta

Hillman Avenger - the gearbox went then I tried testing it's integrity by running into the back of another car. The repair garage rang me to say that the front valance was mostly a flattened GTX can!!

An Austin Montego was a close second.


----------



## WRENCH

spinynorman said:


> Having﻿ owned: an Austin Allegro 1750, an R reg TR7, a Morris Ital, a Talbot Sunbeam, a Volvo V40 ﻿au﻿tomatic﻿, a Ci﻿troen Xan﻿tia,


 Congratulations. You must have owned six of the worst cars ever made. :laughing2dw:


----------



## spinynorman

WRENCH said:


> Congratulations. You must have owned six of the worst cars ever made. :laughing2dw:


 The first three were due to working for various iterations of British Leyland. The Allegro was originally LH drive, destined for Lebanon when the political situation went sour. A friend converted it to RHD. We went down the track collecting the parts. Later I got put on the Management Car Plan, which was a cheap leasing scheme to boost registrations. I ordered a Spitfire 1500 which was scheduled and built. Then they lost it somewhere at Canley. The TR7 was the consolation prize. They had lots of them no one seemed to want, for some reason. :tongue:



Delta said:


> An Austin Montego was a close second.


 You have my sympathies.



Nigelp said:


> my jag xjs


 I have fond memories of doing 140 on the M5 in an XJS.


----------



## rhaythorne

spinynorman said:


> I was test driving an early 1970s Renault - maybe an 18 - when the gear lever came out in my hand. But I didn't own that.


 Renault 18 was introduced in the late 70's so it probably wasn't that. I had an auto one from 1982:










I've not had a really bad car but the worst one was a Renault 5 GTX. It was quite brisk with a 1721cc engine but suffered from dreadful fuel vaporisation problems. If you got stuck in traffic for more than about ten or fifteen minutes you'd set off again bouncing along like a kangaroo! There was an expensive cooling mod available from Renault but this offered no guarantee of success so, instead, I implemented a cheaper and partial fix which was to have the cooling fan wired so that it was permanently on and, when stuck in traffic, keeping my foot on the gas to maintain 2000-3000 RPM. Extinction Rebellion would've loved me :laugh: But the worst thing about it was that the clutch cable would snap every few months. I soon learned to keep a couple of spares in the boot at all times.

A mate and I once drove it up from London and did a road trip all around Scotland. On that occasion the heater matrix decided to let go and filled the passenger foot well full of coolant. Luckily it was Summer so we didn't need the heater anyway. Later that year we drove up again and did a Winter climbing trip around Glencoe, driving axle-deep in snow following those guide poles they have to mark the sides of the road. It never missed a beat on that occasion.

Despite it's foibles it was a plucky little motor


----------



## Grzegorz

Nothing is worst than the old Mercedes A class.


----------



## WRENCH

The most uncomfortable car I ever owned was a MK1 MG Midget, down to the "Foden" truck rear suspension,










And a seat that seemed to be made from an old farm bucket with a bit of vinyl, and the scariest handling was a Triumph Vietesse.


----------



## Nigelp

Grzegorz said:


> Nothing is worst than the old Mercedes


 fixed it.

actually when i look back my dad had one of these and it was lovely

[IMG alt="Image result for fso polonez" data-ratio="56.35"]https://ocdn.eu/pulscms-transforms/1/rh_ktkqTURBXy82OTQwMjgyMGNjMmFhYjZjODA0NWZjNDA2ZWFjNmUxMS5qcGVnkpUDAMyvzQMgzQINkwXNAYrM3g[/IMG]


----------



## chris l

Hillman Imp

Citroen GSA Pallas

VW411LE

Citroen Visa

I can't go on.....


----------



## Yanto

Land Rover Freelander 1.8i GS. Horrible horrible car. Gutless, hugely thirsty, awful build quality. Think we kept it three months. Longest three months of my life!


----------



## Grzegorz

Nigelp said:


> fixed it.
> 
> actually when i look back my dad had one of these and it was lovely


 I've driven many of those one model I did like was the pickup with 1.9 diesel engine from citroen as far as I remember.


----------



## Nigelp

I wasnt keen on my jag xj40 3.6 sov. The door handle broke off in my hand. Though i still regretted swapping it for a 1991 merc s class w126 300se. That felt like an old bus back in 2001.

Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk


----------



## WRENCH

Yanto said:


> Land Rover Freelander 1.8i GS. Horrible horrible car. Gutless, hugely thirsty, awful build quality. Think we kept it three months. Longest three months of my life!


 Three months ? You had a good one.


----------



## Yanto

WRENCH said:


> Three months ? You had a good one.


 The Freelander2 was a totally different beast. So much better.

Thinking about it I had an Escort XR3 when they first came out. Dog of a car. Traded it for a Mk1 Golf GTi Campaign


----------



## WRENCH

Land Rovers. That legendary 4 x 4. Dreadful propshaft hand brake, rotting chassis, uncomfortable, noisey, freezing cold, continuously leaking front swivels, enormous gearbox that requires half the vehicle interior stripped out to remove. What's not to like ? Wouldn't want one of them Hilux things. Never get a chance to skin all your knuckles, and permanently damage your spine with one of them.


----------



## Nigelp

actually our worst car in the family was a Rover 75 2.0 v6, 2002 Auto, only 29,000 miles on the clock when we got it, in 2010. Mint body wise but totally unreliable, heaters packed up, water pump packed up, fuel pump packed up, radiator fan packed up, auto box limit switch packed up, final straw was at 50,000 miles when the engine block developed water leak internally so a crack in the block? Traded it for a perfectly reliable Jap, Subaru, no wonder the British dont make cars anymore.

[IMG alt="Image result for rover 75 copperleaf red" data-ratio="79.17"]https://i1.wp.com/www.aronline.co.uk/images/2004feb_01.jpg?resize=600%2C475[/IMG]


----------



## WRENCH

The most unreliable car i had was a Citroen BX19. I got it new in 1991, and it earned the nick name "Roy Rogers" because the suspension was always going down at the back, and rearing up at the front. On the few occasions everything worked it was the most comfortable thing for long journeys.


----------



## WRENCH

Just think, If BMC had gone ahead with some of its projects, we.could have had a much better class of scrap.

BMC 1800 Berlina Aerodinamica prototype of 1967.










The cunning Fench managed.












Grzegorz said:


> I've driven many of those one model I did like was the pickup with 1.9 diesel engine from citroen as far as I remember.


 So was the lada pick up OK, but the crown for "beyond bad" must be awarded to this,










You could watch them rust, the power steering stoped working in the wet, and that was the good points.


----------



## Grzegorz

WRENCH said:


> Just think, If BMC had gone ahead with some of its projects, we.could have had a much better class of scrap.
> 
> BMC 1800 Berlina Aerodinamica prototype of 1967.
> 
> 
> 
> The cunning Fench managed.
> 
> 
> 
> So was the lada pick up OK, but the crown for "beyond bad" must be awarded to this,
> 
> 
> 
> You could watch them rust, the power steering stoped working in the wet, and that was the good points.


 I admit the cars where rubbish. But on the good side you could fix them with hammer and screwdriver


----------



## chris l

And a '75 Jaguar, and a Fiat 127, and a Ford Orion.....

A VW Type 181, loads of Type 2 campers..


----------



## WRENCH

chris l said:


> VW﻿﻿ ﻿Type﻿﻿ ﻿18﻿1﻿,


 I always wanted one of them.


----------



## Nigelp

WRENCH said:


> I always wanted one of them.


 Wartburg

[IMG alt="Related image" data-ratio="75.00"]http://cloudlakes.com/data_images/models/wartburg-353/wartburg-353-02.jpg[/IMG]

Daf

(whats he up to?)

[IMG alt="Image result for daf car" data-ratio="60.62"]http://www.dafownersclub.co.uk/uploads/1/0/9/5/10958195/351032_orig.jpg[/IMG]



WRENCH said:


> The most unreliable car i had was a Citroen BX19. I got it new in 1991, and it earned the nick name "Roy Rogers" because the suspension was always going down at the back, and rearing up at the front. On the few occasions everything worked it was the most comfortable thing for long journeys.


 sounds like my first merc cl500, you couldnt park that half on and half off the pavement, if you did you had to drive around at a lean for a week while it sorted itself out. That was a wild suspension system.

[IMG alt="Image result for mercedes cl500 suspension faulty lean" data-ratio="75.00"]https://mbworld.org/forums/attachments/cl-class-w215/174327d1263689668-abc-problem-02-cl500-pllllllllzzzzzz-help-img00044-20100116-1428.jpg[/IMG]


----------



## rolexgirl

I haven't learnt to drive or owned a car, not sure I want to after reading through this thread :automobile:


----------



## chris l

My 181 cost £400, ex Austrian Army..

Machine gun mounts, LHD, combi lock handbrake. Matt black; great city car, even if you could never find it!


----------



## WRENCH

chris l said:


> loads﻿ ﻿of Type 2 ca﻿mpers..﻿﻿


 I had a Type 2 van. Can't understand the Type hype. I bought mine out of desperation for doing a job, because I couldn't find a decent Transit, and it was a horrible thing. I recently saw a camper in a spray shop. The owner reckoned he'd spent over £35k, Subaru motor, some suspension mods, etc, etc. The heater might work now, and it won't have that rev limiter, that cuts in when you're half way past overtaking a bus.


----------



## Nigelp

for me ive got to say my 1990 merc 230ce coupe slow and unrelaible. I just did not like it, my dad says his worst was a MK2 Cortina 1600e.

followed by a 1992 Merc 300se

slow, rusted and drove like a bus after his Jag 3.6 sov.

[IMG alt="Related image" data-ratio="75.00"]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/25147591197_8e5cf38520_o.jpg[/IMG]


----------



## Nigelp

Come on who is going to admit to some of these? We have including the polonez the simca, that dad loved in the mid 70s, and a rover 820se which was crap as youd expect. Should have bought the honda legend.


























































































































Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk


----------



## Teg62x

Nigelp said:


> Come on who is going to admit to some of these? We have including the polonez the simca, that dad loved in the mid 70s, and a rover 820se which was crap as youd expect. Should have bought the honda legend.
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk


 My first car was a Datsun Sunny, :laugh:  Can't say it was my worst though! That was a 2000 1.4 escort that was just horrendous, slow, rusted heap of horse poo. I had it 4months as I waited on an insurance claim getting sorted, sent it to the scrapyard rather than pass it on it was that bad!


----------



## WRENCH

My brother in law used a Datsun Sunny to carry and tow just about everything when he built his house. Never let him down once. The rust eventually got it. I had a 1973 Marina estate. It was a MOT failure I paid £30 for it in 1982. Welded everything up propper, stuck a 1500cc BMC diesel mated to a Humber Scepter overdrive box in it. 55mph flat out, 0 - 50 in a day. Did loads of mpg though. Painted it with Forth Bridge paint with a roller. Rat Car. Engine came out of one of these.


----------



## Nigelp

Probably the worst car my dad had from what he says was his mk2 cortina, it rained in so he took the carpet out, dried it in the boiler house at work drilled holes in the floor and put the carpet back, the gearbox went so he decided to change it himself and he was trying to get the replacement box in an old cast iron job lead on his back under the car in the front street, after about 5 attempts his arms had got tierd of lifting and he couldnt raise the box of his chest anymore. He must have managed it eventually, but needless to say it got sold pretty fast.

[IMG alt="Image result for mk2 ford cortina" data-ratio="59.39"]http://car-from-uk.com/ebay/carphotos/full/ebay451736.jpg[/IMG]


----------



## WRENCH

The worst thing I ever remember was a Dacia Duster Jeep the local vet bought in the 70's. I think he had one day something didn't go wrong.


----------



## Roger the Dodger

A Morris Marina TC, in exactly the same colour as the one below...'Mustard' I believe the colour was, with a brown vinyl roof covering that kept splitting and tearing. Awful thing. I eventually traded it in PX for a Mk3 Escort. Probably worth a fortune today...

[IMG alt="Image result for morris marina" data-ratio="71.40"]https://www.hemmings.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2018/08/131555.jpg[/IMG]


----------



## johnbaz

BMW318iS

It broke down more times than Britney Spears 

Cost me more time off work that all the rest put together!! :taz:

John..


----------



## Craftycockney

johnbaz said:


> BMW318iS
> 
> It broke down more times than Britney Spears
> 
> Cost me more time off work that all the rest put together!! :taz:
> 
> John..


 E36 I'm assuming....


----------



## johnbaz

Craftycockney said:


> E36 I'm assuming....


 Yup!!

Final straw was the head gasket blown, It cost £500 for a friend to do it, I'll bet it would have been at least double that at Sytners :swoon:

EDIT- This is the offending machine!










John..


----------



## Craftycockney

johnbaz said:


> Yup!!
> 
> Final straw was the head gasket blown, It cost £500 for a friend to do it, I'll bet it would have been at least double that at Sytners :swoon:
> 
> EDIT- This is the offending machine!
> 
> 
> 
> John..


 You sure that is not a 318i? The is had a completely different engine which were pretty bulletproof.


----------



## johnbaz

Craftycockney said:


> You sure that is not a 318i? The is had a completely different engine which were pretty bulletproof.


 Yep, I'm sure it was!, I know it had a timing chain rather than a belt as the first place I phoned asked which it was said they didn't have the tools and put the phone down pretty sharp!

I had a new water pump and thermostat fitted as my mate said the shaft on the pump was plastic and they siezed then sheared, After he stripped it he said it had done just that, It was a common cause of the gasket failure!

John


----------



## Nigelp

WRENCH said:


> The worst thing I ever remember was a Dacia Duster Jeep the local vet bought in the 70's. I think he had one day something didn't go wrong.


 Honestly I had not seen this before my suggestion that i thought you probably owned a Dacia yesterday! Its just it one seemed appropriate to compliment your no nonsense utilitarian persona and it turns out you've had one! Sorry it was in such insalubrious predicament. Amazingly when you google the 2 last phrases this appears.

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6346153.lib-dem-hits-out-at-gents-shut-down/



Roger the Dodger said:


> A Morris Marina TC, in exactly the same colour as the one below...'Mustard' I believe the colour was, with a brown vinyl roof covering that kept splitting and tearing. Awful thing. I eventually traded it in PX for a Mk3 Escort. Probably worth a fortune today...
> 
> [IMG alt="Image result for morris marina" data-ratio="71.40"]https://www.hemmings.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2018/08/131555.jpg[/IMG]


 no wonder you've gone off cars Rog! Should have kept that TR6 :laugh:



Craftycockney said:


> You sure that is not a 318i? The is had a completely different engine which were pretty bulletproof.





johnbaz said:


> BMW318iS


 [IMG alt="1Zfjo6T.jpg" data-ratio="75.00"]https://i.imgur.com/1Zfjo6T.jpg[/IMG]

BMW's are often a bit weak on the head gaskets, its a trait of high compression going right back to the e24 635 and probably before. I don't think there was an e36 318is was there? Or in fact e36 'IS' with any engine, the IS was an e30 run out model as far as i know. The one in the picture looks like an SE not sport the wheels are SE. The only possibility i can think of is the 318i Sport which wasnt strictly speaking an 'IS' as far as i know and they looked like this. For example with the sport bumpers, wheels were a mixture and so were engines. If the one in the pic was a 4 cylinder it was likely as not the 316i with the 1800 engine. But it has the se not sport trim. But thats as an aside. I'm with you on the fact that BMW head gaskets can be fragile and especially so in the bigger blocks and older cars. In fact with the e24 the reduced the cc after boring to 3.5 from 3.3 against the advice of the M sport division. I know i spent 2 weeks doing the head gasket, having all the valves re ground and having the head clocked and skimmed when my 635 blew its top when i was 18.

[IMG alt="Related image" data-ratio="75.00"]https://uploads.carandclassic.co.uk/uploads/cars/bmw/3003223.jpg[/IMG]


----------



## johnbaz

Nigelp said:


> Honestly I had not seen this before my suggestion that i thought you probably owned a Dacia yesterday! Its just it one seemed appropriate to compliment your no nonsense utilitarian persona and it turns out you've had one! Sorry it was in such insalubrious predicament. Amazingly when you google the 2 last phrases this appears.
> 
> https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6346153.lib-dem-hits-out-at-gents-shut-down/
> 
> no wonder you've gone off cars Rog! Should have kept that TR6 :laugh:
> 
> [IMG alt="1Zfjo6T.jpg" data-ratio="75.00"]https://i.imgur.com/1Zfjo6T.jpg[/IMG]
> 
> BMW's are often a bit weak on the head gaskets, its a trait of high compression going right back to the e24 635 and probably before. I don't think there was an e36 318is was there? Or in fact e36 'IS' with any engine, the IS was an e30 run out model as far as i know. The one in the picture looks like an SE not sport the wheels are SE. The only possibility i can think of is the 318i Sport which wasnt strictly speaking an 'IS' as far as i know and they looked like this. For example with the sport bumpers, wheels were a mixture and so were engines. If the one in the pic was a 4 cylinder it was likely as not the 316i with the 1800 engine. But it has the se not sport trim. But thats as an aside. I'm with you on the fact that BMW head gaskets can be fragile and especially so in the bigger blocks and older cars. In fact with the e24 the reduced the cc after boring to 3.5 from 3.3 against the advice of the M sport division. I know i spent 2 weeks doing the head gasket, having all the valves re ground and having the head clocked and skimmed when my 635 blew its top when i was 18.
> 
> [IMG alt="Related image" data-ratio="75.00"]https://uploads.carandclassic.co.uk/uploads/cars/bmw/3003223.jpg[/IMG]


 Could it have been an e34 (Was there such a thing?) I don't have any of the literature as I let it all go with the car!!, I bought it as an iS, Maybe i was had by being told this but I thought i'd seen it on the paperwork!

John


----------



## Nigelp

johnbaz said:


> Could it have been an e34 (Was there such a thing?) I don't have any of the literature as I let it all go with the car!!, I bought it as an iS, Maybe i was had by being told this but I thought i'd seen it on the paperwork!
> 
> John


 Going back to your picture John, its definitely an e36 but it is a SE not sport, looking at the sills and bumpers its a later one with colour coding rather than grey bottoms to the sills and bumpers. I'd put it on about a 1996 to 1998? Rather than the early 94/5 cars. The v5 would be the only think that would confirm the model against the chassis number. It looks a nice tidy car, shame it was unrelaible for you. Its got the newer type of rear head rests and steering wheel, if i only had the picture to go off and nothing else and not being able to see the tail pipes double or single. It could be anything from a 316i to a 328i from the side view but definitely an SE. I don't think there was an e36 saloon sport only coupe. There was an e36 m3 saloon, but not sport unless anyone knows otherwise?


----------



## Craftycockney

Nigelp said:


> Honestly I had not seen this before my suggestion that i thought you probably owned a Dacia yesterday! Its just it one seemed appropriate to compliment your no nonsense utilitarian persona and it turns out you've had one! Sorry it was in such insalubrious predicament. Amazingly when you google the 2 last phrases this appears.
> 
> https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6346153.lib-dem-hits-out-at-gents-shut-down/
> 
> no wonder you've gone off cars Rog! Should have kept that TR6 :laugh:
> 
> 
> 
> BMW's are often a bit weak on the head gaskets, its a trait of high compression going right back to the e24 635 and probably before. I don't think there was an e36 318is was there? Or in fact e36 'IS' with any engine, the IS was an e30 run out model as far as i know. The one in the picture looks like an SE not sport the wheels are SE. The only possibility i can think of is the 318i Sport which wasnt strictly speaking an 'IS' as far as i know and they looked like this. For example with the sport bumpers, wheels were a mixture and so were engines. If the one in the pic was a 4 cylinder it was likely as not the 316i with the 1800 engine. But it has the se not sport trim. But thats as an aside. I'm with you on the fact that BMW head gaskets can be fragile and especially so in the bigger blocks and older cars. In fact with the e24 the reduced the cc after boring to 3.5 from 3.3 against the advice of the M sport division. I know i spent 2 weeks doing the head gasket, having all the valves re ground and having the head clocked and skimmed when my 635 blew its top when i was 18.


 They made 'is' models in e30 & e36. The engines were revised in the e36 but were still based on the original 1.8 twin cam 16v engines which pushed 140+bhp over the standard 1.8 8v single cam. The e30 'is' were developed by Mtec division and nicked named the baby m3 due to the 4 pot engines that the M3 were developed with.


----------



## Nigelp

Craftycockney said:


> They made 'is' models in e30 & e36. The engines were revised in the e36 but were still based on the original 1.8 twin cam 16v engines which pushed 140+bhp over the standard 1.8 8v single cam. The e30 'is' were developed by Mtec division and nicked named the baby m3 due to the 4 pot engines that the M3 were developed with.


 Thanks Crafty :thumbsup:


----------



## johnbaz

Craftycockney said:


> They made 'is' models in e30 & e36. The engines were revised in the e36 but were still based on the original 1.8 twin cam 16v engines which pushed 140+bhp over the standard 1.8 8v single cam. The e30 'is' were developed by Mtec division and nicked named the baby m3 due to the 4 pot engines that the M3 were developed with.


 I found another pic! (Two actually but one is rubbish!!)










When I enlarged this pic a bit there's two pipes side by side (Hard to see!), My lad got me an app on my phone to check registrations, It was last MOT'd in 2102 which is around the time I sold it!










I can't make out what the badge on the back says!!

John


----------



## BondandBigM

johnbaz said:


> I found another pic! (Two actually but one is rubbish!!)
> 
> 
> 
> When I enlarged this pic a bit there's two pipes side by side (Hard to see!), My lad got me an app on my phone to check registrations, It was last MOT'd in 2102 which is around the time I sold it!
> 
> 
> 
> I can't make out what the badge on the back says!!
> 
> John


 Twin pipes so I'm going for a 325 or possibly a 328.

:biggrin:

And that possibly would fit with head gasket issues. The four cylinder engines of that era were pretty bullet proof it was mostly the sixes that had head gasket problems.

I had an E36 323 Coupe about the same age an "R" plate with the detuned 2.5 six and in my ownership it was faultless, never spent a penny on it other than petrol and it never missed a beat.


----------



## lebaron

Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin..

complete rusting crap bucket! Cost thousands in carburettor rebuild, body work repair, new exhaust etc etc. Broke down 3 times!

sold it to a dodgy Eastern European toe rag who tried to chiv me even at at a bargain (Never Again!)


----------



## johnbaz

BondandBigM said:


> Twin pipes so I'm going for a 325 or possibly a 328.
> 
> :biggrin:
> 
> And that possibly would fit with head gasket issues. The four cylinder engines of that era were pretty bullet proof it was mostly the sixes that had head gasket problems.
> 
> I had an E36 323 Coupe about the same age an "R" plate with the detuned 2.5 six and in my ownership it was faultless, never spent a penny on it other than petrol and it never missed a beat.


 Hi Bond

It was definitely a four cylinder and not a six!, I looked it up on the vehicle smart app on my phone, It says- First registered 05 jan 1996, Cylinder capacity 1796cc, It says nothing in the 'Model' box though  (It was definitely a 318 :thumbsup: )

*EDIT*- It could be that someone stuck one of those twin pipes that you can buy from the accessory shops to the exhaust, I can't remember for the life of me, Can't find any more pics of it either!

John


----------



## ziggy1024

M43 8v lump (E36 318iS used the M44). Did indeed have a penchant for the odd head gasket (often down to the plastic coolant pipe on the back of the head) but that was a pretty simple job. Generally very very solid indeed, without the issues of the M40 (toblerone camshafts) or M42 (profile gasket), and better not to even mention the 'N' 4-pots that followed.

This thread is very sad btw!


----------



## Nigelp

ziggy1024 said:


> M43 8v lump (E36 318iS used the M44). Did indeed have a penchant for the odd head gasket (often down to the plastic coolant pipe on the back of the head) but that was a pretty simple job. Generally very very solid indeed, without the issues of the M40 (toblerone camshafts) or M42 (profile gasket), and better not to even mention the 'N' 4-pots that followed.
> 
> This thread is very sad btw!


 the early e24 when the 635 came out and used the 633 block bored to 3.5 had overbore problems didn't it and the compression was high so they blew head gaskets, seems a fairly common theme with bmw's. I guess thats why Mercedes always keep their bhp figures relatively low. In terms of engines and gearboxes the 3 pointed star do seem to be pretty reliable. BMW do seem to push things a bit, but always seem to have more sparkle. From 316i right through to M5.

[IMG alt="Related image" data-ratio="67.60"]http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/images/e24uk3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG alt="Related image" data-ratio="63.40"]http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/images/635csi1981.jpg[/IMG]

my first car was a 1980 635 identical to that in kashmir gold and it blew the head gasket. I stripped it myself whilst on summer hols from uni. Took me two weeks to get it all off and all the valves and springs and cam out, it was prolonged due to the head having warped and i had to have it skimmed. The end cam lobe was worn too and it used to tap like an old diesel. I should have had it reground at the same time. I think a slightly blocked radiator and the fact the car was prone to blowing water hoses hastened the downfall of the head gasket.

I reground all the valves and lined them up with the springs on the bench in the fitters shop where i was working during my hols and someone came in and mixed them up! Took me ages to match them all up again.


----------



## ziggy1024

M30s in general are superb, but yes I've had the head off mine too!


----------



## Nigelp

ziggy1024 said:


> M30s in general are superb, but yes I've had the head off mine too!


 the m57 in my 330d seemed a very strong unit it was on nearly 200k and sweet as a nut, but i guess diesels dont suffer the same? The early e36 325i saloon i had had the forged block apparently and when i came to sell it it seemed to make it much more desirable than the slightly later 325i. Mine was an L reg. Not something i really know anything about but people seemed to be after the engine for racing and track cars.

heres my old 325, the thing that finished it off according to the garage i used to use was the output shafts being rusted solid into the back axle making wheel bearing replacement impossible, ive since had reason to doubt that. I only paid 500 for it and sold it for 1000 after spending 500 on new tyres brakes and exhaust. If it hadnt been for the back axle problems id have kept it!

car6


----------



## ziggy1024

The only M43 I had was on ~250K when I got fed up with the general ratty state of it and scrapped it. You could still see the hone marks on the cylinders, and it ran as well as ever.

Early (non-m) E36 6-pots used the M50 lump, later ones were M52 - ally block and widely considered to be less robust. Not to be confused with the E34 situation: they used M20s and went across to M50s later.

Diesels are a whole different ballgame, and not one which I have any interest in!


----------



## WRENCH

Nigelp said:


> Mustard﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿


 My diesel special was the same colour, "Harvest Gold", I'll probably have the paint code somewhere as well. Although it ended up Forth Bridge red.


----------



## Nigelp

ziggy1024 said:


> The only M43 I had was on ~250K when I got fed up with the general ratty state of it and scrapped it. You could still see the hone marks on the cylinders, and it ran as well as ever.
> 
> Early (non-m) E36 6-pots used the M50 lump, later ones were M52 - ally block and widely considered to be less robust. Not to be confused with the E34 situation: they used M20s and went across to M50s later.
> 
> Diesels are a whole different ballgame, and not one which I have any interest in!


 i dont either i wouldnt touch another diesel! here's the engine on my 325i it was only on 88k



so what designation was that? It was a nice clean car





WRENCH said:


> My diesel special was the same colour, "Harvest Gold", I'll probably have the paint code somewhere as well. Although it ended up Forth Bridge red.


 Jaguar used the same lovely sounding names for horrid colours like sand gold for this

[IMG alt="Related image" data-ratio="66.89"]http://productioncars.com/send_file.php/jaguar_xj6_coupe_yellow_1976.jpg[/IMG]

back to worst cars youve ever owned, well it wasnt for me it was one of the best, the cl500 in the background, but for the bloke who spent 18 grand over four years mending the suspension system when it was only between 7 and 11 years old it must go down in his book as one of his worst. Funnily enough he swapped it for a bmw 850i!





the numbers next to the side were a bill from Mercedes and they are in pounds sterling!

that was £2700 for a new command unit when the car was 5 years old...

imagine that you've just paid nigh on 100 grand for a merc and at 5 years old you are back at the dealer handing over another nigh on 3 grand for a new command unit, basically just to control aircon, cd and sat nav...


----------



## Nigelp

Back to my worst cars, this was a bit of a pain for flashing all sorts of electrical gremlins, lovely car, 387bhp and ran perfectly but it had silly sensor faults when nothing was even wrong which would have seen it fail the mot expensively...so it went even though in fact there was nothing wrong just electronics gone mad.











its still to this day probably the nicest merc ive ever seen but need less electronics killed it off running perfect and showing up faults that werent even there, how clever is that.


----------



## ziggy1024

Nigelp said:


> so what designation was that? It was a nice clean car


 L reg is probably a M50B25TU - the 'TU' (single VANOS) came in in 1993 IIRC. In fact, you can see the VANOS lump on the front of the cam cover, so it's definitely a TU.

As for the actual subject of the thread, my first E30 was a bit of a rotter, but it still drove beautifully. As did the flintstone-spec Spitfire. No, the prize has to go to my 2.8i Capri (much as I loved it) - whoever designed the layshaft setup for 5th on the Type-9 gearbox owes me many many hours of my life back.


----------



## Nigelp

ziggy1024 said:


> L reg is probably a M50B25TU - the 'TU' (single VANOS) came in in 1993 IIRC. In fact, you can see the VANOS lump on the front of the cam cover, so it's definitely a TU.
> 
> As for the actual subject of the thread, my first E30 was a bit of a rotter, but it still drove beautifully. As did the flintstone-spec Spitfire. No, the prize has to go to my 2.8i Capri (much as I loved it) - whoever designed the layshaft setup for 5th on the Type-9 gearbox owes me many many hours of my life back.


 One of my 928's would never run right as soon as it got warm on a light throttle it would cut out once below 60mph, they did the inlet gaskets but never solved it. I never really bonded with it, it felt a bit boring for a Porsche a bit too refined, more like an s class merc coupe, very much like the merc cl500 i had, nice but just lacking the fun factor.



on the otherhand the older 928s2 which was a bit scruffy and only cost me £3,500 in 2003 was spot on and a real fun car!



The award for worst car ive ever had goes to my 1990 Merc w124 230ce. Slow boring and unreliable. Should have bought a Morris Marina in mustard like @Roger the Dodger and @WRENCH


----------



## ziggy1024

W124 as your worst ever car - nowt if not controversial!


----------



## tixntox

Austin Princess 1700cc. When it ran it was very comfortable but it had periods of misfiring and non-starting from cold. It was returned to the dealer and they called to say it was ready. Guess what? It wouldn't start! They said that I had flooded it, so asked me to come back the following morning. I did but they couldn't start it! Eventually they got it so that it would start but then it misfired a lot. After several months of backwards and forwards, they offered a trade in of what I paid against any car on the forecourt. It was swapped for a Granada which was superb. Thirsty but superb!


----------



## Nigelp

ziggy1024 said:


> W124 as your worst ever car - nowt if not controversial!


 not meant to be controversial, theyre my true feelings for the car! I paid 8 grand for it in 2000 and it was awful the engine was rattly, it was slow, it was just boring, well built but boring and slow, though i was only 26 and swapped a Jag xjs 3.6 sport for it massive mistake! And it really was the most unreliable car i ever had eventually the fuel head packed up and merc wanted 800 quid for one, i managed to get one fitted at dronsfields near Bury for 400 and i swapped it for a celica. Which felt like a rocket ship after the merc and handles really well. Should have kept the Jag.



Dad had a 126 merc and he disliked that for similar reasons, so swapped it for a mazda xedos9. The 126 was a 1992, bought in 2001 300se no aircon and after a Jag 3.6 sov felt basic and slow. Dad referred to it as like driving an old bus.


----------



## JoT

My worst car was 1972 MGB Roadster, no end of trouble with it, electrical problems, the twin SU carbs were NEVER balanced ... I would get them done and within a few hours they were out of balance again, petrol tank sprung a leak, twin 6v batteries used to discharge, overdrive packed in etc etc.

The oil cooler which sat in front of the radiator got a hole in it as I was travelling down the A19, it covered my windscreen with oil like some second world war fighter plane, I had to stick my head out of the window to see where I could pull-in safely and ended up sprayed with engine oil for my trouble.

To add insult to all the mechanical and electrical injuries I spun the car into some bushes and trees late at night after hitting an adverse camber corner too quickly and managed to damage all four corners, the soft-top was ripped off and the windscreen cracked. Luckily for me the initial impact was rear first which made my seat recline just as a branch took off the soft-top, lucky! I got it back after three months and much work and a Transit van reversed into me, so I decided to sell it. But this jinxed car still had a final fling, at the garage the salesman lifted the aluminium bonnet to check the engine, jumped in the car to give it a test drive and the bonnet flipped open and curled over the top of the windscreen at 60 mph!

Having said that I did enjoy driving it on the rare occasion it was working, I traded it in against a Ford Escort 1.3GL which was dull as ditchwater but reliable.


----------



## Hayballs

R plate Toyota Carina E. CDX model. Couldn't keep the thing on the road. Bushes, brakes, joints...... just about everything needed replaced. Hated it. First car I bought that had a CD player fitted as standard.

Father in Law had the same model and never laid a spanner on it in 5 years. :taz:


----------



## WRENCH

Ex Hydro-Board Series 3 Land Rover 109 with a straight 6 petrol. Lovely and smooth, but single figure mpg off road, and a propensity to break rear half-shafts made it horrible.










Eventually the engine got binned and replaced with Ford 2.5 DI Diesel out of a Transit. Then I got wise and bought Hi-Lux. Bliss/comfort/heater, etc. :beach:


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## Nigelp

Merc 230ce w124 utter crap


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