Worst car I have ever driven....

[skyrover]

longblackcoat said:

Chevrolet Orlando - the 2.0 petrol had the almost unique distinction of having an engine which drank like a thirsty docker and vibrated like a road drill but failed to produce anything other than the most glacial "acceleration." It also had the worst blind spots I've ever encountered - the A pillars blocked out a massive amount - and it was hugely unrelaibale. Cheap to buy, admittedly, but expensive to own and miserably st to drive, it's comfortably the crappiest car I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. And bear in mind I've also had a Fiat Regata, an Allegro and several Montegos, so I know a crap car when I see one.

That 2.0 is a GM ecotec engine found in Astra's, Insignia's etc.

[Salamura]

With modern cars being generally so competent, it's easy to forget what a really awful car feels like. And not so long ago we had loads of them. For me the worst ones were:

1994 Mini. I know people love those original Minis, but what an utter pile of garbage it was! I'm sure those things came rusty from the factory, the car was falling apart only a few years into its life. My old man's Citroen ZX from the same vintage still lives a happy life in 2019 for comparison. The gear change was as vague as stirring fondue, the driving position was awful, and the f*cking thing broke down more times than I can count. It handled well, but everything else about it was horrible.

Wartburg 353 from 1991, one of the last of these communist abominations. Non-existent brakes, vague steering, headlights dimmer than a candle, refinement of a jackhammer. But it was economical (over 40 mpg), quite reliable, and had very comfortable seats, not to mention cavernous boot. So all in all, it had charm.

[M4CK 1]

Mr Tidy said:

I think it was a pool car at the insurance company I worked for in the 1980s.

It was a Y plate 1100cc Escort Popular (so 1982/1983) with vinyl seats, no heated rear screen, no rear wiper and only 1 door mirror (on the driver's side).

As an added bonus there was an amber light that lit up when you tried to accelerate, followed by a red light when you tried to go up a hill!

F*cking hateful thing that we all caned to death - the only good thing about it was it made me appreciate the drive home in my MK2 Granada Ghia.

Worst car I've ever driven was a mk4 escort belonging to my sister. The engine sounded like there was a bag of nails jumping around inside. The steering was non pas and took at least one turn of the steering before the wheels started to turn. The handling, put it this way, I found harder sponges and before you new it the car would be understeering you to the nearest ditch.

[Willy Nilly]

I'd forgotten about the '95 Chevy S10 Blazer I drove when I lived in Ohio. It was awful. The second generation Porsche Cayenne diesel I drove was also poor. Comfy, certainly. Effortless definitely. But terrible use of interior space, lousy driving position totally unsuited to a high car and boat like handling, which may be partially down to the tyres, but it still made the fact it was a high, heavy car abundantly clear and no amount of German electrickery can bend the laws of physics.

[reglard]

Nissan Quahqui 130 BHP petrol hire car, crap on petrol no power unless revved to VTEC popped in poorly made with too many poncy gadgets.

[Berlin Mike]

Actvely dangerous? Mark I VW Polo. The early RHD Polos still had LHD winscreen wipers, I suspect beancounters were too tight to develop RHD wipers. The driver's side wiper left a large wedge of unwiped windscreen and restricted the view terribly. It was bad in the rain but abysmal in falling snow.
It also had a funny lump in the floor so one foot was always higher than the others and made using the pedals odd. Unpleasant and uncomfortable but not actually dangerous.

[matchmaker]

Berlin Mike said:

Actvely dangerous? Mark I VW Polo. The early RHD Polos still had LHD winscreen wipers, I suspect beancounters were too tight to develop RHD wipers. The driver's side wiper left a large wedge of unwiped windscreen and restricted the view terribly. It was bad in the rain but abysmal in falling snow.
It also had a funny lump in the floor so one foot was always higher than the others and made using the pedals odd. Unpleasant and uncomfortable but not actually dangerous.

And non servo brakes. I had a Polo S Coupe. The brakes were the worst I can remember in a car in 40 years. My 1964 Vitesse stopped better!

Edited by matchmaker on Tuesday 26th February 18:26

[GTI16V]

Not cars,but vans- specifically minibuses.

First one was an 'F' reg Renault Traffic, with a spectacularly stty, asthmatic 1.6OHV engine.
Great fun when loaded up with passengers, including some in very heavy wheelchairs.

The second was a N/A diesel Sherpa which moved slightly slower than a glacier and was about as refined as sleeping on a flaming bed of nails.

[matchmaker]

GTI16V said:

Not cars,but vans- specifically minibuses.

First one was an 'F' reg Renault Traffic, with a spectacularly stty, asthmatic 1.6OHV engine.
Great fun when loaded up with passengers, including some in very heavy wheelchairs.

The second was a N/A diesel Sherpa which moved slightly slower than a glacier and was about as refined as sleeping on a flaming bed of nails.

Yes - I drove a Transit minibus at work. 2 litre Pinto, 4 speed gearbox. Slow as fk but still did 18mpg when fully laden.

[sparkyhx]

original Landrover Freelander
steering input...…...wait for it...……..wait for it......lurch in general direction.

[cerb4.5lee]

sparkyhx said:

original Landrover Freelander
steering input...…...wait for it...……..wait for it......lurch in general direction.

I remember when I first drove a V8 Land Rover(70's/80's model) and I nearly wiped a car out on the other side of the road pulling out of a junction! I must have turned the wheel ten times before anything actually happened!!

A lovely sounding engine...but a very rubbish vehicle though(on the road at least).

[MrT8064]

Chevrolet Matiz - I think it only had three cylinders. Dangerously slow pulling on to busy roundabouts. Tiny wheels and narrow, so felt unstable and twitchy. Notchy gearbox. Tiny pedals, to close together. Biscuit tin sized fuel tank... Horrible thing!

[AlasdairB10]

Renault Laguna estate. Handled like a dying whale and made my entire family ill. Thanks Avis Spain for that wonderful experience.

[simoid]

I think the worst car I've driven might've been a new Audi A4 my old man had about 10 years ago. I just didn't like it. Steering and pedal inputs weren't what I expected. I suppose that's quite the first world problem

Obviously I've had the rental holiday Polos and Vitaras and whatever but I expected them to be fairly ste and they exceeded expectations.

[Willy Nilly]

MrT8064 said:

Chevrolet Matiz - I think it only had three cylinders. Dangerously slow pulling on to busy roundabouts.

Don't be ridiculous. I've not driven one, but my guess is that even a very tired example could comfortably out drag a fully loaded 44t artic. There are plenty of vehicles slower than that which need to pull onto roundabouts, the self propelle sprayer I driver, for example.

[Pericoloso]

M4CK 1 said:

Worst car I've ever driven was a mk4 escort belonging to my sister. The engine sounded like there was a bag of nails jumping around inside. The steering was non pas and took at least one turn of the steering before the wheels started to turn.

Agree ,the Valencia engine was like rattling a bag of spanners.

The bit about the steering is just lies.

[M4CK 1]

Pericoloso said:

M4CK 1 said:

Worst car I've ever driven was a mk4 escort belonging to my sister. The engine sounded like there was a bag of nails jumping around inside. The steering was non pas and took at least one turn of the steering before the wheels started to turn.

Agree ,the Valencia engine was like rattling a bag of spanners.

The bit about the steering is just lies.

Why??
My mk1 fiesta I had was so much better. Steering, engine, suspension.
Maybe the steering on the escort was worn but this was horrible. You steered to the right and then had to steer to the left, you were a mess because you could hardly keep up with the change in direction!!

[zarjaz1991]

I suppose another point....I consider myself a 'driving enthusiast' as distinct from a 'car enthusiast', though to some degree it's splitting hairs.

As a result, I love driving and I enjoy the opportunity to drive anything and everything...so even driving awful cars is an experience I enjoy to some degree, since it's another driving experience for me. I'll drive anything as long as it is mechanically safe and legal. And I enjoy cars with no PAS. Odd? Maybe! I don't care....

[derin100]

AC43 said:

jonm01 said:

It does surprise me when you get a hire car that is a latest generation vehicle just how poor they are. Just basic stuff like brakes and steering. It's the 21st century FFS

The worst car I've recently hired was Pug 2008. Fugly thing, horrible steering, weird driving position (either topply-barstool high or somewhere below the scuttle) snatchy throttle, horribly abrupt brakes. Almost impossible to drive smoothly and really hard to place on the road.

It's the first and only car that I've driven that managed to make driving over the Beallach an utter misery.

Edited by AC43 on Monday 25th February 16:29

Yes this!

I had a virtually new one as a hire car last year in France and it was an utterly reprehensible piece of hateful rubbish!

To all of the things you've already mentioned is that they've actually managed to make a petrol engine sound like a diesel! At the filling station after driving it for a few days, I actually picked up the diesel nozzle as a matter of course before I read the 'Unleaded' on the inside of the filler flap!

I've had some bad hire cars over the years but that really seemed to have no redeeming factors at all.


(P.S. Years ago I did nearly buy a Porsche 914 which is probably the worst individual car rather than model of car I've ever driven. But that was probably down to that particular car being a pile of ste.)

[coppice]

zarjaz1991 said:

I suppose another point....I consider myself a 'driving enthusiast' as distinct from a 'car enthusiast', though to some degree it's splitting hairs.

As a result, I love driving and I enjoy the opportunity to drive anything and everything...so even driving awful cars is an experience I enjoy to some degree, since it's another driving experience for me. I'll drive anything as long as it is mechanically safe and legal. And I enjoy cars with no PAS. Odd? Maybe! I don't care....

Hear hear- me too .I still keep a list of every vehicle I've ever driven since passing my test in what now feels like 1895. I enjoy driving anything, anywhere, even if it's just an opportunity to sneer at something awful. But really, when I read about stuff like Qashqais being the worst someone has driven, it may well be true but it does show a very limited experience.

Anyway Transit was mentioned above- I did many long trips driving 12 seat , throbtastic V4 Transits and loved them - great driving position , controls and heating compared to the utterly dire Leyland offering of the time , the J2 was it ? Now that was really bad, if not as hilariously ghastly as a 60s Land Rover LWB - and people now collect these horrors?