worst car you ever bought?
Discussion
My recently aquired 230k Saab 900T16 is my 30th car in 17 years on the road. By far the worst that sticks in my mind is a Pug 205 GTi, F reg 1.6 in black. To be fair it had laid up for 4 years and it had no rust on the body whatsoever except the bonnet which was a 'new' panel with that matt black covering. And it was free.
I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about, so oinked the GTE out the garage and got the pug in there. I actually got it running fairly easily.
So I set to in recommissioning it. I had to strip front and rear wipers, even front and rear washer motors to un-seize and make them work. The cam belt was an annoying, slow, cramped job, as was the CV joint cos you had to be soooo careful not to loose all the little rollers. Metal water pipe had a huge hole in it, and that's just stupid design right there.
Then I noticed how everything in the engine bay was always under something else, making so many jobs just take so much longer. I started to get bored.
The last straw came when it wouldn't start for some reason. As soon as took things apart to gain access, or leave it for a day it'd go again.
I got bored and managed to sell it on. The build quality compared to say, the wife's similarly aged Nova was soo bad and flimsy it was unreal.
I've had two Nissan Sunnys, one was my first car. Overheated for fun, made the first few years of driving really depressing as I'd always watch the temp. gauge like a hawk. No 'mechanic' could see to fix it for more than a few weeks.
Then I switched to Ford then Vauxhall for the last 14 years with a couple of Saabs and I've not had a lemon since.
I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about, so oinked the GTE out the garage and got the pug in there. I actually got it running fairly easily.
So I set to in recommissioning it. I had to strip front and rear wipers, even front and rear washer motors to un-seize and make them work. The cam belt was an annoying, slow, cramped job, as was the CV joint cos you had to be soooo careful not to loose all the little rollers. Metal water pipe had a huge hole in it, and that's just stupid design right there.
Then I noticed how everything in the engine bay was always under something else, making so many jobs just take so much longer. I started to get bored.
The last straw came when it wouldn't start for some reason. As soon as took things apart to gain access, or leave it for a day it'd go again.
I got bored and managed to sell it on. The build quality compared to say, the wife's similarly aged Nova was soo bad and flimsy it was unreal.
I've had two Nissan Sunnys, one was my first car. Overheated for fun, made the first few years of driving really depressing as I'd always watch the temp. gauge like a hawk. No 'mechanic' could see to fix it for more than a few weeks.
Then I switched to Ford then Vauxhall for the last 14 years with a couple of Saabs and I've not had a lemon since.
All that jazz said:
macp said:
I owned a Mk2 GTi 8valve for over 7yrs and it never once let me down.To be honest I have owned several VAG diesel & petrol and I cant say any of them gave me much in the way of trouble.One or two were boring granted but still reliable.
Worst cars unfortunately were an Alfa 156 and a 155 the only cars I remember in my car history that ever gave me trouble.I still loved them both though.Oh and an Opel Corsa which actually I hated with a passion and refused to start often.
So a Nova then?Worst cars unfortunately were an Alfa 156 and a 155 the only cars I remember in my car history that ever gave me trouble.I still loved them both though.Oh and an Opel Corsa which actually I hated with a passion and refused to start often.
Edited by macp on Friday 23 August 23:26
Must have had 30+ cars, private and company, in 40 years of driving. For me at the end of the day it's dependability that counts. The cars I wanted to love are the ones that let me down. 1978 Mini, could not guarantee it would start in winter. 1986 Fiat Punto, carb problems never fixed so always stalling in traffic. 2007 Mini One has cost me £3000 in repairs in last 12 months. There is always a fault on this car.
The ones I wanted to hate I ended up having a grudging respect for, both long term hire cars over which I had no choice. 1974 Beetle, horrid to drive, but you just knew it would never fail you. Then a 1976 Morris Marina 1.3 in beige; not cool for a student! I thrashed this car mercilessly, used low grade fuel, used it to haul my mates all over the country in all weather conditions. Never missed a beat and always delivered 33-34mpg.
The ones I wanted to hate I ended up having a grudging respect for, both long term hire cars over which I had no choice. 1974 Beetle, horrid to drive, but you just knew it would never fail you. Then a 1976 Morris Marina 1.3 in beige; not cool for a student! I thrashed this car mercilessly, used low grade fuel, used it to haul my mates all over the country in all weather conditions. Never missed a beat and always delivered 33-34mpg.
ChasW said:
Then a 1976 Morris Marina 1.3 in beige; not cool for a student! I thrashed this car mercilessly, used low grade fuel, used it to haul my mates all over the country in all weather conditions. Never missed a beat and always delivered 33-34mpg.
I had a 1978 Marina 1.3 with lovely blue velour seats.I too had massive respect for it as it also never once let me down.I noticed it sputtering once so whipped out the plugs which had probably been there for years,quick wire brush and she was perfect again.Gosh. I thought I'd be the only one with anything positive to say about a Marina. Whilst on this car a fellow student was stopped in a Marina van on the M62 around the same period. Police claimed he was doing c90mph. He wrote to BL checking the specs for the vehicle. They wrote back saying that was way above the van's top speed. He got off when it went to court.
My worst car also happened to be my cheapest and cost me the least. 1.4 k reg escort with a dodgy head gasket, bought it for 130pnd to get me by till I found something else. Was truly awfull in every way, crap handling, crap build quality. Was red so spoiled went pink as did wing mirrors(isn't cool when ur 17 in school) had to carry couple gallons of water with me everywhere as would overheat and loose all its water every twenty mins of driving. Top speed of 45 miles an hour and would have to go down to first gear to climb hills. Had it 6 months and spend nothin but the money to buy it so cheap motoring. Lol
My worst was one of the original Series 1 RS Turbo Escorts, had one of the later ones that was written off and bought the Series 1. Over a period of about a year the longest it was on the road was a fortnight. After 3 engine failures, eventually sold it as a non-runner and someone from Ipswich towed it back there (about 90 miles) with a mk2 Fiesta Unpopular plus!! 
Edited by GVK on Saturday 24th August 19:12
The Escort has a troublesome looking number plate as well. LOF
My dads worst car was a Citroen BX 19 RD - had HUF as the last 3 letters on the number plate. 'HUF' - the noise you make when it breaks down again.
Something pretty bad I drove for a long time (didn't belong to me) was a 2.7 LTI Fairway (i.e. a london cab) - It did some amazing things like being able to turn in such tight spaces, the novelty of that never wore off. The suicide doors were great. It was knocking on for 400,000 miles and reliability was becoming a bit of an issue. An MOT tester noticed the body was more-or-less detached from the chassis so I had to weld in about 4-square-foot of new metal, for a long time it wouldn't start quite often until I found the wiring fault. Worst of all though... it must have the worst performing 2.7 litre engine of any vehicle. I found myself one day with a passenger in the back crawling up Westerham hill at something like 5 to 10 miles per hour, foot flat to the floor. We could have been overtaken by a bicycle. I suppose there aren't really any massive hills in central London.
My dads worst car was a Citroen BX 19 RD - had HUF as the last 3 letters on the number plate. 'HUF' - the noise you make when it breaks down again.
Something pretty bad I drove for a long time (didn't belong to me) was a 2.7 LTI Fairway (i.e. a london cab) - It did some amazing things like being able to turn in such tight spaces, the novelty of that never wore off. The suicide doors were great. It was knocking on for 400,000 miles and reliability was becoming a bit of an issue. An MOT tester noticed the body was more-or-less detached from the chassis so I had to weld in about 4-square-foot of new metal, for a long time it wouldn't start quite often until I found the wiring fault. Worst of all though... it must have the worst performing 2.7 litre engine of any vehicle. I found myself one day with a passenger in the back crawling up Westerham hill at something like 5 to 10 miles per hour, foot flat to the floor. We could have been overtaken by a bicycle. I suppose there aren't really any massive hills in central London.
Probably the worst by any standard measure was a D reg Fiesta Popular with a 950cc engine and 135 section tyres. However it only cost me £50 at the time and I really liked it, thrashed it to work and back (60 mile round trip) every day for a year before I got another car and my wife took over the Fiesta and quite regularly did long trips in it.
There is something so enjoyable about having to extract every last iota of performance from an underpowered car to keep up a half decent speed.
There is something so enjoyable about having to extract every last iota of performance from an underpowered car to keep up a half decent speed.
79 Mustang with the 2.3 litre turbo pinto engine. Had metric wheels which needed expensive TRX tyres. The turbo sucked through the carb on this model, had massive lag and the previous owner had crimped the wastegate pipe which led to a big ramp of power after 3K rpm. A classic American piece of s
t....was capable of big burnouts though..
t....was capable of big burnouts though..79 Mustang with the 2.3 litre turbo pinto engine. Had metric wheels which needed expensive TRX tyres. The turbo sucked through the carb on this model, had massive lag and the previous owner had crimped the wastegate pipe which led to a big ramp of power after 3K rpm. A classic American piece of st....was capable of big burnouts though..
t....was capable of big burnouts though..22rgt B Squadron said:
79 Mustang with the 2.3 litre turbo pinto engine. Had metric wheels which needed expensive TRX tyres. The turbo sucked through the carb on this model, had massive lag and the previous owner had crimped the wastegate pipe which led to a big ramp of power after 3K rpm. A classic American piece of st....was capable of big burnouts though..
Turbo and carbs don't really go well together. MG did it as well. All the old MG turbos were carburettor setup. Total rubbish. t....was capable of big burnouts though..deltashad said:
Beige Chavalier 1.6L 1982.
Swapped for a KMX125 motorbike. Really, really, really st car. Worse than my 190e which was really, really st.
Going on your rating it had one extra, "really". Swapped for a KMX125 motorbike. Really, really, really s
t car. Worse than my 190e which was really, really st.I'll be looking out for this new rating system when I'm looking for another car. Thanks for the tip.
skelters said:
deltashad said:
Beige Chavalier 1.6L 1982.
Swapped for a KMX125 motorbike. Really, really, really st car. Worse than my 190e which was really, really st.
Going on your rating it had one extra, "really". Swapped for a KMX125 motorbike. Really, really, really s
t car. Worse than my 190e which was really, really st.I'll be looking out for this new rating system when I'm looking for another car. Thanks for the tip.
My worst purchase was a 2006 Alfa Romeo 159. It had a 2.4 diesel engine, and it never worked properly - there was a catalogue of problems with the exhaust system, turbo, DMF, and electrical system - all causing random partial and total power loss, which made it dangerous to drive. I'll never forget the car limiting me to 25 mph on the M40 during rush hour. . It wasn't great at starting, either. It was under warranty, but the dealer never properly got on top of the problems, and it was sold before the warranty expired.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff