Worst car I have ever driven....

[Robmarriott]

1.7 SDI Lupo. No power, no space, didn't handle like a small car because of the weight of the engine, tiny brakes, nasty interior. Awful.

[BiggestVern]

hutchst said:

Not quite a car, but hands up all those that drove a 1970s Leyland Sherpa van and lived to tell the tale.

That made me shudder, even worse than the Sherpa was the J4 that preceded it. The rear looked the same but the engine was between the front seats with a plastic topper to create a third "seat". My Grandad had one. We nicknamed the centre perch "the hot seat" for obvious reasons.

It was hopelessly outclassed by a Bedford CF, a Transit could have come from another planet.

Luckily I only had a brief go having not long passed my test and I vowed never to touch it again.

[anonymous-user]

fido said:

I have had a rental Renault Captur 0.9 for a month. When i switched back to the MX-5 (albeit a BBR fettled one) i kept blipping the throttle and launching off at lights! The difference in throttle response is practically the entire range for modern vehicles. All the turbo trickery required to extract useful torque from a tiny engine totally kills the driving experience. I suspect this is the reason that new budget cars feel so terrible. Otherwise the Captur felt pretty good for an MPV.

I had one for a few days, hated it from the second I pulled away until the second I gave it back and totally agree. I have been driving for over 25 years and have never driven a car that was so hard to drive smoothly. Pulling away smoothly was pretty impossible as off boost there was no power and just as I was about the change into second gear the turbo spooled up and ment a jerky gear change into second.

It says something when my 2007 Megane DCi was nicer to drive and seemed to have much better throttle response. I am actually surprised anyone buys one, I can only assume they never test drove it? Seriously if I was test driving one I would have given it back before we had even left the dealership.

[cerb4.5lee]

Thesprucegoose said:

bmw 320d, seems it is god status on here, but found cheap plastic inside, and a normal driving experience, big let down.

The interior is on the ordinary/uninspiring side, but the engine is the biggest part I would criticise and I'm not much of a fan of the 20d engine. I do think that the 3 series drives nice enough though.

[Pericoloso]

hutchst said:

Not quite a car, but hands up all those that drove a 1970s Leyland Sherpa van and lived to tell the tale.

My BiL changed from a VW bay window camper to a Sherpa camper and claimed the Sherpa was better,still slower than a very slow thing but better......oddly.
This was a long time ago,when they were ferrying around 4 kids,all grown up now.

[bearman68]

Surprised that people are quoting a BMW 320. If it's 'very average', it can't by definition be the worst car ever can it?

I'd support the Sherpa comments - they really were dreadful, and heavy on fuel as well. I reckon mine was responsible for the oil crisis all by itself.
But at least the Sharpa had the excuse it was a working vehicle. the worst car I think I've owned has been a 1986 1.6 NA diesel Fiesta. Dear Gods it was slow. The PSA group really helped Ford out when they collaborated on diesel engines.

Mind you I had an Astra from 1982, and that wasn't very good either.

[Gad-Westy]

Thesprucegoose said:

bmw 320d, seems it is god status on here, but found cheap plastic inside, and a normal driving experience, big let down.

But 'worst car you've ever driven'? If so, you have been blessed my friend!

I don't think I've been subjected to quite as many stinkers as some on here, but a very old MK3 Cavalier sticks in the mind. It was a 1.4 petrol with about 12bhp. And it had a hole in the fuel tank about a quarter of the way up one side. Which meant that it had a range of about 80 miles and stank of petrol. I had to drive that thing 300 miles. F'ing awful it was. I drove a 1.6d version once as well. Dear lord! I'm glad I wasn't an early 90's sales rep.

A Corsa B 1.2 3 speed automatic. It was a minter but still...

A Mk2 Fiesta that would crab down the road. I don't know what had happened to it but something was very, very wrong! Never driven a car that felt so unstable. Petrifying at 20mph.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Sunday 10th March 07:02

[anonymous-user]

Gad-Westy said:

But 'worst car you've ever driven'? If so, you have been blessed my friend!

not worst just biggest let down, and i've had loads of st cars.

i live where there are great driving roads that reward even crap cars like phers favorite worst enemy, vauxhall. the BMW just drove like it was designed for, a derv rep mobile devoid on any fun, but practical in heaps.

Edited by Thesprucegoose on Saturday 9th March 19:49

[TG105]

Defender. There’s a reason they stopped building them.

[So]

Saab 900. Had one as a company car for a bit. I thought it was going to be a cool car, whereas in fact it was horrible to drive.

[giggity]

The Nissan Joke.

Crap cars popular with crap drivers.

[scottygib553]

Dodge Avenger. The interior felt as it had been moulded out of a single piece of plastic, steering wheel included. I had it for a day and called the company feigning that a warning light was on and swapped it for a Toyota Camry.

[Turbotechnic]

Citroen C4 Grand Picasso with auto gearbox. fking awful thing to drive and live with, with poor throttle response, a gearbox that wants to be in sixth gear as soon as possible, numb and vague steering, piss poor interior quality, air suspension on the rear and normal shocks and springs on the front giving it an unbalanced ride of hard rear and soft front, electric handbrake that might work, auto wipers that have a mind of their own and the tailgate feels like it’s going to fall off every time I open it. Apart from that it’s great...

[fido]

Joey Deacon said:

Pulling away smoothly was pretty impossible as off boost there was no power and just as I was about the change into second gear the turbo spooled up and ment a jerky gear change into second.

I found the best way to drive it was to cane it in the first gear and then block change to third, or hold it in second gear and block change to fourth. Which meant you ended up looking like some angry MPV Mum on the way to LIDL or the school run.

[carlove]

I've recently had a Renault captur hire car with a 1.5dci while my astra was broken.

Awful car, uncomfortable, slow, going round corners was really odd, its hard to describe but it was almost tricky to judge where it would go. It was also so unrefined, only thing I've driven that's louder at 70 is a Vauxhall viva.
As others said it was tricky to drive smoothly.

It had heated seats which I thought was a bonus until I switched it on, it only warmed your bum which gave a sensation like you had made a mess.

I did like the LED headlights though.

After two days and quite bad lower back pain I asked for something else, got an Astra 1.4 turbo, better in every way, apart from the headlights of course.

Edited by carlove on Friday 15th March 21:49

[C.A.R.]

+1 for the Captur.

Spotted the eco switch down by the gear lever (which clearly just dulls the fly-by-wire throttle mapping) disabling this helps... a bit. With it enabled slip roads are positively terrifying as the Captur slowly recognises you want to accelerate.

Then there's the boot that doesn't fit a standard fold up child's buggy / stroller

The terribly cramped rear seats

Those hideous bungee cords on the seat backs instead of a map pocket.

I turned the car around and returned it in exchange for ANYTHING having travelled the grand total of 12 miles.

A Vauxhall Mokka comes a close second...

[carlove]

More on the Captur was stupid cruise control settings, so theres a button on the steering wheel that will turn cruise on but a button down by the handbrake to set the speed (this may have been the other way around), a stupid design as you have to look down to see where you're pressing.
The Captur also only had 5 gears, which on a new diesel I thought was crap.
The sound system was crap at well, the touch screen was laggy and hard to use.

I do like the look of the latest Megane, enough that I would consider one as my next car, but if it's as bad as the Captur then it will be off the list.

[SkodaIan]

I've had both the Captur and Megane recently as hire cars.

The Megane is in a different league to the Captur (it seems to have some form of suspension for a start, and the seats are actually comfortable!), but has the same awful stereo and daftly positioned cruise control button. Despite having driven it over 600 miles, I only realised the Megane had cruise control as I was clearing out the rubbish before I gave it back. When it didn't engage with any of the buttons on the steering wheel, I assumed they had done the same as Vauxhall did with the base model Astra a while back where the cruise control and phone buttons are on the steering wheel but don't do anything.

However, the i30 I had the week after the Megane was better in pretty much every way, and the i30 is only fairly average when it comes to cars in that sector. So despite the Megane being more interesting to look at I don't think I'd bother having it on my shopping list if I was looking for a new car.

I don't understand the hate for the Vauxhall Mokka though. Every time I've had one, I've hardly been inspired to buy one as they are pretty dull and average, but they really don't seem that different to an Astra, other than being a bit higher up.

[carlove]

SkodaIan said:

I've had both the Captur and Megane recently as hire cars.

The Megane is in a different league to the Captur (it seems to have some form of suspension for a start, and the seats are actually comfortable!), but has the same awful stereo and daftly positioned cruise control button. Despite having driven it over 600 miles, I only realised the Megane had cruise control as I was clearing out the rubbish before I gave it back. When it didn't engage with any of the buttons on the steering wheel, I assumed they had done the same as Vauxhall did with the base model Astra a while back where the cruise control and phone buttons are on the steering wheel but don't do anything.

However, the i30 I had the week after the Megane was better in pretty much every way, and the i30 is only fairly average when it comes to cars in that sector. So despite the Megane being more interesting to look at I don't think I'd bother having it on my shopping list if I was looking for a new car.

I don't understand the hate for the Vauxhall Mokka though. Every time I've had one, I've hardly been inspired to buy one as they are pretty dull and average, but they really don't seem that different to an Astra, other than being a bit higher up.

Thanks for that, not actively looking at new cars at the moment, but often consider what may come next. The last few weeks I have gone from a Swift Sport, a 318i, a Megane as above and a Seat Leon Cupra, my Astra is 17 plate so will keep it at least until it reaches 3 years old and the warranty expires (hasn't been amazingly reliable, not bad, but not great) .

[sparkyhx]

carlove said:

Thanks for that, not actively looking at new cars at the moment, but often consider what may come next. The last few weeks I have gone from a Swift Sport, a 318i, a Megane as above and a Seat Leon Cupra,

That's an eclectic mix