Cars you have bought but regretted?

Cars you have bought but regretted?

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TheAngryDog

Original Poster:

12,394 posts

208 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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I've only ever really regretted buying 3 cars out of the ~30 I have owned in 15 years;

1) Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth 4x4. Bought with the utmost stupidity. Everything was telling me to walk away from this car but I still bought it. Was a big pile of st and I ended up breaking it for spares.

2) Subaru Impreza Turbo WRX STi v1. Bought via PH. Worst car I have ever owned. Scaff bars for suspension, misfires, gearbox issues, over heating issues. This was all within 2 weeks. Sold the car after 4 weeks taking an £800 loss on it.

3) BMW M5. My current car. At first it was great, but over my ownership it has thrown up a few issues, with the latest one being one that I either live with, or throw money at, which I arent really prepared to do either of, so after deciding to keep it, I've now decided it has to go. What I will replace it with I do not know, as there is very little this side of £8k that does everything an M5 does. I could spend £4k on it and it be no closer to how I want it to be.

So thats my 3, what about yours?

ortontom

581 posts

260 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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E60 M5 - crock of shi*te, sold mine making a profit though. Bought a 911 simples...

mygoldfishbowl

3,691 posts

142 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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2009 Astra 1.9 CDTI Estate. Worst car I've ever owned, & my first car was a Hillman Avenger!

Pebbles167

3,417 posts

151 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Jaguar X Type 3.0 sport - Completely underwhelming in every way. Then it shat its self and cost me a fortune.

BrewsterBear

1,503 posts

191 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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996 C4S. I'd had a couple of air-cooled 911s and thought this would be a great way of driving my, then, 90 mile round trip commute and in a car I love instead of a snotter to keep miles off the 993.

Imagine my disappointment when about 20 minutes into the drive home it hit home that it simply wasn't a 911 at all. I tried for 6 months to think of it even remotely fondly, but gave up and sold it on.

SEE YA

3,522 posts

244 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Golf syncro could not sell it for two years. It just sat in my garage up for sale.

I drove it for while a good car but to sell on a right pain.



Edited by SEE YA on Wednesday 24th September 08:39

Chris Type R

8,018 posts

248 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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My current car, an Alfa GT 3.2V6. When it works well, it's a joy. But for the other 98% of the time, there always seems to be stuff that needs fixing - generally chocolate suspension bits.

Almost certainly the last Alfa I'll buy.

My mileage is so low now that I can't justify changing it for anything else.

lilwashu

245 posts

164 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Audi TTS. Still not sure how I ended up with it.

Fox-

13,228 posts

245 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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E92 335i. Couldnt afford an F10 5 Series. Hated the E60. Thought the 335i was the answer. It wasn't - sold it after 3 months, went back to an E39 for 3 years then tried again with an F10 which I like far more.

IanCress

4,409 posts

165 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Only one. We bought a Seat Arosa 1.0, thinking it was the cheapest possible way of getting to work, and would be useful as a shopping car. Utter horrible thing it was, and it only did low 30's mpg as you had to drive everywhere with your foot on the floor just to keep up with traffic.

Sold it and got an old 1.6 Focus instead, which was better in every way.

awooga

358 posts

133 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Bought an XR3i about 20 years ago which needed suspension work (broken mcpherson strut). Came with upgraded replacements, but obviously meant I couldn't drive the car until the work could be carried out, although the engine did start and did run fine.

Did the work. Car ran terribly. Gutless, choked up, overheating, the struts were too hard and the car sat too high, electrics failed. Scrapped it!

The surprising one for regret was my Chimaera. Think it's one of those meet your heroes things. I've been after one for about 10 years, drove a few. I'm used to having to fix a few things on my cars, but the TVR was appalling. 1 of 4 trips in it resulted in something failing along the way. It ran perfectly when I bought it, bar the misfire / lean running issue, but since then the remote locking has given up, the stepper motor needs cleaned every week to make it idle properly, it's overheated and cooked the starter motor most visits to the petrol station, the roof has leaked, the serpentine belt had to be replaced, the intermittent wiper struggles. On top of that, the handling is good and the steering and brakes sublime, but it's just such a handful in the wet (wheel spins in 3rd, even with decent tyres) that you drive it like a granny in the damp.

Still, it sounds absolutely awesome, looks great and drives well in the dry. But I'm still disillusioned and will be replacing it with an Elise.

parabolica

6,703 posts

183 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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7 cars in 13 years of driving; not regretted any of them. I always go into potential ownership with my eyes open regarding bork cost; if you can't stomach the potential repair costs then trust your gut and keep looking.

Dr Interceptor

7,743 posts

195 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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2002 Mercedes CLK320, first of the C209 shape.

Bought it in 2007 with 60k on the clock - was a lovely car. Except it had an underlying ECU fault that meant if you gunned it, the car decided that five cylinders was preferable to six.

Ended up trading it in after five months.

Mark Benson

7,498 posts

268 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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E39 540i. On paper (and in the bargain barge thread) it's the MX5 of the barge world, everyone asks what barge to buy and like clockwork there'll be more E39 suggestions than any other.

In reality it was slow (I know it's big, and an auto, but really....) and unreliable - had just about every age related issue going, from corroded brake lines, failing ABS (resulting in a massive tailslide on the A34 one night as one rear wheel locked up while slowing for a slip road), MAF issue, Lambda issues, bearings, suspension.... All in the 9 months I owned it.

I'm sure a good one is a decent steer if you can live with the relatively low performance to mpg ratio, but a tired one is a very expensive proposition indeed.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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2002 Merc R230 SL500.

Poor quality and poor design meant that it would go wrong continually, each time costing an utter fortune.

£18k in servicing and repairs in 51,000 miles.

Ahm oot!

chri5 j t

6 posts

115 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Clio 192, really enjoyed the car but in the 10 months I owned from new it went back to the dealers 12 times, silly things but none the less became tired of doing so and it went.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Audi S4 Avant - V8 Manual.
I had sold the 535d sport touring and the M3 CSL and wanted a car that did it all.
I was looking at RS4's and then this came up, 2 years old with 13k miles on it for £22k when everything else was nearer £30k at dealers or £26k private.
I thought people were joking about the awkward pedal heights, they were't.
I thought people were joking about the short gear ratios, they weren't.
I thought people were definitely joking when they said the engine was in front of the axle, they weren't.
I thought people were joking when they said it under steered so badly that you will never feel the Quattro anyway, they weren't.
I thought people were joking when they said the manual does 3500rpm at 80mph and therefore only 18mpg when cruising, they weren't.

Terrible, terrible car.
Swapped for a 335i sport touring, which although was a little bit dull being forced induction, it trounced the S4.



Mercedes E350cdi estate.
After the 335i I had 2 Merc estates, and loved them.
Then got an F11 5 series touring and found it soft, if going soft may as well have a Merc?
So swapped for the new E350cdi estate. Knew on the 150 mile drive home I didn't like it.
Hard interior plastics.
Firm ride without being sporty.
Noisy cabin.
Steering wheel and pedal combination that means you can't get the steering wheel in a comfy position and see the cluster.
Seat doesn't go low enough to be comfy.
Horrible and dangerous parameter steering. (Whoever thought non linear steering is a good idea needs to get out the car industry quick!)
Not a good car imho, uncomfortable after more than an hour and just a bit of a pig all round.



Out of 40 odd cars in the last 17 years I think they are the only 'regrets', obviously some cars I have thought were not great, mainly when I was trying to find and Audi I liked and then realised it was FWD on them was the problem, but only two massive 'regrets' the two above.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Jaguar S-Type diesel. Slow, unreliable, expensive to get anything fixed due to complexity and stty packaging and economy no better than the petrol. If the XF is anything like that I pity people trying to run one more than 3 years old and/or over 100k miles.

Mabbs9

1,072 posts

217 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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E91 320D, it did most things quite badly but also had some major issues needing 5months in 18 at the dealer to resolve.

Chevette 2300HS, took a bit of effort keeping the carbs balanced which was a hassle for a daily driver.

TurboHatchback

4,151 posts

152 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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None, they've all been great. I perhaps regret spending so much on insurance in my early 20s but the cars themselves were all brilliant.