A car you instantly regretted buying
Discussion
tankplanker said:
I have two, for very different reasons, the first for the predictable poor build quality, the second because of what I could have had instead.
Peugeot 307 DTurbo, brought on the back of having a 306 Dturbo for a weekend (fab car, dubious build quality) and a need to downsize car expenses as we'd just had twins and the wife was giving up work for a few years. Not only did the 307 feel very slow compared to the S3 it replaced (I was expecting that), it felt heavy and very slow compared to the 306. The 307 also spent more time in the garage than it did on the drive, the ECU packed up, 10 weeks for a replacement, carpets were too short and had to be replaced wholesale, the entire electric wiring membrane had to be replaced as the door locks stopped working, another 10 weeks, the dash stopped working, 6 weeks. It didn't even approach the 50mpg that Peugeot had promised, so it went back to Peugeot after 12 months of ownership after a lot of moaning at the company car team.
The other car was a gen 1 Audi S3, not a bad car, brought at launch. However I had the oppounity to buy a 22B at the press day of the Motorshow and turned it down as I thought the interior was better and that the S3 would be better as a daily. (both are correct but not the point) I live with the daily knightmare of this decision and its not one I think I will ever get over.
Where did you bring them from?Peugeot 307 DTurbo, brought on the back of having a 306 Dturbo for a weekend (fab car, dubious build quality) and a need to downsize car expenses as we'd just had twins and the wife was giving up work for a few years. Not only did the 307 feel very slow compared to the S3 it replaced (I was expecting that), it felt heavy and very slow compared to the 306. The 307 also spent more time in the garage than it did on the drive, the ECU packed up, 10 weeks for a replacement, carpets were too short and had to be replaced wholesale, the entire electric wiring membrane had to be replaced as the door locks stopped working, another 10 weeks, the dash stopped working, 6 weeks. It didn't even approach the 50mpg that Peugeot had promised, so it went back to Peugeot after 12 months of ownership after a lot of moaning at the company car team.
The other car was a gen 1 Audi S3, not a bad car, brought at launch. However I had the oppounity to buy a 22B at the press day of the Motorshow and turned it down as I thought the interior was better and that the S3 would be better as a daily. (both are correct but not the point) I live with the daily knightmare of this decision and its not one I think I will ever get over.
Rangeroverover said:
Lancia Monte Carlo Mk 2, horrible, slow, bad handling, pedals too close together, roof leaked, timing was always out.
I parked it in Brixton one day and accidentally left the spare key in the door....got a phone call from the police a few hours later.........someone has locked your car and handed the key in to us, would you come along and collect it please.......truly a cursed machine.........I still like the look of it but horrible thing to own
That's brilliant.I parked it in Brixton one day and accidentally left the spare key in the door....got a phone call from the police a few hours later.........someone has locked your car and handed the key in to us, would you come along and collect it please.......truly a cursed machine.........I still like the look of it but horrible thing to own
Even thieves didn't trust it!
My mate bought a Brera, found the spec he wanted at a good price so thought f
k it and sent his dad to go pick it up without even seeing the car or having ever test driven one. The car itself was actually really nice and ran great. Unfortunately Ben is quite a big lad (about 6'6' and big frame) and there is a surprisingly small amount of headroom clearance in one of those things. Even slumped in the drivers seat his head still touched the headlining. It was hilarious. He sold it for a loss a week later.
k it and sent his dad to go pick it up without even seeing the car or having ever test driven one. The car itself was actually really nice and ran great. Unfortunately Ben is quite a big lad (about 6'6' and big frame) and there is a surprisingly small amount of headroom clearance in one of those things. Even slumped in the drivers seat his head still touched the headlining. It was hilarious. He sold it for a loss a week later.jakesmith said:
VW Tiguan, bought as a family car, kept for 6 weeks then sold for £500 loss which I was very happy with, the interior qulity was really poor and it handled horrendously, turbo lag was terrible, replaced it with an Evoque which is in another planet in terms of reliability
Just ordered one on a 2-year lease. We've been joking about how it's the only car on the list we haven't test-driven (disinterested Business Manager at local stealership so ordered from the outfit I originally saw the deal) but it's a VW so it can't possibly be bad . . . . Oops!Best not show Mrs PB this as she wanted us to go the extra £150 a month to get into an Evoque!
Gandahar said:
Bought a 991 GT3, filled it with gasoline and trimmed my 'tache and went out for a drive in the canyons. Had no torque whatsoever. Got out dragged by a Plymouth Valiant being chased by a Peterbilt tanker. Shucks.
Ronin.
I sincerely hope between page 2 and page 8 you have been suitably ridiculed for this. Ronin.
An LPG converted Omega MV6 - for £1100 - half the cost of the LPG conversion at the time.
Bought unseen on ebay, collected at night. Owner didn't even invite me into his house to sort the paperwork, it was done on the driveway.
Mums comment when I got it home "...that looks like trouble..." - Mums just know things.
I've never driven an auto that could stall - to this day I don't know what was wrong with it.
To be fair, while it was working, it was a lovely thing in its way - massive, comfortable and at the time, pretty quick. Sounded alright as well.
Within the first week it displayed its habit for firing spark plug no. 6 out of the block, shattering the HT Lead heads with it (first time was 3am on the M5 somewhere near Bristol). The rear plugs on an MV6 appear to need the engine to be removed in order to gain access..
I got through 5 spark plugs and 3 HT leads in three weeks, then the oil separator went bag, white smoke from the exhaust left me at the side of the road near Peterborough in my first week of a new job. I went into Sycamore BMW that weekend and bought a 320d - which turned out to be one of the best cars I've ever owned.
The owner after me would dispute that, poor chap, he had horrendous luck with it.
The Omega was sold to someone on the Omega Owners Forum (yes, it's a thing) - as a non runner, for exactly half what I had paid. The sodding thing started first time and he drove it 250 miles home without a single issue.
Bought unseen on ebay, collected at night. Owner didn't even invite me into his house to sort the paperwork, it was done on the driveway.
Mums comment when I got it home "...that looks like trouble..." - Mums just know things.
I've never driven an auto that could stall - to this day I don't know what was wrong with it.
To be fair, while it was working, it was a lovely thing in its way - massive, comfortable and at the time, pretty quick. Sounded alright as well.
Within the first week it displayed its habit for firing spark plug no. 6 out of the block, shattering the HT Lead heads with it (first time was 3am on the M5 somewhere near Bristol). The rear plugs on an MV6 appear to need the engine to be removed in order to gain access..
I got through 5 spark plugs and 3 HT leads in three weeks, then the oil separator went bag, white smoke from the exhaust left me at the side of the road near Peterborough in my first week of a new job. I went into Sycamore BMW that weekend and bought a 320d - which turned out to be one of the best cars I've ever owned.
The owner after me would dispute that, poor chap, he had horrendous luck with it.
The Omega was sold to someone on the Omega Owners Forum (yes, it's a thing) - as a non runner, for exactly half what I had paid. The sodding thing started first time and he drove it 250 miles home without a single issue.
Our first Eunos V-Spec.
We had the equity from our first house burning a hole in our pocket but didn't want to spend too much of it. After missing out on loads of good examples on eBay because we were being so tight, we finally 'won' the bidding on one that had a shonky bodykit and yellow aftermarket alloys.
This was '04, we were new to eBay and, as such, we were convinced we couldn't back out despite the obvious shonkiness of this car.
Within a week I'd managed to lock myself in it so we took it to a 'specialist' in the centre of Brum. They had a mint example in and thought ours was brilliant so we did a deal.
Thankfully that one provided us with a couple of years of fun and reliability.
We had the equity from our first house burning a hole in our pocket but didn't want to spend too much of it. After missing out on loads of good examples on eBay because we were being so tight, we finally 'won' the bidding on one that had a shonky bodykit and yellow aftermarket alloys.
This was '04, we were new to eBay and, as such, we were convinced we couldn't back out despite the obvious shonkiness of this car.
Within a week I'd managed to lock myself in it so we took it to a 'specialist' in the centre of Brum. They had a mint example in and thought ours was brilliant so we did a deal.
Thankfully that one provided us with a couple of years of fun and reliability.
Another vote for the P38 Rangie. It was a 2 owner low mileage 4.6 HSE, and I paid top money for what it was. It drove fine on the 150 mile trip home, and I felt happy. A week later an air bag in the suspension went. Then the electrical gremlins started. The first gagrage said I should scrap it as the BeCM unit had gone haywire, and it would never drive again. I did get that sorted, having it trailored over to a specialist in BECMs. Shortly afterwards the same fault, another fix, then the immobiliser went. Then the MAF sensor went (£lots)- then the locking system started to play up. Managed to offload it for less than half what I paid for it- the damn thing had been undrivable for most of my 1 year ownership...
Cars are love hate.
My first two - both mk1 Clio's were as much fun as they were brittle.
1.4 blew the engine having already gone through coil amplifier and a number of other electrical bits.
1.8, unbeknownst to me when I bought it ran on 3 cylinders for a while as a clip came off the injector so it wasn't fueling. Then the clutch broke - yes broke, not wore out, it actually broke and stopped the engine turning over. Then the fuel pump packed up after I ran out of petrol and they were rare and hard to fix. So it sat on my drive for a year.
MR2 Turbo was utterly bullet proof but sadly it wasn't utterly over steer proof or kerb proof, grass bank proof nor metal fence proof.
I got given an Astra. It was cack.
E46 330 CI Sport Vert - love it to bits, which it invariably always needs. New drop links, ARB bushes, control arm bushes, wishbone, thermostat, 2 rocker cover gaskets, air intake pipe and picking up a new steering joint to fit Saturday.
the Clio's are the only ones that ever needed the RAC to come and get me. the MR2 had a worn clutch that managed 6 months before I caved and got it replaced. Just before the flywheel got scored.
My first two - both mk1 Clio's were as much fun as they were brittle.
1.4 blew the engine having already gone through coil amplifier and a number of other electrical bits.
1.8, unbeknownst to me when I bought it ran on 3 cylinders for a while as a clip came off the injector so it wasn't fueling. Then the clutch broke - yes broke, not wore out, it actually broke and stopped the engine turning over. Then the fuel pump packed up after I ran out of petrol and they were rare and hard to fix. So it sat on my drive for a year.
MR2 Turbo was utterly bullet proof but sadly it wasn't utterly over steer proof or kerb proof, grass bank proof nor metal fence proof.
I got given an Astra. It was cack.
E46 330 CI Sport Vert - love it to bits, which it invariably always needs. New drop links, ARB bushes, control arm bushes, wishbone, thermostat, 2 rocker cover gaskets, air intake pipe and picking up a new steering joint to fit Saturday.
the Clio's are the only ones that ever needed the RAC to come and get me. the MR2 had a worn clutch that managed 6 months before I caved and got it replaced. Just before the flywheel got scored.
Two, and the lesson is about purchasing rather than the car:
1st e39 525d tourer - bought from the dodgiest salvage merchant somewhere near Gatwick airport. Weird place, amazing house in the countryside with hundreds of crashed cars dotted amongst the immaculate croquet lawns. Needed an estate pronto, only 44k although history was limited. Got a flight from Manchester and arrived at 9pm, so no real chance of not buying it and getting home that evening. Had previously had an e39 that went on and on and on and regretted selling. This one was a complete dog, should have realised something was up when I set off down the country lane and the thing barely stopped at the 4th attempt of shoving the big pedal through the floor.
In the cold light of day the boot repairs had been badly bodged and the interior trim no longer fitted. Then the turbo seals went on the motorway, burnt all the oil and the engine seized. My local indy looked at it and found that the turbo was shagged and had been badly repaired as well. Part ex'ed it soon after. Huge financial loss.
2nd e30 325i cabriolet - Dealer was so dodgy he'd moved premises and changed his (own) name between deposit and collection. Made it to the nearest petrol station before it became clear that the dog had to go back
1st e39 525d tourer - bought from the dodgiest salvage merchant somewhere near Gatwick airport. Weird place, amazing house in the countryside with hundreds of crashed cars dotted amongst the immaculate croquet lawns. Needed an estate pronto, only 44k although history was limited. Got a flight from Manchester and arrived at 9pm, so no real chance of not buying it and getting home that evening. Had previously had an e39 that went on and on and on and regretted selling. This one was a complete dog, should have realised something was up when I set off down the country lane and the thing barely stopped at the 4th attempt of shoving the big pedal through the floor.
In the cold light of day the boot repairs had been badly bodged and the interior trim no longer fitted. Then the turbo seals went on the motorway, burnt all the oil and the engine seized. My local indy looked at it and found that the turbo was shagged and had been badly repaired as well. Part ex'ed it soon after. Huge financial loss.
2nd e30 325i cabriolet - Dealer was so dodgy he'd moved premises and changed his (own) name between deposit and collection. Made it to the nearest petrol station before it became clear that the dog had to go back
Mr Tidy said:
GroundEffect said:
Instantly - Clio 172 Cup
Rattly, bad handling shocker of a car that wasn't even entertaining to make up for its French-ness. Sold it to replace my Integra Type R DC2 as it was cheaper to run...but it didn't come close to holding a candle to it in any sense.
After a few months - BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Si.
A nice car, very refined and very well put together but the ride was far too stiff and the engine didn't really have enough 'fizz' for me despite being smooth, powerful and sounding nice. The worst of all though was the handling was held back by lack of LSD, the thing tramlined terribly and worst of all, every time the sun came out I wanted to put the roof down....oh, wait.
Sold it after 6 months for a Z4M Roadster and never looked back
Surprised you prefer the M roadster to the Si Coupe given the relatively "floppy" nature of the Roadster shell, but each to their own!Rattly, bad handling shocker of a car that wasn't even entertaining to make up for its French-ness. Sold it to replace my Integra Type R DC2 as it was cheaper to run...but it didn't come close to holding a candle to it in any sense.
After a few months - BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Si.
A nice car, very refined and very well put together but the ride was far too stiff and the engine didn't really have enough 'fizz' for me despite being smooth, powerful and sounding nice. The worst of all though was the handling was held back by lack of LSD, the thing tramlined terribly and worst of all, every time the sun came out I wanted to put the roof down....oh, wait.
Sold it after 6 months for a Z4M Roadster and never looked back
Biased maybe though as I bought a Z4C last year, and yes it DID tramline but I recently had the bushes on the lower TCAs replaced and it is fine now so perhaps yours needed some TLC.Mmaybe a swap to non-RFTS would have helped
I'm not disappointed with the "fizz" from the N52 engine, and perhaps a Quaife LSD from Birds may have helped you use it more effectively, but it looks like you were never going to gel with that car anyway.
I have had the same sort of conundrum with my E92 335i to E92 M3 -> the 335i a very competent car; very fast, practical, economical and great sounding. It just didn't have anywhere near the drama of the M3. And the S65 from 5000-8400rpm
I'm just not built for the more 'sensible' choices in the range...
Nothing that I have instantly regretted, though I suspect the dirt cheap Alfa 156 wagon I was going to buy may well have ticked that box!
But a car I did eventually regret buying and wasn't at all bothered to see it go was a Ford Focus CL 1.4.
Not really the cars fault, more my lack of research the previous owner being a bit light with the truth.
He did mention it'd had a scrape and he showed me where. He was an army lad and said he'd turned a bit too early, graunching down the side of a bollard in the process. Big scuff and dent down the drivers door. I got this repaired not long after and thought nothing of it.
But I could never ever get rid of the vibration at motorway speed and the headlamps rattled so much you could see the beam flickering on the ground in front of you. When doing my own work under the bonnet, things just didn't seem to be right. Some things looked brand new, others looked worn out and didn't fit right or screw in tightly. It'd clearly been in more than a scrape and he'd gotten the more major bits fixed on the side without anyones knowledge. His dad had a beautifully done MX-5 with a turbo conversion though...proper Max Power stuff.
This was added to the fact the 1.4 liter engine only had 71 HP and was piss weak, even if you thrashed it. It still handled well though and because it was the CL model, it actually had softer suspension than the more common and more taughtly sprung LX and Zetec models. So it was actually a bit of comfy cruiser once you got it up to speed.
But I just regretted having it in the end, especially as, in retrospect, I think I paid way over the odds for it. Happily a young lad not too dissimilar to myself turned up to have a look at it. Bought it without even getting in it!!! I hope it served him well.
But a car I did eventually regret buying and wasn't at all bothered to see it go was a Ford Focus CL 1.4.
Not really the cars fault, more my lack of research the previous owner being a bit light with the truth.
He did mention it'd had a scrape and he showed me where. He was an army lad and said he'd turned a bit too early, graunching down the side of a bollard in the process. Big scuff and dent down the drivers door. I got this repaired not long after and thought nothing of it.
But I could never ever get rid of the vibration at motorway speed and the headlamps rattled so much you could see the beam flickering on the ground in front of you. When doing my own work under the bonnet, things just didn't seem to be right. Some things looked brand new, others looked worn out and didn't fit right or screw in tightly. It'd clearly been in more than a scrape and he'd gotten the more major bits fixed on the side without anyones knowledge. His dad had a beautifully done MX-5 with a turbo conversion though...proper Max Power stuff.
This was added to the fact the 1.4 liter engine only had 71 HP and was piss weak, even if you thrashed it. It still handled well though and because it was the CL model, it actually had softer suspension than the more common and more taughtly sprung LX and Zetec models. So it was actually a bit of comfy cruiser once you got it up to speed.
But I just regretted having it in the end, especially as, in retrospect, I think I paid way over the odds for it. Happily a young lad not too dissimilar to myself turned up to have a look at it. Bought it without even getting in it!!! I hope it served him well.
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Wednesday 29th July 16:10
Ali_T said:
Alfa 33 Permanent 4. When I heard it was an ex lease car and the RAC report turned up filler on half the panels, I should have walked away. But they were rare, I was determined to own one and I stupidly thought, "what could go wrong?". 2 hours later, stranded on the M1 at 10pm on my way back from London to Edinburgh having bought it, that question was answered...
My ex-housemate decided he needed one of these. I think he was taken in by the longest name in history which, if I recall, was 'Alfa Romeo 33s Cloverleaf 16v permanent 4'. He bought it home and took us out for a spin in it. Within 5 miles there was smoke coming up through the gear lever gaiter. This was the power steering pump leaking onto the downpipe so he cut the belt off and drove it for the next few weeks with the worlds heaviest steering. We also noticed that whenever he pulled away there was this almighty clonking noise. An alfa specialist said it was the 4WD system and said he had no idea how to fix it and it was rubbish. S/H parts were like hens teeth so he never fixed it and it clonked around until the day he got rid of it.
So I second your choice on behalf of my mate Rob....
Ben
GroundEffect said:
Mr Tidy said:
GroundEffect said:
Instantly - Clio 172 Cup
Rattly, bad handling shocker of a car that wasn't even entertaining to make up for its French-ness. Sold it to replace my Integra Type R DC2 as it was cheaper to run...but it didn't come close to holding a candle to it in any sense.
After a few months - BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Si.
A nice car, very refined and very well put together but the ride was far too stiff and the engine didn't really have enough 'fizz' for me despite being smooth, powerful and sounding nice. The worst of all though was the handling was held back by lack of LSD, the thing tramlined terribly and worst of all, every time the sun came out I wanted to put the roof down....oh, wait.
Sold it after 6 months for a Z4M Roadster and never looked back
Surprised you prefer the M roadster to the Si Coupe given the relatively "floppy" nature of the Roadster shell, but each to their own!Rattly, bad handling shocker of a car that wasn't even entertaining to make up for its French-ness. Sold it to replace my Integra Type R DC2 as it was cheaper to run...but it didn't come close to holding a candle to it in any sense.
After a few months - BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Si.
A nice car, very refined and very well put together but the ride was far too stiff and the engine didn't really have enough 'fizz' for me despite being smooth, powerful and sounding nice. The worst of all though was the handling was held back by lack of LSD, the thing tramlined terribly and worst of all, every time the sun came out I wanted to put the roof down....oh, wait.
Sold it after 6 months for a Z4M Roadster and never looked back
Biased maybe though as I bought a Z4C last year, and yes it DID tramline but I recently had the bushes on the lower TCAs replaced and it is fine now so perhaps yours needed some TLC.Mmaybe a swap to non-RFTS would have helped
I'm not disappointed with the "fizz" from the N52 engine, and perhaps a Quaife LSD from Birds may have helped you use it more effectively, but it looks like you were never going to gel with that car anyway.
I have had the same sort of conundrum with my E92 335i to E92 M3 -> the 335i a very competent car; very fast, practical, economical and great sounding. It just didn't have anywhere near the drama of the M3. And the S65 from 5000-8400rpm
I'm just not built for the more 'sensible' choices in the range...
Strangely with the N52 in my 330i I actually prefer the noise that makes to the S54 and I think it is a lovely engine but I agree when compared to the S54/S65 it does have a very steady feel to it in comparison.
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