A car you instantly regretted buying
Discussion
Audi A4 Avant multitronic.
Thought I couldn't fail. Just needed an auto with load space after my beloved Mk5 Golf GTI was written off by an uninsured driver while I was fast asleep.
My dad went to view the Audi as he is up north.
He said it was a lovely car, put down a deposit.
I picked it up the next day. Gearbox fault immediately apparent, £1,800 bill.
Hated it ever since.
Thought I couldn't fail. Just needed an auto with load space after my beloved Mk5 Golf GTI was written off by an uninsured driver while I was fast asleep.
My dad went to view the Audi as he is up north.
He said it was a lovely car, put down a deposit.
I picked it up the next day. Gearbox fault immediately apparent, £1,800 bill.
Hated it ever since.
..a slightly tired 964 Carrera 2 in Guards Red with black sport interior bought at the peak of the credit crunch. Sounded great on paper, but absolutely horrible to drive home from 'dealer' (steering feel was nice though - the rest wasn't fit for purpose). Very disappointing doesn't even begin to describe the unexpected feelings of deflation.
Sitting here now, i wished that i'd tucked it up and sold as donor car to Singer customer at a favourable profit. Hindsight and all that.
Sitting here now, i wished that i'd tucked it up and sold as donor car to Singer customer at a favourable profit. Hindsight and all that.
Golf 2 GTI 8V ... with 92000 km on the clock .... turned out it actually had at least 250.000 km ... from the original 112 hp 105 were left but they felt lazier than the 90 hp of my Jetta 2 ... and then it started smoking ... .
Only plus to the story ? After an expert appointed by the court proved the dealer selling it to me was a scammer i got my money back :-)
Only plus to the story ? After an expert appointed by the court proved the dealer selling it to me was a scammer i got my money back :-)
With you entirely mate
Bought one - found it massively underwhelming to drive immediately. Loved how it looked thought. But the power train had no character. Switched into a Lotus Evora - love every drive in that thing
Bought one - found it massively underwhelming to drive immediately. Loved how it looked thought. But the power train had no character. Switched into a Lotus Evora - love every drive in that thing
Mr Tidy said:
Surprised you prefer the M roadster to the Si Coupe given the relatively "floppy" nature of the Roadster shell, but each to their own!
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.
My personal biggest regret is buying a W202 Benz C280 Sport based upon driving a (rare) manual C280 Elegance. The Sport managed to handle like a barge while having the ride quality of a shopping trolley - POS!
No more MB cr*p for me thanks after that! Last straw was when I got blitzed at some llghts by an E46 325i so it got unloaded and I won't be going back to Stuttgart sh*te again any time soon .....
Edited to add something Japanese! Bought an old Mazda 323F with only 2 previous owners as a daily because cheap RFL, etc. but it handled like a blancmange and was painfully gutless. Horrible white goods car - relieved when it went!
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.
My personal biggest regret is buying a W202 Benz C280 Sport based upon driving a (rare) manual C280 Elegance. The Sport managed to handle like a barge while having the ride quality of a shopping trolley - POS!
No more MB cr*p for me thanks after that! Last straw was when I got blitzed at some llghts by an E46 325i so it got unloaded and I won't be going back to Stuttgart sh*te again any time soon .....
Edited to add something Japanese! Bought an old Mazda 323F with only 2 previous owners as a daily because cheap RFL, etc. but it handled like a blancmange and was painfully gutless. Horrible white goods car - relieved when it went!
Edited by Mr Tidy on Tuesday 28th July 01:45
After deciding whatever car I owned at the time (a japanese hatch, I can't remember what exactly.. an almera?) was completely buggered, I sold it. I then immediately realised I didn't have any way to get to work (I can't remember the details, I think I was a moron), and so went to an auction and bought a £500 1.0l micra, thinking it's cheap, japanese, simple and reliable. f
king thing never started, had the filthiest interior I've ever experienced, had no stereo, and pulled magnificently to the left. Not long into the experience the passenger seat almost went through the windscreen during braking - it had been held on with tie-wraps. I sold it at auction for £550.
Miserable two months of motoring. I don't know what I was thinking. It did, however, have the best brake pedal feel I've EVER experienced in a car. There was no grip, but you could feel every last nothing of it! Funny.
king thing never started, had the filthiest interior I've ever experienced, had no stereo, and pulled magnificently to the left. Not long into the experience the passenger seat almost went through the windscreen during braking - it had been held on with tie-wraps. I sold it at auction for £550. Miserable two months of motoring. I don't know what I was thinking. It did, however, have the best brake pedal feel I've EVER experienced in a car. There was no grip, but you could feel every last nothing of it! Funny.
The Flying Orion (1986 Ford Orion LX in white, all white like a shell suit). 120,000 on the clock when I bought it with bouquet de kipper courtesy of the previous owner it was the cheapest car I could find that would make the commute to Melrose economically viable. Blessed with the truly awful non-turbo 1.6 diesel that had all of 54 ponies when it left the factory. Many of these had now bolted as the piston rings were worn giving the oil breather a run for its money. On one memorable journey I decided to pull out in front of a Metro and give it the beans to get up to speed, a risky move given it's 2CV or Popemobile levels of acceleration. When I looked behind I could see the bonnet of the Metro emerging from a smokescreen that would have concealed a Chieftain tank! The one creature that did like it was a rat. One greasy November day I had to drive like Casey Jones as the windscreen squirt wasn't working. I thought it just needed a top up but upon inspection realised there were no pipes, just remnants of washer hose in the cleats. Asked my mechanic what might have happened. "Rats," he said. They love eating washer hose. Traded it in for a Skoda Favorit.
lickatysplit said:
its amazing how many on here are german Motors.
not many Jap machines
Right, here we go then: Mazda 6 diesel estate.not many Jap machines
Nice looking and nice to drive actually. However, drank oil almost as fast as the diesel and it's 'special' (expensive) oil otherwise the engine seizes. Finally went to We Buy Any Car after three of the four injectors packed up on holiday: I was quoted more than £3000 for the repair alone. Every problem I encountered I looked up on line to find a raft of other owners with the same expensive issue. Mrs B. told me in no uncertain terms never to buy a Japanese car again.
So now have a Volvo S40 (currently running a close second to the Mazda)
Rover 216 1.6SE!
Had an Mg Metro but needed something a bit more suited to long journeys. Bought it at a post new-reg sale at a main dealer without driving it - the deal was a 'buy before close today' offer........
For those that can't remember, this was the 'first' rover 200 - a Honda Ballade re badged. Thing is, I wanted the 213 with a Honda engine. I got the 216 with a triumph(?) sourced engine.
At the first roundabout I knew it was a bad move as it wallowed and under steered around it. Half way through my first 'long' journey, there was a 'pop' and clouds of oil smoke. One very hot engine and oil everywhere...
It got no better and a few months later, I traded it for a new Fiesta 1.6s.......which was barely an improvement, but at least under warranty!
Had an Mg Metro but needed something a bit more suited to long journeys. Bought it at a post new-reg sale at a main dealer without driving it - the deal was a 'buy before close today' offer........
For those that can't remember, this was the 'first' rover 200 - a Honda Ballade re badged. Thing is, I wanted the 213 with a Honda engine. I got the 216 with a triumph(?) sourced engine.
At the first roundabout I knew it was a bad move as it wallowed and under steered around it. Half way through my first 'long' journey, there was a 'pop' and clouds of oil smoke. One very hot engine and oil everywhere...
It got no better and a few months later, I traded it for a new Fiesta 1.6s.......which was barely an improvement, but at least under warranty!
In its defence it wasn't a disaster, but an E39 530i remains the most underwhelming car I owned. Everything was black - paint, interior, seats, with no sunroof to lighten the gloom. Hardly the car's fault, but it set the scene for a very dull tenure. You could tell there was a good car underneath somewhere, but it never fully emerged. It was the classic older Beemer with a seemingly endless series of niggling faults and a rough, drone like engine. I expected much more, but rarely got it.
Vauxhall Cavalier V6 2.5 - I should have been suspicious of a trader operating from home - but what did an innocent kiwi know.
I should have been suspicious the last service was not done. and it was a major....but not bad coin.
First step was the local dealer for the major including cambelt - 700 at the time - but I thought sweet - sorted.
Er no - the auto transmission light came on - and it always felt to be slipping....down to a tranny specialist - ah - burnt oil in gearbox - ok boy racer.
Onto the trader for recompense...we all know where this is going.
Well after a month I got 500 off him (I think I threatened with menaces to burn his house down) - so on to replace the gearbox for 1100...
Well the car could do 140 - so I thought a keeper.
Then the fuel tank leaked after half full...by this stage enough was enough - took a handsome loss, cost me over a pound a mile for the running - in a stty Vauxhall
I should have been suspicious the last service was not done. and it was a major....but not bad coin.
First step was the local dealer for the major including cambelt - 700 at the time - but I thought sweet - sorted.
Er no - the auto transmission light came on - and it always felt to be slipping....down to a tranny specialist - ah - burnt oil in gearbox - ok boy racer.
Onto the trader for recompense...we all know where this is going.
Well after a month I got 500 off him (I think I threatened with menaces to burn his house down) - so on to replace the gearbox for 1100...
Well the car could do 140 - so I thought a keeper.
Then the fuel tank leaked after half full...by this stage enough was enough - took a handsome loss, cost me over a pound a mile for the running - in a s
tty VauxhallThe second Vauxhall was an Insignia - thank goodness only a hire...gutless, underpowered, thirsty...change down a gear, no, change down 2.
Change up - do not do it at less than 3,400 rpm.
On the positive - for 15 a day - I did 3000 miles in 10 days - on a car that started at 3,000 - so they made no money
Change up - do not do it at less than 3,400 rpm.
On the positive - for 15 a day - I did 3000 miles in 10 days - on a car that started at 3,000 - so they made no money
Not an Instant regret - but it took all of 3 hours..... A Lotus Esprit twin turbo uprated .......
Taking it home - 3 hours and the first ticket...most unfair-----the cop was an absolute petrolhead and the girlfriend was all over him - but no a ticket was still issued (albeit for 20mph less) - I was starting to have regrets - this was not a good sign.
The first of many tickets - ok it was bright yellow - but it should not have been a ticket magnet - but it just collected tickets like crazy....half them debateable - but hey - no tickets in any other car.
Any other car - no issues - but this thing.
I still have the car - but I have been walking for four months - MAY have been justified as 115mph on a 60 - but an absolute backroad with never any traffic - that car is plain bad luck.
Taking it home - 3 hours and the first ticket...most unfair-----the cop was an absolute petrolhead and the girlfriend was all over him - but no a ticket was still issued (albeit for 20mph less) - I was starting to have regrets - this was not a good sign.
The first of many tickets - ok it was bright yellow - but it should not have been a ticket magnet - but it just collected tickets like crazy....half them debateable - but hey - no tickets in any other car.
Any other car - no issues - but this thing.
I still have the car - but I have been walking for four months - MAY have been justified as 115mph on a 60 - but an absolute backroad with never any traffic - that car is plain bad luck.
Classic Rangie with the dreadful VM diesel engine. Bought it for 3k£ but it turned out the seller bought it from Italy for 2k£ one month earlier. My father and I were concerned about the engine, the gearbox and the tranmission bridge but didn't really check anything else. So almost right after, we needed to change the exhaust (which had been badly tapped) and the driver's lock. Then it wasn't too bad until I did some offroading and managed to crack the fuel tank in a mud puddle by sitting on the back overhand (where the fuel tank is).
After 5 years I decided to sell it. I noticed some fluid bleeding on the rear wheels, thought it was a brake hose. Turned out it was the transmission bridge... On the day of selling the passenger window felt into the door because of the rust. And the next day the guy called me because both batteries were dead and the thing won't start. I apologized and I've never heard of him again. Surely because I sold him for so cheap.
All in all I have found memories of the car but it was just a money pit getting deeper and deeper.
I also should mention my Golf VI TD 105 company car which I choosed at the time because it was the lightest off the bunch, figured out it would funnier to drive (what was I thinking).
Most boring, dull, bland car ever that would emit annoying beeps everytime you did something the german engineers thought it would be unsafe.
To top it, as I wasn't putting enough miles on it, had to keep it 5 years instead of 4...
After 5 years I decided to sell it. I noticed some fluid bleeding on the rear wheels, thought it was a brake hose. Turned out it was the transmission bridge... On the day of selling the passenger window felt into the door because of the rust. And the next day the guy called me because both batteries were dead and the thing won't start. I apologized and I've never heard of him again. Surely because I sold him for so cheap.
All in all I have found memories of the car but it was just a money pit getting deeper and deeper.
I also should mention my Golf VI TD 105 company car which I choosed at the time because it was the lightest off the bunch, figured out it would funnier to drive (what was I thinking).
Most boring, dull, bland car ever that would emit annoying beeps everytime you did something the german engineers thought it would be unsafe.
To top it, as I wasn't putting enough miles on it, had to keep it 5 years instead of 4...
TVRnutcase said:
Not an Instant regret - but it took all of 3 hours..... A Lotus Esprit twin turbo uprated .......
Taking it home - 3 hours and the first ticket...most unfair-----the cop was an absolute petrolhead and the girlfriend was all over him - but no a ticket was still issued (albeit for 20mph less) - I was starting to have regrets - this was not a good sign.
The first of many tickets - ok it was bright yellow - but it should not have been a ticket magnet - but it just collected tickets like crazy....half them debateable - but hey - no tickets in any other car.
Any other car - no issues - but this thing.
I still have the car - but I have been walking for four months - MAY have been justified as 115mph on a 60 - but an absolute backroad with never any traffic - that car is plain bad luck.
If only cars could talk and tell us about new owners who they instantly wished they didn't have Taking it home - 3 hours and the first ticket...most unfair-----the cop was an absolute petrolhead and the girlfriend was all over him - but no a ticket was still issued (albeit for 20mph less) - I was starting to have regrets - this was not a good sign.
The first of many tickets - ok it was bright yellow - but it should not have been a ticket magnet - but it just collected tickets like crazy....half them debateable - but hey - no tickets in any other car.
Any other car - no issues - but this thing.
I still have the car - but I have been walking for four months - MAY have been justified as 115mph on a 60 - but an absolute backroad with never any traffic - that car is plain bad luck.
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
You must had a wrong 'un. Ours (a US base model with the 2.0TSI and 4Motion) was absolutely excellent. It was fast (no noticeable turbo lag) and well made. Nothing went wrong and the build quality was rock solid. We miss it. Resale was decent after 2.5 years.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff