A car you instantly regretted buying
Discussion
BuzzBravado said:
MGTF. I thought it would make a decent small convertible for one summer. It was terrible in everyway. Taken a big hit on it when shifting it on two weeks later.
Presumably you bought a nearly new one, as they cost peanuts now so there is nothing left to lose on them.Classic Range Rover many years ago. Got well and truly seen off, paid £3.5k was worth about £1000 by the time I'd realised what I'd bought. Sub-frame (or whatever it was, can't remember now) was shagged and banged on acceleration or braking, transfer box was equally shagged and the engine tapped like Fred Astaire on a good day. Eventaully rebuilt the top end only for it to crack the head a few miles after startring up. Replaced the engine at a cost of £500 and eventually sold it to a 4X4 specialist for about £800. Nightmare thing. Still, you live and learn!
MINI One - I had just changed jobs and was going to be doing a lot more miles so decided to be sensible and get shot of my Cooper S (which I loved). I hadn't long had it and the only people that would give me a decent trade in price were MINI. For some reason I opted for a One and hated it with a passion.
Fundamentally it was a good little car (far more reliable than my Cooper or S) and cost peanuts to run. I couldn't wait to see the back of it which lead me to my next car error....
E46 325ti - it seemed like a great deal but I think the car had had a really hard life and it cost me a fortune and was pretty tatty (day I went to see it was piddling with rain so I missed the stone chips and badly painted repair which showed up massively in sunlight). It then raped my wallet - snapped springs, new rear shocks, bushes, more bushes, new rad, water pump, expansion tank, thermostat, rear brake lines, more bushes, more snapped spings and a failed fuel pump. For some reason I still kept it and even though I thought I liked it at the time, I was glad to see the back of it.
Fundamentally it was a good little car (far more reliable than my Cooper or S) and cost peanuts to run. I couldn't wait to see the back of it which lead me to my next car error....
E46 325ti - it seemed like a great deal but I think the car had had a really hard life and it cost me a fortune and was pretty tatty (day I went to see it was piddling with rain so I missed the stone chips and badly painted repair which showed up massively in sunlight). It then raped my wallet - snapped springs, new rear shocks, bushes, more bushes, new rad, water pump, expansion tank, thermostat, rear brake lines, more bushes, more snapped spings and a failed fuel pump. For some reason I still kept it and even though I thought I liked it at the time, I was glad to see the back of it.
Honda civic 1.4 with a semi auto gearbox
Wife wanted an easy to drive economical small car
I hated it , tried to kill me a few times, your be approaching a junction in second, look, plenty of room so you'd pull out then it'd decided to change down leaving trucks bearing down on you.
We had it a couple of months then she was taken ill and in hospital for a month
When she came out I'd swapped it for a Subaru Impreza WRX
When she started driving again I was fully expecting to get a phone call telling me it was stuck in a shop window somewhere
Wife wanted an easy to drive economical small car
I hated it , tried to kill me a few times, your be approaching a junction in second, look, plenty of room so you'd pull out then it'd decided to change down leaving trucks bearing down on you.
We had it a couple of months then she was taken ill and in hospital for a month
When she came out I'd swapped it for a Subaru Impreza WRX
When she started driving again I was fully expecting to get a phone call telling me it was stuck in a shop window somewhere
Mr2Mike said:
BuzzBravado said:
MGTF. I thought it would make a decent small convertible for one summer. It was terrible in everyway. Taken a big hit on it when shifting it on two weeks later.
Presumably you bought a nearly new one, as they cost peanuts now so there is nothing left to lose on them.An Austin Metro. I p/ex'ed my (original) mint and well-cared for Mini for one as I couldn't fit my bass amplifier and guitars in the Mini when gigging.
I nearly cried driving home in the Metro from the garage. The first weekend I had it I noticed a tiny bit of paint bubbling on the bottom of the door. I scraped it with my fingernail and a huge line along the bottom of the door simply fell in - it was rusted through completely. I think I did cry at that point.
I nearly cried driving home in the Metro from the garage. The first weekend I had it I noticed a tiny bit of paint bubbling on the bottom of the door. I scraped it with my fingernail and a huge line along the bottom of the door simply fell in - it was rusted through completely. I think I did cry at that point.
Edited by MikeT66 on Wednesday 15th July 13:54
Had a Disco4 living in the sticks, when we moved to town we figured something smaller was needed.
1 - 'Logic'was applied and an F15 X5 was bought. City driving was a nightmare because the car flared wider below the window line so you never really knew where the edges were. Sold it after a couple of months of fear of scratching it up.
2 - Got a 5door Evoque. Seating is comfortable. That's about its only redeeming feature. Boot is tiny, engine rough, ride even worse. Will offload momentarily.
1 - 'Logic'was applied and an F15 X5 was bought. City driving was a nightmare because the car flared wider below the window line so you never really knew where the edges were. Sold it after a couple of months of fear of scratching it up.
2 - Got a 5door Evoque. Seating is comfortable. That's about its only redeeming feature. Boot is tiny, engine rough, ride even worse. Will offload momentarily.
VXR8 - Knew by the time I got it home it wasnt for me.
Rushed into it as my S4 clutch was on the way out and didnt want to spend another penny on it. Sold it a couple of weeks later for money I bought it for and went for the ISF. Knew by the time I had driven it off the forecourt it was the right car for me!
Rushed into it as my S4 clutch was on the way out and didnt want to spend another penny on it. Sold it a couple of weeks later for money I bought it for and went for the ISF. Knew by the time I had driven it off the forecourt it was the right car for me!
Court_S said:
MINI One - I had just changed jobs and was going to be doing a lot more miles so decided to be sensible and get shot of my Cooper S (which I loved). I hadn't long had it and the only people that would give me a decent trade in price were MINI. For some reason I opted for a One and hated it with a passion.
This was similar to me and my X5 4.8iS was costing me a fortune on fuel with my at the time 44 miles a day commute so I knee jerked and traded it for a 520d Touring and my god was it a rude awakening because the engine was just diabolical...good on fuel though but not worth the compromise/pain of sitting behind it. lickatysplit said:
its amazing how many on here are german Motors.
not many Jap machines
I sometimes regret buying my Celica, from a financial perspective. Trying to save for my own house dammit! Very frivolous purchase. But then, when I drive it, all those regrets disappear, funnily enoughnot many Jap machines
Ste1987 said:
lickatysplit said:
its amazing how many on here are german Motors.
not many Jap machines
I sometimes regret buying my Celica, from a financial perspective. Trying to save for my own house dammit! Very frivolous purchase. But then, when I drive it, all those regrets disappear, funnily enoughnot many Jap machines
t.My old Astra broke down on the way home from buying it, and took alot before it was running right thanks to the cheapskate previous owner running it on fumes. Dreadful feul consumption too, I could get 18mpg from a full tank. But when it was running right it was suprisingly rapid, rapid as in it would outdrag my more powerful Octavia upto 80mph. It lunched its gearbox after I sold it to a mate, he replaced the gearbox then it decided it didnt want a clutch anymore, which he replaced. Its still going strong today.
My Octavia is as dull as a dull thing but staunchly reliable. I regret buying it mainly because at the time I could have just about been able to afford to insure a 172 Clio, but didnt buy one because my Dad has one that I know would put whatever I bought to shame.
My Octavia is as dull as a dull thing but staunchly reliable. I regret buying it mainly because at the time I could have just about been able to afford to insure a 172 Clio, but didnt buy one because my Dad has one that I know would put whatever I bought to shame.
S10GTA said:
Ste1987 said:
lickatysplit said:
its amazing how many on here are german Motors.
not many Jap machines
I sometimes regret buying my Celica, from a financial perspective. Trying to save for my own house dammit! Very frivolous purchase. But then, when I drive it, all those regrets disappear, funnily enoughnot many Jap machines
Two for me.
1) An early (1982) XR3i, bought in late '89.
It looked nice, but it had had a very hard life mechanically. It had all the classic CVH wear and tear, the head was shot (stem seals, hydraulic tappets), the Janspeed exhaust (manifold to tailpipe) was ready to drop off, the clutch went and the gearbox was noisy as hell.
Being 19 and naive, I still loved the look of it, but realised it was a wrong'un. I had most of the above repaired/replaced/reconditioned, but I had to admit defeat in the end.
2) sold the Xr3i for pennies really as insurance was going through the roof in '92 and bought an '81 Capri 1.6GL.
Hateful thing. Auto choke didn't work, so I converted it to manual with one of those kits you could buy from the motor factors, which never seemed to work properly either. When it was warm and was ticking over in traffic, it would pink like mad and felt like it had 30bhp (if I was lucky) when I went to pull away. I had it 'Crypton tuned' at Halfords
, but it made no difference. The front end used to dip and wallow all over the place and the steering had a mind of its own.
Cam belt snapped, admittedly and easy job to replace on them though. After the financial nightmare that was the XR, I couldn't be arsed to throw any money at the Crapi, so I got rid.
Still, I thought it looked nice.
My early car years were not happy ones....
1) An early (1982) XR3i, bought in late '89.
It looked nice, but it had had a very hard life mechanically. It had all the classic CVH wear and tear, the head was shot (stem seals, hydraulic tappets), the Janspeed exhaust (manifold to tailpipe) was ready to drop off, the clutch went and the gearbox was noisy as hell.
Being 19 and naive, I still loved the look of it, but realised it was a wrong'un. I had most of the above repaired/replaced/reconditioned, but I had to admit defeat in the end.
2) sold the Xr3i for pennies really as insurance was going through the roof in '92 and bought an '81 Capri 1.6GL.
Hateful thing. Auto choke didn't work, so I converted it to manual with one of those kits you could buy from the motor factors, which never seemed to work properly either. When it was warm and was ticking over in traffic, it would pink like mad and felt like it had 30bhp (if I was lucky) when I went to pull away. I had it 'Crypton tuned' at Halfords
, but it made no difference. The front end used to dip and wallow all over the place and the steering had a mind of its own. Cam belt snapped, admittedly and easy job to replace on them though. After the financial nightmare that was the XR, I couldn't be arsed to throw any money at the Crapi, so I got rid.
Still, I thought it looked nice.
My early car years were not happy ones....
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