Whats the worst courtesy car you've been given?
Discussion
Proton something or other, it was made circa 1995 - but my local garage lent it to me a couple of years ago when they were doing the cam belt on mine, which was nice of them they didn't have to. I don't know how many people have used it but I'm very surprised no one has died in it yet, there was literally a 3 second lag between moving the steering wheel and the car changing direction, the auto box was completely random, throttle response almost zero and the car shook so much under braking I daren't go over 30 as it felt like it was going to shake itself to bits.
I mentioned I thought it was crap when I took it back and the mechanic laughed and said it was the best car he'd ever had, it's a bit worrying that I still get my cars fixed there.
I mentioned I thought it was crap when I took it back and the mechanic laughed and said it was the best car he'd ever had, it's a bit worrying that I still get my cars fixed there.
germanautos said:
We've all been there.
Take my hat off to the guys who gave me a free courtesy car but its a 20 year old swedish convertible which is slower than a diesel in limp mode
rattles everywhere, radio dosent work, have to take my shoe off to change gear because it gets stuck under the dash, roof dosent work. i CAN hear wind all the time and it tries to conk out everywhere
Any great stories for courtesy cars?
post them here!
Sounds like a Saab - they rattle more than an earthquake hitting Babies-R-Us. Take my hat off to the guys who gave me a free courtesy car but its a 20 year old swedish convertible which is slower than a diesel in limp mode
rattles everywhere, radio dosent work, have to take my shoe off to change gear because it gets stuck under the dash, roof dosent work. i CAN hear wind all the time and it tries to conk out everywhere
Any great stories for courtesy cars?
post them here!
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My worst is hard to pick from these. Both were dire but I think the Micra edges it.
Both made my Rover 214 seem positively excellent!
donkmeister said:
Daewoo matiz was quite fun I thought; one of those cars you could drive at 11/10ths without ever breaking the speed limit!
Worst for me was a 2013 1.2 litre manual Corsa. Fully blinged up with wheels, bodykit, stripes, full set of toys. 0-60 in... must have been about 20 seconds. Top gear was too high for the engine, could only just maintain motorway speed on the flat. Any incline or acceleration required a gear change.
Sounds like one of those "limited editions" bruv!!Worst for me was a 2013 1.2 litre manual Corsa. Fully blinged up with wheels, bodykit, stripes, full set of toys. 0-60 in... must have been about 20 seconds. Top gear was too high for the engine, could only just maintain motorway speed on the flat. Any incline or acceleration required a gear change.
Theophany said:
donkmeister said:
Daewoo matiz was quite fun I thought; one of those cars you could drive at 11/10ths without ever breaking the speed limit!
True, but it's never fun having a thought constantly at the back of your mind "holy f
k I am the crumple zone of this car." 
Worst car I've had on courtesy.. was a 2001? Skoda Fabia 1.9SDI. It had little to zip power beyond 45mph.. probably needed a service. And it was utterly filthy when i got it, it had been used to move rubble or something from a garden and was so bad, I paid to get the thing fully cleaned by the local car wash at tescos.
Brought it back to the garage, who shaved off the cost of the valet and thanked me for doing so!
Was given a Diahatsu Cuore when my Volvo was once again back in the workshops. Drove about 3 miles, turned round and took the Cuore back. Simply couldn't drive it because of the driving position killing my back. NO seat back adjustment would help. Instead was given an ageing Citroen Xsara, which was complete luxury by comparison!
An old Toyota Yaris that had about 100k of courtesy car miles behind it. It had two illegal tyres when they gave it to me which they begrudgingly changed. The windscreen wipers just hovered above the screen and the steering wheel didn't appear to be attached in any way to the front wheels.
Worst modern car was an Astra hire car. God they're just terrible, no redeeming features at all.
Worst modern car was an Astra hire car. God they're just terrible, no redeeming features at all.
Sf_Manta said:
Drove one myself , since it was my friend's father's car... utter utter pile of crap, wanted to roll over half the time
Worst car I've had on courtesy.. was a 2001? Skoda Fabia 1.9SDI. It had little to zip power beyond 45mph.. probably needed a service. And it was utterly filthy when i got it, it had been used to move rubble or something from a garden and was so bad, I paid to get the thing fully cleaned by the local car wash at tescos.
Brought it back to the garage, who shaved off the cost of the valet and thanked me for doing so!
Worst car I've had on courtesy.. was a 2001? Skoda Fabia 1.9SDI. It had little to zip power beyond 45mph.. probably needed a service. And it was utterly filthy when i got it, it had been used to move rubble or something from a garden and was so bad, I paid to get the thing fully cleaned by the local car wash at tescos.
Brought it back to the garage, who shaved off the cost of the valet and thanked me for doing so!
? 
germanautos said:
Monkeylegend said:
Do they sell and service TVR's?
Thee worst I had was an very early Smart 2 thingy, that gearbox
Yeah I will say though they are a very good garage and took my car in straight away without a fuss with up front prices I recommend them Thee worst I had was an very early Smart 2 thingy, that gearbox
its not the worst I've had courtesy car wise but it made me wanna create a thread like this
They seemed a pretty genuine garage back then.
Mid 90's Proton.
Everything wrong with it you can imagine including the exhaust from near enough manifold back fell off on the dual carriage-way.
resulted in me getting pulled 4 times in 24 hours and the final one kept me there for over 30 minutes as they refused to believe it was a courtesy car and not mine/stolen due to the condition. The 2nd one as the funniest one as they heard the car from over a mile away and followed the noise till they found me (11pm) which i believe as after dropping a mate off, he could hear me all the way back to my house which was just under a mile away.
Everything wrong with it you can imagine including the exhaust from near enough manifold back fell off on the dual carriage-way.
resulted in me getting pulled 4 times in 24 hours and the final one kept me there for over 30 minutes as they refused to believe it was a courtesy car and not mine/stolen due to the condition. The 2nd one as the funniest one as they heard the car from over a mile away and followed the noise till they found me (11pm) which i believe as after dropping a mate off, he could hear me all the way back to my house which was just under a mile away.
A truly crap petrol Freelander Mk 1
Never great to start with, but this one had a knackered heater (a problem in wintertime!), duff gearbox linkages, stinky/damp seats because the gaffer-taped sunroof clearly had a persistent leak, and a horribly fluffy throttle response. I have no idea how bad the fuel consumption was, but I only did about 20 miles and the needle moved in an epic fashion. Obviously the central locking didn't work and the stereo just said 'code' when I tried to switch it on, but these are mere fripperies. Horrible, but better than walking. Just.
Worst new-ish loan car? A year-old Hyundai Matrix automatic with disinterested steering, suspension that seemed to be connected to a different car, and all the performance of a terminally bored sloth. OK, it was only a £12k car (this was probably ten or more years back) but it seemed to be aimed at the sort of person who gets all excited at the thought of visiting a garden centre.
Never great to start with, but this one had a knackered heater (a problem in wintertime!), duff gearbox linkages, stinky/damp seats because the gaffer-taped sunroof clearly had a persistent leak, and a horribly fluffy throttle response. I have no idea how bad the fuel consumption was, but I only did about 20 miles and the needle moved in an epic fashion. Obviously the central locking didn't work and the stereo just said 'code' when I tried to switch it on, but these are mere fripperies. Horrible, but better than walking. Just.
Worst new-ish loan car? A year-old Hyundai Matrix automatic with disinterested steering, suspension that seemed to be connected to a different car, and all the performance of a terminally bored sloth. OK, it was only a £12k car (this was probably ten or more years back) but it seemed to be aimed at the sort of person who gets all excited at the thought of visiting a garden centre.
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