Most Overrated Cars ?
Discussion
XitUp said:
Don't the diesel BMWs have a few reliability problems with turbos and the like? Or did they sort that out?
What has gone wrong with your Prius? Most reliability surveys have them (and Toyota in general) rated very well. BMW much less so.
In the 18 months I've had it:What has gone wrong with your Prius? Most reliability surveys have them (and Toyota in general) rated very well. BMW much less so.
Boot wouldn't stay shut - 1 hour wait at the dealer and 5 minute fix
Air conditioning condenser broke - dealer for 10 days waiting for a part
Offside front wheel bearing and carrier - 1 day dealer
Horn just stuck on while driving - 7 days in dealer for parts
Reversing sensor stopped working - booked in for tomorrow
Indicators don't self cancel - booked in for tomorrow.
The car has done just under 40k miles.
I'll always stand up for the prius's economy because it is good for a petrol car of its size. There are lots of good things about it in fact, just not quality or reliability.
Smike said:
char5 said:
Zod said:
It would be interesting to know how many of the people posting in this thread about overrated cars have ever driven or even sat in the cars they dem overrated.
Exactly what I was thinking while flicking through this thread. Lets be honest you can't really judge a car as a whole package until you have driven it. 
I know some people on here will hate me for doing this but it's the only way I can get to drive some pretty good cars at my age. Sorry main dealers.
What I don't understand is the amount of people that have driven cars like F40's, etc. Let me know your secret please. I don't do it to independents, just feel bad, don't know why I don't get the same feeling doing it to main dealers though. Does this make me a bad person?
Edited by char5 on Monday 28th March 19:11
tinman0 said:
Yes and no. The VR6 was the car of its day and was lauded as being the only Mk3 worth buying by the press.
The rest of the Mk3 range was panned, with one magazine calling the GTI a GL with the wrong badge, and the GTI 16v (when they bothered to release it) as what the GTI should have been. But there was no decent hot hatch in between the 16v and the VR6.
But the Golf VR6 was still rated in its day.
As for the previous poster saying that the VR6 was slower than his 8v, that's just utter b
ks. We had a timing for a road in our area and a Mk2 16v could just about reach 90 by a certain turn off. A new VR6 was pulling somewhere in the region of 110 at the same point. Different league.
(This was nearly 20 years ago. And I wasn't driving.)
It was 20 years ago (flipping heck) but i was driving. Admittedly i was far more used to my Mk2 than my pal's VR6, and i was aware that I didn't own the VR6 of course, but on the challenging little course that i used to drive on fairly regularly i don't think i would ever have got the lardy VR6 to beat the handy Mk2 by much at all, if anything. The VR6 just didn't have the chassis for it.The rest of the Mk3 range was panned, with one magazine calling the GTI a GL with the wrong badge, and the GTI 16v (when they bothered to release it) as what the GTI should have been. But there was no decent hot hatch in between the 16v and the VR6.
But the Golf VR6 was still rated in its day.
As for the previous poster saying that the VR6 was slower than his 8v, that's just utter b
ks. We had a timing for a road in our area and a Mk2 16v could just about reach 90 by a certain turn off. A new VR6 was pulling somewhere in the region of 110 at the same point. Different league. (This was nearly 20 years ago. And I wasn't driving.)
Having given the subject some thought, I'd say the Golf VR6 was possibly the worst handling new car with sporty pretensions that i've encountered. It didn't do anything bad, but just didn't do anything good.
Someone earlier mentioned a Clio. My pal swapped his Golf for what IIRC was one of the first 16v hot Clios. Now *that* was a completely different kettle of fish. That was a proper handling car with terrific ride/handling/composure compromise. One of those cars that could traverse ground far faster than you felt it should.
robemcdonald said:
XitUp said:
Don't the diesel BMWs have a few reliability problems with turbos and the like? Or did they sort that out?
What has gone wrong with your Prius? Most reliability surveys have them (and Toyota in general) rated very well. BMW much less so.
In the 18 months I've had it:What has gone wrong with your Prius? Most reliability surveys have them (and Toyota in general) rated very well. BMW much less so.
Boot wouldn't stay shut - 1 hour wait at the dealer and 5 minute fix
Air conditioning condenser broke - dealer for 10 days waiting for a part
Offside front wheel bearing and carrier - 1 day dealer
Horn just stuck on while driving - 7 days in dealer for parts
Reversing sensor stopped working - booked in for tomorrow
Indicators don't self cancel - booked in for tomorrow.
The car has done just under 40k miles.
I'll always stand up for the prius's economy because it is good for a petrol car of its size. There are lots of good things about it in fact, just not quality or reliability.
XitUp said:
robemcdonald said:
XitUp said:
Don't the diesel BMWs have a few reliability problems with turbos and the like? Or did they sort that out?
What has gone wrong with your Prius? Most reliability surveys have them (and Toyota in general) rated very well. BMW much less so.
In the 18 months I've had it:What has gone wrong with your Prius? Most reliability surveys have them (and Toyota in general) rated very well. BMW much less so.
Boot wouldn't stay shut - 1 hour wait at the dealer and 5 minute fix
Air conditioning condenser broke - dealer for 10 days waiting for a part
Offside front wheel bearing and carrier - 1 day dealer
Horn just stuck on while driving - 7 days in dealer for parts
Reversing sensor stopped working - booked in for tomorrow
Indicators don't self cancel - booked in for tomorrow.
The car has done just under 40k miles.
I'll always stand up for the prius's economy because it is good for a petrol car of its size. There are lots of good things about it in fact, just not quality or reliability.
robemcdonald said:
monthefish said:
XitUp said:
ilikecars said:
Prius
Who is it over rated by? And what do they over rate it about?I'd say the opposite in fact, under rated by most people who are thick enough to believe what Top Gear tells them.
For those that can't be bothered reading the whole article:
the article said:
To find out we set a challenge: to drive a Prius to Geneva using motorways and town driving. The direct route is 460 miles but we drove almost 100 miles further to give the Prius the advantage of running in urban conditions where its petrol-electric drivetrain comes into its own.
We took along a conventionally powered car – a diesel BMW executive saloon – for comparison and drove both cars an identical number of miles (545).
...
...
...
...
Model Toyota Prius T Spirit
Fuel used on test 11.34 gallons (48.1mpg)
Fuel cost £54.64 (petrol)
Model BMW 520d SE
Fuel used on test 10.84 gallons (50.3mpg)
Fuel cost £54.19 (diesel)
OK, so it isn't a scientific test, but perhaps it is all the better for it. We all know that lab conditions do not accurately represent the real world.We took along a conventionally powered car – a diesel BMW executive saloon – for comparison and drove both cars an identical number of miles (545).
...
...
...
...
Model Toyota Prius T Spirit
Fuel used on test 11.34 gallons (48.1mpg)
Fuel cost £54.64 (petrol)
Model BMW 520d SE
Fuel used on test 10.84 gallons (50.3mpg)
Fuel cost £54.19 (diesel)
Personally I'd rather have the bmw but then it does cost 33% more so it should be better. Thinking about it I wonder why list price wasn't mentioned in the article? Probably because it blows their point about the BMW being the cheaper way to do mileage out of the water. (you see what they did there? Left out certain facts to ensure the outcome they wanted)
Taking into account the whole lifecylce of the vehicle, a Prius is roughly equivalent to an S-class Benz. YES the economy is good for a petrol car of it's size, but it'so credentials are quite frankly a scam...
ewenm said:
BMW Mini (IMO, after driving a Cooper several times).
Couldnt agree more, all you get is people who want "something small and cheap to run" buying a car that costs more than a respectable 2nd hand M3... Also, in terms of over-rated, personally can't tolerate anything from the VAG sector.... Driven: Passats, polos, golf, fabia, audi A4/A6 and all left me feeling "underwhelmed". A mk1 Audi S3 was quick, but far too sterile for my liking
Roop said:
Hang on. Hang on. The eco credentials aren't just durign the ownership of the vehicle, but the entire lifecycle from creation to recycling. Take this into account and hybrids fall flat on their faces with enormous amounts of energy used to mine the metals used in the batteries.
Taking into account the whole lifecylce of the vehicle, a Prius is roughly equivalent to an S-class Benz. YES the economy is good for a petrol car of it's size, but it'so credentials are quite frankly a scam...
You're probably right; I never chose it based on it's eco credentials, more on the fact that's its reasonably economical and tax efficient, lousy reliability though.Taking into account the whole lifecylce of the vehicle, a Prius is roughly equivalent to an S-class Benz. YES the economy is good for a petrol car of it's size, but it'so credentials are quite frankly a scam...
So once again confirmation that it is overrated.
neil_bmw said:
7 & 10 days waiting for parts? Thats not normal, i have never had to wait more than a day or two for any part, even coming from Germany. I think you need to change dealership.
Yup, that's pretty poor. Roop said:
Hang on. Hang on. The eco credentials aren't just durign the ownership of the vehicle, but the entire lifecycle from creation to recycling. Take this into account and hybrids fall flat on their faces with enormous amounts of energy used to mine the metals used in the batteries.
Taking into account the whole lifecylce of the vehicle, a Prius is roughly equivalent to an S-class Benz. YES the economy is good for a petrol car of it's size, but it'so credentials are quite frankly a scam...
Which metals are they? Nickel? I'm guessing you never use anything made from stainless steel then? Taking into account the whole lifecylce of the vehicle, a Prius is roughly equivalent to an S-class Benz. YES the economy is good for a petrol car of it's size, but it'so credentials are quite frankly a scam...
But I am quite interested, how much energy does go into mining the metals in a Prius battery?
heebeegeetee said:
tinman0 said:
Yes and no. The VR6 was the car of its day and was lauded as being the only Mk3 worth buying by the press.
The rest of the Mk3 range was panned, with one magazine calling the GTI a GL with the wrong badge, and the GTI 16v (when they bothered to release it) as what the GTI should have been. But there was no decent hot hatch in between the 16v and the VR6.
But the Golf VR6 was still rated in its day.
As for the previous poster saying that the VR6 was slower than his 8v, that's just utter bks. We had a timing for a road in our area and a Mk2 16v could just about reach 90 by a certain turn off. A new VR6 was pulling somewhere in the region of 110 at the same point. Different league.
(This was nearly 20 years ago. And I wasn't driving.)
It was 20 years ago (flipping heck) but i was driving. Admittedly i was far more used to my Mk2 than my pal's VR6, and i was aware that I didn't own the VR6 of course, but on the challenging little course that i used to drive on fairly regularly i don't think i would ever have got the lardy VR6 to beat the handy Mk2 by much at all, if anything. The VR6 just didn't have the chassis for it.The rest of the Mk3 range was panned, with one magazine calling the GTI a GL with the wrong badge, and the GTI 16v (when they bothered to release it) as what the GTI should have been. But there was no decent hot hatch in between the 16v and the VR6.
But the Golf VR6 was still rated in its day.
As for the previous poster saying that the VR6 was slower than his 8v, that's just utter b
ks. We had a timing for a road in our area and a Mk2 16v could just about reach 90 by a certain turn off. A new VR6 was pulling somewhere in the region of 110 at the same point. Different league. (This was nearly 20 years ago. And I wasn't driving.)
Having given the subject some thought, I'd say the Golf VR6 was possibly the worst handling new car with sporty pretensions that i've encountered. It didn't do anything bad, but just didn't do anything good.
Someone earlier mentioned a Clio. My pal swapped his Golf for what IIRC was one of the first 16v hot Clios. Now *that* was a completely different kettle of fish. That was a proper handling car with terrific ride/handling/composure compromise. One of those cars that could traverse ground far faster than you felt it should.
I owned (still own) a mk2 GTI 16v at the time.Trouble is that no matter how badly the VR6 handled (I didn't think it handled that badly to be honest), but in a straight line the mk2 16v was dead meat. We had a VR6 demonstrator on the A3 up to silly speeds for instance, and it was very competent. (Again, I wasn't driving that bit).
No idea about the mk2 Golf vs Clio, but you are comparing at this point a new generation of car vs a previous generation.
As I've always said, the Mk2 GTI 16v was a good car in its day.
heebeegeetee said:
My little test route was steep uphill, but does have one very challenging off camber bend on it, and the speed up the steep part of the hill is dictated by the confidence with which you attack the corner. With the experience i already had of the VR6 though, I really wasn't surprised that it couldn't beat my time in the Mk2.
Sorry to butt in but was this 'test route' a private track? If not should you really be timing yourself??? (Apologies in advance if it wasn't on the public road)P4ROT said:
Sorry to butt in but was this 'test route' a private track? If not should you really be timing yourself??? (Apologies in advance if it wasn't on the public road)
'Course it was on the public road and no there wasn't any timing, just a comparative note of speed attained. Timing is a waste of time.heebeegeetee said:
'Course it was on the public road and no there wasn't any timing, just a comparative note of speed attained. Timing is a waste of time.
Similar bit of road near me - Clints Hill. Of a roundabout, steepish hill and a footbridge 1/4 mile up the hill. Useful for comparisons without needing to DLAC.Roop said:
Hang on. Hang on. The eco credentials aren't just durign the ownership of the vehicle, but the entire lifecycle from creation to recycling. Take this into account and hybrids fall flat on their faces with enormous amounts of energy used to mine the metals used in the batteries.
Taking into account the whole lifecylce of the vehicle, a Prius is roughly equivalent to an S-class Benz. YES the economy is good for a petrol car of it's size, but it'so credentials are quite frankly a scam...
How come the Honda Civic Hybrid lifecycle assessment is in the region of 70% compared to the conventional Civic? Did you make the S Class comparison up on the spot?Taking into account the whole lifecylce of the vehicle, a Prius is roughly equivalent to an S-class Benz. YES the economy is good for a petrol car of it's size, but it'so credentials are quite frankly a scam...
I dont know why this nickel point comes up so often, oh yes Clarkson, each Prius has no more than 8kg of nickel in its pack... On a 1370kg car.... If you want more figures Energy for the battery manufacture is around 75kg of CO2 per kWh so 100kg for each prius pack.
Everywhere it is slated - i cant see why it would appear in this thread.
P4ROT said:
heebeegeetee said:
My little test route was steep uphill, but does have one very challenging off camber bend on it, and the speed up the steep part of the hill is dictated by the confidence with which you attack the corner. With the experience i already had of the VR6 though, I really wasn't surprised that it couldn't beat my time in the Mk2.
Sorry to butt in but was this 'test route' a private track? If not should you really be timing yourself??? (Apologies in advance if it wasn't on the public road)Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff