Depressing cars
Discussion
When I had a mk1 Skoda Fabia Vrs I hated every minute of driving. I actually got bored of the car on the drive home from buying it.
I had hyped it up in my mind to be something it was not (quick, and with good handling). Yes it was a reliable and fairly fuel efficient car, but not for me. I would actually describe it as soul destroying to be in.
I bought a spares or repair mk1 mx5 whilst I had the diesel soul crusher and once it was on the road the Skoda didn't move for 3 months.
I had hyped it up in my mind to be something it was not (quick, and with good handling). Yes it was a reliable and fairly fuel efficient car, but not for me. I would actually describe it as soul destroying to be in.
I bought a spares or repair mk1 mx5 whilst I had the diesel soul crusher and once it was on the road the Skoda didn't move for 3 months.
As ungrateful as it sounds, I truly detest my company car which is a current shape (albeit not face lifted) Astra. It's a 1.7 ctdi and honestly I really don't like it. Fleet have announced they're expanding to VW, BMW, Audi (spot the cars the management will get!) but staying with Vauxhall too.
I had a VW Golf Bluemotion hire car for 2 weeks and it was amazing. My Astra needed new rear brakes & I had a current shape Focus.. Excellent. When I dumped the Enterprise Focus back at Vauxhall, the Astra felt so heavy, lumpen and just generally old despite being so new.
If I truly and totally didn't give a damn about cars, I would run my company car as my only car but I just couldn't do that.. Rather have a £200 snotter to drive at the weekend.
I had a VW Golf Bluemotion hire car for 2 weeks and it was amazing. My Astra needed new rear brakes & I had a current shape Focus.. Excellent. When I dumped the Enterprise Focus back at Vauxhall, the Astra felt so heavy, lumpen and just generally old despite being so new.
If I truly and totally didn't give a damn about cars, I would run my company car as my only car but I just couldn't do that.. Rather have a £200 snotter to drive at the weekend.
Today I saw a Vauxhall Meriva (cool story bro etc)
But what struck me was that it had a shiny exhaust tip, massive great wheels and rubberband tyres. It was a 'VXR'
To me that's depressing. A car with no sporting attributes whatsoever aimed at being a 'white good' yet taking a metaphorical dump on any credit the VXR badge still carries.
I mean, I'm sure it's quicker than my ancient French diesel hatch, but it just looked so, so wrong.
But what struck me was that it had a shiny exhaust tip, massive great wheels and rubberband tyres. It was a 'VXR'
To me that's depressing. A car with no sporting attributes whatsoever aimed at being a 'white good' yet taking a metaphorical dump on any credit the VXR badge still carries.
I mean, I'm sure it's quicker than my ancient French diesel hatch, but it just looked so, so wrong.
PinkRinse said:
As ungrateful as it sounds, I truly detest my company car which is a current shape (albeit not face lifted) Astra. It's a 1.7 ctdi
Snap! Swapped mine for a Fiesta Van. Work were charging me 15p a mile for the 70mile round trip to the office and back and the company car tax was the best part of £50 per month. Combined, the Astra was costing me £200 a month more than the Fiesta Van. On top of that, inspite of being a base model van and coming from the supermini class rather than a small family hatch, 30,000 miles a year in my Fiesta are far more pleasant than they would have been in the Astra.I hated my old 206 hdi. I owned a little 1.1 206 for my first car, had for 3 years and loved it. still miss it, but i crashed so instead of wanting a new type of car etc i ended up getting another 206 diesel since i loved my 1.1. After a week i was bored stiff, hated the noise and had to keep ot for 3 long agonising years.
Tannedbaldhead said:
If that's how we feel about overly focused hot hatches imagine how Caterham drivers feel about their cars on a cold wet miserable day or when they're just not in the mood.
I had a similar view on a BMW M Coupe some years back. I was doing about 30k miles per year at the time but I got a big car allowance and a fuel card so running it wasn't a bother. I had the cash sat there waiting to buy and found a car I thought (and still do) that was perfect. It was black with red leather interior, went like stink and looked awesome. The test drive went well, the price was good and it was BMW Approved so the warranty was spot on.The only thing that put me off, was the thought that at 5pm on a wet Friday night, I'd be leaving Farnborough and heading back to Lancashire (about 250 miles or 6 hours on a bad day) in a car that demanded attention from you all the time. It was (still is) an immense car but the sheer effort in driving it when I couldn't be arsed just put me off. Ended up buying a 330 convertible instead - not exactly a diesel Focus but very different to the M!
Had a white 6n polo for all of 2 weeks which ended up being the worst car I've owned I believe. It was bought as a crappy runabout for the few occasions I was back in the country during a period of working abroad, and thought I'd done alright by finding a low miler with near enough full service history and a lady in her 60s as a single owner. Water pump went within 2 weeks (admittedly with about 1500 miles on it in that time) but it was so boring, poorly laid out inside and generally woeful that I didn't mind the loss. Replaced it with a 400 quid mk4 fiesta 1.25 and it was worlds better.
ianrb said:
A Mini Countryman, which my wife was contemplating buying, but it was so st on the test drive we both decided to give it a miss. Honestly is was so bad I actually felt unwell just sitting in it.
They are wk, my wife has a Cooper S version she's had it for two and a half years and I've only ever driven it three times and been a passenger in it twice, quite possibly the worst modern car in the universe!A lot of sporty cars mentioned here and can definately understand why. This is Pistonheads and we all (well quite a few) want the must fun, most hardcore car on earth. But they can be horrible to drive on a dayly basis. My current (only) car is an S2000 and that can be really nasty to drive sometimes. Cramped, very noisy on motorway, lots of mechanical noises, harsh, notchy gearshift when cold, etc. Becomes better once warmed up, but it's not a car you'd like to drive on a rainy winters day. However, on a good day it's awesome. Luckily I cycle to work, so mostly just use it for fun. It I had to use it daily if would be been sold a long time ago!
northwest monkey said:
Tannedbaldhead said:
If that's how we feel about overly focused hot hatches imagine how Caterham drivers feel about their cars on a cold wet miserable day or when they're just not in the mood.
I had a similar view on a BMW M Coupe some years back. I was doing about 30k miles per year at the time but I got a big car allowance and a fuel card so running it wasn't a bother. I had the cash sat there waiting to buy and found a car I thought (and still do) that was perfect. It was black with red leather interior, went like stink and looked awesome. The test drive went well, the price was good and it was BMW Approved so the warranty was spot on.The only thing that put me off, was the thought that at 5pm on a wet Friday night, I'd be leaving Farnborough and heading back to Lancashire (about 250 miles or 6 hours on a bad day) in a car that demanded attention from you all the time. It was (still is) an immense car but the sheer effort in driving it when I couldn't be arsed just put me off. Ended up buying a 330 convertible instead - not exactly a diesel Focus but very different to the M!
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