Glad to see the back of it
Discussion
I'll throw my Skoda Fabia into the mix that I kept for just over a year. Taken in by the "it's really a VW" marketing/hype, it soon became clear that despite the nice "clunk" of the doors and solid feel, it was still built down to a price and had a number of, apparently common, issues as well as some less common ones. Also the only car that's left me stranded at the roadside ... and for good measure, this one did it twice. Seems after 9 owners (2 changes in 2011 and 3 in 2014!) it got scrapped.
Chris
Chris
Another vote for R53 MINI Cooper S.
I spent a long time searching for an un-abused model without silly union flag roof stickers etc. Found a dark blue one, Chilli pack, cruise, climate one lady owner from nearly new etc. The AC didn't blow cold and the guy got a second hand compressor fitted, sorted that. Then on the test drive an ABS sensor failed. He fixed that and I bought it for £300 under his asking price. He supplied 2 outer CV boots as these were advised on the last MOT. One of the most difficult ones I've ever tried to swap. The bottom ball joint (upside down compared to most cars) just wouldn't come apart and I ruined a few splitters getting it open. Had to buy some big Jubilee clips to stop the big ends leaking.
But I didn't like it. Heavy steering, notchy awkward gearchange with that ridiculous reverse indent BMW seem to love. Wanted to change the supercharger oil but need a special tool to remove drive belt. Brakes were rubbish even after a rebuild. Slow and thirsty.
I took my lowered 1.3 Mk2 Astra on a trip to pick my nan up over the MINI as the ride was so crashy. Interior hard plastics were nasty, no arm rests on the doors. Boot useless.
In the end in the wet I shoved it up the back of a 1 series on the motorway. I'm thankful to this day there wasn't a huge pile up and we both got to the hard shoulder. They were ok and went on their way. Mini suffered a cracked rad so I limped to the next junction and left it there and got recovered a few hours later. Had no interest in fixing it and insurance offered me more than I paid for it so it went.
Stuck with 'rubbish' Vauxhalls ever since and have always been happier.
I spent a long time searching for an un-abused model without silly union flag roof stickers etc. Found a dark blue one, Chilli pack, cruise, climate one lady owner from nearly new etc. The AC didn't blow cold and the guy got a second hand compressor fitted, sorted that. Then on the test drive an ABS sensor failed. He fixed that and I bought it for £300 under his asking price. He supplied 2 outer CV boots as these were advised on the last MOT. One of the most difficult ones I've ever tried to swap. The bottom ball joint (upside down compared to most cars) just wouldn't come apart and I ruined a few splitters getting it open. Had to buy some big Jubilee clips to stop the big ends leaking.
But I didn't like it. Heavy steering, notchy awkward gearchange with that ridiculous reverse indent BMW seem to love. Wanted to change the supercharger oil but need a special tool to remove drive belt. Brakes were rubbish even after a rebuild. Slow and thirsty.
I took my lowered 1.3 Mk2 Astra on a trip to pick my nan up over the MINI as the ride was so crashy. Interior hard plastics were nasty, no arm rests on the doors. Boot useless.
In the end in the wet I shoved it up the back of a 1 series on the motorway. I'm thankful to this day there wasn't a huge pile up and we both got to the hard shoulder. They were ok and went on their way. Mini suffered a cracked rad so I limped to the next junction and left it there and got recovered a few hours later. Had no interest in fixing it and insurance offered me more than I paid for it so it went.
Stuck with 'rubbish' Vauxhalls ever since and have always been happier.
As someone who likes to see "value" and "utility" from things, rather than status or image, after a series of Excellent Fords, I decided to buy a MK3 Octavia estate.
I had owned a Mk1 Octavia vRS when they were fairly new and still a novelty. Re-mapped, it was fast, even if the chassis was a bit crap.
The Mk3 Estate was a 1.4TSi 150. It was quite fast and frugal, but the chassis and steering was total crap and the NVH offensive/nauseating. The brakes were terrible. The infotainment/sat nav was poor.
Our elderly Fiesta was a better car.
I tinkered with it, tries to improve it in various ways, but the rode was shocking and the handling on good roads was awful. I got rid after a few months. I lost quite a bit on it, but I was so glad to get rid.
The Mk5 Mondeo that followed it wasn't perfect, but it was vastly better in almost all ways.
I had owned a Mk1 Octavia vRS when they were fairly new and still a novelty. Re-mapped, it was fast, even if the chassis was a bit crap.
The Mk3 Estate was a 1.4TSi 150. It was quite fast and frugal, but the chassis and steering was total crap and the NVH offensive/nauseating. The brakes were terrible. The infotainment/sat nav was poor.
Our elderly Fiesta was a better car.
I tinkered with it, tries to improve it in various ways, but the rode was shocking and the handling on good roads was awful. I got rid after a few months. I lost quite a bit on it, but I was so glad to get rid.
The Mk5 Mondeo that followed it wasn't perfect, but it was vastly better in almost all ways.
I've had a couple...
- 2002 Ford Mondeo Zetec TDCi. I bought it as, due to a supposed job location change, I urgently needed an economical diesel so I bought the first one I found. It drove nicely but had clearly never been looked after and cost me £120 to have the cream interior professionally cleaned, then £800 in repairs in the 3 months I owned it. The job location change never happened so I sold it and lost a further £700.
- 2005 Range Rover L322 4.4V8 petrol. Had already spent £2000 on the crap cooling system of the crap BMW V8 engine, when grumbling noises from the gearbox signalled that this needed a rebuild and a new torque converter - quote was £3000. I got shot of it sharpish.
- 2002 Ford Mondeo Zetec TDCi. I bought it as, due to a supposed job location change, I urgently needed an economical diesel so I bought the first one I found. It drove nicely but had clearly never been looked after and cost me £120 to have the cream interior professionally cleaned, then £800 in repairs in the 3 months I owned it. The job location change never happened so I sold it and lost a further £700.
- 2005 Range Rover L322 4.4V8 petrol. Had already spent £2000 on the crap cooling system of the crap BMW V8 engine, when grumbling noises from the gearbox signalled that this needed a rebuild and a new torque converter - quote was £3000. I got shot of it sharpish.
Another vote for the 00s Mercedes. My CLK430 was supposed to be a bit of cheap, woofly, summer fun. Bought with decent history and lowish miles, I thought I was onto a winner.
It was, without question, the worst engineered car I've ever owned.
(Dis?)Honourable mention for the R53 Mini too. I technically ruined mine by dumping £15k into it to turn it into a pretend racing car, but it absolutely loved a niggly fault. In terms of the % of trackdays I made it home from under my own steam, it was worse than the £500 206 GTi that it replaced. The packaging and engineering made it seem like a clever car when it was new, but trying to maintain a 15yo old one was miserable.
That was one that I definitely waved a fond goodbye to. I had a wry smile when the buyer later reported it had broken down on a trackday - a brand new alternator had seized and failed, taking the charger belt with it.
It was, without question, the worst engineered car I've ever owned.
(Dis?)Honourable mention for the R53 Mini too. I technically ruined mine by dumping £15k into it to turn it into a pretend racing car, but it absolutely loved a niggly fault. In terms of the % of trackdays I made it home from under my own steam, it was worse than the £500 206 GTi that it replaced. The packaging and engineering made it seem like a clever car when it was new, but trying to maintain a 15yo old one was miserable.
That was one that I definitely waved a fond goodbye to. I had a wry smile when the buyer later reported it had broken down on a trackday - a brand new alternator had seized and failed, taking the charger belt with it.
Edited by C70R on Monday 23 October 12:04
2007 Mini One (R56) for me. During my ownership bought at 70k - replacement engine, new clutch, new radiator, new hatch locking mechanism. Failures included bonnet release and gear stick disconnecting. I have had over 30 cars and this was my first lemon. Statistically I guess I have been lucky.
Probably my Skoda vRS.
Brought it for almost no money so maybe can't complain too much because it seemed decent enough but needed a bit of TLC here and there.
This was my first via a "dealer" and just turned into a heap pretty quickly. Bits of the interior had been badly patched up and broke, the ride was catastrophically bad due to some awful DIY work on the shocks, turned out to be clocked down by about 50k and it kept getting funny electrical things going wrong with it.
I'd also sold my RX8 because it was costing too much to run with having a GF on the other side of London so was a bit bitter about that.
Brought it for almost no money so maybe can't complain too much because it seemed decent enough but needed a bit of TLC here and there.
This was my first via a "dealer" and just turned into a heap pretty quickly. Bits of the interior had been badly patched up and broke, the ride was catastrophically bad due to some awful DIY work on the shocks, turned out to be clocked down by about 50k and it kept getting funny electrical things going wrong with it.
I'd also sold my RX8 because it was costing too much to run with having a GF on the other side of London so was a bit bitter about that.
I love old Mercs. Always have. But they are certainly not especially reliable things. They kind of feel like they should be, but compared to a Lexus? Nah.
I think the German manufacturers accidentally pulled a clever trick. High initial cost means a lot of Sunken cost fallacy going on.
Infuriatingly, I’ve had to sort of conclude there’s a great deal of randomness going on with cars in general. I’m currently smoking about in a very early w210. All toys on it. It ought to be utter s
t - but there’s no rust, everything works, it’s silent, fast and calm. I could have the next one coming down the line and it would have been useless. You just can’t tell.
Lexus though. Always good in my experience.
I think the German manufacturers accidentally pulled a clever trick. High initial cost means a lot of Sunken cost fallacy going on.
Infuriatingly, I’ve had to sort of conclude there’s a great deal of randomness going on with cars in general. I’m currently smoking about in a very early w210. All toys on it. It ought to be utter s
t - but there’s no rust, everything works, it’s silent, fast and calm. I could have the next one coming down the line and it would have been useless. You just can’t tell. Lexus though. Always good in my experience.
2005 A3 2.0 TDi. 130k on it, and getting on a bit, but clearly well loved, low owner car with a full mostly Audi main dealer history. Unmarked Alcantara interior, cold air-con, drove well, advisory free MOT etc,
Ran beautifully for about 2 months, then just started throwing one thing after another.
2.0 PD went well and was frugal, but the famous police siren noise started coming from the turbo a few months in.
Four wheel alignment aborted after the rear suspension bolts were found to be so corroded the fitter couldn't risk removing them without breaking them.
Dash pixels randomly scrambling
Coating peeling off much of the switchgear
Glow plug light blinking and then going out again without logging any fault codes.
The bonnet switch for the alarm failed causing the alarm to go off randomly.
Even to this day I can't help noticing how many A3s have the rear wiper stopped at some random jaunty angle where the motor died after a plastic pipe failed and filled the casing up with screenwash fluid. All because Audi couldn't possibly have an unsightly separate washer nozzle on the boot.
A lot of it was old car stuff, but I somehow expected more having run lots of far less salubrious brands to far bigger mileages than this with a fraction of the grief. Sold it on eBay at a sizeable loss when the turbo noise got too obvious to hide/deny, and I wasn't prepared to invest another penny in the heap.
At one time, a higher mileage but well cared for Audi would have been one of the safest buys on Earth.
Ran beautifully for about 2 months, then just started throwing one thing after another.
2.0 PD went well and was frugal, but the famous police siren noise started coming from the turbo a few months in.
Four wheel alignment aborted after the rear suspension bolts were found to be so corroded the fitter couldn't risk removing them without breaking them.
Dash pixels randomly scrambling
Coating peeling off much of the switchgear
Glow plug light blinking and then going out again without logging any fault codes.
The bonnet switch for the alarm failed causing the alarm to go off randomly.
Even to this day I can't help noticing how many A3s have the rear wiper stopped at some random jaunty angle where the motor died after a plastic pipe failed and filled the casing up with screenwash fluid. All because Audi couldn't possibly have an unsightly separate washer nozzle on the boot.
A lot of it was old car stuff, but I somehow expected more having run lots of far less salubrious brands to far bigger mileages than this with a fraction of the grief. Sold it on eBay at a sizeable loss when the turbo noise got too obvious to hide/deny, and I wasn't prepared to invest another penny in the heap.
At one time, a higher mileage but well cared for Audi would have been one of the safest buys on Earth.
Audi A4 1.8T convertible. I had been thinking about one for a while and saw one parked at a local second hand yard as I was driving home from work. It looked REALLY nice and drove OK so 20 minutes later I was driving home in it.
Two days in the low oil light came on. I immediately bought some and topped it up, but it used a litre every 500 to 1000 miles. The following went wrong with it in 2000 miles.
Clutch pulley on the alternator.
Power steering pump failed.
Plastic dipstick cracked and sprayed oil everywhere.
Low oil pressure light came on due to blocked oil pickup, had a new oil pump and pickup fitted.
O2 sensor failed.
Vacuum leak putting the check engine light on.
Then as I was in stationary traffic someone decided to drive between the traffic to do a right turn and caught the back of my car and just drove off. If felt like a massive bang and seeing them drive away the entire side of their mini was mashed.
I didn't even bother chasing after them, as I drove away I noticed the steering wheel was offset. I got to work expecting the back to be stoved in and there was a 50p size dent on the wheel arch. Clearly the wheel had taken the impact and bent something.
My dad took it to work the next day and couldn't find what it was. As he got home he went to put the window up and it wouldn't move. At this point I had had enough with the car, it still had the noisy power steering pump (I had a new one I hadn't fitted so through it in with the car), air leak, was using oil, had the bend rear suspension and now the window was jammed.
I paid £3800 for the car, did 2K miles in it, spent a fortune on repairs and put it on eBay with a buy it now price of £1000 listing every single issue being 100% honest.
I have never had so much interest in a car, a guy travelled down from Liverpool (I lived in Hampshire) and got to my house at 10PM and drove it away.
I was so happy never to see the fking thing ever again. It was one thing after another with the car, I honestly could not fix the problems quick enough, there was always something wrong with it.
I can only assume the previous owners got sick of spending money and just traded it in for something else.
Two days in the low oil light came on. I immediately bought some and topped it up, but it used a litre every 500 to 1000 miles. The following went wrong with it in 2000 miles.
Clutch pulley on the alternator.
Power steering pump failed.
Plastic dipstick cracked and sprayed oil everywhere.
Low oil pressure light came on due to blocked oil pickup, had a new oil pump and pickup fitted.
O2 sensor failed.
Vacuum leak putting the check engine light on.
Then as I was in stationary traffic someone decided to drive between the traffic to do a right turn and caught the back of my car and just drove off. If felt like a massive bang and seeing them drive away the entire side of their mini was mashed.
I didn't even bother chasing after them, as I drove away I noticed the steering wheel was offset. I got to work expecting the back to be stoved in and there was a 50p size dent on the wheel arch. Clearly the wheel had taken the impact and bent something.
My dad took it to work the next day and couldn't find what it was. As he got home he went to put the window up and it wouldn't move. At this point I had had enough with the car, it still had the noisy power steering pump (I had a new one I hadn't fitted so through it in with the car), air leak, was using oil, had the bend rear suspension and now the window was jammed.
I paid £3800 for the car, did 2K miles in it, spent a fortune on repairs and put it on eBay with a buy it now price of £1000 listing every single issue being 100% honest.
I have never had so much interest in a car, a guy travelled down from Liverpool (I lived in Hampshire) and got to my house at 10PM and drove it away.
I was so happy never to see the f
king thing ever again. It was one thing after another with the car, I honestly could not fix the problems quick enough, there was always something wrong with it.I can only assume the previous owners got sick of spending money and just traded it in for something else.
06 plate Mondeo ST TDCI. It looked great in black and the interior - being a facelift - was also a decent to look at. However, the driving experience was terrible. The engine felt gutless considering the torque it was meant to have - my FN2 Type R feels more torquey - and the cabin noise was ridiculous for a car that was meant to munch motorway miles. If the noise from the tyres was bad, the noise from the engine at idle even worse. Sat in traffic the engine idle noise would vibrate through the cabin. It really made what felt like a decent interior feel like a horrible place to be.
Subaru Outback H6 2001. Bought it as a daily and tip run car.
What an absolute lemon, niggled with faults and a constant headache, every drive I would notice something new.
Rust
Weird intermittent steering wobble
Torque converter is not engaging smoothly sometimes
Fluctuating rpm, once the engine even stalled
Tons of rust
AC broken
Weird scraping noise from the back when hot
Speakers sounded like death if there was some bass
Several clunks from the front and back
Rust
Heatshield from the exhaust rattled like hell
Probably forgot something
And that was after it got a huge service at a Subaru shop, changing the leaking valve cover gaskets, oil cooler, every fluid etc.
I liked the car in general, comfy, smooth engine (when it ran right), great looking. But my example was an absolute pos.
It took several months to sell that thing and i made a very huge loss overall, but man i was happy to see the back of it.
What an absolute lemon, niggled with faults and a constant headache, every drive I would notice something new.
Rust
Weird intermittent steering wobble
Torque converter is not engaging smoothly sometimes
Fluctuating rpm, once the engine even stalled
Tons of rust
AC broken
Weird scraping noise from the back when hot
Speakers sounded like death if there was some bass
Several clunks from the front and back
Rust
Heatshield from the exhaust rattled like hell
Probably forgot something
And that was after it got a huge service at a Subaru shop, changing the leaking valve cover gaskets, oil cooler, every fluid etc.
I liked the car in general, comfy, smooth engine (when it ran right), great looking. But my example was an absolute pos.
It took several months to sell that thing and i made a very huge loss overall, but man i was happy to see the back of it.
TVR Cerbera 4.5 V8.
Owned from very nearly new for about 13months but only on the road for 3 or so during that time.
It took 12 months of legal action to receive not only the total purchase cost of circa £50K plus legal fees plus compensation for aggravation and hire car costs when the garage could not provide a courtesy car.
I actually felt some sympathy for the garage as they'd tried their best to pout it right and advised it would probably take another year to get all the faults fixed after which I could enjoy the car properly.
The Expert Engineering witness's report was utterly damming. Having visited the factory a number of times previously and seen how chaotic and dirty the pace was I should have not let my heart rule my head.
My previous 400SE had been almost faultless but I did not buy from new so perhaps a previous owner had suffered the pain.
Owned from very nearly new for about 13months but only on the road for 3 or so during that time.
It took 12 months of legal action to receive not only the total purchase cost of circa £50K plus legal fees plus compensation for aggravation and hire car costs when the garage could not provide a courtesy car.
I actually felt some sympathy for the garage as they'd tried their best to pout it right and advised it would probably take another year to get all the faults fixed after which I could enjoy the car properly.
The Expert Engineering witness's report was utterly damming. Having visited the factory a number of times previously and seen how chaotic and dirty the pace was I should have not let my heart rule my head.
My previous 400SE had been almost faultless but I did not buy from new so perhaps a previous owner had suffered the pain.
Lexus IS250 which I bought in '06. Nothing wrong with it mechanically, but just a disappointing car. Horrible reedy engine note, cheap feeling interior trim, lethal adaptive cruise control, a rare balance of bouncy ride yet poor handling. And oddly, a heating element in the windscreen that only heated the bottom 2 inches of screen yet it had no heating elements in the washer jets.
To cap it all, it was the worst % depreciation loss I suffered on a car over a comparatively short period.
To cap it all, it was the worst % depreciation loss I suffered on a car over a comparatively short period.
Limpet said:
2005 A3 2.0 TDi. 130k on it, and getting on a bit, but clearly well loved, low owner car with a full mostly Audi main dealer history. Unmarked Alcantara interior, cold air-con, drove well, advisory free MOT etc,
Ran beautifully for about 2 months, then just started throwing one thing after another.
2.0 PD went well and was frugal, but the famous police siren noise started coming from the turbo a few months in.
Four wheel alignment aborted after the rear suspension bolts were found to be so corroded the fitter couldn't risk removing them without breaking them.
Dash pixels randomly scrambling
Coating peeling off much of the switchgear
Glow plug light blinking and then going out again without logging any fault codes.
The bonnet switch for the alarm failed causing the alarm to go off randomly.
Even to this day I can't help noticing how many A3s have the rear wiper stopped at some random jaunty angle where the motor died after a plastic pipe failed and filled the casing up with screenwash fluid. All because Audi couldn't possibly have an unsightly separate washer nozzle on the boot.
A lot of it was old car stuff, but I somehow expected more having run lots of far less salubrious brands to far bigger mileages than this with a fraction of the grief. Sold it on eBay at a sizeable loss when the turbo noise got too obvious to hide/deny, and I wasn't prepared to invest another penny in the heap.
At one time, a higher mileage but well cared for Audi would have been one of the safest buys on Earth.
My experience of VAG stuff from the early 00s is that it will happily do mega mega moon mileages very reliably but only as long as you do it within about 10-12 years from new. After that irrespective of the mileage on the car it will completely and utterly fall to sRan beautifully for about 2 months, then just started throwing one thing after another.
2.0 PD went well and was frugal, but the famous police siren noise started coming from the turbo a few months in.
Four wheel alignment aborted after the rear suspension bolts were found to be so corroded the fitter couldn't risk removing them without breaking them.
Dash pixels randomly scrambling
Coating peeling off much of the switchgear
Glow plug light blinking and then going out again without logging any fault codes.
The bonnet switch for the alarm failed causing the alarm to go off randomly.
Even to this day I can't help noticing how many A3s have the rear wiper stopped at some random jaunty angle where the motor died after a plastic pipe failed and filled the casing up with screenwash fluid. All because Audi couldn't possibly have an unsightly separate washer nozzle on the boot.
A lot of it was old car stuff, but I somehow expected more having run lots of far less salubrious brands to far bigger mileages than this with a fraction of the grief. Sold it on eBay at a sizeable loss when the turbo noise got too obvious to hide/deny, and I wasn't prepared to invest another penny in the heap.
At one time, a higher mileage but well cared for Audi would have been one of the safest buys on Earth.
t, you'll have things breaking you've never heard of breaking before, everything is a swine to fix, and it will never ever end.Quite clever engineering really.
The more recent stuff appears to be an arseache from about 5 years old though. I suppose those billions in fines and to develop christmas cracker-esque rubbish EVs had to be cut from somewhere.
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Monday 23 October 14:23
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