Who has/had the car with the most problems? (best shed?)

[Derp]

After having to go to the petrol station again to get free air, i thought i'd compile a list of all my cars faults/problems, and decided i'm a good contender for the title of 'PH Shed'. Who has/had the best and most fault filled car? For me - (St220, 2004, 75k on the clock):

• Both front tyres lose about 10psi each week.
• Car stalls at slow speeds on full lock
• PAS very noisy when cold
• Water leaks into the boot
• All 4 jacking point covers dropped off and wont go back on
• Interior light sometimes flickers when switched on then goes straight out
• Water leaks into the drivers footwell
• CD player sometimes eats a cd and wont spit it out again for a while
• Glovebox hinges broken, so glovebox doesnt soft close/open.
• Armrest securing clip has fallen into centre console so armrest doesnt snap shut
• Heater vent wheel broken - spins round and round and doesnt change direction of the vent
• Drivers lower seat bolster collapsed on right hand side
• Handbrake very weak and loose. (It's already seized a caliper twice in 18 months and had replacement handbrake cables due to seizure also)
• Parking sensors often dont work. Sometimes they decide to though.
• Car sometimes wont go into reverse gear
• Heated rear screen doesnt work

Ok, so it's nothing major. I've had a broken pipe, and before i owned it, it needed new rear bushes after 30,000 miles, but most of these things still piss me off.

I'd go out and buy a lovely 330d tomorrow, but im having to save the money to move house
Can anyone suggest a fun alternative which wont break the bank? Im thinking an old 330d, but wonder if this will have more problems than the mondeo! :O

[vit4]

Blimey - I was expecting to read it had x00,000 miles on it; Friday afternoon car? All little niggles but amounted together it would do my head in. I don't think mine has that many things to go wrong in the first place

As for alternatives, E36 328i? Can be had for well under a grand...

[Pesty]

After my mondeo ST I vowed never to buy another ford again.

How about an accord or maybe an IS200 if reliable 4 door car is required.

or
damn i want one of these now

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/4183347.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3878229.htm

Edited by Pesty on Wednesday 29th August 23:37

[DukeDickson]

Pesty said:

After my mondeo ST I vowed never to buy another ford again.

How about an accord or maybe an IS200 if reliable 4 door car is required.

I'd swear my Ford was built by Honda and the Honda that preceded it was slung together by some of Ford's problem employees. Good & bad in all, generally speaking, and this just sounds like a dog to be rid of TBH.

[bennyboydurham]

Wow. That is poor. My E65 (55 plate, 93k) has had the odd brain fart but is currently faultless. It's like new inside.

I could live with a few niggles on an older car but a list that long would do my tree in, especially on a car that's not even that old, or even high in miles.

[HustleRussell]

Just got rid of my 2003 Mondeo TDCI at 135k. Had the same irritatingly broken centre console as yours. Other faults included;
Rear subframe bushes well overdue
All four alloys porous, fronts lost nearly 10psi between petrol station visits
Notchy, noisy steering
Intermittant ABS fault
Tear in rear bench and holes in carpet where I spilled battery acid on it
EGR valve a bit dodgy do I blanked it off
Instrument back-lights loose connection, would sometimes come back on if I thumped the dash
Horrible smell; battery acid, gearbox oil and 'gunk' de-greaser
All four doors rusting at the bottom
Very noisy drive belt pulley
Split intercooler pipe (replaced)
Thermostat stuck open
Rattly sounding engine- poss flywheel starting to go
Liked to be Pre-heated twice
Track rod ends pretty worn, probably strut tops too.

...none of these were show stoppers but it was going to need a fair bit of work to get it to go another 15k miles and I didn't like it enough to spend my time/money... Plus with common rail diesel there is always the risk of injector of fuel pump problems, and turbos, which would'be made it absolutely worthless at a stroke.

[HustleRussell]

I suppose I should add that I've replaced the Mondeo with a 1996 E34 5-series, which has it's own issues, but I like it enough to fix it up, and you don't see many about these days! Problems are;
Paint flaking off roof rails
Leaking coolant from thermostat housing
Warning message- 'brake light circuit'
A/C inoperative
Since I fitted a towbar, warning 'trailer light'
Noisy belt pulleys
Metric tyres, two of which are on the wear bars
Viscous fan coupling kaput
Accident damage to read bumper and light cluster ( previous owner)
Suspension bushes and ball joints all shot.

[Derp]

Pesty said:

After my mondeo ST I vowed never to buy another ford again.

Edited by Pesty on Wednesday 29th August 23:37

Likewise

[DeadMeat_UK]

Best "I'll never be able to sell my car through classifieds in the future" thread ever

For the record, mine is in absolute pristeen working order. Immaculate. One lady owner.

[smiffy220]

I bought a late 2004 Vauxhall Signum 1.9 cdti (150) in April 2011 for £3.5k.
When I finally gave it away in December 2011, it stood me a grand total of £8k in purchase cost and repairs and was still not able to be driven! (And not one of the repairs was carried out at main dealer level, they were all done by a good friend of mine's local garage at mates rates!).

It needed a new exhaust system, including Cat and DPF. New inlet manifold system and 'swell flaps'!?! The alternator gave up the ghost, blower resistance pack, high pressure fuel hose needed replacing, new turbo, new injectors, and the list goes on. Kept going into limp mode, kept randomly chucking out clouds of white acrid smoke, was just a god awful bag of problems! The one and only diesel I've ever owned, has not endeared them to me!

Having said that, if that car had had a decent economical and reasonably powerful petrol engine in it, it would have been a fantastic car. Handled well, was quick, well equipped and very practical. If I didn't know the engines were all problematic, I'd consider another one!

[Triumph Man]

1997 VW Passat 1.9 TDI (previously owned) sold with 230,000 miles

Starting from the front of the car and working backwards

Aircon fan inoperative,
Aircon compressor inoperative
Blown head gasket (odd one, only sympton was pressurised cooling system)
Heavy loss of coolant due to excess pressure
Clicking CV joints and split gaiters
Worn track rod ends
Severe vibration under braking
Blocked plenum drains
leaking heater matrix (towards the end)
delaminating windscreen, improperly bonded so water leaked onto A-pillar trim
Corrosion on leading edge of roof
Only 3 of the 4 door locks worked.
Climate control not working as climate control should (ie didn't control the climate!)
Corroding brake lines
Rear dampers shot (very bouncy ride!)
1 rear tyre had a slow puncture.

I think that might be everything... Apart from that, it wasn't a bad car

ETA: viscous fan coupling wasn't working properly.

[LuS1fer]

Golf III GTI 8v had it's fair share:
(i) repeated stalling which took some time to cure by cleaning out the pipe to the brake servo
(ii) impossible gearchange which had to be all stripped down, the old solid grease removed and regreased to produce a very good quality shift
(iii) back exhaust fell off
(iv) key fob locking never worked
(v) knackered rear discs replaced
(vi) rear bearings replaced, one twice.
(vii) a coolant leak that wasn't bad enough to actually find so top-ups when the light came on were in order.
(viii) welding required at 2 MOTs
(ix) failed rear shock
(x) snapped clutch cable aggravated by the clutch arm receptor cracking (remedied by using a penny washer)

Not the worst and arguably wear and tear.

[BFG TERRANO]

2011 Seat Ibiza sport 23000 miles, here goes. 1 front wheel bearing. 1 gear box. Headlight switch melt down, boot handle came off in My hand. Boot let's water in, source can't be found. Boot lid fills with water then discharges into boot when opened. O/S CV joint clicks loudly when changing direction.... And just had a letter from Seat UK recalling it for a new bonnet latch as its been deemed dangerous. Don't let anyone tell you a Seat is really a VW. It's not.

[SuperHangOn]

^^^ All childs play compared to the P38 I owned

Various suspension, electrical and HEVAC faults which were repaired at no small expense for...
The engine to overheat, lose its coolant and slip a cylinder liner a month later. Sold to breakers for peanuts.

Ouch.

[Derp]

DeadMeat_UK said:

Best "I'll never be able to sell my car through classifieds in the future" thread ever

For the record, mine is in absolute pristeen working order. Immaculate. One lady owner.

Why would i sell it as a 'minter gov, nothing wrang wiv it' when it clearly isn't?

I'd happily list all those faults on an advert. Nothing is worse than buying a car, to find faults not listed, and feeling betrayed.

[saxxeblt]

The sodding 190e has cost me a wiperblade in the last 18mths, glad the thing only has one blade otherwise it would be gone pdq!

[sjc]

My brand new Tuscan in 2000. 9 months ownership,at dealer for 5 of them, 37 faults.

[Derp]

Would it be wise to ditch the st220, for a 100k mile 320d/330d e46?

I've always liked the look of the sport version

[corvus]

I haven't seen any French or Italian cars yet

[BFG TERRANO]

corvus said:

I haven't seen any French or Italian cars yet

Agree, we have an 02 206 1.4hdi owned from new. 90000 on the clock and faultless. Serviced regular, 1 exhaust, 1 battery, couple sets of discs and pads that's it. Never failed an mot yet.