What's the most embarrassing car you have owned and why?
Discussion
As above, what is the most embarssing car that you have owned and why?
3rd place for me goes to my first car, a debadged 1995 Vauxhall Astra 1.4 LS (it was metallic satin red rather than flat red though but can't find a picture on google images - must be a rare car)!
At the time, a 5 year old Astra wasn't a bad first car for a 20 year old but it's here because:
a) it broke down outside the girl's house that I was trying to impress on the day that I got it (she did go out with me in the end but only for 2 weeks!);
b) when I got it back from the garage after incident a), the exhaust fell off on the day that I got it back whilst I was taking some mates bowling in it;
c) being young and naive, I thought that being a 1.4 it was an absolute beast but I got bested in it during an impromptu drag race by a friend in a crappy beige 1.1 mk2 Fiesta!
d) I bought it during my industrial placement year at university and when I returned, I discovered that my petrolhead mates that I lived with in my final year all had cooler cars than me: BMW 325i, tuned (Rover) Mini Cooper, Civic VTi, Primera eGT, MX5, mk1 MR2, Volvo 440 Turbo (well, maybe not the Volvo but it was fairly quick when it worked)! Come finals time, we would go for a spirited drive in our cars in convoy and I would be the backmarker. It lead me to hastily buy a 205 GTi between the end of term and graduation to gain kudos!
It did manage to take out an old Nova though whilst only sustaining superficial damage itself, so it wasn't all bad!
2nd place has to go to my mk4 Golf GTi (2.0 5dr)
I had always wanted a Golf GTi (but this definitely wasn't the one to buy). It was nearly as slow as the Astra and its replacement (a Polo 1.4 TDI) would have trounced it off the lights. Also, the alarm went off every time it rained, which was nice!
When I emigrated last year, I thought that I would be falling over cheap examples of lots of cool stuff like:
The girl is an obligatory accessory!
or maybe one of these...
Sadly though, used car prices are much higher here than I envisaged (new car prices relatively low though), so my reality is this:
It's a 2004 Chrysler Sebring. Well firstly, let's not beat about the bush. It's gold! Secondly, I knew nothing about these cars when I bought it or the perception of the Chrysler badge over here. I was working at the dealership that took it in trade at the time and it was the right price and seemed in good condition. It transpires though that Chrysler is a bit like the American Rover. So this is the equivalent of a gold Rover 800 saloon!
The Astra was defendable in that it was a respectable car for a 20 year old at the time to drive, the Golf looked quite good and was nice to sit in (unless you were racing or it was raining) but this is just a gold Chrysler!
Ironically though, it is a much better car than either the Astra or Golf. It has a 200bhp V6 engine and is quite light, so fairly quick, contrary to popular belief it holds the road and rides quite well (better than my wife's new Toyota in fact), it's comfortable and spacious and has cruise control and averages 35mpg. Sadly, none of that matters though but I would be hard pushed to replace it with something better without taking out a massive loan, so I'll stick buy it for now!
So, what's the most embarrassing car that you have owned and why?
3rd place for me goes to my first car, a debadged 1995 Vauxhall Astra 1.4 LS (it was metallic satin red rather than flat red though but can't find a picture on google images - must be a rare car)!
At the time, a 5 year old Astra wasn't a bad first car for a 20 year old but it's here because:
a) it broke down outside the girl's house that I was trying to impress on the day that I got it (she did go out with me in the end but only for 2 weeks!);
b) when I got it back from the garage after incident a), the exhaust fell off on the day that I got it back whilst I was taking some mates bowling in it;
c) being young and naive, I thought that being a 1.4 it was an absolute beast but I got bested in it during an impromptu drag race by a friend in a crappy beige 1.1 mk2 Fiesta!
d) I bought it during my industrial placement year at university and when I returned, I discovered that my petrolhead mates that I lived with in my final year all had cooler cars than me: BMW 325i, tuned (Rover) Mini Cooper, Civic VTi, Primera eGT, MX5, mk1 MR2, Volvo 440 Turbo (well, maybe not the Volvo but it was fairly quick when it worked)! Come finals time, we would go for a spirited drive in our cars in convoy and I would be the backmarker. It lead me to hastily buy a 205 GTi between the end of term and graduation to gain kudos!
It did manage to take out an old Nova though whilst only sustaining superficial damage itself, so it wasn't all bad!
2nd place has to go to my mk4 Golf GTi (2.0 5dr)
I had always wanted a Golf GTi (but this definitely wasn't the one to buy). It was nearly as slow as the Astra and its replacement (a Polo 1.4 TDI) would have trounced it off the lights. Also, the alarm went off every time it rained, which was nice!
When I emigrated last year, I thought that I would be falling over cheap examples of lots of cool stuff like:
The girl is an obligatory accessory!
or maybe one of these...
Sadly though, used car prices are much higher here than I envisaged (new car prices relatively low though), so my reality is this:
It's a 2004 Chrysler Sebring. Well firstly, let's not beat about the bush. It's gold! Secondly, I knew nothing about these cars when I bought it or the perception of the Chrysler badge over here. I was working at the dealership that took it in trade at the time and it was the right price and seemed in good condition. It transpires though that Chrysler is a bit like the American Rover. So this is the equivalent of a gold Rover 800 saloon!
The Astra was defendable in that it was a respectable car for a 20 year old at the time to drive, the Golf looked quite good and was nice to sit in (unless you were racing or it was raining) but this is just a gold Chrysler!
Ironically though, it is a much better car than either the Astra or Golf. It has a 200bhp V6 engine and is quite light, so fairly quick, contrary to popular belief it holds the road and rides quite well (better than my wife's new Toyota in fact), it's comfortable and spacious and has cruise control and averages 35mpg. Sadly, none of that matters though but I would be hard pushed to replace it with something better without taking out a massive loan, so I'll stick buy it for now!
So, what's the most embarrassing car that you have owned and why?
Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 9th October 23:08
My current snotter (on its last legs) a 15 year old Peugeot 206 Grand Tourisme. Cost £500 two years ago. The exhaust has just split and driving around the last two weeks has been a nightmare. The brakes are knackered and the power steering is almost gone.. I plan now to 'fit' in with the rest of the crowd in my works car park and purchase a german saloon..
For £500, I will never get cheaper driving time again vs. Car value.
For £500, I will never get cheaper driving time again vs. Car value.
This.......
Proton Persona Saloon..... Ironically it had no persona whatsoever!
A few years ago when times were hard I needed something taxed and tested to get me to work and back. This heap of sh*t cost me £201 with 4 months MOT and 5 months tax!
The most awful car i've ever driven.... Mind you it was a GLX so it had a sunroof, which leaked! And although 4cyl it only ever fired off 3 of em which made it feel like it was in a permanent limp home mode!
On a plus.... I took the cat off and sold it for £50 and scrapped the car for £120, so £30 for 4 months motoring isn't bad!
Proton Persona Saloon..... Ironically it had no persona whatsoever!
A few years ago when times were hard I needed something taxed and tested to get me to work and back. This heap of sh*t cost me £201 with 4 months MOT and 5 months tax!
The most awful car i've ever driven.... Mind you it was a GLX so it had a sunroof, which leaked! And although 4cyl it only ever fired off 3 of em which made it feel like it was in a permanent limp home mode!
On a plus.... I took the cat off and sold it for £50 and scrapped the car for £120, so £30 for 4 months motoring isn't bad!
Probably my Pug 306 diesel...Hated every second of it, it depressed me every morning hearing that clatter 
The skins of many rice puddings were safe from that car. But it did the commute daily for a few weeks...and was hideously reliable despite my best efforts the only thing that broke was the vacuum pump for the brakes before it got scrapped.
The skins of many rice puddings were safe from that car. But it did the commute daily for a few weeks...and was hideously reliable despite my best efforts the only thing that broke was the vacuum pump for the brakes before it got scrapped.
renault clio 1.5 dci..
sold an audi 225 tt , some may say this was embarrassing enough, and went for something cheap - a 650 quid renault clio 1.5 dci which could (and did) give 70mpg.
now it wasn't even embarrassing because instead of a stunning early 20's blonde femme called Nicole driving it was a nearly 40 year old male well built company director at the wheel.
nope, it wan't even the colour, a fetching dark blue which accentuated the badly fogged front headlights.
the problem was actually the reason for its great mpg, the fact it drank almost as much engine oil as it did diesel, supplementing the fuel supply if you like. this was not only expensive but also a mightily embarrassing issue as when the engine was cold it would belch out blue smoke creating a smoke screen james bond would have been proud of. Unfortunately leaving for work each morning would leave street in a thick blue mist no matter how sedately you tried to pull away and scuttle off down the road.
sold an audi 225 tt , some may say this was embarrassing enough, and went for something cheap - a 650 quid renault clio 1.5 dci which could (and did) give 70mpg.
now it wasn't even embarrassing because instead of a stunning early 20's blonde femme called Nicole driving it was a nearly 40 year old male well built company director at the wheel.
nope, it wan't even the colour, a fetching dark blue which accentuated the badly fogged front headlights.
the problem was actually the reason for its great mpg, the fact it drank almost as much engine oil as it did diesel, supplementing the fuel supply if you like. this was not only expensive but also a mightily embarrassing issue as when the engine was cold it would belch out blue smoke creating a smoke screen james bond would have been proud of. Unfortunately leaving for work each morning would leave street in a thick blue mist no matter how sedately you tried to pull away and scuttle off down the road.
It's not even embarrassing but it's my £300 Rover 75 2.0CDT Club SE. It's got a few marks
on but nothing that can't be replaced cheaply with 2nd hand parts. It's got 12 months MOT now so can't complain at cheap motoring! Was standing for 2 years so as I've grown to love it (I know it's not anything special but I'm poor) so I'm going to give it a major service and make it as best as I can on a limited budget.
A Citroen 2CV Beachcomber.
Don't get me wrong, I love 2cv's and have owned several but I bought this one unseen from an advert in Loot (years ago). I got the early flight from Edinburgh to London to pick it up - when I got there it was covered in large Calvin and Hobbs stickers so after I bought it, and before the long journey back to Edinburgh I tried to remove them at the side of the road without success. It also had a dodgy clutch which made for a very interesting drive home
Don't get me wrong, I love 2cv's and have owned several but I bought this one unseen from an advert in Loot (years ago). I got the early flight from Edinburgh to London to pick it up - when I got there it was covered in large Calvin and Hobbs stickers so after I bought it, and before the long journey back to Edinburgh I tried to remove them at the side of the road without success. It also had a dodgy clutch which made for a very interesting drive home
Almost identical to this... My 2nd car at the age of 17 after crashing a Volvo 164e
Overpowered me and anyone who went in it with petrol fumes from the day i purchased it to the day it died.
Edited
For those that don't know what it is... Simca 1100 GLS
Overpowered me and anyone who went in it with petrol fumes from the day i purchased it to the day it died.
Edited
For those that don't know what it is... Simca 1100 GLS
Edited by TVRJAS on Friday 10th October 00:20
BRG Rover 216sli at 22. Swimming pool in the boot, rust here and there. Bought to tide me over after I sold my "nice" Mk4 Golf to fund a month long road trip holiday to America. It was probably embarrassing but I can't remember caring. Served me well for nearly 2years. Only ever cost me two part worn tyres. Scrapped it for £65 in the end. HGF and rust meant it wouldn't survive without a wedge spending on it. Probably the best value car I've ever had 
Renault 21 Savannah, it was actually a great car mechanically, but it very quickly got the nickname "The Chicken Coop"
Basically bought 8 months tax and a tank of petrol and that came with a free car, it was a tad rough!! lacquer gone on all paint, mildew impregnated into the bumpers, rear seat back would randomly collapse on hard acceleration, boot was stuck closed (until i accidentally reversed into a wall then it wouldn't close/ lock) gear nob tended to come off at random moments, had a definite farmyard aroma to it, ignition "key" was a stub nosed screw driver, but amazingly every single piece of electrics worked!!!
Still ran it for the whole 8 months of tax and the thing just would not miss a beat .... so MOT'ed and taxed it again, then a few months later sold it to another mate who needed some cheep transport for the same deal i bought it at.
The then SWMBO wouldn't be seen in it
Basically bought 8 months tax and a tank of petrol and that came with a free car, it was a tad rough!! lacquer gone on all paint, mildew impregnated into the bumpers, rear seat back would randomly collapse on hard acceleration, boot was stuck closed (until i accidentally reversed into a wall then it wouldn't close/ lock) gear nob tended to come off at random moments, had a definite farmyard aroma to it, ignition "key" was a stub nosed screw driver, but amazingly every single piece of electrics worked!!!
Still ran it for the whole 8 months of tax and the thing just would not miss a beat .... so MOT'ed and taxed it again, then a few months later sold it to another mate who needed some cheep transport for the same deal i bought it at.
The then SWMBO wouldn't be seen in it
Russwhitehouse said:
Austin Allegro estate. My first car and a real rat. The front door hinge pins were six inch nails but it only cost £70 at the time. Even had the humiliation of taking a potential girlfriend out in the bloody thing, she was very unimpressed. Never saw her again.
I had a white 4 door version with s
t brown interior and the square steering wheel....i'd only drive it by myself, was to ashamed to use it elsewhere.Also had a gold Capri 2.0 GL in the 90's, during the time when they definitely weren't cool. Another brown interior and a black rubber spoiler to help with downforce, it was a right dog. I bought it for 2 packets of B&H but was too embarrassed to drive it anywhere, so parked it up the end of the street and forgot about it.
A few months later, my Dad was moaning about an abandoned car in the road, which reminded me about it. Luckily a good home was found for it up the Ringwood raceway where it ended it's career in the side of a Jag.
white_goodman said:
d) I bought it during my industrial placement year at university and when I returned, I discovered that my petrolhead mates that I lived with in my final year all had cooler cars than me: BMW 325i, tuned (Rover) Mini Cooper, Civic VTi, Primera eGT, MX5, mk1 MR2, Volvo 440 Turbo (well, maybe not the Volvo but it was fairly quick when it worked)! Come finals time, we would go for a spirited drive in our cars in convoy and I would be the backmarker. It lead me to hastily buy a 205 GTi between the end of term and graduation to gain kudos!
Oi, there was nothing wrong with that Volvo! Autocar said at the time (which might have been stretching it somewhat), "gives all the fun of a Peugeot 205 GTI without the fear of it all going horribly wrong if you have to back off suddenly in a bend"Edited by white_goodman on Thursday 9th October 23:08
The 1993 Cavalier diesel I had for a week as a company car. It was so noisy at start up that you could hear it two post codes away. Despite the infernal racket it was by far the slowest car new I'd ever driven. Can't remember if it was the turbo or not but the fleet manager was threatening to put us in them and just wanted some help evaluating them.
Nobody else would touch it so I stuck my hand up. Drove it for five days on the rev limiter (well it didn't actually have a rev limiter, it just did that diesel thing of self-strangulating, usually just when i was expecting/hoping for a dollop of power when joining some fast-moving traffic). The result of the 100% caning was atrocious fuel economy and a "no" decision from the fleet manager.
Actually now I remember there was one worse one - a 1994 Nissan Terrano 4WD thing I had briefly as loan car. Everything that was bad about the Cav wrapped in a stupid macho "let's off road" body with boat-like handling and an incredibly crashy rise to boot. I lived in Notting Hill at the time and felt like a complete tool. Send it back after two days
Nobody else would touch it so I stuck my hand up. Drove it for five days on the rev limiter (well it didn't actually have a rev limiter, it just did that diesel thing of self-strangulating, usually just when i was expecting/hoping for a dollop of power when joining some fast-moving traffic). The result of the 100% caning was atrocious fuel economy and a "no" decision from the fleet manager.
Actually now I remember there was one worse one - a 1994 Nissan Terrano 4WD thing I had briefly as loan car. Everything that was bad about the Cav wrapped in a stupid macho "let's off road" body with boat-like handling and an incredibly crashy rise to boot. I lived in Notting Hill at the time and felt like a complete tool. Send it back after two days
Another vote for the Allegro..... my first company car in varicose vein blue which added insult to injury to me as it was the laughing stock of the office from the chaps with 'proper' company cars such as Orions and Concertinas
Strangely though and despite the ridicule, looking back I have some good memories of the car......nippy 1.6 engine in its day very reliable and free petrol fuelling trips to the Lakes etc with my ex wife to be........
Strangely though and despite the ridicule, looking back I have some good memories of the car......nippy 1.6 engine in its day very reliable and free petrol fuelling trips to the Lakes etc with my ex wife to be........
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