Most unreliable car you’ve owned?
Discussion
1st place VW Passat TDI owned from new and looked after .. forever going wrong and left us stranded at the roadside three times .. owned for three years
2nd place VW Golf Gt tdi 150 again owned from new .. not as bad as the Passat only left me stranded once
Most surprising.. three fiats all totally reliable over about 10 years combined ownership
2nd place VW Golf Gt tdi 150 again owned from new .. not as bad as the Passat only left me stranded once
Most surprising.. three fiats all totally reliable over about 10 years combined ownership
MK 5 Cortina. Auto choke carb, a VV I think made every cold morning a lottery.
Wife had to push it over a junction while others shouted at her once.
Plastic self adjusting clutch failed leaving it stuck in gear.
Between rust, void bushes and general 80's Ford quality it was by far the worst, had no money to change it back then either.
Wife had to push it over a junction while others shouted at her once.
Plastic self adjusting clutch failed leaving it stuck in gear.
Between rust, void bushes and general 80's Ford quality it was by far the worst, had no money to change it back then either.
My '90 Mini Cooper, I've owned it since 1995 and I don't think has ever worked perfectly in all that time. It's only "failed to proceed" once though (twice if you count the time it wasn't tied onto the trailer as good as it should of).
The ticking timebomb of an E60 M5 only had one major failure in 18 months, which the warranty covered (no doubt at great expense) which seems better than most other similar cars.
I think I've only troubled the breakdown services half a dozen times in 30 years of driving, so must have bought half decent cars in that time.
The ticking timebomb of an E60 M5 only had one major failure in 18 months, which the warranty covered (no doubt at great expense) which seems better than most other similar cars.
I think I've only troubled the breakdown services half a dozen times in 30 years of driving, so must have bought half decent cars in that time.
Jaguar XF. First year wasn’t too bad - blew a few headlight bulbs and dealer recall for electric windows. Second year started getting Electonic Parking brake fault messages - dealer said nothing wrong although 2nd set of brake pads only lasted 6 months. Third year had endless electrical faults - sensor operated glovebox wouldn’t stay closed, battery would go flat if not driven for 24h, sat nav, stereo, locking all started misbehaving. When Jaguar couldn’t fix it we handed the car back and ended the lease with no argument.
Passat 170Tdi (56 plate)
Bought at 2 years old from (fortunately) VW approved used.
£6.5k work done under warranty in the first year. I forget all the detail but I know that coil packs and a couple of recalls were part of it.
DSG gearbox had some kind of launch problem. No matter how gently you squeezed the accelerator the actual point of progression from standstill was invariably a kangaroo lurch.
Then the DPF problems started. Regardless of how many Italian tuneups I performed it went into limp mode more often than Simon Cowell after trying out an electric bicycle.
God I hated that car. Replaced it with a Subaru Legacy Spec B that gave me 6 years of nearly faultless motoring, albeit at 23mpg.
Bought at 2 years old from (fortunately) VW approved used.
£6.5k work done under warranty in the first year. I forget all the detail but I know that coil packs and a couple of recalls were part of it.
DSG gearbox had some kind of launch problem. No matter how gently you squeezed the accelerator the actual point of progression from standstill was invariably a kangaroo lurch.
Then the DPF problems started. Regardless of how many Italian tuneups I performed it went into limp mode more often than Simon Cowell after trying out an electric bicycle.
God I hated that car. Replaced it with a Subaru Legacy Spec B that gave me 6 years of nearly faultless motoring, albeit at 23mpg.
Latest Shape Q7,the electronics had random faults,worst thing that happened was hammering up the M11 in bad weather at night and my dashboard went completely black it scared the bleep out of me, two dealers couldnt fix liasing with Germany, Audi swapped it in end and the replacement wasnt perfect and had lesser but similar glitches but i was bored of speaking to service departments about faults.
I didnt get another..
I didnt get another..
Either I've been very lucky, or I have unusually good judgement in buying cars. Despite smoking around in sub £500 sheds for most of the last thirty years I haven't had a properly unreliable car since the ex Army Land Rover I briefly owned as a student in 1988. Even my Alfasud was utterly dependable over 15,000 miles of abuse and neglect. I bought a Citroen AX with a blown head gasket for £150, fixed that and did 50k in it before it fell to bits. I had a high mileage A4 1.8T Tiptronic which was a bomb waiting to go off, but it was good as gold all the time I owned it. I sold it to a mate and it just about bankrupted him. Occasionally something breaks but it doesn't often stop me getting home.
Fiat Punto (2001).
Two head gaskets in two years that I owned it. Wiper motor went as well. Put me off Fiats since.
Ford Focus (2001).
I actually liked this one a lot. Sadly the diesel pump went three months after buying it. Over a grand to fix. Other than that nothing went wrong. Only here due to the price of it!
Ford Mondeo
£1,500 of repairs in six months. Car only cost me £1,500 as well! Piece of s
t. Shame as when it worked it was lovely! Springs went, and power steering pump was the final straw.
Got £600 part ex with the water pump etc disclosed. Was happy with that.
BMW 330D
Springs again. Clutch and fly wheel were on it's way out. And turbo was fked.
Sold it for £700 I think.
Most reliable is my 2014 Golf. Tyres and wiper blades only in the 18 months I've owned it.
Also my BMW E39 brought from eBay when drunk. Nothing went wrong with that but couldn't afford the fuel anymore
Two head gaskets in two years that I owned it. Wiper motor went as well. Put me off Fiats since.
Ford Focus (2001).
I actually liked this one a lot. Sadly the diesel pump went three months after buying it. Over a grand to fix. Other than that nothing went wrong. Only here due to the price of it!
Ford Mondeo
£1,500 of repairs in six months. Car only cost me £1,500 as well! Piece of s
t. Shame as when it worked it was lovely! Springs went, and power steering pump was the final straw. Got £600 part ex with the water pump etc disclosed. Was happy with that.
BMW 330D
Springs again. Clutch and fly wheel were on it's way out. And turbo was f
ked. Sold it for £700 I think.
Most reliable is my 2014 Golf. Tyres and wiper blades only in the 18 months I've owned it.
Also my BMW E39 brought from eBay when drunk. Nothing went wrong with that but couldn't afford the fuel anymore
Sohaib-ijiiv said:
07 E93 335i.
Bought on low mileage with a full bmw service history, had been maintained meticulously.
Had over 10 different things go wrong over the course of 3 years, all common faults with the N54.
Still have it, love it but its a ballache.
Same but in E92 shape,Bought on low mileage with a full bmw service history, had been maintained meticulously.
Had over 10 different things go wrong over the course of 3 years, all common faults with the N54.
Still have it, love it but its a ballache.
Owned for three years:
5x injectors
High pressure fuel pump
Water pump
2x Turbo wastegates
7 cracked wheels (3 ruined tyres)
Rear brake calliper
Favourite car I’ve owned but couldn’t wait to get rid of it.
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