Glad to see the back of it
Discussion
As a serial sheddist I've owned some appalling heaps of rubbish over the last 43 years, think Ital, Samara, Kia Shuma but I've been patient with them and ran them all until they were uneconomical to repair and scrapped them.
About 15 years ago I bought a W210 E320cdi, I'd always wanted an E, I paid far more for it than any other car that I'd owned before. Loved the dark blue with cream leather interior and for about a month was completely in love with it. After that one expensive problem after another, it wasn't even high mileage when I got it.
I know that this period for Mercedes wasn't their finest hour but after 3 years of ownership where a month didn't go by without something going wrong I cut my losses and got rid.
I thought that I'd feel bad about it going back to something more mundane but the feeling of relief at finally getting shot of it was immense. Have any of you ever owned a car that stressed you out so much that you were overjoyed when the day came to part company?
About 15 years ago I bought a W210 E320cdi, I'd always wanted an E, I paid far more for it than any other car that I'd owned before. Loved the dark blue with cream leather interior and for about a month was completely in love with it. After that one expensive problem after another, it wasn't even high mileage when I got it.
I know that this period for Mercedes wasn't their finest hour but after 3 years of ownership where a month didn't go by without something going wrong I cut my losses and got rid.
I thought that I'd feel bad about it going back to something more mundane but the feeling of relief at finally getting shot of it was immense. Have any of you ever owned a car that stressed you out so much that you were overjoyed when the day came to part company?
Another vote for Mercedes, I'm afraid: I've had a couple of W221 S-classes, one a diesel, one a petrol V8.
Both were wonderful places to be, when they were working, but both suffered multiple minor faults and both eventually ate their own engines (the S500 in parallel with an intermittent transmission fault on the 7G gearbox) at relatively low mileages. Both were offloaded to the trade, with a great sense of relief.
Both were wonderful places to be, when they were working, but both suffered multiple minor faults and both eventually ate their own engines (the S500 in parallel with an intermittent transmission fault on the 7G gearbox) at relatively low mileages. Both were offloaded to the trade, with a great sense of relief.
Oof, the W210... Not Mercedes finest hour! The W210 (and W203 ), I think) were manufactured during the height/lowest point of the Chrysler era AND subject to the biodegradable wiring and piss poor early water based paint. Not to mention general reliability issues. They can be brought up to scratch but not economically.
The W211 that came later was so much better. Sorry I had to get rid of mine. It was built like a tank, albeit out of aluminium to add lightness. Hardest paint of any car I've ever owned.
But cars I was pleased to get rid of.... Maybe I get too involved but I've always been sad to find a new custodian for a car. Or I've just been lucky so far!!!
The W211 that came later was so much better. Sorry I had to get rid of mine. It was built like a tank, albeit out of aluminium to add lightness. Hardest paint of any car I've ever owned.
But cars I was pleased to get rid of.... Maybe I get too involved but I've always been sad to find a new custodian for a car. Or I've just been lucky so far!!!
No.
I tend to research my cars prior to buying so that I know what I want and what to expect from them.
I'll buy a decent car at 3-4 years old and drive that for the next 10 years or so, fixing it as required. Worked ok for me so far. In a 9 year old Freelander 2 currently that I've had for nearly 6 years now. Quite happy with it.
I tend to research my cars prior to buying so that I know what I want and what to expect from them.
I'll buy a decent car at 3-4 years old and drive that for the next 10 years or so, fixing it as required. Worked ok for me so far. In a 9 year old Freelander 2 currently that I've had for nearly 6 years now. Quite happy with it.
Another Mercedes here. Redundancy meant the nice leased CLK wasn’t to be replaced so went for a W124 estate off eBay for £400.
Yes it was solid and yes I know it was only £400, but over 2 years there were endless electrical and cylinder head issues. Other than comedy value and a tip run car it didn’t have many pluses and I never gelled with it.
On the plus side I split the registration off the car and sold them separately for 4x what I paid.
Yes it was solid and yes I know it was only £400, but over 2 years there were endless electrical and cylinder head issues. Other than comedy value and a tip run car it didn’t have many pluses and I never gelled with it.
On the plus side I split the registration off the car and sold them separately for 4x what I paid.
donkmeister said:
Oof, the W210... Not Mercedes finest hour! The W210 (and W203 ), I think) were manufactured during the height/lowest point of the Chrysler era AND subject to the biodegradable wiring and piss poor early water based paint. Not to mention general reliability issues. They can be brought up to scratch but not economically.
The W211 that came later was so much better. Sorry I had to get rid of mine. It was built like a tank, albeit out of aluminium to add lightness. Hardest paint of any car I've ever owned.
But cars I was pleased to get rid of.... Maybe I get too involved but I've always been sad to find a new custodian for a car. Or I've just been lucky so far!!!
Funny thing is that I now run a W211 E280cdi. The difference is that I paid nothing for it and don't expect anything from it but I have to say that after a year of ownership it has pleasantly surprised me with it's build and ride quality. Compared to the 210 it's night and day and I'm in no rush to part with it.The W211 that came later was so much better. Sorry I had to get rid of mine. It was built like a tank, albeit out of aluminium to add lightness. Hardest paint of any car I've ever owned.
But cars I was pleased to get rid of.... Maybe I get too involved but I've always been sad to find a new custodian for a car. Or I've just been lucky so far!!!
Ironically I've owned a number of notoriously high-maintenance cars, and they've always given me back enough behind the wheel to be happy to keep spending. OTOH the car I owned for the shortest period of time, a 350Z for 12 months, was the most reliable and low-maintenance car I've ever had. I just couldn't get on with the fact it felt like a moderately sporty saloon on the road yet had the impracticality of an MX-5. In no way was I glad to be rid of it, but I was pleased to move on to something else.
Vectra C, what a piece of junk, warning lights, oil consumption, fuel consumption, water leaks always something wrong with it!!!
Was shedding in a perfectly good Vectra B which had given me no trouble decided to upgrade to the C with a week wish I hadn't bothered!
Gave up after 2 months & replaced it with a Volvo V40 which was brilliant did 60k in less than 2 years I loved that old car as much as I hated the Vectra, never touched a Vauxhall since
Was shedding in a perfectly good Vectra B which had given me no trouble decided to upgrade to the C with a week wish I hadn't bothered!
Gave up after 2 months & replaced it with a Volvo V40 which was brilliant did 60k in less than 2 years I loved that old car as much as I hated the Vectra, never touched a Vauxhall since
I had an XJ8 Sovereign, 4.2 LWB.
I'd always wanted an X350 shape XJ and always wanted to scratch the V8 itch too. However I just failed to bond with it; it was enormous on the outside but I had very little legroom, it was cumbersome to park, the running costs were unpleasant, and then it developed various weird little quirks which, given I wasn't gelling with the car, meant I wasn't keen on pursuing them with my time (and my wallet), plus I was constantly petrified of an air suspension fault or an airbag giving up resulting in a large bill. In the end I decided to quit early and sold it after just a few months, I was desperate for someone to take it and let it go for silly money. I just wanted it off my driveway and out of my responsibility.
It was supposed to replace an aging Rover estate as my daily transport, the Rover I knew like the back of my hand mechanically and had looked after it for many years, despite being a a bit scruffy in places it was a great car, providing us with consistently reliable transport. To ditch it in favour of this awful Jag seemed like sacriledge, so I was very slow in selling the Rover and ultimately the Jag disappeared first, meaning my old green estate lives on with us to which I am very glad.
I will likely never own another Jaguar product after than XJ. While it was lovely, it gave little confidence that it would continue to be lovely.
I'd always wanted an X350 shape XJ and always wanted to scratch the V8 itch too. However I just failed to bond with it; it was enormous on the outside but I had very little legroom, it was cumbersome to park, the running costs were unpleasant, and then it developed various weird little quirks which, given I wasn't gelling with the car, meant I wasn't keen on pursuing them with my time (and my wallet), plus I was constantly petrified of an air suspension fault or an airbag giving up resulting in a large bill. In the end I decided to quit early and sold it after just a few months, I was desperate for someone to take it and let it go for silly money. I just wanted it off my driveway and out of my responsibility.
It was supposed to replace an aging Rover estate as my daily transport, the Rover I knew like the back of my hand mechanically and had looked after it for many years, despite being a a bit scruffy in places it was a great car, providing us with consistently reliable transport. To ditch it in favour of this awful Jag seemed like sacriledge, so I was very slow in selling the Rover and ultimately the Jag disappeared first, meaning my old green estate lives on with us to which I am very glad.
I will likely never own another Jaguar product after than XJ. While it was lovely, it gave little confidence that it would continue to be lovely.
A 1990 Citroen BX 19 GTi. Fast (for the time), comfortable, well-equipped and broke down, oh, let's see - every five minutes? Leaked every fluid at every opportunity, piston rings went and it smoked like a chimney, distributor shaft failed and left me with one cylinder....
Dreadful.
Traded it for a 1992 Astra SRi before I'd finished paying for it, didn't care. Can still remember the relief of driving home in the new car, which was brilliant for the 3.5 years we had it.
Put me off French cars for life. I know that is irrational, but I've never even considered French for all the dozens of cars I've had since.
Dreadful.
Traded it for a 1992 Astra SRi before I'd finished paying for it, didn't care. Can still remember the relief of driving home in the new car, which was brilliant for the 3.5 years we had it.
Put me off French cars for life. I know that is irrational, but I've never even considered French for all the dozens of cars I've had since.
R5GTT, bought from ebay. Wasn't the best example, the clutch was slipping on the way home. Replaced that (pig of a job). The homemade lowering spings (turns out they cut them down with a grinder).didn't do much for the ride quality. Was crap on fuel and the performance wasn't all that. Kept it for 6 months and off loaded it on ebay.
Yes a Mini Cooper S Checkmate.
Got it as a project, always wanted one and spent a lot of money and time fixing it up - it put up a proper fight and I replaced everything as it was originally for myself. Got it through an MOT after a long time and was using it for work with the intentions of fixing my Astra up too.Never did like it but thought I would at least get a small profit for it as the values were going up.
Drove it for a couple of months and there was always something. I didn’t have time to keep playing about with it so got it perfect ready for sale.
A very nice chap came around and of course the brand new exhaust decided it wanted to leak and one of the new top mounts started creaking like mad. We both settled on a price and off he went. I made a huge loss.
Glad to of seen the back of it - I can’t understand what people see in those R53’s, this one was utter garbage.
Got it as a project, always wanted one and spent a lot of money and time fixing it up - it put up a proper fight and I replaced everything as it was originally for myself. Got it through an MOT after a long time and was using it for work with the intentions of fixing my Astra up too.Never did like it but thought I would at least get a small profit for it as the values were going up.
Drove it for a couple of months and there was always something. I didn’t have time to keep playing about with it so got it perfect ready for sale.
A very nice chap came around and of course the brand new exhaust decided it wanted to leak and one of the new top mounts started creaking like mad. We both settled on a price and off he went. I made a huge loss.
Glad to of seen the back of it - I can’t understand what people see in those R53’s, this one was utter garbage.
ChickenvanGuy said:
A 1990 Citroen BX 19 GTi. Fast (for the time), comfortable, well-equipped and broke down, oh, let's see - every five minutes? Leaked every fluid at every opportunity, piston rings went and it smoked like a chimney, distributor shaft failed and left me with one cylinder....
Dreadful.
Put me off French cars for life. I know that is irrational, but I've never even considered French for all the dozens of cars I've had since.
Been there. Done that, in both the 8v and the 16v versions.Dreadful.
Put me off French cars for life. I know that is irrational, but I've never even considered French for all the dozens of cars I've had since.
Whilst the 16v BX wasn’t bad reliability-wise, the 8v was utterly dreadful. It leaked oil, coolant, petrol, power steering fluid, brake fluid, hydraulic fluid and the cabin leaked when it rained.
I traded it in for £260 plus a free lift home.
It didn’t put me off of French cars though, as we currently own six of them, (two Citroens and four Renaults).
Another contender would be a Mercedes era Jeep WK Grand Cherokee 3.0 V6 TD.
Whilst I was working away she’d traded in her immaculate 4.0 petrol, previous generation WJ Jeep Grand Cherokee. That had 180k on the clock, zero rust, beautiful paintwork, supple real leather seats, and ran like a dream.
The newer WK Jeep, with half the mileage on it, one owner and full Main dealer history was a s
t heap. The paintwork was patchy, full of orange peel, it rusted like a 1970’s Lancia, used loads of oil, had dreadful ride and handling characteristics, non-stop electrical issues, awful fake leather seats that were really uncomfortable after only an hour in the car, and it was slower and used for more fuel than her previous petrol variant.In every single way it was the worst car I’ve ever owned.
I did tell her not to buy it, but hey, what do I know?
Rover “Tomcat” coupe turbo. The shortest time I’ve ever kept a car - 6 weeks. No reliability problems, but truly bl***y awful handling and horrid to drive.
I stuck with an Alfa 155Q4 for a little over 2 years, and in that time it cost more in repairs than it cost to buy (and it was only 2 years old / 25k miles when I bought it).
My current F30 3 series is also a total piece of cack in terms of reliability , but it’s staying until the warranty runs out.
I stuck with an Alfa 155Q4 for a little over 2 years, and in that time it cost more in repairs than it cost to buy (and it was only 2 years old / 25k miles when I bought it).
My current F30 3 series is also a total piece of cack in terms of reliability , but it’s staying until the warranty runs out.
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