Worst car ever made
Discussion
The only car to attempt to kill me was the 1990 Nissan Sunny 1.5 Auto I had as a hire car in New Zealand. The thing was woefully slow. Brakes failed on a mountain pass and the highest speed I saw in it was about 100km/h shortly before leaving the road and entering a field.
Aside from that small incident it was dreadfully dreary and had incredibly vague steering.
Aside from that small incident it was dreadfully dreary and had incredibly vague steering.
robsa said:
Whilst 120Y Datsuns were rust prone, they were incredibly reliable and cheap to run and easy to maintain. The 120Y coupe even looked quite nice, as did the Marina Coupe. Cheap eastern european/Czech stuff was cheap and functional and generally reliable and again easy to maintain.
No, for me it has to be a BL car of mid-late 70's vintage, when the unions had their stranglehold on production to a ludicrous point, and the cars were so badly made that owners would report finding rubbish inside the doors of their BRAND NEW cars, they were really badly put together because nobody cared and many of them had positively ancient engines and suspension.brakes etc.
My first car was a 120Y, and whilst it was reliable, that was about its only positive feature.No, for me it has to be a BL car of mid-late 70's vintage, when the unions had their stranglehold on production to a ludicrous point, and the cars were so badly made that owners would report finding rubbish inside the doors of their BRAND NEW cars, they were really badly put together because nobody cared and many of them had positively ancient engines and suspension.brakes etc.
Interior space was dire. Dashboard layout was horrible. Rust wasn't bad, it was absolutely riddled with it. Handling was scary at the best of times.
But definitely some of the worst cars were the 70s BL boxes. They were the cars driven by friends at sixth form, and they were invariably falling apart, requiring work doing on them ... considerably more often than my Datsun.
I dunno about the Trabant, they are truly awful things, but it got millions of people mobile. So, in the context of the countries where they were originally available, they enabled a degree of freedom that was unobtainable any other way. Cheap robust transport that was easy to fix, an ideal tool for the job.
RedWhiteMonkey said:
stuckmojo said:
Fiat Duna.
Is that an Uno with a boot?Another poster put it right - for a car to be bad it has to be a total letdown. It has to have promised much, demanded money for it - in fact, possibly quite a lot - and delivered next to nothing.
2003 Audi A4
Yes, I know it is not bad like a Lada Riva, but I'm talking expectation v reality.
Lifeless Steering, weak brakes, unresolved damping, poor ride comfort, terminal understeer, dashboard rattles, many unscheduled dealer visits
A car that was less able than an Avensis/Primera/Vectra of the same era, tarted up with a bit of badge and bling.
Yes, I know it is not bad like a Lada Riva, but I'm talking expectation v reality.
Lifeless Steering, weak brakes, unresolved damping, poor ride comfort, terminal understeer, dashboard rattles, many unscheduled dealer visits
A car that was less able than an Avensis/Primera/Vectra of the same era, tarted up with a bit of badge and bling.
niva441 said:
Twincam16 said:
Another poster put it right - for a car to be bad it has to be a total letdown. It has to have promised much, demanded money for it - in fact, possibly quite a lot - and delivered next to nothing.
That defines my experience of BMW 1 series ownership.
I gather you bought from new then? Hmm, I'm still considering a 130i as my next steed...
useyourdellusion said:
niva441 said:
That defines my experience of BMW 1 series ownership.
Ouch! I gather you bought from new then? Hmm, I'm still considering a 130i as my next steed...
stuckmojo said:
Fiat Duna.
The Fiat Duna was a brilliant car! Much better than the Astra Belmont, VW Vento/Bora (Bora being "s
t" in parts of Africa), Ford Orion etc. The Duna was a nice little car, it was bigger lighter and faster than the Nova saloon (it's main competition in Spain) and with the Fiat parts bin quick ones were a simple swap away. I would love one. 
Zad said:
I dunno about the Trabant, they are truly awful things, but it got millions of people mobile. So, in the context of the countries where they were originally available, they enabled a degree of freedom that was unobtainable any other way. Cheap robust transport that was easy to fix, an ideal tool for the job.
....yes that is a very good point Zad........but it really is awful.....
madala said:
Zad said:
I dunno about the Trabant, they are truly awful things, but it got millions of people mobile. So, in the context of the countries where they were originally available, they enabled a degree of freedom that was unobtainable any other way. Cheap robust transport that was easy to fix, an ideal tool for the job.
....yes that is a very good point Zad........but it really is awful.....
It comes down to how you *define* worst.
One argument is how it does the job it was supposedly designed to do.
Another is how good/nice it is to drive.
Another is how reliable it is
Another is how well built/engineered it is.
Another is the expectation we have of the car. It may be OK but expecting excellence was too much for it.
Another is how "bad" it was at the time, rather than now and vice versa. Some new cars are better than many old cars but crap compared to other new cars. Some old cars were good at the time but compared to modern metal, a bit crap and so on.
And so on.
Worst cars I've driven are, in no particular order and for different reasons:
Vauxhall Insignia SRI diesel manual 160 thing.
Renault Megane (the ones around 10 years ago) manual diesel
Chrysler Neon
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