Discussion
In over 20 years of driving I've got through a large number of cars — far more than the average joe I'd guess. In excess of 80 easily!
I consider myself pretty clued up these days and have not bought a lemon for a good few years.
I remember buying a black Mk 2 Toyota MR2 in my early 20's — the first one without the help or support of my dad. It was a car being sold by an oldish chap on behalf of his son. His son had got a job in London and was hardly using it — it had been taking up space on his dads driveway for a few months.
So, a quick test drive, all four tyres kicked and a cheeky offer later I was the proud owner of a swanky black MR2! I phoned my dad I told him I was going to call over to show him my new car. It was about a 20 mile drive - 15 or so were on the motorway.
After about 6 or 7 miles I noticed the temp gauge slowly rising beyond dead centre and towards the red. As it showed no sign of halting I pulled over on the hard shoulder and turned it off. I had a quick look and all seemed OK apart from a rather hot rubbery smell from the engine bay.
I restarted it and managed to get to my dads, popped the rad cap and found all the water had boiled away. It took about 5 pints to refill.
I called the chap to explain and his approach was a kind of 'well, aint that a shame — now f
k off son' I regaled the conversation to my dad who then towed me all the way back to the chaps house, a little chat later I walked away with my money back. I was lucky to get away with it.
So, come on — lets hear your 'Lemon tales' There must be loads of us who had bought something that was a wallet hoover!
I consider myself pretty clued up these days and have not bought a lemon for a good few years.
I remember buying a black Mk 2 Toyota MR2 in my early 20's — the first one without the help or support of my dad. It was a car being sold by an oldish chap on behalf of his son. His son had got a job in London and was hardly using it — it had been taking up space on his dads driveway for a few months.
So, a quick test drive, all four tyres kicked and a cheeky offer later I was the proud owner of a swanky black MR2! I phoned my dad I told him I was going to call over to show him my new car. It was about a 20 mile drive - 15 or so were on the motorway.
After about 6 or 7 miles I noticed the temp gauge slowly rising beyond dead centre and towards the red. As it showed no sign of halting I pulled over on the hard shoulder and turned it off. I had a quick look and all seemed OK apart from a rather hot rubbery smell from the engine bay.
I restarted it and managed to get to my dads, popped the rad cap and found all the water had boiled away. It took about 5 pints to refill.
I called the chap to explain and his approach was a kind of 'well, aint that a shame — now f
k off son' I regaled the conversation to my dad who then towed me all the way back to the chaps house, a little chat later I walked away with my money back. I was lucky to get away with it.So, come on — lets hear your 'Lemon tales' There must be loads of us who had bought something that was a wallet hoover!
The 2nd XR3 I bought, age 17, in a rush after writing off my first XR3.
Looked in immaculate condition, drove and stopped well.
In the first year of ownership I had to replace:
Alternator
Clutch
Battery
Starter motor
Various electronic bits
Brake cylinders
Brake calipers
Brakes and suspension all round
Old battery had leaked causing the battery shelf to rust through - lots of cutting and welding.
Welded hole in floor that previous bloke had drilled to allow the copious amounts of water that leaked into the car to drain.
Was stopped by the Police who told me that the car had been written off prviously and they were surprised it was on the road given the state it had been in (I didn't even know about HPI at 17 - 20 years ago).
I learnt a lot from that car!
Looked in immaculate condition, drove and stopped well.
In the first year of ownership I had to replace:
Alternator
Clutch
Battery
Starter motor
Various electronic bits
Brake cylinders
Brake calipers
Brakes and suspension all round
Old battery had leaked causing the battery shelf to rust through - lots of cutting and welding.
Welded hole in floor that previous bloke had drilled to allow the copious amounts of water that leaked into the car to drain.
Was stopped by the Police who told me that the car had been written off prviously and they were surprised it was on the road given the state it had been in (I didn't even know about HPI at 17 - 20 years ago).
I learnt a lot from that car!
Late model Renault 5. They had stopped right hand drive spec and were basically building LHD cars and then applying a conversion kit.
Shockingly badly routed cabling for throttle and clutch; so many turns that both were either on or off. Went through 6 clutch cables and 5 throttle cables in 2 years.
I learned to drive it with clutch and choke to get it home when the throttle went... and with starter motor and 1st/2nd when the clutch went.
Shockingly badly routed cabling for throttle and clutch; so many turns that both were either on or off. Went through 6 clutch cables and 5 throttle cables in 2 years.
I learned to drive it with clutch and choke to get it home when the throttle went... and with starter motor and 1st/2nd when the clutch went.
My first 205gti. It was red & shiny so that did it for me although I was advised against buying it.
I was 18 & foolish & on the way home (it started to get dark) & I quickly realized that the car was ste because not only was the clutch knackered, but the seller had also taken out both the headlight bulbs & rear bulbs so I had to stop at a service station & replace all the bulbs! 
Bloody thing cost me over £1000 in one year to repair & I ended up having to scrap it!
I was 18 & foolish & on the way home (it started to get dark) & I quickly realized that the car was s
te because not only was the clutch knackered, but the seller had also taken out both the headlight bulbs & rear bulbs so I had to stop at a service station & replace all the bulbs! Bloody thing cost me over £1000 in one year to repair & I ended up having to scrap it!
E36 tourer, bought for £900 over the phone from 120 miles away.
FFWD 30miles and brake caliper on OSF wheel siezed on. £50 to sort.
2000 Alfa 145 TSpark - Bought from 12miles away, in the dark. Looked well, drove well, needed a car quick......It was cheap.
Guy selling had only owned it 2weeks..... But was 55ish and on crutches, so story of hospital trip soon and 9months wheelchair/no driving, all seemed kosher.
Entirety of front suspension was fked. Gearbox was shagged. Clutch borked. And needed minor TLC to other stuff.
Paid £500 odd for it........ Kept it 4months, put 10k on it, thrashed it sensless, sold it for £400
FFWD 30miles and brake caliper on OSF wheel siezed on. £50 to sort.
2000 Alfa 145 TSpark - Bought from 12miles away, in the dark. Looked well, drove well, needed a car quick......It was cheap.
Guy selling had only owned it 2weeks..... But was 55ish and on crutches, so story of hospital trip soon and 9months wheelchair/no driving, all seemed kosher.
Entirety of front suspension was f
ked. Gearbox was shagged. Clutch borked. And needed minor TLC to other stuff.Paid £500 odd for it........ Kept it 4months, put 10k on it, thrashed it sensless, sold it for £400
Alfa 156 2.0 Twinspark Veloce. My first company car, brand new in March 2001. Y196SPO.
In 9 months of ownership it went through 3 engines, 2 gearboxes and had 2 brake failures. Most of the interior trim fell off, and I kept the bits in the boot. It looked like a touring car inside!
With each tank of fuel, I had to add a litre of oil - about a 50:1 ratio, just like my old 2-stroke TKM go kart.
It looked lovely from the outside, but it was a disaster to run.
In contrast, it was replaced with a Honda Accord Type-R (yes a company car !!!). In 108,000 merciless miles in 3 years, the only thing that failed was the bulb in the clock. Amazing.
In 9 months of ownership it went through 3 engines, 2 gearboxes and had 2 brake failures. Most of the interior trim fell off, and I kept the bits in the boot. It looked like a touring car inside!
With each tank of fuel, I had to add a litre of oil - about a 50:1 ratio, just like my old 2-stroke TKM go kart.
It looked lovely from the outside, but it was a disaster to run.
In contrast, it was replaced with a Honda Accord Type-R (yes a company car !!!). In 108,000 merciless miles in 3 years, the only thing that failed was the bulb in the clock. Amazing.
Every car I have bought that didn't have a Ford badge was a lemon tbh. My own fault for never getting a mechanic to check em but the worst was the Saxo vtr. Drove my Mondeo, which I'd had a week, to meet this trader and gave him a few hundred quid plus the mondeo for it. 3 weeks later the head gasket was gone.....
My first car, a 1993 Rover 214SLi. I bought it just after I got my first job- it was 3 years old, 65k miles and to my eyes exactly what I needed for both my short commute to work and the 75 mile trip to my girlfriend’s uni house. It had even just had a new engine, so (in theory) there were no HGF worries.
And I was right, the engine was a paragon of reliability. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the rest of the car. First the central locking started randomly unlocking the car, followed by the alarm spontaneously developing acute paranoia and going off at inopportune moments. This in turn led to the immobiliser flatly refusing to allow the car to start, even if you repeatedly activated and switched off the alarm. I ended up leaving the car unlocked in the garage overnight just so I could get to work. A few weeks later it calmed down, only to throw a fit in a railway station car park, setting itself off every time I tried to get in and refusing to start (and earning me a parking ticket from an unsympathetic parking company). The solution was a new control box, something that cost me more than I was earning in a month at that point.
The reason for these antics became apparent a few weeks later when a taillight bulb blew. When I bought the car the bootlight didn’t have a bulb in it so I bought a twinpack and put the spare one in. Replacing the blown bulb proved difficult however as the wires into the light cluster were extremely short, meaning that quite a lot of force was needed to get it back into its housing. It was also covered in a thick layer of extremely sticky black tape, something that I’m sure wasn’t factory fitment. Shortly afterwards I suffered a flat battery. A few days later I had another dead battery. A week later I got a new battery, and within a week that was flat too. A trip to a garage revealed the reason (both for this and the short wires)- at some point the whole of the back of the car had been rewired, probably due to an enormous (unrecorded) shunt. The bootlight was wired incorrectly and didn’t go out when the car was parked, leading to the flat battery and also probably causing the other electrical woes the car suffered from. Two solutions presented itself- either rewire the car or remove the bulb in the boot.
The gremlins didn’t end there though- it would often refuse to start if you left the radio on without the engine running and a couple of times it died while sitting in traffic (one particularly scary incident was averted by bump starting it on a hill on the North Circular after the steering lock clicked on, meaning I couldn’t even pull over). Eventually it failed its MOT due to excessive corrosion underneath- the tester said it looked like at some point it had run over the stump of a concrete bollard at speed, something I certainly hadn’t done. At this point it was a little under 6 years old.
It wasn’t all bad- it was a lovely car to drive, the engine note was great, it sipped the fuel and I was genuinely sorry to see it go. I’m not blind to the fact that it was a total pup though!
And I was right, the engine was a paragon of reliability. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the rest of the car. First the central locking started randomly unlocking the car, followed by the alarm spontaneously developing acute paranoia and going off at inopportune moments. This in turn led to the immobiliser flatly refusing to allow the car to start, even if you repeatedly activated and switched off the alarm. I ended up leaving the car unlocked in the garage overnight just so I could get to work. A few weeks later it calmed down, only to throw a fit in a railway station car park, setting itself off every time I tried to get in and refusing to start (and earning me a parking ticket from an unsympathetic parking company). The solution was a new control box, something that cost me more than I was earning in a month at that point.
The reason for these antics became apparent a few weeks later when a taillight bulb blew. When I bought the car the bootlight didn’t have a bulb in it so I bought a twinpack and put the spare one in. Replacing the blown bulb proved difficult however as the wires into the light cluster were extremely short, meaning that quite a lot of force was needed to get it back into its housing. It was also covered in a thick layer of extremely sticky black tape, something that I’m sure wasn’t factory fitment. Shortly afterwards I suffered a flat battery. A few days later I had another dead battery. A week later I got a new battery, and within a week that was flat too. A trip to a garage revealed the reason (both for this and the short wires)- at some point the whole of the back of the car had been rewired, probably due to an enormous (unrecorded) shunt. The bootlight was wired incorrectly and didn’t go out when the car was parked, leading to the flat battery and also probably causing the other electrical woes the car suffered from. Two solutions presented itself- either rewire the car or remove the bulb in the boot.
The gremlins didn’t end there though- it would often refuse to start if you left the radio on without the engine running and a couple of times it died while sitting in traffic (one particularly scary incident was averted by bump starting it on a hill on the North Circular after the steering lock clicked on, meaning I couldn’t even pull over). Eventually it failed its MOT due to excessive corrosion underneath- the tester said it looked like at some point it had run over the stump of a concrete bollard at speed, something I certainly hadn’t done. At this point it was a little under 6 years old.
It wasn’t all bad- it was a lovely car to drive, the engine note was great, it sipped the fuel and I was genuinely sorry to see it go. I’m not blind to the fact that it was a total pup though!
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