Worse built car you have ever owned
Discussion
Vauxhall Calibra V6 SE9
This was a company car and the run out model so it had all the extras and based on the cavalier chassis so should have been reliable.
It was condemned twice, meaning Vauxhall refused to let me drive it away from the garage, gearbox literally collapsed, clutch issues, numerous electrical gremlins. I suffered it for 18 months until leasing company finally relented and took it back.
Never owned a Vauxhall or ticked the Vauxhall company car box option again. Never will.
Still shudder when I see a Calibra, which is not very often.
This was a company car and the run out model so it had all the extras and based on the cavalier chassis so should have been reliable.
It was condemned twice, meaning Vauxhall refused to let me drive it away from the garage, gearbox literally collapsed, clutch issues, numerous electrical gremlins. I suffered it for 18 months until leasing company finally relented and took it back.
Never owned a Vauxhall or ticked the Vauxhall company car box option again. Never will.
Still shudder when I see a Calibra, which is not very often.
My sisters 14 plate yaris is bloody horrendous, it makes my fleet of two decade old Peugeots feel positively high quality! The interior trim rattles and vibrates like mad at any speed, the adhesive that holds the chrome door strips on melted in last summers moderate heat and one of the strips fell off on the drive and no they haven't been off the car since new, I refitted them with proper 3m trim tape and were fine after that. It honestly feels cheap nasty and horrible compared to the 14 plate fiesta she had previously that was stolen last Christmas.
My old mk2 Cortina 1600E. Christ knows how it used to get through an mot. I remember the floor rusting away and driving around with the seat moving up and down on a flap of metal. Others things like the gearstick regularly parting company with the gearbox while driving. The clutch hydraulic line melting on the exhaust manifold. The dashboard catching fire and the key branding my finger and thumb a bit like the bloke who picked up the medallion in raiders of the lost ark. Despite this I still loved it.
Peugeot 207 GT HDi on a 2007 "57" plate. Bought in 2012 at 58000 miles and sold 12 months and 6000 miles later. Bought from a small independent garage.
To look at I liked it, it was my second car after a 106 (one which I had no problems in 3 years) and so felt quite modern. But the list of faults are as follows:
1) Driving along within a week or so of ownership, it suddenly lost all power and crawled to a halt. A restart and it was fine until the the next time. This was hilarious until it cut out and would not restart so I ended up pushing the car to relative safety as I was on an unlit lane. A winding one. With a 40mph limit. At 11pm at night. I saw my life flashing before my eyes pushing the heap of junk on my own to a layby. Simple fix, New fuel filter needed, fitted and no problems. I still decided from then it was going to be sold sharpish.
2) Absolute ditchfinders on the rear. Go outside now, Check your car tyres, if any of them read "Autogrip", make sure you are happy with your life insurance policy and Will as these would Pendulum the rear end out on modest bends and low/middling speeds. I think a combo of heavy front end/light back end did not help. Tyre pressures were not excessive either. Cheap tyres are not the cars fault, but still, let me pile the blame on the 207. Bought a new pair of Michelins for about £130, solved the suicidal rear end.
3) Coming home from work, 50mph down a dual carriageway, lights turn red, clutch in, and it stayed in. Panicked, and ripped it out of gear without the use of the clutch and drove home the rest of the way in 2nd gear, unceremoniously swinging into my street at home at impressive speeds to stop it stalling, and coming to a kangarooing halt somewhere near the vicinity of my postcode with liberal use of the good old fashioned handbrake. New Slave Cylinder this time, luckily it was on the outside of the gearbox but still an inconvenience. Roughly £50 to fix.
4) It's parting gift was to start dripping fluid from somewhere under the car. Turns out the DPF fluid bag situated under the car had started to leak. I had put a deposit down on a 2011 Suzuki Swift Sport already and so this was the Peugeots parting shot. £110 for a bag of what looks like congealed blood.
It also gave constant warnings for failed TPMS sensors from when I bought it, but I just couldnt be bothered to investigate. I didnt even bother to give it an oil change, something I always do every 12 months without fail. The ride/handling balance was poor, standard 17 inch alloys on 45 profile tyres gave a brittle ride, yet it would roll heavily through corners, the worst of both worlds.
All these problems were diagnosed and fixed by me and out of my own pocket, and when I started reading common faults relating to turbo oil feeds sludging up and starving the engine/leaking injector seals etc I knew I had made the right choice to move it on. It's the only car I've part ex'd, I always sell private but I couldnt wait to get rid. Shortest amount I've ever owned a car too!
To look at I liked it, it was my second car after a 106 (one which I had no problems in 3 years) and so felt quite modern. But the list of faults are as follows:
1) Driving along within a week or so of ownership, it suddenly lost all power and crawled to a halt. A restart and it was fine until the the next time. This was hilarious until it cut out and would not restart so I ended up pushing the car to relative safety as I was on an unlit lane. A winding one. With a 40mph limit. At 11pm at night. I saw my life flashing before my eyes pushing the heap of junk on my own to a layby. Simple fix, New fuel filter needed, fitted and no problems. I still decided from then it was going to be sold sharpish.
2) Absolute ditchfinders on the rear. Go outside now, Check your car tyres, if any of them read "Autogrip", make sure you are happy with your life insurance policy and Will as these would Pendulum the rear end out on modest bends and low/middling speeds. I think a combo of heavy front end/light back end did not help. Tyre pressures were not excessive either. Cheap tyres are not the cars fault, but still, let me pile the blame on the 207. Bought a new pair of Michelins for about £130, solved the suicidal rear end.
3) Coming home from work, 50mph down a dual carriageway, lights turn red, clutch in, and it stayed in. Panicked, and ripped it out of gear without the use of the clutch and drove home the rest of the way in 2nd gear, unceremoniously swinging into my street at home at impressive speeds to stop it stalling, and coming to a kangarooing halt somewhere near the vicinity of my postcode with liberal use of the good old fashioned handbrake. New Slave Cylinder this time, luckily it was on the outside of the gearbox but still an inconvenience. Roughly £50 to fix.
4) It's parting gift was to start dripping fluid from somewhere under the car. Turns out the DPF fluid bag situated under the car had started to leak. I had put a deposit down on a 2011 Suzuki Swift Sport already and so this was the Peugeots parting shot. £110 for a bag of what looks like congealed blood.
It also gave constant warnings for failed TPMS sensors from when I bought it, but I just couldnt be bothered to investigate. I didnt even bother to give it an oil change, something I always do every 12 months without fail. The ride/handling balance was poor, standard 17 inch alloys on 45 profile tyres gave a brittle ride, yet it would roll heavily through corners, the worst of both worlds.
All these problems were diagnosed and fixed by me and out of my own pocket, and when I started reading common faults relating to turbo oil feeds sludging up and starving the engine/leaking injector seals etc I knew I had made the right choice to move it on. It's the only car I've part ex'd, I always sell private but I couldnt wait to get rid. Shortest amount I've ever owned a car too!
Edited by Supercell on Monday 6th April 23:33
2018 Nissan Juke.
I had an earlier model as a second car which I found decent because of the spec and comfort, but got a newer facelift one on a lease when I needed to drive longer distances and it rattled like nothing I’ve ever driven before.
Paid the price to send it back early it was that bad. They handle strangely well for what they are but the build quality in the newer models is absolutely atrocious.
I had an earlier model as a second car which I found decent because of the spec and comfort, but got a newer facelift one on a lease when I needed to drive longer distances and it rattled like nothing I’ve ever driven before.
Paid the price to send it back early it was that bad. They handle strangely well for what they are but the build quality in the newer models is absolutely atrocious.
I'm in absolute love with my 2016 swift sport but with only 14k miles on it there's rattles and squeaks everywhere , i think the stiffer suspension and low profile tyres don't do much for the trim staying stuck together very well.
Mechanically very sound though so I guess that's the main thing.
Mechanically very sound though so I guess that's the main thing.
In '00 I bought a '95 Vauxhall Astra 1.4 to replace my 1st ever car - a '93 Nissan Sunny 1.4 Saloon! While both cars had similar mileages (35k) the Astra had electric windows, power steering etc so I was on to a winner!
Or not. Ran the Astra for a week and hated it - sluggish engine and always threatened to overheat going by the temp gauge! Thankfully I hadn't yet sold my trusty Sunny so sold the Astra (at a profit) and kept the Sunny for another 3 years!
Other absolute bag of nails was a Hyundai Terracan - bought for shed money and within a couple of weeks started causing issues to the point it failed to start- injector failure which would have cost more to fix than we'd paid. Fortunately had bought from a trader and rules had recently changed allowing us to get our money back. To the traders credit he paid us back in full and collected the Terracan from our house. Watching him continuously stall 'jump' the 2.5t car onto his trailer was a sight to behold - especially as the rear of his jeep towcar began lifting up as the Terracan slowly made it's way up the trailer. To counter that his pal stood on the tow ball coupling of the trailer
Or not. Ran the Astra for a week and hated it - sluggish engine and always threatened to overheat going by the temp gauge! Thankfully I hadn't yet sold my trusty Sunny so sold the Astra (at a profit) and kept the Sunny for another 3 years!
Other absolute bag of nails was a Hyundai Terracan - bought for shed money and within a couple of weeks started causing issues to the point it failed to start- injector failure which would have cost more to fix than we'd paid. Fortunately had bought from a trader and rules had recently changed allowing us to get our money back. To the traders credit he paid us back in full and collected the Terracan from our house. Watching him continuously stall 'jump' the 2.5t car onto his trailer was a sight to behold - especially as the rear of his jeep towcar began lifting up as the Terracan slowly made it's way up the trailer. To counter that his pal stood on the tow ball coupling of the trailer
Sadly the 90k, FSH Corrado VR6 that I bought after a steady diet of 4 ultra reliable Corolla GTIs. My first foray into German car ownership, and such a financially traumatic experience that I didn't buy another German car for several years. A bout of prolonged Jap reliability with my next few cars steadied the nerves sufficiently for me to have had a few Porsches more recently, but I still feel a bit like it's a game of chance.
Sunroof rails and motor both failed, door handles broke, dash cracked, fuel pump relay failed, calipers seized while it was laid up with the handbrake off for winter, it glazed No.6 cylinder causing it to foul the plug with oil, porous sump. The horror of the memory of it has caused me probably to blank out some of it!
Such a shame, it was one of the best drivers cars I can remember owning.
Sunroof rails and motor both failed, door handles broke, dash cracked, fuel pump relay failed, calipers seized while it was laid up with the handbrake off for winter, it glazed No.6 cylinder causing it to foul the plug with oil, porous sump. The horror of the memory of it has caused me probably to blank out some of it!
Such a shame, it was one of the best drivers cars I can remember owning.
red_slr said:
Range Rover 4.4 V8.
During the course of the 2 years I owned it the thing worked perfectly perhaps for 2 days. The other 720 ish days it was either in the garage or on its way there or broken down somewhere. At very best it was being driven with about 3 active faults.
This is not an exaggeration.
This. My L322 4.4 was the most criminally unreliable car I have ever owned by a very long way. I actually came close to exceeding my AA callout limit in the space of one particularly bad 12 month period. At the time I believe it was 7 callouts. Air suspension failure warning (obviously) permanently on, fuel filter failure, battery drain/alarm going off at stupid times, rusting tail gate, numerous coolant leaks/overheating issues....During the course of the 2 years I owned it the thing worked perfectly perhaps for 2 days. The other 720 ish days it was either in the garage or on its way there or broken down somewhere. At very best it was being driven with about 3 active faults.
This is not an exaggeration.
It was a lovely thing when it worked and the design has aged very well but it was an utter s
tbox. When it gets to the stage that completing a journey is a cause for celebration, you know it's time to part ways. Got shot of it after a very expensive 18 months and bought a used Alpina D3 Touring in which I went on to do a very happy and trouble free 80k miles in three years.
I’ve owned a lot of different cars, have to say most have been fine.
I had a Nissan Cherry Europe GTi with 5,000 miles on the clock. I dropped the hatch down one day and the heavy rubber spoiler fell off and broke my toe. I was plagued with electrical and engine management problems. It went back to the dealers but of all the cars I have owned I want that one back more than any other.
I had a Nissan Cherry Europe GTi with 5,000 miles on the clock. I dropped the hatch down one day and the heavy rubber spoiler fell off and broke my toe. I was plagued with electrical and engine management problems. It went back to the dealers but of all the cars I have owned I want that one back more than any other.
jeffreywoodham said:
Morris Marina TC Coupé.
Snap! (well, the saloon version). Inside door handles failed with monotonous regularity, fuel gauge died (often), driver’s seat runner siezed, passenger side sun visor separated from its mount, rear view mirror snapped off, indicator stalk broke, bonnet release catch failed, boot lock died; the list goes on...Despite the prehistoric MGB engine and awful gearbox, mechanically it was fine (ie reliable). I sold it, and VDA 984M went off to the local tech college for students of vehicle mechanics to practice on. The training no doubt frequently included fixing stuff they inadvertently broke.
Used - 1981 Talbot Horizon in 1989, my first car. Scrapped in 1991 due to the rear strut coming free of the body on the M42... The rest of the car rattled, including the engine, and had panel gaps only a blind man would be pleased to see. But had room for 10 inside, and could handle some fairly atrocious bridleways.
New - 2003 Ford Falcon BA, company car - interior was clearly darned from old socks and glued together with yoghurt pots. Panels kinda knew each other. Auto box was from several generations previous.
New - 2003 Ford Falcon BA, company car - interior was clearly darned from old socks and glued together with yoghurt pots. Panels kinda knew each other. Auto box was from several generations previous.
Owned a 2007 Mini One from 2012-2018 until it reached 100k. During that time had to replace
Engine, clutch, radiator, catalytic convertor, bonnet release catch, hatch locking mechanism and many many sensors. The engine warning light was rarely off. Nice to drive but awful to own. I later discovered that 2007 was notoriously poor year for Mini quality!
Engine, clutch, radiator, catalytic convertor, bonnet release catch, hatch locking mechanism and many many sensors. The engine warning light was rarely off. Nice to drive but awful to own. I later discovered that 2007 was notoriously poor year for Mini quality!
For me it depends exactly how you define "worst built". The worst final assembly quality is undoubtedly the Lotus; it's fit and finish just isn't up there with mass produced cars, even my old MGB had clearly been assembled more precisely. However, Elise has actually been the most reliable car I've ever owned; the least reliable has been the currently Skoda Octavia family car.
Disco 3.
57 plate, bought at 3.5 years old and 50,000 miles.
Thankfully, from JCT 600 who gave me a decent warranty.
1) Driver's window would not shut over 40 mph
2) Bluetooth module obsolete, so had to fit new one, which was £120 and taking apart the rear O/S interior
3) Passenger door would occasionally bounce back open.
Then the big one.....thankfully in traffic and not at 75 mph.
4) Bang! Engine ate it's crankshaft - apparently the shells are not peened, so slip and block the crankshaft oil feed. Took on a recovery vehicle to a LR main dealer and they were such
s I took it away to an indie, who did a bloody good job. Autotrust paid out no issues, but it was a full new engine on a pallet from LR. After that, it was back and forth as warning lights played up and then P/x and away. It depends how you classify worse...
Reliability
Easily my Toyota MR2. Loved the car, hated the constant bills and breakdowns (repeated problems with engine, gearbox, brakes, steering, suspension - it even had two alternators crack around the outside of the cases and split in half). I took up motorsport to save money...
Boredom
My Vectra diesel that replaced the MR2. Utterly bulletproof reliable but boring as anything. Indestructible despite my best attempts. I also found the seats uncomfortable on a run. Utterly hated the car but did like the low running costs.
Overall package
FSO Polonez: Proof that RWD doesn't mean handling. On fast cornering you could feel the back axle moving side to side on its leaf springs, very disconcerting. The steering managed to be heavy, low geared and accurate. Build quality dreadful.
Reliability
Easily my Toyota MR2. Loved the car, hated the constant bills and breakdowns (repeated problems with engine, gearbox, brakes, steering, suspension - it even had two alternators crack around the outside of the cases and split in half). I took up motorsport to save money...
Boredom
My Vectra diesel that replaced the MR2. Utterly bulletproof reliable but boring as anything. Indestructible despite my best attempts. I also found the seats uncomfortable on a run. Utterly hated the car but did like the low running costs.
Overall package
FSO Polonez: Proof that RWD doesn't mean handling. On fast cornering you could feel the back axle moving side to side on its leaf springs, very disconcerting. The steering managed to be heavy, low geared and accurate. Build quality dreadful.
ChasW said:
Owned a 2007 Mini One from 2012-2018 until it reached 100k. During that time had to replace
Engine, clutch, radiator, catalytic convertor, bonnet release catch, hatch locking mechanism and many many sensors. The engine warning light was rarely off. Nice to drive but awful to own. I later discovered that 2007 was notoriously poor year for Mini quality!
I quite agree. When you look at classifieds, you regularly see some Volvos, Fords etc with 200-400k on the clock. When you look at BINIs, there are a few with 120k/130k and the odd one approaching 180k, but most of them haven't lasted (or been crashed). My opinion is the French syndrome. Something makes them go bang because there's no build quality or longevity in them.Engine, clutch, radiator, catalytic convertor, bonnet release catch, hatch locking mechanism and many many sensors. The engine warning light was rarely off. Nice to drive but awful to own. I later discovered that 2007 was notoriously poor year for Mini quality!
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