Steve-B Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 hard to say if my 68 austin america(i think it was 1100 or 1300 here) with its freon packed aid bag suspension, that dropped the crankshaft into the transmission when going to see Rush. caused me to not get some that evening with a girl i really wanted to bed. oh, and dad didn't know i'd taken the car to the next *state*... or my 81 AMC gremlin (with more electrical gremlins than even lucas could design) 🙆🏻 but my ramming it into a tree whilst in university pretty much finished it off i think our 2000 TVR Cerbera took the cake, 3 engine implosions/self destructions in 13 months with 9 months of its' life spent in a car park in liverpool took the cake. *mad* Steve 210Bhp Sinister Version-VHPD here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger King Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 A Maestro (oh, the shame!) List of problem far too long to write down, but included water leaks, electrical failures, gearbox linkage collapse, breaking door handles (three times), etc. My next door neighbour had exactly the same model and his list of problems were identical to mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Whitley Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Saab 90. I soon realised where all that "same company that designs jet fighters" guff fitted in - the only car I've ever had that needed pitch and yaw control. Attempt at pictorial representation of the driving experience: 🤔 ❗ ❗ *eek* Tony M1 7 SMW 1.4SS Lotus colours with cycle wings. Back on the road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smegnoguk Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 My very first and worst car was a Rochdale kit car with Ford 100E side-valve engine. Quite a pretty drophead bit like an E-Type. Went like sh1t off a shovel on rails when the owner took me out in it. When I got it home I realised it was a pile of worn-out cr*p. When I sold it on, the buyer brought it straight back and said “This is a pile of worn-out cr*p”. It made me so depressed that when people asked me what kind of car I had I said “A blue one!” It still haunts me! *thumbdown* Click here to see my car! Better photos to come! Who's looking at the Ferrari? Nobody, that's who! Edited by - Smegnoguk on 22 Jun 2003 16:48:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Ist car was my mum`s Nissan Micra "Colette" (special edition ). It was actually a cracking little car, 1000cc engine but more than a match for Fiesta`s and could give a Nova a good run for its money........suffered quite a bit of abuse that one!! 2nd was an 88 Vauxhall Cavalier SRi, old square shape, 2 litre, it was a bit rusty but it was quite a fun car, sad to see it go really, I use to live near the Caterham Factory........many a fun run along University Way in the SRi 😬 3rd and current is a Volvo V70, a decent car at last, albeit a bit underpowered, 140bhp 2.5 10V, the 20V version is much better. Gets quite a bit of abuse but soldiers on..... 4th and current, my pride and joy, a Birkin S3......great car , and actually up for sale at the moment 5th and current (this is getting silly) is a Fiat Panda , well it`s actually my wife`s car.....she`s just getting back into driving again so we didn`t want anything too expensive......this has got to be the worst car I have owned, slow, handles like a bag of bolts, stops....EVENTUALLY......it does have the roll back roof though........ NEXT......new Birkin and maybe a replacement for the Panda S2 8ELL Birkin S3 2.0 Zetec 170bhp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meldrew Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Rover 620 Ti - needed a new head gasket after less than 20k miles, ate tyres, understeered a lot. VW Golf VR6 - dull handling, lousy build quality, awful dealers, wore out bits of suspension in no time. Great engine in a rubbish car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Either a 1973 Spitfire Mk 4 1300, bought in '92, which was great provided you wanted to mend it more often than drive it. Oh, and the handling, with 20 yrs wear in everything, was, erm, interesting. Constant breakdowns and an engine rebuild eventually persuaded me to buy my Mum's Fiesta which was a breath of fresh air, then a 2L Cav which was definitely the most durable car I have ever owned. I ran it to 155k and only sold it because I got bored. My mate then failed to wear it out and it went to 190k before all the ancillaries fell off it. Last I heard it was sold to some dodgy geezer without MoT for £50. He probably only wanted the log book. The prize however...an Alfa 33 1.5. A great engine and chassis, fabulous handling and sound, crippling insurance for such a modest car (£600 p.a. for a 35yr old, clean licence/full NCD living on the outskirts of Manchester *eek*.) What a pig to live with - one collapsed suspension strut, one fuel pipe dropped off, the gear selector fell apart, various bits fell off and were welded or tyrapped back on, all on apparently 70000 miles. In the end the persistent rattle that all the experts said was a camshaft bearing (run it till it gets so you can't stand to listen to it mate) turned out to be a little end and it put a rod through the block on the A1 near Darlington. Briefly I toyed with the idea of fitting another engine but wisely decided to sell it for bits. The specialist who bought it dropped in an engine and sold it on, 2 months later the gearbox let go... No, I will never again own an Alfa. My pal has a 156 which is more trouble in a month than the scabby Cav was in a year. I might be persuaded by an old Spitty but only if sb. else has done all the work. Even then, naah. They don't handle, they are too heavy, and too slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Rich_Bernie Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 My wife's new Mercedes C Class - 3 weeks old, 600miles, has needed a recovery truck twice. Mercedes Assistance left her stranded by the A3 for 2 hours and wouldn't offer a lift six miles home the fisrt time. Currently at the Mercedes dealers in Tooting awaiting a new engine management system. The recovery company that picked it up said 'we pick up no end of these'. It truly is a dog, and Mercedes aftersales service sucks. Don't be fooled into thinking the premium price is paying for a premium product or quality service - it isn't. After 3 years and 70000 fault free miles with a Puma we wish she had got another Ford! Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Hmmm there's a couple of obvious choices and then one suprising one 2 * Mk3 Astra hire cars both horrendous and broke down in less than a week. Hopeless to drive, horrible engine/steering complete lack of chasis/suspension Mk3 1.6CL Golf, SOOO boring sqiggy suspension that appeared to be liked directly to the steering wheel, apply .5 turns of lock and the car rolls a fixed amount in the opposite direction regardless of speed And the surpising choice... Audi S3 well built good looking car that was a superb high speed any weather A-B car, but it was just no fun to drive at all and spent 6+ months of the 18months I had it in the garage. The list of faults on delivery stretched to two pages of A4 and the rest of the cars life was pretty much the same. In the time I had the car the following items were replaced Both front seat frames Complete Exhaust system (3 times) Haldex 4WD drive ECU Front suspension lower wishones Glove box Most of the trim in the dash board Dump Valve Crank Sensor Windscreen Washer bottle The car had a continous collection of squeaks and rattles that the garage was never able to cure completly. After me the next owner of the car has even more problems including almost complete electric failure, fuel gauge stopped working (meaning a constant annoying DING DING DING sound telling you to you need to fill up), indicators/lights gave up. Dash board lighting failed and another replacement exhaust. This was all with 2 years and 70K miles..... Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanB Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 A 11 year old Renault 5 automatic. God knows how big the engine was - it didn't really matter as it wouldn't drive in anything other than 3rd (top) gear for the first 25 minutes. However, it was so slow that in 25 minutes I'd only have got to the end of the road, so it was OK when pulling out of the junction. It's the only car I've driven and found myself beating the steering wheel out of frustration and the lack of forwards momentum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowerdowne Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 An Austin 1800 - of blessed memory. It burst its Hydrolastic suspension every six months or so, its clutch after four months, overheated as soon as the sun rose and rusted to a very pretty lace pattern within six months of bringing it back to the UK. On the other hand it had more room in it than 90% of today's cars and cornered like nothing else around at the time, which is probably why the front tires were bald after 6,000 miles. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Daihatsu Charade GTti - 997cc turbocharged with 911 sound and oversteer - my 1st car after passing test - fond memories of dumping the clutch in 1st and getting sparks from the rr as the rr subframe grounded the tarmac. None of that MAX power **** - the ultimate Q car for performance wanabees fo that age. Never made it to school one morning with 3 mates - spent the rest of the day power sliding up small 'b' roads. I thought I'd liven up all this talk about everyones worst car with my fond memories of 1st motoring. JLZ7447 1.6K this week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Ahhhh, tales of our first motoring experiences.......... The evening of the day I passed my test, I took the Nissan Micra out for a quick blat.....well quick in relation to walking..... Took the back road into town as that was more fun, I didn`t know the road too well and almost completely missed the 90 left into 90 right over the railway bridge........bit of a heart stopper!!! Despite the odds I did manage to survive my first day of driving......as did the car S2 8ELL Birkin S3 2.0 Zetec 170bhp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Chrysler 180....many years ago. Camshafts lasted 3000 miles due to bad case hardening (not exaggerating) Doughnuts in the prop shaft lasted not much longer. Changing gear was like stirring in porridge......you were never sure what gear you were going to find! It weighed about 1.5 tons and handled like a brick. If it had done the 'Top Gear hit a Mondeo sideways' test it would not only have obliterated the Ford but would have gone on to flatten Dover Castle (the brakes didn't work too well either) The worst bit was that I traded in a lovely gold Cortina 1600E for this brick. The best bit was that I traded it in for a MK 1 Mexico...........mmmm! Pete (I drive, therefore I am) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Original Golf VR6. The forecourt queen Ignored the "Lemon" report in Car magazine. Main problems C**p handling, lousy aftersales (waited 4 weeks for new passenger window after break in), lousy fuel range - 20 mpg and only a 10 gallon tank and no low fuel warning light. Couldn't even get from Birmingham to Heathrow and back on a tank of fuel. After 4 weeks a collection of self tapping screws and nuts started to appear in the footwells and the squeaks and rattles increased almost daily. The leather seats creaked like a 200 year old Chesterfield. Karmann Ghia built this series of VR6 and they were dreadful. Kept it for 6 months before it drove me mad. Replaced it with a Beemer. Last year I bought a TDI 150, trying to reduce tax etc. Well the range has improved, 14 gallon tank and 47 mpg but the handling is still c**p depite the "Sportpack" suspension and the sodding thing still sounds as if it has a flock of starlings in the dash. It now has a low fuel warning light but the car runs out 10 miles after the light comes on. Really helpful. I have written to VW and suggested that they change the description in the manual to read "you are now going to run out of fuel lamp" but surprisingly they haven't replied. The "Climate" system failed after 6 months and I spent three winter weeks without a heater while they ordered parts from the factory. I am farily convinced that the body is quite flexible as the windscreen self destructed this week. Driving along the M6 and a crack appeared from the bottom of the screen, turned right through 90 degrees and ran to the edge on the passenger side. No other cars anywhere near and no impact noises. Never again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile7 Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Hillman Avenger GLS as a student. Got it for free (needed welding on sills). Rolled it onto a mattress outside the student digs, welded up the mess with a mate. MOT following day Quick blast down to windsor and the engine blew up ☹️ Left it on the side of the road just below where the Magna Carta staue is..... Dave Ardley. White Xflow with Clams 'I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members' Photos here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizz Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Another vote for the metro – worse than rubbish 😳 However, I did have a prototype car in the 70’s. it was a cross between an Allegro and a Rover . . . . . . . it was called A Leg-over 😬 😬 Sorry, I'm going Papillon SV DD02CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Lotus Esprit S3, it fell to bits, 3 cracked windscreens, 2 exhaust manifolds, gearbox input shaft bearing, one engine plus loads of small part failures. Great looking car but a nightmare to own. I once took it on a track day at Thruxton, it lasted about five laps the brakes were on fire and the whole body was creaking during hard cornering. I stopped before it fell to bits again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozz Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Ford Orion 1.6 Roughest engine ever produced (CVH) Worst ever in a side wind esp on the motorway (felt like it was going to swap ends) Crap cold starting (Ford VV carburettor auto choke) Replaced by one of the best cars I've owned - Scirocco GTi 1.8 Mk2 😬 Bozz Sorry, but my karma just ran over your dogma My Chocolate Orange here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiddy1 Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Worst car, Caterham 7 1700 XF bits kept falling off, in 7 years and 96000 miles I got through 3 engines, 7 starters, 2 gearboxes, 4 alternators 3 windscreens + a few other bits best car Caterham 7 1800 K-series well I have only owned 2 cars and both caterhams so one had to be the worst Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason liddell Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 [shame mode on] MG Metro Turbo (another case of MG badge abuse!) ...and it was white with WHITE wheels (and rust bubbles) 😳 ...and it had a red 'Turbo' sticker in the rear window ...and a new gearbox (regularly) ...and left a smoke trail rivalling the Red Arrows [/shame mode off] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cskip Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 AUDI TT - Looks great, drives worse than a Metro 😬! Always in the garage having a new dashboard/Immob reprogrammed........ Skip. West Hants Luddite See CSKIP here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bewls Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 A Caterham ❗ (It's the only car I've ever technically owned as the Bettle was registered in my mums name ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemang Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 Enjoyed all my cars in their own ways. Free 1979 Fiesta with go faster stripes and tartan seats as standard 😳. It required welding before every mot so when i finished with it the floor pan looked like a patchwork quilt. Reliable even after me spinning it into a brick wall! Just pulled the dents out and carried on. 120,000 when finished Triumph Spitfire 1500 1979 White with brown rust and a hard top. had it a couple of years and spent my time repairing it but cheap insurance and fun. 130,000 when i sold it and got back what i paid for it even thought it was a piece of sh1t when i finished. Honda Civic CRX 1600. Great fun to drive,fast,very reliable and cheap to run. Only sold it for a change Honda civic VTIs well built,very fast,reliable so far although it Mot is today 😬 Caterham 7 1.6 VX with a Blydenstien head and fast cam. Fantastic car but if i had the money i would love a duratec'd seven 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doclip Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 would have to be my 1984 lancia delta hf turbo -when it was right it was great -but most of the time ................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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