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What's The Worst Ever Car You Have Owned?
21 Answers
As a nearly retired motor mechanic, I still do the odd car repair. My mother in law was complaining about her 2013 Nissan Micra last weekend. It has a tyre pressure warning system she blamed, which functions perfectly: it tells her when a tyre/tyres fall below 5psi from the correct air pressure.
But she moans because her VW Polo was the 'Best Car' she ever had and it never went wrong. In fact the Polo was by far the worst new car in terms of reliability that I have Ever Worked On.
I will list the faults tomorrow which took place during the 10,000 miles of her ownership.
Meanwhile please tell me about your most hated vehicle, bought new or used, and see if you 'Beat' the 2007 VW Polo 1.2 From Hell...
Night all.
But she moans because her VW Polo was the 'Best Car' she ever had and it never went wrong. In fact the Polo was by far the worst new car in terms of reliability that I have Ever Worked On.
I will list the faults tomorrow which took place during the 10,000 miles of her ownership.
Meanwhile please tell me about your most hated vehicle, bought new or used, and see if you 'Beat' the 2007 VW Polo 1.2 From Hell...
Night all.
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Austin Princess/Metro are quite good candidates. The Metro was a lovely car to drive when still fairly new. The Princess was usually owned by quite enthusiastic owner, who took good care of them and okayish if you bought a low mileage one.
Talbot, I'm talking of the later ones such as Horizon & Alpine were horrible. Don't even mention the Talbot Tagora!
The Horizon/Alpine engine was quick to wear out, noisy beyond belief, a smoky oil-burning mess. Their shared type of gearbox needed specialist skills to operate. The Alpine's interior was stuck together using some adhesive that smelt like old lungs. Exerything was wrong. Horrible handling, a crashy gearbox, quick-rot bodywork, horrible grannie's handbag interior, the raining-in, the well... everything!
I worked for a few months at a Citroen garage in Blackburn. They sold a 1985 Talbot Alpine 1.6 a quite sporty version and nearly new. It must have been one of the very last ones made. And it was actually quite nice & refined. It was really quite quick too. They must have really tried in the French car plant to fix them, where both were made.
Talbot, I'm talking of the later ones such as Horizon & Alpine were horrible. Don't even mention the Talbot Tagora!
The Horizon/Alpine engine was quick to wear out, noisy beyond belief, a smoky oil-burning mess. Their shared type of gearbox needed specialist skills to operate. The Alpine's interior was stuck together using some adhesive that smelt like old lungs. Exerything was wrong. Horrible handling, a crashy gearbox, quick-rot bodywork, horrible grannie's handbag interior, the raining-in, the well... everything!
I worked for a few months at a Citroen garage in Blackburn. They sold a 1985 Talbot Alpine 1.6 a quite sporty version and nearly new. It must have been one of the very last ones made. And it was actually quite nice & refined. It was really quite quick too. They must have really tried in the French car plant to fix them, where both were made.
Re. Nissan/Datsun Stanza is a very good candidate for worst-ever. I served my apprenticeship on Datsuns, before they changed their UK name to Nissan. When the Stanza was introduced, the UK was in deep recession. The large dealership where I worked was managing to book in around 40 hrs work total for each month to share between eight mechanics. When that heap hit the showroom floor, it was obvious that it was curtains as far as my job was concerned. I was made redundant only a few month after its introduction. They wouldn't run right on UK fuel. Endless service buletins were issued. None of the 'fixes' worked. Quick-rot bodies and everything else wrong, including OAP Styling (I'm an old git) with the Stanza made them disappear from sight by 1986.
*So, here's the story of what is easily the worst car I've ever had to work on.
Bought by my inlaws on a whim for £8,000 in 2006, it was a Polo 1.2 hatch. They owned it for 5 years, but added only 11k miles on top of the 3k it had. The mileage is a verified 100% correct, just an example of what used to be known as a **Friday afternoon car.
So when you think your transport is starting to be a money pit consider:
Engine management light on. Brake light switch replaced.
Rear shock absorber lost all of its damping. Replaced.
Engine management light on again (this was being reported in the motoring press at the time on their staff cars, spark plugs were thought to be the cause) spark plugs replaced.
On holiday, engine overheated in a six-hour tailback on the year's hottest day. Cooling fan connections corroded. New wiring loom was £900, old loom repaired.
Both rear light bulb holders corroded. Cheaper to replace complete light units from Hella than buy from VW for just the boards which are made by Hella anyway.
Both front suspension bushes worn out. Fit new ones.
Engine management light on again. Following a week on Google, it becomes clear that the cylinder heads of this engine were defective. In the rest of Europe, VW/VAG paid the 3,700 Euro to repair those affected. UK ***VAG as far as I can see denied there ever was a fault. I got incredibly lucky and found a genuine VAG engine repair kit for a £240 gift as they were a very discounted £1400 from VAG for those outside UK. It contained: New cylinder head, catalytic converter and a whole lot more. A bargain.
Both rear wheel cylinders leaking brake fluid, new ones, as well as shoes fitted.
Both oxygen sensors failed owing to the engine fault which contaminated their delicate chemistry.
Plus lots of minor faults. I calculated what this car would have cost them going to the main dealers. It was around £6,800. And my mother in law still insists it was the best car she ever owned.
£6k in 10k miles, the worst car I have ever known.
*I realise that I do ramble, nowt much else to do as awaiting operation x 2.
** For those younger ones amongst us (I'm sure you worked it out anyway) a Friday afternoon car is one that's thrown together as the assembly line workers are looking forward to the weekend and so not a very good car.
***Volkswagen-Audi Group (Gruppe).
Night night.
Bought by my inlaws on a whim for £8,000 in 2006, it was a Polo 1.2 hatch. They owned it for 5 years, but added only 11k miles on top of the 3k it had. The mileage is a verified 100% correct, just an example of what used to be known as a **Friday afternoon car.
So when you think your transport is starting to be a money pit consider:
Engine management light on. Brake light switch replaced.
Rear shock absorber lost all of its damping. Replaced.
Engine management light on again (this was being reported in the motoring press at the time on their staff cars, spark plugs were thought to be the cause) spark plugs replaced.
On holiday, engine overheated in a six-hour tailback on the year's hottest day. Cooling fan connections corroded. New wiring loom was £900, old loom repaired.
Both rear light bulb holders corroded. Cheaper to replace complete light units from Hella than buy from VW for just the boards which are made by Hella anyway.
Both front suspension bushes worn out. Fit new ones.
Engine management light on again. Following a week on Google, it becomes clear that the cylinder heads of this engine were defective. In the rest of Europe, VW/VAG paid the 3,700 Euro to repair those affected. UK ***VAG as far as I can see denied there ever was a fault. I got incredibly lucky and found a genuine VAG engine repair kit for a £240 gift as they were a very discounted £1400 from VAG for those outside UK. It contained: New cylinder head, catalytic converter and a whole lot more. A bargain.
Both rear wheel cylinders leaking brake fluid, new ones, as well as shoes fitted.
Both oxygen sensors failed owing to the engine fault which contaminated their delicate chemistry.
Plus lots of minor faults. I calculated what this car would have cost them going to the main dealers. It was around £6,800. And my mother in law still insists it was the best car she ever owned.
£6k in 10k miles, the worst car I have ever known.
*I realise that I do ramble, nowt much else to do as awaiting operation x 2.
** For those younger ones amongst us (I'm sure you worked it out anyway) a Friday afternoon car is one that's thrown together as the assembly line workers are looking forward to the weekend and so not a very good car.
***Volkswagen-Audi Group (Gruppe).
Night night.
I on the other hand had a VW Polo which I loved and only traded it in once it reached 140,000 miles on the clock and started to tire.
Worse for me was such a long time ago that I dont remember exactly what it was; probably a very early citreon with a dashboard/steering wheel level gear stick. I was only learning to drive and had to double declutch all the time. It was so unreliable and when it broke down for the umpteenth time in the middle of the countryside and we had walked miles home, I left it there for weeks until I could bring myself to deal with it.
Worse for me was such a long time ago that I dont remember exactly what it was; probably a very early citreon with a dashboard/steering wheel level gear stick. I was only learning to drive and had to double declutch all the time. It was so unreliable and when it broke down for the umpteenth time in the middle of the countryside and we had walked miles home, I left it there for weeks until I could bring myself to deal with it.
definitely a Polo, as it happens. Broke down in one way or another every month. Two new alternators needed. Glove box fell out. Window jammed open. Power delivered to the boot handle instead of the engine, the better to give electric shocks. Leaked like a sieve. Many many others. It got so I was scared to get into it, and I sold it for scrap.
I owned a Triumph Spitfire for about 2 months 50 odd years ago. The last 7 weeks were because no one would buy it off me. Diff slap that nearly knocked your teeth out, oversteered an slow speed and under steered when accelerating. Only wanted to start when I didn't need it to. Tried to kill me at least 3 times. Still miss my Mondeo TDCi Durotorq 55 plate. Massive torque and could pull the Queen Mary up hill. Went like a spitfire and would accelerate from 60 to driving ban in 6th gear in about 5 seconds, but the economics decided for us. A dozen brilliant journeys to Cornwall, some overnight with my then young son and his pal or cousin in the back were unforgettable. It carried us back from St Ives to Llandudno in 5 hours and we made 2 stops, for fuel and the necessary. Never missed a beat and will never be beaten by me again. A more sedate but comfortable life now in a Honda CR-V 2ltr petrol.
My current one. I didn't mind my ancient Renault 12 estates getting rust etc..
O.H. is a bit of a car nut. I should have known better than to listen to him enthusing. We went to see and test drive a Citroen C3. It was a very busy inner-city road and I didn't want to drive so OH and an equally knowledgeable friend did the driving and loved it. So I bought it. I hate it - well I did, I'm getting used to it. I prefer my old armchairs on wheels. :(
O.H. is a bit of a car nut. I should have known better than to listen to him enthusing. We went to see and test drive a Citroen C3. It was a very busy inner-city road and I didn't want to drive so OH and an equally knowledgeable friend did the driving and loved it. So I bought it. I hate it - well I did, I'm getting used to it. I prefer my old armchairs on wheels. :(
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