I once passed a Volvo 340 which was going about 50mph on the inside lane of the M5. The registration number was WOO 15 or perhaps WOO 1S. When I looked in my rear view mirror, this spelt SlOOW.
At the moment, WOO 1S is on a Porsche Cayenne
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
What was the worst car you ever owned.
- Thread starter MattA7
- Start date
- Status
At the moment, WOO 1S is on a Porsche Cayenne
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
Bit in bold - that infuriates me where manufacturers hide the heating controls in the touchscreen. We're told not to use mobile phones when driving, yet some manufacturers are now putting the heating controls in the touchscreen part where you have to avert your eyes from the road to see what you're doing. It's nuts.
My current car - Vauxhall Insignia - has *most* of the heating controls as physical buttons and on the screen - you can change the fan speed and temp using physical controls but to change which vents the air is coming out of means diving into the touchscreen.
I think you're possibly thinking about the DAF/Volvo 66, which had continuous variable transmission (CVT).
See:
Volvo 66 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
My dad's 340 had a bog-standard manual transmission (I think it was 4-speed, but I don't remember that well.
The 340 looked like this:
Volvo 300 Series - Wikipedia
*Edit*
Perhaps I should have actually read the second article; it would appear that the 300 series also had CVT, having originally been a DAF model rather than a Volvo.
It still doesn't change the fact that it was an absolute pig to drive!
I think the Volvo 300 series was actually a DAF design that was in-flight when Volvo bought out DAF cars.
Dai Corner
Established Member
- Joined
- 20 Jul 2015
- Messages
- 6,998
My Mazda 3's touchscreen stays on but the 'touch' feature is deactivated when in motion / parking brake is off. The sat nav, entertainment and phone functionality is duplicated with physical controls. You have to take your eyes further off the road to use those than to touch the screen. Perhaps you're supposed to use them by feel while looking at the screen!?
Well, I've never had a problem with physical heating controls and you can usually adjust them without taking your eyes off the road - that's not the case with a touchscreen.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
So you can't e.g. put the fan on a steaming up windscreen without stopping?
That is outrageously dangerous. One to add to the list of cars I would never buy.
Dai Corner
Established Member
- Joined
- 20 Jul 2015
- Messages
- 6,998
No. The heating and ventilation controls are physical ones. I have to use physical controls (or primitive voice recognition) to use the entertainment, navigation and communication functions.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Ah, good. HVAC controls are a safety matter and should always be physical.
Sadly the 216 was the last of the Austin engines, so no surprise there. I also owned a Volvo 340DL, (C986CYX) with the 1.4 Renault derived unit driving the back wheels. Attempted to tart it up with alloys from a 360, even got the rubber "spoiler" fitted to the back. A few issues with electrics (the dashboard back-light failing on a dark drive home up the A3 in Surrey was fun) but it was a massive improvement on my Talbot Alpine Rapier I had before, in a two-tone blue, useless demister which was a pain to use in winter, and looks that only its mother could love
Last edited:
For motoring I had vehicles at the extremes of the spectrum, a car, an elderly X-plate 1-litre ultra-basic Austin Metro City, at the other end of the spectrum,a motorcycle, an RG500 Suzuki 2-stroke, the Suzuki engine 95 bhp, over 500bhp/ton in power/weight, the Metro around 40 bhp.
Riding the Suzuki felt like being strapped to a fuselage of a missile, 90 mph with the thottle slides barely cracked from open, I enjoyed both vehicles despite their differences. Gave up riding the RG500 before it killed me / put me in a wheelchair for life.
Riding the Suzuki felt like being strapped to a fuselage of a missile, 90 mph with the thottle slides barely cracked from open, I enjoyed both vehicles despite their differences. Gave up riding the RG500 before it killed me / put me in a wheelchair for life.
Last edited:
I've never owned a car, but gladly contribute my dad's L-reg Orion. Absolutely miserable interior, terrible seats. Happiest day of my life when some squaddies nicked it from Woolwich station carpark rather than pay for the train down to Portsmouth. We got a call from the insurers when a car park in Portsmouth got fed up of issuing tickets after it hadn't been moved in 6 weeks. By then we'd already got a Volvo 340 which was much nicer inside, loved those heated seats. Apparently it ran off with my dad's wallet whenever he had to get it serviced or tested though.
Some bloke across the road always used to jeer and insult the woman about the Yugo every single day while driving his far more impressive Granada or some other rep-mobile. But the woman never really reacted or said anything in response, she was very upper class, just tried to laugh it off.
Cut to the winter, big dumping of snow overnight. The only car that started fine was of course the Eastern-bloc Yugo! After quickly giving up on her Mk.1 Fiesta, my mum asks for a lift to the station in the neighbour's Yugo, which the woman happily provides.
When the man across the road runs over and asks nicely for a lift, the posh woman - remember the months of daily insults and jeering - rolled down the window, leaned out, and told him to "f*** off!" before driving away!
This reminds me of Lancia's solution to the brakes locking up on the Monte Carlo: pause production for 6 months, and then rather than adjusting the brake system force, just outright remove the servos! Granted, it stopped the brakes locking up, but the cars themselves never stopped again...
My mother once told me a story of when she lived next to a very well to-do posh woman, who owned a little Yugo as a runabout while her husband took the family car to work.But the worst car was a Yugo 513 (Eastern European saloon based on Fiat 128), went through 2 radiators, a water pump, 3 clutch cables before I got £50 from the scrap man... certainly was not a "gluten for punishment" after I found out I'm Yugo Intolerant
Some bloke across the road always used to jeer and insult the woman about the Yugo every single day while driving his far more impressive Granada or some other rep-mobile. But the woman never really reacted or said anything in response, she was very upper class, just tried to laugh it off.
Cut to the winter, big dumping of snow overnight. The only car that started fine was of course the Eastern-bloc Yugo! After quickly giving up on her Mk.1 Fiesta, my mum asks for a lift to the station in the neighbour's Yugo, which the woman happily provides.
When the man across the road runs over and asks nicely for a lift, the posh woman - remember the months of daily insults and jeering - rolled down the window, leaned out, and told him to "f*** off!" before driving away!
This reminds me of Lancia's solution to the brakes locking up on the Monte Carlo: pause production for 6 months, and then rather than adjusting the brake system force, just outright remove the servos! Granted, it stopped the brakes locking up, but the cars themselves never stopped again...
I wish my Yugo 513 had a decent starter motor, I had to put it in 4th gear, rock it back and forth to free the starter.
Love your username, sounds ideal for a GBR operator concession / franchise
My first car was an Auston Allegro Mark 3, bought from my late father's estate to help mum pay for the funeral. It was a truly appalling car! The CV (constant velocity) joint fell apart exiting a car park 100 miles from home, which meant the front offside wheel basically fell off; and once at a set of traffic lights, as I set off the gearbox collapsed rendering it immobile in the middle of a very busy road junction. Many people name their first car; I called mine Baldrick because it was small, brown and useless. It failed its MOT in a very big way at just seven years old and went to the scrapyard. RIP Baldrick 1982-1989.
Generally speaking, I really never had one car that was the worst of them all. However, one car that became unreliable was 1996 (P) Vauxhall Vectra 2.0 SRi saloon, when it was working as expected, a nice car to drive and plenty of power too but constantly the engine management system was playing up, so regular visits to the Vauxhall dealer! So much so the dealer extended the warranty but enough was enough was it went in for a regular service and new cam belt. The dealer basically xxxxxx it up as shortly afterwards some thing was not right with the engine. Simply one engine mounting bolt was missing, another one was sheared off and two others were loose!! All these bolts were in connection with replacement of the cam belt. The dealer denied it was them but rather difficult to say it was not them as they were only ones who dealt with the car but they were wiling to extend the warranty again! I explained to them that I won't have the car long enough for it and told them it would be history within a month. They did not believe me!! 
True to my word, I bought a new car (MG ZR) four weeks later and that was one of the best cars I have driven. Ever since that day, never owned or would ever consider owning a Vauxhall!
The worst car I have ever driven was a Rover 414 saloon (1400cc), how the hell did that ever got off a production line, I will never know! Everything about it was awful especially driving and the ride! The latter was like being on trampoline / very bouncy and that was on a completely flat road!!!
True to my word, I bought a new car (MG ZR) four weeks later and that was one of the best cars I have driven. Ever since that day, never owned or would ever consider owning a Vauxhall!The worst car I have ever driven was a Rover 414 saloon (1400cc), how the hell did that ever got off a production line, I will never know! Everything about it was awful especially driving and the ride! The latter was like being on trampoline / very bouncy and that was on a completely flat road!!!
matacaster
On Moderation
Citroen bx - very economical. However, let down by French electronics. The low water message was usually clearly displayed AFTER the engine had seized!
The Peugeot citroen engine in jaguar s-type v6 was really great apart from the DPF which didn't tend to regenerate properly and put loads of neat diesel into the engine. This resulted in snapped crankshaft / seized engine and scrapped car.
The Peugeot citroen engine in jaguar s-type v6 was really great apart from the DPF which didn't tend to regenerate properly and put loads of neat diesel into the engine. This resulted in snapped crankshaft / seized engine and scrapped car.
GusB
Established Member
My dad had a 1990 Citreon BX, which wasn't too bad. One issue that had to be sorted out was the corrosion of the copper pipes that carried the fluid for the suspension, but he managed to replace them without garage intervention.
It also suffered a gearbox failure at one point, it being replaced (so I was told, anyway) by one from a Peugeot 405. There was a noticeable difference in the gearing afterwards, and slightly better performance too; the 1.7D engine was naturally aspirated and didn't exactly give a sparkling performance. I would have preferred the 1.7 turbo or a 1.9, but it wasn't me that was buying it!
It was a nice car to drive, once it eventually got going.
It was actually a Ford engine which they developed jointly with PSA
Ford AJD-V6/PSA DT17 - Wikipedia
Ford also worked with PSA on the 1.6 diesel at about the same time - said engine went in the Focus, Citroen C4, Peugeot 307 / 308 and Mazda 3 among others
Ford DLD engine - Wikipedia
A 2006 Peugeot 207 1.4 petrol that I brought when it was less than two years old, slow, heavy, thirsty and was plagued with French electrical issues.
Got rid less than 12 months later and got a Peugeot 107 which was a fantastic little car.
Got rid less than 12 months later and got a Peugeot 107 which was a fantastic little car.
Jamesrob637
Established Member
- Joined
- 12 Aug 2016
- Messages
- 6,083
Proving that every brand has its good and bad.
The 107 is a rebadged Toyota Aygo so didn't suffer the usual Peugeot problems, in 5 years all I replaced was a clutch at 80k miles and being a cheap car, I haven't exactly thrown money at looking after it, literally just an oil and filter change on my drive around every 10k miles...
Last edited:
Moral of the story (and often in this thread): always buy Japanese!
Worst car, maybe, I bought three Japanese cars:
- Honda CRX. Boring and reliable. If that's what you want.
- Toyota MR2. Fine, and it wasn't its fault that it proved to me that a convertible in the UK is a silly idea. When shopping I had to get my partner to sit in the car and put the shopping on top of him. We once drove home with a Dyson vacuum cleaner sticking out of the top though.
- Mazda RX-8. Had one as a company car too. Great car. RAC required to start if the engine gets flooded though (rotary engine).
Re the MR2 Dyson: I once saw an MX5 with the top down and a large clothes horse being held down by the passenger for dear life!
Last edited:
DelW
Established Member
- Joined
- 15 Jan 2015
- Messages
- 6,036
Once upon a time (over forty years ago), I moved a fridge (admittedly a small one) from Birmingham to Kent in an MG Midget. Roof down and fridge standing on the passenger seat - fortunately it was a dry day or both I and the fridge would have got wet. Having said that, I used to get somewhat wet driving it in the rain even when I could put the roof up.
zwk500
Veteran Member
My dad at one point got a convertible Vauxhall (may have been an Astra, not sure) that had a manually fitted cover for the roof when folded. You could do local trips without the cover, but if you were taking it on a dual carriageway it was better to put the cover on. I remember a few trips where we were urgently looking for the next layby so we could get the roof up!
The very worst car we had was when our old car had failed it's MOT with a list as long as your arm and my dad took the only thing the garage would give in exchange for the old car, a Skoda of some description that must have been at least 30 years old. It lived out its final days taking my brother or me to the Rugby club (my mum felt it was a good way to keep mud out of the other car). To start it require lifting the bonnet and giving a few strokes of 'gentle persuasion' to the solenoid to turn over whilst 7yo me turned the key. We though it was fun at the time...
GS250
Member
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2019
- Messages
- 1,031
Difficult to really argue with your assessment as a generalisation. However the likes of the Supra Turbo were anything but boring. Also...Lexus manage to produce some superbly and well equipped luxury cars that were semi interesting. Its been admitted on many prestige German badged car forums that a move from big Japanese to big German can be a shock when it comes to reliability and general cost of ownership. Which leads me nicely to:
Worst three cars:
1) BMW e60 525i. Great driving position. Lovely interior. Drove very well. However...was an absolute Germanic pain in the backside at times when it came to basic running and reliability of electrics. Only had 40k on when I bought it but had to replace: Boot wiring loom, £500. Electric Window motor, £350, entire ignition system including coil injectors, NoX sensor etc £750. Rocker cover warped £350. All of these items are known to fail before 60k according to a BM forum. And thats before consumables such as general servicing, brake discs etc. A bit of a money pit for a standard executive car. BM's modern reputation was built on the 5 series and 6cyl engines. Clearly...things have gone South.
2) MG ZT CDti 135. Good looking motor, handled well, great second hand bargain and pretty reliable. However the build quality was clearly failing badly by 2004 and lets says this thing was just plain unpleasant to travel in at time. The interior noise levels due to rattles, squeaks, buzzes and various other noises was just totally at odds with a semi exec sportyish car. Did try all the known fixes but it didn't help. Sold after just 18 months.
3) Vauxhall Omega GLS. Very comfy old barge if anything else. However electrics were awful, truly awful. Interior instrument lights kept on coming on and off with no apparent fix. Didn't like starting at a time when starting was taken for granted. Not a patch on the Senator of which it partially replaced.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Interesting, as more recently I had a Vectra estate which nothing serious ever went wrong with (and I flogged it to a mate and he kept it for another 4-5 years or so with similarly few problems). I know the Vectra is technically son-of-Cavalier, but by then it was Vauxhall's biggest car and firmly in the old Omega market.
DustyBin
Established Member
GS250
Member
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2019
- Messages
- 1,031
Vectra wasn't bad at all. Never owned one but others spoke well of them. Yeh...all of Vauxhall's old models, the Cavalier, Carlton, Omega, Senator, Royale, Viceroy etc all ended up becoming just that!
I know somebody with an e60 M5.... They don't drive it very often!
E60 was a definite step backwards in reliability with cost cutting apparent in certain areas. Plastic rocker cover and removal of heat shield above the manifold being a classic example. Also... the big diesel engine models chewed up these mysterious sounding 'swirl flaps' causing up to 2k worth of damage. My mate had one sat on his drive for a few weeks with just that.
.
DustyBin
Established Member
The F10 had it's fair share of issues too. The N47 engine (520d) was well known for it's propensity to self destruct due to timing chain failure. I had a later one with the revised engine as a company car, and even that had a lot of warranty work carried out. Which is fine, as it was a company car and was under warranty, but I'm not sure I'd want to own one myself!
- Status