What is the worst car you ever owned,and why?

Lum

Trebor16 wrote: »

VOSA didn't seem to think it was significant enough to instruct Vauxhall to do a recall.

They have pretty strict rules on what is and isn't a safety issue. The car can be steered if the power steering fails, therefore they can't force a recall.

Good luck if you're a disabled driver without much upper body strength, or someone like my mother who just can't steer a car without PAS any more (she once borrowed my old Mk4 Escort during the fuel protests as I'd filled it up with 4star. She got half way around the first corner, abandoned it blocking the road and made me come and park it!)

Trebor16

Weird_Nev wrote: »

The one we had fell over. Ergo, dangerous.
I don't expect MPV's to have top notch handling, but I don't expect to find my elbow grazed by tarmac, either.

I would be interested to hear how a car "fell over". Nothing to do with a loose nut behind the steering wheel by any chance?

Weird_Nev wrote:

And the A-Pillar bugbear is indeed a problem with most newer cars to a greater or lesser extent, it's just that I'd never actually lost a large goods vehicle in a forwards blind spot until I drove a Meriva.

Can't say I ever lost one in that blind spot.

Weird_Nev wrote:

Go on, drive a Meriva for 8 solid hours round town and tell me it's not a hateful, soul-less box of bland with some seriousergonomic flaws....

I owned one for 3.5 years and drove it for 40000 miles. It's a car and its not designed to have character, it is bought to get me from A to B. If I want a car with character I will buy something quirky like an Alfa Romeo. But for me it was a car that my mum and mum in law (both in their 80's) found very easy to get in and out of. For it's external dimensions it was very roomy and practical. There was plenty of adjustment in the drivers seat and steering column for both me and my wife (who is 5'5") to find a comfortable driving position and neither of us had any problems with being able to reach the controls.

A perfect car? No. But it did the job we wanted it to for the 3.5 years we had it, with only one component failure (electric window motor) and no reliability issues. It never broke down during our ownership.

I would be interested to hear what these serious ergonomic flaws actually are.

Honeydog

Trebor16 wrote: »

What makes you think I am trying to convince you to buy another Vauxhall? I'm not, I'm just expressing a viewpoint.

I think you need to take a chill pill.

I'm totally chilled but that's because I no longer own a piece of **** Vauxhall. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Gotcha!

avantra

Trebor16 wrote: »

VOSA didn't seem to think it was significant enough to instruct Vauxhall to do a recall.

That's not the point, some decisions by VOSA in the last decade were in the list questionable (do you remember those Renault Clios mk2 flying bonnets? there was not even a tweet from VOSA about this) but to get all the way to vicious Mrs Robinson it's have to be pretty bad.:o

Trebor16

avantra wrote: »

That's not the point, some decisions by VOSA in the last decade were in the list questionable (do you remember those Renault Clios mk2 flying bonnets? there was not even a tweet from VOSA about this) but to get all the way to vicious Mrs Robinson it's have to be pretty bad.:o

I suspect VOSA are privy to far more information than we are ever likely to see and are capable of making an informed decision. I also think that VOSA will have more data and info than Watchdog too.

patman99

Worst car - Citreon BX. Hydraulics were always leaking. Timng belt snapped then clutch went.
Best car - Citreon Xantia TD. Had it for 4 years and apart from changing the timing belt (a MUST when buying cars without service history), 2 front spheres (£90 all-in, much cheaper than the £100 just for 1 coil spring on my Focus) and 1 set of glowplugs, the car was faultless.

Reading about what other cars people have owned brought back memories.
1st car (bought by parents for me) Renault 14 TS. Could see-off an XR3i from a standing start, but needed the application of a hair dryer to start when cold. Got shot 3 weeks after passing test.

Shortest time car owned for - 3 weeks, Austin Montego. Nothing really wrong with car, but clutch would randomly slip due to oil seal failure.

Worst car for all-round visability - Ford Focus. Must have been designed by a non-driver.

Car I wish I'd had fixed - Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6L. Did 56mpg, started on the button every day. Scrapped after rear chassis corroded. 3 days after scrapping, bumped into an old workmate who told me he could have boxed-in the chassis for £80. Gutted.

petrolhead69

The cavaliers were bad for that, but it was an easy fix to weld in some thicker box section steel to beef it up, particularly at the rear spring cups. The cars I regret selling the most was my old fast vauxhalls, A reg cav sri, h reg cav gsi, g reg astra gte 16v and an h reg carlton gsi, simple reliable mechanics and more power than the chassis can handle, great fun. Thats why its a shame the new ones are so dull, drab and shoddily built.

mattyprice4004

A Ford Fiesta 1.8 (non TD) diesel. Absolute piece of garbage.

It had done 100k, was on a P plate (1996) and everything just broke. Literally everything.

A friend steered me towards British cars, and 4 years later I haven't looked back. Had all sorts of Rovers / MGs now (so cheap!) and never really had major issues.

The day I'll own another Ford is when hell freezes over.

Lum

patman99 wrote: »

Worst car - Citreon BX. Hydraulics were always leaking. Timng belt snapped then clutch went.

My dad used to have a BX. Protip with the hydraulic pipes on those is they are nothing special so don't pay Citroen dealer prices for the pipework, go to any supplier of hydraulic parts and you can likely pick up 50 meters of the stuff for the same price Citroen will charge you for a single piece cut to the correct length.

Problem he always had with his BX was a poorly designed L shaped bracket in the middle of the clutch cable. My memory is a bit hazy hazy but it was something like it pivoted at the bottom left of the L and cables attached to either end. The thing would bend and turn into a V shape. First two times it went he just replaced it, third time he bought a new one, took it into work and welded a plate between the points of the L to turn it into a right angled triangle, that one lasted the lifetime of the car. :T

Honeydog

I do believe we're back on topic.

Good job too as I don't have time to play today. Too much stuff to do.

I'll look forward to reading about more worst cars later on.