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

angeltreats

Apologies for the rant I'm about to have.

My OH bought a low mileage Y reg Fiat Punto about two years ago and paid something like £2,200 for it (I know, I know). I test drove it and pleaded with him not to buy it because it was utterly hateful to drive, the must sluggish and unresponsive heap I have ever driven. He ignored me, and discovered that it was as joyless to own as it is to drive. Just before he bought it, it had had a new clutch and power steering motor. Within two years he replaced the steering rack, steering column, fixed a blown head gasket, changed the sump which had completely rusted through, did all sorts of repairs (including replacing everything a bit at a time) to the brakes which never really worked properly, replaced the rear exhaust which fell off one day while he was driving home from work, sorted out a problem with the manifold that leaked exhaust gases inside the car and gave us massive headaches... he never got to the bottom of the radio that switched itself off every hour or so, or the constant squeaking as you drove along, or the various fluids that would randomly empty themselves onto the road when you parked. He carried a bottle of oil and a bottle of coolant everywhere in the boot and even now there are oil stains all over our road. It was the only incontinent car I've ever heard of. Every time he fixed something, the next day something different would go wrong.

On the way to the airport just before Christmas, the sat nav took us on some twisty country roads, and due to the fog, an unmarked bend and him driving a bit too fast (still only about 35 in a 60 though), the Punto's understeer and lack of decent brakes, my OH drove the car off a grass verge and landed in a field. It wasn't that hard a bump and I'd be surprised if any normal car took much damage, but the Punto ended up with two mangled front wheels, wrecked suspension (nose nearly touching the floor), a shattered front bumper and various electrical problems, and refused to start. It went off to the scrapyard last Saturday because he finally admitted defeat, and I cheered as it was loaded onto the truck. We got £140 for it, but I'd quite happily have paid twice that to have someone take the thing away so I never had to see it again.

RIP Barbara, you will not be missed.

split_second

samboette wrote: »

Oh definitely but the endless beeping of the faults when you are driving is very, very annoying, the airbag fault is a common one and comes from the passenger seat.

If the Stilo didn't have the electrical faults it wouldn't be a bad car, it's comfortable, quite roomy inside with adjustable rear seats.

'airbag fault- stop engine'?

its the airbag sensor, either under the driver or passenger seat, not sure which, fixed with wd40 apparently, check the info on fiatforum, my stilo does the same and has done for ages

cyclonebri1

adouglasmhor wrote: »

You do know what FIAT means, Fix It Again Tomorrow :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I loved my old Uno Euro 90 fire but it did have some strange faults over time.

A mate works at the Fiat garage, has worked for many differnt agents.

His version is slightly broader;

F****d, in again tomorrow,

samboette

split_second wrote: »

'airbag fault- stop engine'?

its the airbag sensor, either under the driver or passenger seat, not sure which, fixed with wd40 apparently, check the info on fiatforum, my stilo does the same and has done for ages

Yes that's the fault, can't clear it off the mini screen on the dash and it's definitely the passenger seat.

We did establish it's a common fault with them, my OH will treat the stilo as a little project and sort the electrics out at some point, right now Stilo Green as we call it (even though it's grey) is tucked up in the garage!

Honeydog

My Dad had an old Vauxhall Viva when I was a kid. That was rubbish as well. Horrible plastic seats that you stuck to in the summer when wearing shorts.

Never again.

Trebor16

Honeydog wrote: »

My Dad had an old Vauxhall Viva when I was a kid. That was rubbish as well. Horrible plastic seats that you stuck to in the summer when wearing shorts.

Never again.

Pretty much most cars back then had horrible plastic seats.

gingerdad

Weird_Nev wrote: »

Never, ever, EVER buy ex police cars.

That's my helpful MSE tip of the day.

It was only 400 quid from my cousin. I did get 600 px for it a couple of years later

Honeydog

Trebor16 wrote: »

Pretty much most cars back then had horrible plastic seats.

My uncle's car had leather seats but that wasn't a cr*ppy Vauxhall.

Trebor16

Honeydog wrote: »

My uncle's car had leather seats but that wasn't a cr*ppy Vauxhall.

Your uncles car would have been a rarity then. But as usual you are missing the point. Back then if you had been in any Ford, Vauxhall, Datsun, Renault etc etc you would have stuck to the seats in any of them in summer

DKLS

Hyundai i10, thankfully I only had it a month before getting shut, what a souless heap of useless shiite.