Really, really rubbish, but loved and remembered well anyway;
Triumph Toledo 1300
Chrysler Alpine
Chrysler Horizon
Fiat 128 3P
Hillman Imp
Hillman Avenger
Austin Maxi
Morris Marina
Chrysler 2litre
Datsun Cherry
Vauxhall Cavalier MK1
Vauxhall Chevette
Mini Clubman automatic
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I'll see your Clubman with an MGB Roadster automatic :(
I'll see your, um, Cherry with a Civic, 80's model - I HATED IT!!
Not to mention the Riley Kestrel AND the Vanden Plas 1300 (Shhh!)
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>> I'll see your Clubman with an MGB Roadster automatic :(
>>
>> I'll see your, um, Cherry with a Civic, 80's model - I HATED IT!!
>>
I think my Yugo 95 trumps those.......
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>>I think my Yugo 95 trumps those.......
Did they produce a 95 model, you win anyway, even though it had a manual gearbox :)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zastava_Koral
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I was trying to forget about Chrysler Alpine ownership and had pushed it to the back of my mind. A horrendous money pit on wheels,
Fond memories of the Datsun Sunny though. Underpowered and not much fun to drive but the first really reliable car I owned.
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My Alpine had a very strange gear change. To go into 1st or 3rd it felt like the gear stick was bending and you had to keep on pushing it forward for ages.
Velour seats too!!
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Most my cars were rubbish, but the Fiestas we all all bought as crap, the Corsa however was supposed to be last me 3-5 years but turned out terrible.
Not really owned many cars but the problem with new cars is they can't really tell a story. A car is no fun unless you're bodging things just to get it started ands you wake up the next day to be surprised and 'annoyed' that my wiring didn't catch fire.
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I've had 10 cars and the only rubbish one was a R plate Peugeot 306 1.6. It was also the youngest car I ever had at the time 5 to 8 years old and the most expensive to own and buy. All my other cars have been 10 years old plus and have been briiliant and have had no regrets. So bad in fact I will never buy a French car again.
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Hmm in near on 80 cars between us over a lifetime I reckon we've only had a couple of complete duffers... an Astra van of about 20yrs ago with a ghastly grey cheap plastic facia and massive reliability issues... and a 1960s Viva 1156cc auto which was so dreadful to drive we swapped it in after a week.
The other 78 or so have all had some merit.
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I've had quite a few cars and don't look back on any of them as rubbish. Just too many other memories associated around the time owning them, I think.
If I was forced to pick a couple though? Probably a 3dr 1.6 Sierra, could never be sure it would start, and if it did, you weren't quite confident it would get you there. Seem to remember I bent all the valves taking it flat out down the motorway one night.
Another - a 2.5 v6 Omega, a great driving car dogged by reliability issues.
EDIT: Quite a few extremely boring ones though!
Last edited by: ToMoCo on Thu 17 Apr 14 at 09:56
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Ha - Triumph Toledo. That was the first car my dad had in 1980 (a '74 car, I think). Fantastic memories :)
Last edited by: ToMoCo on Thu 17 Apr 14 at 09:59
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Austin Allegro 1300.
My mates said 'you'll be sorrreeeee' but I thought I was being responsible and eco-friendly (in 1979!).
Sold it after 3 months, following an horrendous weekend trip from Somerset to Essex and back and bought a Princess 1800HL. That was a nice old piece of kit.
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Vauxhall Astra 1.3l mark II C reg.
Three engine transplants and after two years severe rust.
Ford Escort 1.6l on a H reg. I believe it's the model ford only made for 18 months due to it being so terrible.
always drove slow regardless how I wanted to press on. handling was non-existent in the wet.
had it for four years and in that time numerous electrical gremlins happened.
Its classic was for the door locks to freeze up in winter and the central locking to continually unlock - lock draining the battery.
fan blower packed up, rear window demister stopped working then to top it all at 96,000 miles the big ends started knocking. got rid of it at that point.
So glad that Ford have moved on quite a bit since then.
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>> Really, really rubbish, but loved and remembered well anyway;
>>
>> Chrysler Alpine
>> Chrysler Horizon
>> Fiat 128 3P
>> Hillman Avenger
>> Austin Maxi
>> Datsun Cherry
>> Vauxhall Cavalier MK1
>> Vauxhall Chevette
>>
They will seem rubbish now, but were they really rubbish at the time? All of the above had their good points, surely?
Mum had a Chrysler Horizon, and apart from low-geared steering it was OK - comfortable, roomy, and reliable as I recall.
Didn't grip in the ice, though, as I found out one night ...
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The Morris Marina that i bought brand new and sold 3 years later had rust perforating the front wings from within ! This was despite having the car Endrust treated before collection. A pal who worked at a BL main agent told me that BL employees who would renew their cars annually on the employee purchase scheme would receive a "new" car that was actually older than the 1 year old car that they were trading in. They could tell from the VIN.
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>>They will seem rubbish now, but were they really rubbish at the time?
Mostly, I think so. Of course, that was also down to the fact that I couldn't afford the best examples!!
Probably the Fiat 128 3P was a good car, and perhaps the Datsun Cherry also. I loved the Maxi, although it wasn't a great car.
But other than that, pretty much awful across the board. Special mention for the Avenger, which took "awful" to a ninja level.
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Interesting to note there are no german cars and a couple of japanese.
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If memory serv's my escort was built therr
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Couldn't afford a BMW or Mercedes, didn't like VW Beetles and there weren't that many Japanese cars around.
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It looks like I'm too young to have owned many rubbish cars... or I had better taste ;-)
I passed my test in 1988, and bought a 1984 Fiat Uno 55 Super a couple of years later when I went to Uni. It cost £1,100 and, with hindsight, was not the best example. But it was fundamentally a good car, and was bright red with tinted windows and a sunroof!!
I think the worst car I've had (not owned I hasten to add) was my first company car, a 1992 Escort 1.4 LX, which was rubbish. I've had some dull cars, but they were all competent in their own way. I'm thinking of the 1993 Astra that followed the Escort, a 1998 manual Mercedes C180 in doom blue, the 1998 Saxo 1.4 Exclusive (!!) we bought for my partner to learn to drive in, as well as a 2003 Passat I had for a few months when we moved back from Japan. The rest have all been fine - no regrets about any of them.
I did have the use of a Maxi once though- my grandparents lent me their 1982 end-of-the-line model in the summer of 1989. It was rubbish. I've never driven a car with a more vague gear change!
Last edited by: PeterS on Thu 17 Apr 14 at 18:41
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I always quite liked my Maxi - but it had an automatic 'box so didn't have the 'stick in a bucket of porridge' issue.
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I loved my maxi.
>> I've never driven a car with a more vague gear change!
You should have driven my Alpine. It felt like the gear stick was bendy.
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I bought a 2 year old Metro 1.3 in 1985. An absolutely dreadful car, why on earth I bought it I have no idea. I'm sure it was sensible at the time. The driver's seat broke in the first week, it had a squealing CV joint that required dosing with gunge every week to live with. Points and condenser every 3 months or so. Used oil 250 miles a pint ( bit like a modern VAG) I actually quite liked driving it and it returned 45mpg average. But it was rubbish, I put my finger through the front wing before it was 3 years old, filled it with Polyfilla and flogged it.
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Similar to Nice but Dim, the most worst car I ever owned was a 306, xrdt in my case. It did not seem to be designed for easy maintenance, and many components were of 'french' quality despite it being built in Britain. The unfixable radiator leaks and appetite for glow plugs got me down in the end.
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But the Avenger was a lovely car because it had no grip and you could slide it round roundabouts.
The Sierra is the only car I have ever had that never had one non-routine garage visit. Its real problem was that you couldn't point it at any point in a corner to an accuracy better than two feet.
My real dog was a Viva to which we gave the nickname of "Heap".
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Suzuki Alto, came to hate that pretty quickly, seemed like a good idea on paper but so darned uncomfortable even if it wasnt a stolen/recovered PITA. The Elantra that replaced it turned out to be one of my better car changes, 10k on and still happy with it.
Renault 21, too fragile to rely on it, digital dash was fun though.
My Rialto was rubbish by many measures but I loved owning it, possibly the most fun car I have had but the wife says I am not allowed another :-)
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Thinking about it, I deeply loved my Fuego, but on reflection I think that objectively that was a pretty awful POS as well.
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>>My Rialto was rubbish by many measures but I loved owning it, possibly the most fun car I have had but the wife says I am not allowed another :-)
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-Reliant-Rialto-Hse-/171300775120
:-)
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>> A Rialto Reliant ! :-)
>>
Behave, or I shall smite you...
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Robin, You've just reminded me. I came across a guy the other day that has converted a Robin into a camping trailer for his trike....he has even added a wash basin-I won't be going back to where I saw it for a couple of weeks...I'll get a photo for you...
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Quite a few Reliant three wheelers round these part, including a local Railto with a Union Flag bodyshell.
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>>www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-Reliant-Rialto-Hse-/171300775120<<
I think I would go for one of the late model Robins with the teardrop headlights, apparently genuinely capable of nearly 100 mpg and the last of the line ones had leather trim, although always way over priced.
I am going back to basics next time but it wont be on 3 wheels.
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>>I am going back to basics next time but it wont be on 3 wheels.
I feel a Reliant Rebel coming on ;)
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>>I feel a Reliant Rebel coming on ;) <<
I dont, my back is still bad so need something more comfortable than that. It would be a Kitten if I was inclined to go Reliant with 4 wheels but they fetch silly money now they are rare.
I am dreaming of manual windows, the full austerity package, the Elantra is proving just too decadent for my tastes.
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I'd completely forgotten about the Kitten, a nice little runabout ISTR.
I don't mind a bit of decadence - I even put the heated seats on this morning :(
Neighb has had a 'bad' back for 2 weeks now (she's 75) she went to see the medicine man and he did a blood test.
:}
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>>I'd completely forgotten about the Kitten, a nice little runabout ISTR.<<
www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C464221
A reminder but what a price, only just over 100 still going.
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DIY respray by the looks of it, listing is 2 months old but no mugs punters as yet.
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Touch wood, I've been lucky with cars ever since my first in 1969, a much-loved 14-year-old Austin A50 which never let me down or failed to start first go. And the list includes two Maxis (awful gearchange I agree, but no problems) and seven big family Renaults, three of which did six-figure mileages without trouble.
Worst - probably a Fiat 131 estate which we got for SWMBO, in 1981 I think, to do the school run in - bought new, it let her down three times in its first and only year with us.
Most disappointing - my Mercedes B200 CDI (2006): reliable, but sluggish and intolerably noisy, and the complete opposite of fun to drive. I could stand it for only just over a year.
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S'pose I've been lucky too then, Avant. I tend to keep cars a fair while, so I don't have a long list and I choose them carefully. My worst was the 1993 Astra - not a truly bad car, and with the excellent 1.4i eight-valve engine, but too expensive for what it gave me and requiring me to visit Vauxhall dealers.
Most underwhelming was the 2008 Verso, which worked exactly as advertised but lacked any sparkle that made me look forward to driving it.
All the others I remember with affection: the Saabs, of course, but also my 1989 Escort, my introduction to personal mobility. Four speeds and a manual choke but a big step up from the WMPTE buses of my student period.
Incidentally, I had a C200 CDI as a loaner this week. Nice enough, and smooth-riding, but the din from the engine was incredible for any modern car, never mind a 'premium' one. Same block as my smooth, civilized E220, so...scrimping on insulation?
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Fri 18 Apr 14 at 18:26
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I can recommend those bad back sufferers to get a Lada 1200......not a Riva. They have drivers seats that will seriously improve your spine.
Better still, find a seat and stick it in something decent !
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Without a doubt a 1950s Ford Anglia. The boxy one with the side valve engine, 3 speed box and the vacuum driven wipers that stopped when you accelerated!
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"1950s Ford Anglia. The boxy one with the side valve engine, 3 speed box and the vacuum driven wipers"
That takes me back. First car I ever drove at the tender age of 11 (!) It was my dad's and he let me loose in it when he went cricketing, the playing field being in a large open space, thankfully unused by anyone else. I could barely see over the dash, and it panicked one of the team, who thought it was driving itself!
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Two types of rubbish - rubbish cars in design and execution and fundamentally sound cars gone to pot. I had two Triumph 1300s when I was a sprog. Front wheel drive and iffy starters. The first one on a G plate was as sound as a pound until the drive shafts went - bought an E plate one which was a shed...lasted a few months and that was all. I owned a 1600cc MK1 Cav as my next car. This was only a couple of years old when I got it and was Belgian built. It was a great car for me. Modern, well made and comfortable with a lusty OHC motor, so I won't have a word said against them ! The last shed was the recently deceased Fiesta. Heart of iron and a body of rust. But it was a fie car despite the rust - a rubbish car only because of its rust....otherwise probably one of the better cars I've ever owned.
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The Isssigonis BMC 1100-1300 had a comfortable ride but iffy handling under certain circumstances. It looked as if if would understeer reassuringly provided you kept your right foot hard down, and usually it did. But I was twice surprised by a characteristic that must have something to do with its weight distribution. Those rear hydrolastic units were heavy and may have made a difference.
First time was the first time I drove one, high as a kite, coming down the M1 towards London, doing 80+ in the outside lane round a very mild left bend in a light drizzle and lifting off slightly. The tail immediately, in a stately remorseless fashion, went out, and after wagging it a couple of times I realised the thing to do was come down hard on the power again, the bend being long past. That worked of course.
The other time I can't remember, but it was at lower speed and far less brown in the trouser area.
All other Issigonis cars I have driven, Mini, Maxi and especially 1800, have been impeccably predictable in their handling.
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By far the worst cars I have ever driven - due to their continued unreliability and their price was a series of Rover 800s as company cars. This was the Mark2 of mid 1980s. (I had no choice in the matter - support Rover was the company motto)..
These were all NEW cars: under two years old;
Innumerable electric window switches failed.. multiple times despite being dealer "fixed".
Dashboard squeaking due to the various bits rubbing as they moved different ways.. - solved by packing foam between the gaps..
Overheating
HG failure
Exhaust failure
Clutch plate failure.
Rear lights failure.
Turbo failure
Turbo air hoses falling off.
Air conditioning failure.
I had been used to a succession of company Fords, Volvos etc being totally fault free in the late 1970s/early 1980s... and then to drive this poc was just a nightmare..
This was not the original Mark1 but the revised "improved" model..
No wonder Rover lost supporters. I have driven worse cars but those were worn and second hand or new with teething problems which did not recur.. EVERY Rover 800 I drove - 820i x2, 825D - was unreliable, badly designed and badly assembled with recurring faults. They were all maintained to Rover specs and were just junk.
I have never driven a Rover since.. and I suspect most other company car drivers of Rover 800s had similar views.. (and remember these were people who had major input into company car decision making) .
Last edited by: madf on Sat 19 Apr 14 at 19:12
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>>By far the worst cars I have ever driven - due to their continued unreliability and their price was a series of Rover 800s as company cars. This was the Mark2 of mid 1980s.<<
Not possible, the MK2 Rover 800 wasnt launched until 1992 so you must be talking about the MK1, the diesel wasnt launched until 1990 either.
MK2 was alot better for HGF but the electric window switches were never sorted, only model ever worth buying was the MK2 with the Honda V6.
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Sorry.. 1992 not 1982.. Got my decades mixed up.. it's my medications..or the bottle (s) of wine..:-)
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Two, a Rover and an Audi.
The Rover, a 1989 car had terminal rust in the drivers door at three years old and was a pig to start from cold.
A 1993 Audi 80 which either ran stone cold or hotter than the core of the sun. Main dealers could not fix it so swapped for a '94 SAAB 900 V6.
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me generally MG and Chrysler. I don't recommend this to anybody
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>> me generally MG and Chrysler. I don't recommend this to anybody
I can't accept that. If you were lucky, a 180 might last six to eight years before it disintegrated completely.
:-)
Welcome...
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In 1966 I owned a 1938 MG.. That's longevity..
The bad news the engine was seized and it had terminal rust..so I broke it for spares - I was a skint student then.
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1998 Polo 1.9D which we bought from the in-laws in 2006, who had owned it from new. Truly woeful, dire, performance, which the low 40s to the gallon fuel returns felt like very short change for, it burnt a litre of oil every 1200 miles or so, and had scabs of rust all over the rear arches and tailgate at 8 yrs old. Everything inside felt cheap and creaky. I cant think of one redeeming feature. It was dreadful. What offended me most was that it completely lacked that sense of unpretentious fun that most small cars have. This was just dull.
A year or two later we bought a Fiesta 1.4 petrol of similar vintage. Was a far better car in every respect. Similar economy, bags more go, infintely nicer handling and better built and less rattly despite having twice the miles on it.
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Interesting, DP: if I remember right you've had a much better experience with Golfs. Presumably the Polo was an SDI - I can imagine a big difference in performance between that and the TDI, but you wouldn't think there was such a difference in build quality.
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Yes we still have our mk4 PD130 Golf which is now coming up to 137k. Now SWMBO is back at work full time it's doing a couple of hundred miles a week again. Had to replace a coolant hose last month. A £30 part and about 10 mins work for our friendly VW tech. Otherwise it still plods along as reliably as ever. Last attention prior to that was a couple of front suspension bushes for the MOT last year.
The build quality of the Polo was very poor. I believe they were Spanish rather than German built although I don't know if that has anything to do with it. The poor performance was to be expected as you say, but not the rattles, rust and relative thirst.
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I used to tease a Polo-owning friend in the early 1990s that he must enjoy never getting stuck behind a slower-moving car - because there weren't any.
VW made some very slow cars in those days. There was a version of the Mk3 Golf with a 1.8 engine that produced 75 bhp, when my 1.4 Astra made 82 and you could get 115 from a Honda-engined Rover 216. Even the GTI was a relative slug, when you could have a Renault 19 16v instead.
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>> VW made some very slow cars in those days. There was a version of the
>> Mk3 Golf with a 1.8 engine that produced 75 bhp, when my 1.4 Astra made
>> 82 and you could get 115 from a Honda-engined Rover 216. Even the GTI was
>> a relative slug, when you could have a Renault 19 16v instead.
>>
Didn't Top Gear set up a 1/4 of a mile sprint with the Golf GTI, a Rover 25 automatic and a std diesel hatch of some make and the Golf lost. Of course it could all been a set up, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.
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Rubbish cars wot I've had... - Dog
