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The most troublesome car you ever bought.
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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After quite a bit of deliberation I thought for a bit and yes there it was ( I have owned some heaps in my time).
The worst was a Hillman imp an absolute nail from the day I bought it, every day something would go wrong  .
I used to drive with my fingers crossed just in case .....but to no avail the old banger kept breaking down .
I was glad to see that crap heap get crushed and even stuck around in the scrap yard to make sure it was gone once and for all . |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Back in the mid 90’s I succumbed to absolute whimsy an bought myself a second-hand top of the range Citroen XM, and had it not been for the constant battle of trying to keep it fault free….
I would have loved that car as much as I loathed it….
A great car but OMG it was so troublesome....
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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"had a jag years ago, the thing nearly broke me, but it was lovely to drive, well until it broke again  "
I had an xj6 jaguar a right pile of junk nothing but trouble the last straw came when a unit no bigger than a match box failed called the A.E.D unit cost £185.00 to replace ....swift advert in the local paper ....and gone glad to see the back of it  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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A metro, the one you have to have stuff put in the suspension, I nicknamed it a bag of shit on 4 wheels and it only ever worked when my daughter drive it. Once spent a week in the garage whilst they tried to find out why it wouldn't start. Sold it on eBay for more than half the price I paid for it |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I have a Renault Megane 1.9DCI that I use for when I take the digs out or go shooting etc. Full service history and utter junk, the few metal panels on it rust uncontrollably and the electrics are shocking. So bad that not even Renault can diagnose/fix it!
My Alfa on the other hand is almost perfect and one of the.most reliable cars I've ever owned... |
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"theres no car worse than a rover they are utter piles of shite
you said it  "
not sure about that one of our cars is a rover, cost almost nothing to buy, has sailed through mot for the last 3 years with nothing more than the od tyre, good on fuel, and the main plus is not worried where it is parked, it spends most of its life in airport carparks |
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My first car was...unfortuate. Reno 5. Man, was breaking down from the first day! After the fifth time of calling out the AA got a letter saying that I would have to pay for any further call-out! Gave it away when got new car  |
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By *ollie_JCouple
over a year ago
London |
My current Golf, still under warranty. Had a problem since day one with it. Faulty fuel sensor, faulty diesel gauge (periodically even after a fill up it can take 4 hours for the needle to climb to full), engine management problems by the bucket full (and the dreaded limp mode). New one in three months so glad to see the back of this one. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Still get a twitch when I think of my Megane. Pretty sure every "known" fault hit that car. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
"
Mine has an EGR and MAF fault that no one can fix, despite it having had 4 brand new EGR valves and 3 MAFs in 6 months! Even Renault have stopped charging me labour on it!
Once its fixed its going... |
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By *inaTitzTV/TS
over a year ago
Titz Towers, North Notts |
Renault 5. The fuel gauge didn't work, so I had to top it up all the time. The driver's door wouldn't lock. Sadly no one would steal it. Gits! The best part was reversing. I had to turn the engine off, put it in reverse, then turn it back on.  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Still get a twitch when I think of my Megane. Pretty sure every "known" fault hit that car. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
Mine has an EGR and MAF fault that no one can fix, despite it having had 4 brand new EGR valves and 3 MAFs in 6 months! Even Renault have stopped charging me labour on it!
Once its fixed its going..."
I have no ide what they are but guarantee I had same probs lol. I actually hugged the car salesman when he accepted it as P/X for my loyal reliable Zafira. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Still get a twitch when I think of my Megane. Pretty sure every "known" fault hit that car. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
Mine has an EGR and MAF fault that no one can fix, despite it having had 4 brand new EGR valves and 3 MAFs in 6 months! Even Renault have stopped charging me labour on it!
Once its fixed its going...
I have no ide what they are but guarantee I had same probs lol. I actually hugged the car salesman when he accepted it as P/X for my loyal reliable Zafira."
I only use mine for the dogs...lol
Like I said previously, my Alfa has behaved impeccably and I love it, I don't think I'll drive anything else from now on. They certainly don't deserve their reputation. They just need TLC.. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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A Mk4 Golf which had it been a horse, I'd have shot it.
Absolutely nothing but trouble from (typically) the day the warranty ran out!
So glad I managed to palm it off on P/Ex.... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I have the 1.5 DCI Megane and can't fault it, great car and no faults so far,
Worst car 1.5 tdci fiesta. Engine was just an oil dispensing unit even scented the car with warm oil through the heaters, but its the clutch and dual mass £600 to replace no thanks, it got sold spares and repairs, |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I have the 1.5 DCI Megane and can't fault it, great car and no faults so far,
Worst car 1.5 tdci fiesta. Engine was just an oil dispensing unit even scented the car with warm oil through the heaters, but its the clutch and dual mass £600 to replace no thanks, it got sold spares and repairs,"
When it does go wrong (and it will, no matter how well you look after it), it will empty your pockets faster than an ex wife with a meth addiction!... |
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"I have the 1.5 DCI Megane and can't fault it, great car and no faults so far,
Worst car 1.5 tdci fiesta. Engine was just an oil dispensing unit even scented the car with warm oil through the heaters, but its the clutch and dual mass £600 to replace no thanks, it got sold spares and repairs,"
Im sure thats still got a doulmass flywheel most diesel do now. Your fiesta was a terbo falt most comon couse lack of servicing wrong oil used or just lack of use. If you have a modern diesel they have to do miles |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Renault 5 gtt back in my boy racer days lol. I had the engine out every other week, head gaskets, turbos, big ends, bent push rods, clutchs. Cost me a fortune but I loved it and still miss it now and again |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I have the 1.5 DCI Megane and can't fault it, great car and no faults so far,
Worst car 1.5 tdci fiesta. Engine was just an oil dispensing unit even scented the car with warm oil through the heaters, but its the clutch and dual mass £600 to replace no thanks, it got sold spares and repairs,
Im sure thats still got a doulmass flywheel most diesel do now. Your fiesta was a terbo falt most comon couse lack of servicing wrong oil used or just lack of use. If you have a modern diesel they have to do miles "
Dual mass flywheels are an expensive nightmare. Most of the Alfa JTD owners I know have gone for either the solid flywheel or GTA conversion offered by Autolusso, its cheaper and considerably more reliable. Plus you don't need to change them each time you have the clutch done... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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My first car. G reg Ford fiesta, it was called rusty, white and rust was too worried to was it in case it fell apart.
Brought it for £80 and spent nearly £1.000 on it buying new parts in order for it to keep running.
New head gasket, New door, had a manual choke too, kept forgetting to push it back in and kept flooding the bloody engine.
Sold it for scrap for £75.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"My first car. G reg Ford fiesta, it was called rusty, white and rust was too worried to was it in case it fell apart.
Brought it for £80 and spent nearly £1.000 on it buying new parts in order for it to keep running.
New head gasket, New door, had a manual choke too, kept forgetting to push it back in and kept flooding the bloody engine.
Sold it for scrap for £75.
"
#wash. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Had fancied one for quite some time and finally bought an ex-demo Rover 800.
The only car I've ever had that regularly let me down, simply wouldn't start.
Got rid of it as soon as I could aford to replace it.  |
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"I have the 1.5 DCI Megane and can't fault it, great car and no faults so far,
Worst car 1.5 tdci fiesta. Engine was just an oil dispensing unit even scented the car with warm oil through the heaters, but its the clutch and dual mass £600 to replace no thanks, it got sold spares and repairs,
Im sure thats still got a doulmass flywheel most diesel do now. Your fiesta was a terbo falt most comon couse lack of servicing wrong oil used or just lack of use. If you have a modern diesel they have to do miles
Dual mass flywheels are an expensive nightmare. Most of the Alfa JTD owners I know have gone for either the solid flywheel or GTA conversion offered by Autolusso, its cheaper and considerably more reliable. Plus you don't need to change them each time you have the clutch done..."
very true but you need to do your home work it's posible for them to snap a crank as mad as that sounds but then that was the whole idea of them to reduce torque |
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By *eavenNhellCouple
over a year ago
carrbrook stalybridge |
53 plate ford mondeo tdci 130 day three clutch goes that will be £625 please day seven injection packs up that will be £700 please for a full resest then every month for next six months at least one of the injectors would require re setting £80 then exhaust snapped another £600 then problems with central locking and imobaliser £500 failed its MOT so binned it for £250 before the tax ran out
never again certainly kept upto the ford moto Fix Or Repair Daily |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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never had a bad car but had a right two wheeled pile of shite Triumph Bonneville T140E. I was the fittest bloke in Dudley pushing that fucker to Brierley Hill and back |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I have the 1.5 DCI Megane and can't fault it, great car and no faults so far,
Worst car 1.5 tdci fiesta. Engine was just an oil dispensing unit even scented the car with warm oil through the heaters, but its the clutch and dual mass £600 to replace no thanks, it got sold spares and repairs,
Im sure thats still got a doulmass flywheel most diesel do now. Your fiesta was a terbo falt most comon couse lack of servicing wrong oil used or just lack of use. If you have a modern diesel they have to do miles
Dual mass flywheels are an expensive nightmare. Most of the Alfa JTD owners I know have gone for either the solid flywheel or GTA conversion offered by Autolusso, its cheaper and considerably more reliable. Plus you don't need to change them each time you have the clutch done...
very true but you need to do your home work it's posible for them to snap a crank as mad as that sounds but then that was the whole idea of them to reduce torque "
Never heard any reports of that from the people I know who've had it done. That being said part of the conversion is new big end shells, which probably explains it... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"53 plate ford mondeo tdci 130 day three clutch goes that will be £625 please day seven injection packs up that will be £700 please for a full resest then every month for next six months at least one of the injectors would require re setting £80 then exhaust snapped another £600 then problems with central locking and imobaliser £500 failed its MOT so binned it for £250 before the tax ran out
never again certainly kept upto the ford moto Fix Or Repair Daily "
the worst car ford ever produced .it looked nice but the engine and injection system was dreadful.values plummeted and you will shortly be able to get one free with every box of cornflakes you buy  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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My worse car has to have been a Sierra XR4i. Engine rattled like a bag of spanners, clutch exploded and put a hole in the gearbox and it handled like a jelly. Traded it in for a volvo 360glt. Old mans car but went like stink |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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For me (Ian)
It was sadly to say my Toyota avensis. Awesome car until the wife (Charlie) got her hands on it. She drove into a barrier, the garage and then almost broke the engine. Great car for blokes |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"theres no car worse than a rover they are utter piles of shite "
i had a rover sd1 it was the worst car ever , always broken down , always costing money until one day i drove it to a friends field, it broke down on the way , and i then set it on fire , then took it too the scrap yard and got a massive £45 for it. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Alfa GTV
...Wash your mouth out, they're brilliant...
the bonnet blew off and crashed through my windscreen heading south on the A1, wasn't my best drive  "
There was actually a recall for that!
It also became part of the routine service schedule, the bonnet mechanism requires cleaning and re-greasing every 12-months. The 156, 147 and GT are the same. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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There are many cars I have owned with problems of one or another. I had a Renault 5 once and the starter motor went and to remove it had to cut a spanner in half to get one bolt off ! No socket would get in there. This is the glory of designing with cad and dropping the engine in with no thought as to how to get to anything. |
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"Alfa GTV
...Wash your mouth out, they're brilliant...
the bonnet blew off and crashed through my windscreen heading south on the A1, wasn't my best drive "
surely that's just 1 of them quirky little moments with an alfa they build em in the design just to make life interesting
waits for who to bite |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Alfa GTV
...Wash your mouth out, they're brilliant...
the bonnet blew off and crashed through my windscreen heading south on the A1, wasn't my best drive
surely that's just 1 of them quirky little moments with an alfa they build em in the design just to make life interesting
waits for who to bite "
Lol, I actually agree!
One of the tips for buying an Alfa is to check the roof for signs of the bonnet hitting it (seriously).
Like I always say, they're great when maintained properly... |
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Austin allagro ...enough said [They were named Austin Aggros by most that had them !!!.....The worst car I have ever had , and I have had lots was an Alfa Romeo 75 absolutely bloody terrible bxxxxtard thing quote] |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Lmfao "
Same story with the airbags. Dealers are making a fortune fitting new airbag units since its become an MOT failure for the light to be on. The actual cure is simple and free! There's a yellow plug under the passenger seat, you disconnect it, clean it and reconnect it! Some of the older models need a diag program to clear the fault code but Alfa made that available for free too! |
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By *umpkinMan
over a year ago
near the sounds of the wimborne quarter jack! |
My current `97 Discovery. OK, some of the problems are my fault but some like the leaking windscreen/sun roof that leaks water into the electrics. There`s botched repairs are aluminium stuck on with "No Nails". I had the alternator repaired recently and not the lights are rhythimically flashing brighter/dimmer and the radio now gives a grunting sound, also rhythimically but at a different rate to the lights!
And it comes with a full dealer history! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"My current `97 Discovery. OK, some of the problems are my fault but some like the leaking windscreen/sun roof that leaks water into the electrics. There`s botched repairs are aluminium stuck on with "No Nails". I had the alternator repaired recently and not the lights are rhythimically flashing brighter/dimmer and the radio now gives a grunting sound, also rhythimically but at a different rate to the lights!
And it comes with a full dealer history!"
Sounds like the voltage regulator on the alternator. If you put a multimeter across the battery with the car ticking over and it reads more than 14.8v then that will confirm it, if not then its the main engine earth... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I have a Renault Megane 1.9DCI that I use for when I take the digs out or go shooting etc. Full service history and utter junk, the few metal panels on it rust uncontrollably and the electrics are shocking. So bad that not even Renault can diagnose/fix it!"
buy a French car they said........
it'll be fun they said...........
my 207 has just had the main drive shaft in the gearbox break
getting rid once its fixed (under warranty) and buying a civic |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"My current Golf, still under warranty. Had a problem since day one with it. Faulty fuel sensor, faulty diesel gauge (periodically even after a fill up it can take 4 hours for the needle to climb to full), engine management problems by the bucket full (and the dreaded limp mode). New one in three months so glad to see the back of this one."
I've a 1995 golf convertible bought last year, lovely little car, no problems at all. My engine management light comes on now and again but think that's to do with the lights that were an advisory in the MOT |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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S reg Renault Megane, it was a 2.0 16v sport. It went like stink, but kept overheating due to the cooling system not working. Every coupke of days you had to refill the expansion tank as the system had boiled dry, as it kept splitting pipes. The heating never worked, so glad we got rid of it. |
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wasnt troublesome but I hated the renault 19 we had ..
didnt feel good to drive. traded it in for a renault espace .. was a fab car.. held kids and skates with room to spare.
had some real old crocks but been lucky with them really |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Citroen berlingo 1.9D van...
Never lost so much money in the space of 1 month..
The bloke at the garage had my pants down with this one.
Will never buy french again.. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"My current Golf, still under warranty. Had a problem since day one with it. Faulty fuel sensor, faulty diesel gauge (periodically even after a fill up it can take 4 hours for the needle to climb to full), engine management problems by the bucket full (and the dreaded limp mode). New one in three months so glad to see the back of this one."
Limp mode. Unfortunate for a swinger. |
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By *nLeedsMan
over a year ago
Wakefield/Leeds |
2002 Renault Clio....too many problems to mention, but in two years, I had two brand new starter motors, the heating/fans completely rusted stiff....the sunroof design which poured water into the frame of the car, which would gather just above the sun visor and drip through onto your head when braking not so nice in winter when icicles formed inside. Various leaks in the boot, which I ended up filling with silica gel packs in an attempt to dry it out....and oil...by the end I was filling the engine every two weeks...needless to say, I traded up as soon as I could |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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An Audi A6. Within weeks of warranty ending the dual pump failed costing over £300 to repair and that was the start of a list of problems over the next 18 months of ownership till I got shot of it.
Great car to drive, smooth, comfortable, great sat-nav and effortless cruiser but seemingly a bit fragile. |
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Back in 1985 I managed to get enough cash to buy a brand new transit van.
I waited for the day to arrive to collect it...complete let down.
11 faults consisting of
Major scratch across the bonnet
A wheel had been welded of centre making it wobble
The inside was filthy in the cab
The next day the battery failed
etc etc etc....
Complete let down from a brand new van in contrast I have owned an ex omega parcel van that had done 380.000 miles and not a peep in the time I owned it.
Guess it was just pot luck |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I always say that a car is only as good as its previous owner. If its been serviced properly and any repairs carried out properly then it should be fine. Remember parts like alternators, starter motors and pumps can fail on any car at any time and are pretty much consumable parts. It's botch work by ignorant, money grabbing back street spanner monkeys or Haynes manual heroes that kill a lot of cars prematurely.
Also worth noting that diesel pump failure is becoming fairly common these days, not because of poor build quality but because modern diesel fuel has less sulphur in it which helps lubricate the high pressure fuel pump, so add a little two stroke oil to a tank full of diesel to help avoid it. Also, while on the subject of diesels, its a good idea to have the EGR and DPF removed on a remap (reprogramming of the engine computer), they're two of the biggest causes of damage to a diesel engine and aren't actually required for them to run properly. In fact you'll get a little more power and better fuel economy if you do... |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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My worst car I actually despised was a fiat punto. Had two of these different years and both were abdolutely pants. Engine management, the exhaust rattling like it was about to come off (though i was assured it was on and not moving) brakes were crap. Had a cinqucento too and that was just as bad. Will not go near fiats now c xx |
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After spending 25 years selling cars I suppose I could write War & Peace on this one, but I'll keep it as short as I can
From my early days in the 70's there was so much shite on the road I sometimes wonder how I got through each working day without a nervous breakdown. High (or low) lights would include Alfa Romeo, anyone remember the Alfasud? probably (along with anything from Lancia) the worst rust bucket ever made. British Leyland were not much better, they gave us such sparkling examples of British engineering like the Allegro (remember the square steering wheel on the early ones? ) the Austin Maxi (the gear change was like a Krypton factor challenge) and followed up with cutting edge design in the form of the "flying wedges" AKA the Rover SD1, Austin Princess and Triumph TR7. The 1950's designed Mini was still around and starting to look (and drive) its age. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the two biggest piles of crap ever to appear on British roads, Moskvitch, and Wartburg anyone?
Moving on into the 80's. Ford decided that they would join the crap car club with the introduction of the CVH engines (mostly) in the Escort range and not forgetting their biggest disaster since the Edsell, the "Jelly Mould" Sierra. British Leyland introduced the Triumph Acclaim to much fanfare and hopes of exports to Germany. Pity nobody told them that Triumph Acclaim loosely translates to "Sieg Heil" in German
British Leyland (or whatever they were calling themselves then) decided to "update" the 1950's Mini by sticking a tailgate onto it and calling it the Metro, then tried (and failed) to compete with the big boys with the Rover 800 series. Also in the 80's Citroen decided to introduce (or inflict) its bloody stupid suspension system to the mass market in the form of the BX. I wonder how many people have sat outside the house in the morning revving the engine waiting (or hoping for) the back end to lift its arse off the ground. Meanwhile Moskvitch had bought a load of clapped out old tooling from Fiat and re-branded itself as Lada, and the Poles must have nicked some of it en route because they started building the almost identical Polonez. So now you know why they lost the Cold War.
Things did get a bit better in the 90's despite manufacturers inflicting on us such wonders as Catalytic Converters, engine management lights and something called a Lambda Sensor (I always thought he played for Juventus ) Some bright spark decided that the Yugo would be the answer to Britain's motoring needs and Ford surpassed themselves by introducing the Scorpio (did they learn nothing from the Sierra debacle?) The 1950's Mini was still in production (just) and even BMW managed to screw up with the Teflon coated engine bores that reacted badly to some of the chemicals found in certain brands of unleaded petrol.
I finished my sentence and was released from the motor trade in 2001 so I don't have much on the newer models, but
these are just a few of hundreds or even thousands of examples as to how the motor manufacturers have well and truly fucked up over the years, and I'm sure not much has changed.
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