Out of the cars you ever owned, which was the most problematic in terms of cost and. - Page 2

topman · 20th January 2017, 12:54

Its got to be the OH's megane. God it was awful, an endless amount of electrical problems. The rear wash wipe, the rear heating elements, the radio, the drivers window, it ate headlamp bulbs, it had a strange earth fault on the rear lights, it went through coil packs like a kid through a pack of sweets, cam shaft sensor, o2 sensor, snapped coil springs, it hesitated under acceleration and some more sensors that I've forgotten the name of.
Comfy, no rattles inside and a large range though.
Overall we wouldn't buy french again. Not unless it was under warranty and lived next door to a garage. And free.

Nick Greg · 20th January 2017, 12:59

My Rover 75 when I got it!. HGF, Radiator, Turbo, Heater Matrix. You name it its had it. That was 2 years ago. Since then its run like clockwork. Well worth the effort let alone the expense!

rusdee · 20th January 2017, 14:56

Without question the worst car was a saab 95 2.2tid estate when it was working it was great but the engine management was a pain constantly dropping in to limp mode even the main dealer gave up to it ,then the power steering would weight up an shudder and it also eat wheel bearings also lost 5th gear 1 month out of warranty that they said was a common problem!!but needed a full rebuild

murphyv310 · 20th January 2017, 18:06

Hi.
Sadly it has been the British cars I've owned that have been the most troublesome and unreliable.
Fords were the worst for me.
My Anglia 105E was like a "Flintstone car with no floor under the rubber mat, It was a dreadful cold starter and after replacing every single ignition item and fitting another carb with no success it went and I bought an Imp, still my hand was never out of my pocket with it too. A long line of Skoda's were wonderful. I had a few BMW's that were good too then I had a Cortina MK5 that again was awful, the handling was lousy, it wallowed all over the place and just felt vague, the camshaft failed very quickly and for a 1.6 OHC it was slower than the Skoda 120LS I had previously. I replaced it with a BMW 1502.
When Clydesdale went bust in 1992 I bought a low mileage Ford Orion 1.4, Within a week I started working with Sony in Alexandra Parade in Glasgow and on the third day in the new job all of a sudden there was a bang when a conrod exited via the block!!! I then bought a 2 year old Skoda 135Ric Rapid, it was brilliant.
Fast forward to more recent years and due to my shop closing and working damn hard for minimum wage and health issues my cars were cheap, the Audi 80's were superb, a Doblo (51plate) also was good as was my first 75 (W331COA) which I can categorically say was the very best British made car I have had the fortune to own, MFL though has been a bit of a money pit but far from the worst car I have owned.

Astraeus · 20th January 2017, 20:43

No contest for me...A 1984 Jaguar XJ6 4.2. Stunner of a looker, very comfortable, two fuel tanks...lovely chrome....

And

An engine that used so much oil you would think the Sioux Indians running behind you. Used up a gallon of oil every 50/60 miles.

Paid £3500 and then six months later got £500 as a non runner! Best of it was I gave up my BMW 320i pocket rocket for it! Not a decision I look back on fondly...

Chris

SCP440 · 21st January 2017, 06:12

Capri 3.0ltr Ghia when I was 19.

In those days young people could afford such cars and luckily I was a RAF engineer.

2 weeks after I bought it the big ends went so bought a reconditioned engine, that went in and I probably drove it for a couple of months before it would loose top gear and reverse ( Auto ).

I decided to convert it to manual and that went well apart from the used box I bought was so noisy and leaked so much oil that only lasted a few weeks before it failed but luckily a mater was breaking a Granada with the same engine.

Once that was all done it was fairly trouble free apart from a slight misfire at idle which I lived with as I needed it to get to the base and see the GF.

About 3 months into this fairly trouble free period (I wont talk about the rust, new brakes failed core plug and new shocks) the misfire got worse so a friend and I decided to get to the bottom of it. We replaced all the leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm, new points and plugs but it persisted. We stripped the carb but nothing. We decided to leave it and as we left it idling it burst into flames.

Oddly enough I did try and put it out but by the time the fire brigade arrived it was a mess, a few weeks later it was written off and the insurance paid me £1600.

Bearing in mind this was 1981 I had spent £2300 on the car, £350 on and engine, £200 doing the manual conversion and it was doing 20mpg. A total money pit and probably the worse car I have even owned.

BoroRover · 21st January 2017, 07:30

Sorry, but it was a Rover....an SDI. A real Friday afternoon car. So bad I think they built half of it one Friday afternoon, waited a week, then finished it the next Friday afternoon. I virtually replaced the full car mechanically speaking. Every damn thing went wrong, usually on a weekend, but the car particularly loved Bank Holiday weekends, especially the four day Easter weekends, or Christmas to break down. Good Friday a.m. was usually the time.

Hatchback hinges, rear wiper wanted to wipe the number plate rather than the window, starter motors packing in in motorway tailbacks, steering racks packing in so I could only turn left, central locking refusing to lock, and when it did lock, it would unlock as I walked away. This could happen 20 or 30 times before it decided to stay locked.
I could list many, many, more, but the more I list, the more depressed I become. So I will leave it there.

Funny though, I continued to buy Rovers. I must be addicted !!!

SCP440 · 21st January 2017, 08:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoroRover

Sorry, but it was a Rover....an SDI. A real Friday afternoon car. So bad I think they built half of it one Friday afternoon, waited a week, then finished it the next Friday afternoon. I virtually replaced the full car mechanically speaking. Every damn thing went wrong, usually on a weekend, but the car particularly loved Bank Holiday weekends, especially the four day Easter weekends, or Christmas to break down. Good Friday a.m. was usually the time.

Hatchback hinges, rear wiper wanted to wipe the number plate rather than the window, starter motors packing in in motorway tailbacks, steering racks packing in so I could only turn left, central locking refusing to lock, and when it did lock, it would unlock as I walked away. This could happen 20 or 30 times before it decided to stay locked.
I could list many, many, more, but the more I list, the more depressed I become. So I will leave it there.

My Uncle had one of those new in the 80's and it was exactly the same, he got locked in his once so he had to climb out a window, the dealer was worse than useless and after in his words '' a year of hell'' he part exchanged it against a Ford. Such a shame because when it was going it was a great car but let down by poor quality components, poor quality control and bad assembly.

mininuts · 21st January 2017, 10:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by spongeh

B43 PAY - 1985 MG Metro

First car I bought with my own money back in 1992, I loved it and hated it in equal measure

Bought for £1500, kept it for 9 months where it spent about 6 of those broken, spent over £1500 on parts and garage fees.

3 x gearboxes
2 x engines

My parents finally got annoyed enough with it to buy me an 18 month old Mk4 Escort so I had a reliable car which turned out to have other issues and needed a new engine and 40k miles as it was incompatible with the newly introduced unleaded fuel

See, I had an '84 MG Metro back '87 and, in the two years that I had it, it never gave me a spot of bother........great little car, wish I'd kept it

Should put this in Dave's other thread because I do regret selling it

BoroRover · 21st January 2017, 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCP440

My Uncle had one of those new in the 80's and it was exactly the same, he got locked in his once so he had to climb out a window, the dealer was worse than useless and after in his words '' a year of hell'' he part exchanged it against a Ford. Such a shame because when it was going it was a great car but let down by poor quality components, poor quality control and bad assembly.

It helps a lot to know someone else had an SD1 as bad as mine !!

20th January 2017, 12:54	#11
topman This is my second home MG ZT-T 190 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 5,493 Thanks: 372 Thanked 647 Times in 534 Posts	Its got to be the OH's megane. God it was awful, an endless amount of electrical problems. The rear wash wipe, the rear heating elements, the radio, the drivers window, it ate headlamp bulbs, it had a strange earth fault on the rear lights, it went through coil packs like a kid through a pack of sweets, cam shaft sensor, o2 sensor, snapped coil springs, it hesitated under acceleration and some more sensors that I've forgotten the name of. Comfy, no rattles inside and a large range though. Overall we wouldn't buy french again. Not unless it was under warranty and lived next door to a garage. And free. __________________ Like being creative? http://www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail/

20th January 2017, 18:06	#14
murphyv310 This is my second home Hyundai i10 998cc Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Kilmarnock Posts: 6,602 Thanks: 2,088 Thanked 2,298 Times in 1,349 Posts	Hi. Sadly it has been the British cars I've owned that have been the most troublesome and unreliable. Fords were the worst for me. My Anglia 105E was like a "Flintstone car with no floor under the rubber mat, It was a dreadful cold starter and after replacing every single ignition item and fitting another carb with no success it went and I bought an Imp, still my hand was never out of my pocket with it too. A long line of Skoda's were wonderful. I had a few BMW's that were good too then I had a Cortina MK5 that again was awful, the handling was lousy, it wallowed all over the place and just felt vague, the camshaft failed very quickly and for a 1.6 OHC it was slower than the Skoda 120LS I had previously. I replaced it with a BMW 1502. When Clydesdale went bust in 1992 I bought a low mileage Ford Orion 1.4, Within a week I started working with Sony in Alexandra Parade in Glasgow and on the third day in the new job all of a sudden there was a bang when a conrod exited via the block!!! I then bought a 2 year old Skoda 135Ric Rapid, it was brilliant. Fast forward to more recent years and due to my shop closing and working damn hard for minimum wage and health issues my cars were cheap, the Audi 80's were superb, a Doblo (51plate) also was good as was my first 75 (W331COA) which I can categorically say was the very best British made car I have had the fortune to own, MFL though has been a bit of a money pit but far from the worst car I have owned. __________________ Cheers from Trevor MM0KJJ

20th January 2017, 20:43	#15
Astraeus Regional Secretary North Scotland MG ZS Exclusive 1.0T Auto 2022 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Tayport Posts: 5,754 Thanks: 1,676 Thanked 1,855 Times in 1,058 Posts	Without doubt... No contest for me...A 1984 Jaguar XJ6 4.2. Stunner of a looker, very comfortable, two fuel tanks...lovely chrome.... And An engine that used so much oil you would think the Sioux Indians running behind you. Used up a gallon of oil every 50/60 miles. Paid £3500 and then six months later got £500 as a non runner! Best of it was I gave up my BMW 320i pocket rocket for it! Not a decision I look back on fondly... Chris

21st January 2017, 06:12	#16
SCP440 I really should get out more....... MG ZT-T 260 Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Witney Posts: 2,504 Thanks: 6 Thanked 910 Times in 571 Posts	Capri 3.0ltr Ghia when I was 19. In those days young people could afford such cars and luckily I was a RAF engineer. 2 weeks after I bought it the big ends went so bought a reconditioned engine, that went in and I probably drove it for a couple of months before it would loose top gear and reverse ( Auto ). I decided to convert it to manual and that went well apart from the used box I bought was so noisy and leaked so much oil that only lasted a few weeks before it failed but luckily a mater was breaking a Granada with the same engine. Once that was all done it was fairly trouble free apart from a slight misfire at idle which I lived with as I needed it to get to the base and see the GF. About 3 months into this fairly trouble free period (I wont talk about the rust, new brakes failed core plug and new shocks) the misfire got worse so a friend and I decided to get to the bottom of it. We replaced all the leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm, new points and plugs but it persisted. We stripped the carb but nothing. We decided to leave it and as we left it idling it burst into flames. Oddly enough I did try and put it out but by the time the fire brigade arrived it was a mess, a few weeks later it was written off and the insurance paid me £1600. Bearing in mind this was 1981 I had spent £2300 on the car, £350 on and engine, £200 doing the manual conversion and it was doing 20mpg. A total money pit and probably the worse car I have even owned. Last edited by SCP440; 21st January 2017 at 06:15..

20th January 2017, 12:59	#12
Nick Greg Posted a thing or two Honda Insight Hybrid Join Date: May 2015 Location: Brighouse Posts: 1,157 Thanks: 691 Thanked 424 Times in 280 Posts	My Rover 75 when I got it!. HGF, Radiator, Turbo, Heater Matrix. You name it its had it. That was 2 years ago. Since then its run like clockwork. Well worth the effort let alone the expense!

20th January 2017, 14:56	#13
rusdee Regular poster Rover 75 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: BLACKBURN Posts: 88 Thanks: 74 Thanked 43 Times in 26 Posts	Without question the worst car was a saab 95 2.2tid estate when it was working it was great but the engine management was a pain constantly dropping in to limp mode even the main dealer gave up to it ,then the power steering would weight up an shudder and it also eat wheel bearings also lost 5th gear 1 month out of warranty that they said was a common problem!!but needed a full rebuild

21st January 2017, 07:30	#17
BoroRover Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Middlesbrough Posts: 1,518 Thanks: 1,861 Thanked 723 Times in 471 Posts	Sorry, but it was a Rover....an SDI. A real Friday afternoon car. So bad I think they built half of it one Friday afternoon, waited a week, then finished it the next Friday afternoon. I virtually replaced the full car mechanically speaking. Every damn thing went wrong, usually on a weekend, but the car particularly loved Bank Holiday weekends, especially the four day Easter weekends, or Christmas to break down. Good Friday a.m. was usually the time. Hatchback hinges, rear wiper wanted to wipe the number plate rather than the window, starter motors packing in in motorway tailbacks, steering racks packing in so I could only turn left, central locking refusing to lock, and when it did lock, it would unlock as I walked away. This could happen 20 or 30 times before it decided to stay locked. I could list many, many, more, but the more I list, the more depressed I become. So I will leave it there. Funny though, I continued to buy Rovers. I must be addicted !!!