What was the worst and best car you ever owned?

[PCM]

Worst:  Ford Cortina Mk.4 - - would randomly stall.

Best:    Joint - My beloved Soarer, and my Lexus RX.

😎

[doog442]

Worst was a 1978 Chrysler Alpine. Within three years the tappets were shot and within five it was a rust ridden wreck.

Best was probably a 1989 Vauxhall Belmont SRI . That went on forever, cheap parts, easy to service, only issue after ten years (apart from usual consumables )  was a sticky caliper and the bonnet gradually turned pink.     

[Steve]

32 minutes ago, doog442 said:

Worst was a 1978 Chrysler Alpine. Within three years the tappets were shot and within five it was a rust ridden wreck.

Best was probably a 1989 Vauxhall Belmont SRI . That went on forever, cheap parts, easy to service, only issue after ten years (apart from usual consumables )  was a sticky caliper and the bonnet gradually turned pink.     

i had a neighbour who had an Alpine, my god it was a heap. It had a twisted chassis so crabbed down the road, exhaust fell of regularly. Engine sounded like a bag of nails. Funny now as i had not thought about it in many years and that brought back funny memories of what a heap pf a car that really was.

[olliesgrandad]

Worst car - 1976 Austin Allegro 1300. bought new ,at 700 miles the cylinder head gasket blew -from there it just went downhill, paint falling off, seats coming unstitched . failed its first MOT as the metalstick bushes holding the rear radius arms on were 'coming unstuck'. total disaster and was replaced with a 1979 ford escort Mark 2 which according to DVLA is still SORN.

Oh i forgot 1990 Vauxhall Cavalier SRi. loved the car but it had to be re-shelled back at the factory when 7 months old because of serious rust. apparently there had been a problem in the paint shop and some bodyshells had been exposed ot moisture before painting.

Perhaps then the Ziebart rustproofing worked.

Best cars

1. 1983 Golf GTI 'Campaign' in Llasa Green. one of only a 1000 runout GTI mk 1's  in a range of colours -Llasa being probably the best.(Now being copied by unscrupulous people I believe).

2. 1992 Mercedes Benz 300CE. Bought 10 years old with only 10,000 miles and never previously driven in the rain. 

3. 1999 BMW Z3 'Orinoco' run out modle of the early body shape but fitted with the later twin vanos 2.8 engine. beautiful looking but a beast to drive.

4. 1990 Honda Civic Vtec (Breadvan shape)  One of 400 cars imported to meet homologation rules for racing. The only downside was they had deleted the power steering fitted ot the rest of the range and parking was a nightmare, but acceleration was breathtaking.

5. 1990 Mercedes Benz 190E -an all time great. bought after i read an article entitled 'running a Mercedes for the price of an Escort'. 

My 3 Lexus that I have owned in the last 2 years have to be  at the top of the pile for reliability.

[rich1068]

Great list. I'd happily take any of those 5. My dad had a MKII GTI 16V which was simply awesome. He also had a 190E which I also loved. And pinched at every opportunity.

The current nostalgia for stuff like the Allegro and Marina does astonish me. Getting excited about a car that was quite likely to break down or fall to bits at any moment. I assume those that talk fondly of them aren't old enough to remember how bad they actually were and the very important part they played in the demise of the UK car industry.

[Chris Skelton]

Most fun? Nissan S-Cargo.

Best-well LS400 Ser 4? Though you'd think me mad if I didn't mention several Citroen DS23s, or my unique CX 25 Turbo auto (they never made an auto turbo!)

My Dyanes were fun too. Just been in an electric Zoe. Impressive-but....fun? No.

A Mehari is FUN!

ds garden.bmp

[The-Acre]

I must admit to liking that GTi ☝

[Cotswold Pete]

Worst - Ford Escort Mk3 (was company car, and once it started stalling after first mile), I had 6 months of never knowing when I was going to get to work.  Nearly got rammed a few times when stalling. Once has a Rover 200 series, no power steering, mechanically sound, but felt like I was driving a tank, (no power-steering).  Thank god the company made me redundant and took the car back.

Best - current Mk4 LS400, though used to think my Omega 2.5 was the best until Lexus showed me the error of my thinking.

One I would like, a LS460, or GS450 (the missus knows, and just rolls her eyes, and says she needs to replace her X-type soon)

[PCM]

5 hours ago, The-Acre said:

It was driving a Morris Marina around the south of England for two years with absolutely no lumbar support that caused my back to go....badly!

At least it drove!

[olliesgrandad]

30 minutes ago, PCM said:

At least it drove!

My first new car was a 1974 Morris Marina 1.3 Super Coupe. That wasn't good. Kangaroo clutch due to oil seal issues in the bellhousing. British Leyland was a dreadful apology for The British Car Industry.

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, PCM said:

At least it drove!

That's a very good point! 😄

[OldTrout]

Worst equal was a Peugeot 305 estate which was great for carry-cots but when the cam followers failed - poor hardening - the repair was half the vehicle's worth. Ford and Vauxhall had similar troubles: one repaired for nothing the other had a £45 kit. The other was an Austin Allegro 1500 which just after an expensive service to get it past the emmisions test was nicked and torched. About 10pm I had phone call from the police. "Do you own....?" "Yes." "Where is it?" "Outside my house officer." "Would you like to go and check sir?" "Ah, it's not!" "That is because it is at the top of Cheney Lane burnt out." Probably did me a favour. Had a full tank of fuel too.

Best is present Lexus.

John

 

[Britprius]

I think all cars back in the 60's/70's/80's were generally rot boxes or had serious mechanical issues be they Austin Rover BL, Ford, Vauxhall, Triumph, or Jaguar. 
Ford 105e early Capri, and Classic engines with three main bearing engines would last 25,000 miles if you were careful, and did that millage within 3 to 4 years before the body fell to pieces.

BL engines A, and B series lasted possibly double those of fords. However the bodywork fell to pieces quicker.

Vauxhall's rusted through while still on the forecourts especially the Cresta's, and Victor's.

Jaguars produced good mechanical's but some of the bodywork was terrible. Anyone remember the MK10, and early XJ's

Triumph 4 cylinder engines used to drop there crankshaft thrust bearings because they only fitted half the radius of the crank doubling the load and ware rate of the thrusts. Gearbox first motion shaft to main shaft bearings disintegrated under load. This box was used in the Marina and Ital making the gears noisy in lower gears with the noise disappearing in 4th. Body work was probably better than most.

Foreign cars were no better. Some had good engines notably Fiat, and Alfa's, but the bodywork fell to bits.

John. 

[JamesIS220]

I passed my test in 1999 at age 21.

My first vehicle I bought was a 1995 Daihatsu hi-jet 1litre van. (N87 ENX) Cost me £2,500 of my hard earned savings and £1,100 in insurance. Using it for business as just passed my City and guilds NVQ level 1,2 & 3 in Plumbing and Gas.

I hated the way it was blown around in the wind and brakes not great as drum all round. It was 4 years old and only had 28,000 miles on the clock. It failed it's mot as OSR strut leaking and all one assembly. Cost £283.40 inc MOT fee. It was reliable.

Sold straight after as insurance gone up 20% even though claim free and sold the van for £1,750. I was glad to see it go!

Drove my Nans 1985 Volvo 340GL 1.4 (C159BTA)  as a named driver with direct line. Bought for £1100 in Porthleven in Cornwall when lived there for 11 months and sold for £50 as clutch going and getting rusty. Owned 340 for 5-6 years

Moving to  Normandy France in 2002 to renovate my grandparents  holiday home and bought my first car, a 1986 Volvo 740 GLE estate. (D795RJW) Cost me £425 and I really liked it. After 5 years having it cutting out and stalling and garages at a loss.

As we had made a profit on buying and renovating a property used the profit to buy a new 2007 Toyota corolla linea techno 1.4 D4D hatchback for 21,500 euros. My grandfather insisted on new. I advised 6-12 months old but wanted new.

While waiting 4 weeks for the new car my 740 worked perfect but we had a 2,500 euro trade in which was good. It was French registered, but only worth peanuts in the UK.

Liked the abs and aircon and the 50mpg but found it uncomfortable on 2 hour plus journeys and found if window slightly open in rain water dripped onto window switches and seats. We fitted seat covers from day one. No reliability issues. After over 7 years in France 2.5 years with the Corolla we sold the house and car and moved to County Kerry Ireland. Only got 8,000 euros for the LHD corolla at the supplying dealer and it was immaculate and only done 45,000kms.

We were looking for a cheap car in the UK and my Sister found a 1989 240 GLT  (F912 YOA) automatic for £350 with 8 months mot and done 159,410 miles owned by a disabled couple and partner died who drove. Got on the plane from Dinard to Birmingham, viewed the car and started it up and bought it for the full asking price in late 2009. Have it to this day and for 8 years my only car and daily workhorse. Fantastically reliable but a bit rusty round arches and had welded twice for 50-150. 

18 months ago bought a 1996 Volvo 940 SE LPT estate auto which is great and very reliable. P483UWV. Cost £250 but spent 1k on AC and maintenance items. Bought at 184,000

Recently bought a 2006 Lexus IS 220d and so far no issues even though now done 177,000 . Cost £1,475 so my most expensive used car. Completed a 762 mile weeks holiday with no issues last week to the Isle Of Wight. Mot on it on Tuesday. Another AC condenser on order as Condenser leaks.

Didn't mean to write an essay but travelled around a bit and as you can see no real bad cars. If I had to choose best for price it would be Volvo 240 and 940. Lexus I use for best as it looks nice.

James.

[The-Acre]

A great reminder of why the British motor industry went kaput.  Well worth 25 minutes of viewing!

[olliesgrandad]

Here are pictures of 2 of my favorite cars. This model Z3 was i believe the only version with factory front indcator lights. The rear lights were the same as the Z3M

[doog442]

7 hours ago, Steve said:

i had a neighbour who had an Alpine, my god it was a heap. It had a twisted chassis so crabbed down the road, exhaust fell of regularly. Engine sounded like a bag of nails. Funny now as i had not thought about it in many years and that brought back funny memories of what a heap pf a car that really was.

The amazing thing was that it was voted car of the year in 1976 !!  Mine was a 78.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/chrysler-alpine-remembering-the-most-unlikely-car-of-the-year/

My engine actually fell out in a pub car park in 1982...the mounting bolt just sheared and yes due to the tappet issue the engine sounded like a bag of nails 😄

[Vlady]

The worst car I had was Renault Laguna (1999-reg), so many electrical issues, from immobiliser and engine management to headlights not working, the problems were intermittent so the garage could not find a fault, was so glad to see the car go! It was my 1st car I bought in UK, about 11-12 years ago!

The best so far was BMW e60 525d (2009-reg), I had the car before the GS for 3.5 years and it was one of the most reliable cars I had, nice to drive, comfy, looked good but it was a diesel and rust started appearing on rear arches and it was the moment when I realised the car must go, was a sad day!

I think (hope) I can say nice words about the GS, so far I love it, it is quitter, comfier, quicker, better specced than my BMW was, great car! The time will tell! 🙂

[Ben01]

40 minutes ago, Vlady said:

The worst car I had was Renault Laguna

In some circles nicknamed "queen of trailers", as you have seen them on car trailer mostly. Renault Megane from same era in same circles was called "princess of trailers". Not because is better (same electrical gremlins all around), but Megane was simple smaller one.

[Ben01]

45 minutes ago, Vlady said:

The best so far was BMW e60 525d (2009-reg)

I don't get it - you know your GS is "quietter, comfier, quicker, better specced" so better in every way than beema diesel, rusting in less 10 years (???), and still "time will tell"? Do you think your GS will be rusty in next 3 years? I don't think so 😉

[Vlady]

13 minutes ago, Ben01 said:

I don't get it - you know your GS is "quietter, comfier, quicker, better specced" so better in every way than beema diesel, rusting in less 10 years (???), and still "time will tell"? Do you think your GS will be rusty in next 3 years? I don't think so 😉

Everyone is saying Japanese cars are very reliable and Lexus is one of the best and I want it to be true!

You see, the e60 is a very problematic motor with EGR, DPF, Turbo, engine issues but mine was great, apart from little rust (enough to put me off), I think it had been previously repaired but badly (well, it took almost 3 years to reappear. I had none of the issues I mentioned above. When I bought BMW I wanted more sporting drive and I always favoured BMW to any other makers (I had 4 different BMWs) and at this moment of time I need comfort, good music, good acceleration (even though I use it very rarely) and this is what Lexus does best! I just want Lexus to prove to me that it is reliable and I will on my part will do anything needed to keep it healthy! 

🙂

 

[Ala Larj]

It's interesting to note that most poor reliable vehicles were old bl vehicles from the 70's and 80's. Without getting too political this is not surprising. Even though Japanese cars at the time looked ******* you could at least get to your destination with confidence. They didn't need constant tweaking or repairing like uk cars. It's no wonder why Japan took over the automotive world!

[Ben01]

But don't forget the whole topic is biased as hell, by our worst enemy - by time flow.

Here is the forum of one of the most reliable and best cars in the world, but a bit expensive, so full of old richs grumpy guys 😄 and we name "worst cars" from crapcars we used as poor youngsters mostly. Don't forget somewhere in the darkness of internet at the very moment there are forums full of young or/and poor drivers with VW diesels in dull skodas, french cars with very funny electronics, cheapest fiats/chryslers/hyundais or unholly GMs products, etc. In two-three decades they could be rich enough to jump into more expensive, bigger and better cars. And they will talk the same as we now - "the worst was car X (I got when I was young and poor), the best one is audi/lexus/tesla/kia 😉 I have now".

BTW the same bias we find if we step back in time - I bet Morris Marina was technicaly OK for people who got driver licence in 1930, same as my crappy '80 Fiat 126p, but Italian, metal and four-stroke, was modern and elegant compact car in the eyes of users of Eastern Germany two-stroke plastic Trabant from 1960. Etc. etc.

[Odysseus]

There’s definitely a trend that British cars are crap, from Marinas to Allegros to Jags to my own ****box Range Rover. And it’s telling that the main reason why they’re so poorly regarded is reliability and build quality.

A terrible shame.


Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

[Guest]

14 hours ago, olliesgrandad said:

Here are pictures of 2 of my favorite cars. This model Z3 was i believe the only version with factory front indcator lights. The rear lights were the same as the Z3M

i had one of these two.