The worst car you've ever driven

[MrRegieRitmo]

http://motoring.sky.com/news_features/the-worst-car-youve-ever-driven.aspx

[Karmann Ghiaman]

i am a retired garage owner and was doing mot's my own oppinion is the worst cars are the complete range of all French cars ie renault citreon peugeot

Nice one!

[Mr Lobster]

Worst car I've ever driven?Hmmm..... FSO Caro perhaps, Mk 4 Ford Escort, Daewoo Matiz, Hyundai Accent. I could go on

[mk2_craig]

KIA PRIDE.

[Torsten2001]

I think I've found charm in almost every car I've ever driven apart a Smart Fortwo, hideous, and I've never been at one with the ambience of Japanese cars but I still like them!

[Milford Cubicle]

Vauxhall Corsa C 1.0 - back-breaking seats, heavy and ponderous to drive for a small car and an ineffective and vibratory 3-cylinder engine which made the pedals and gearstick shake at idle. Pretty piss-poor when even knackered old 3-cyl Subaru Justys don't do that.

[retrogeezer]

Drove an 89 BMW 318 2 door a couple of years ago - thought it was dreadful.

[Dead_E23]

I'm with Torsten in that it's rare I find a car that I don't enjoy driving - and have often find the 'worst' cars to be the best. However, I'll second Mr Lobster's nomination of the FSO Caro/Polonez - they're truly unpleasant; awkward, uncomfortable things to drive. The Lada 1500 was pretty horrible too.

[carlo]

1976 Datsun 120Y. Carthorse springs, lousy brakes, park bench seats and gutless too. Lovely gearbox though.I would have to reply to Karmann Ghia's damnation of all things French with a similar dismissal of German cars; overated, expensive, uncomfortable and fairly dull.

[Ratdat]

The only thing I have ever driven which I thought was truly terrible with no redeaming features was a Leyland Daf 400. It was staggeringly underpowered, noisy, heavy steering, awful brakes and totally unpleasant to go anywhere in. It felt like a van from the 1950's not the 1990's. I genuinely though it was shameful that the company could feel it was acceptable to sell such a poor vehicle.

 

In most cars I find something to like. Likewise, nothing is devoid of fault either. I think peoples expectations of cars is often more at fault than the cars themselves sometimes. You can't expect a povo spec car to be quiet and well equipped, no more than expecting a big car to be economical and handle well, but people do then critise a car on it's failings. I also find that most peoples opinions on various models are based on heresay and stuff they have read in the media rather that well though out and objective personal experience.

 

My Cherry Europe is a good example. All you'll ever read about the Europe/Arna is that they are terrible car bla, bla, bla when it actual fact there's little to really criticise. The idea of a Japanese styled car with Italian build and mechanicals was daft but the product is actually quite decent. This widespread opinion is usually put forth by people who have never seen one, let alone driven one. It's a second hand opinion derived from the media mostly. It's much the same for cars like the Tagora, Chrysler 180 and Allegro.

 

I don't have much interest in people opinions of what's good and bad to be honest

[r.welfare]

It's the usual recycled Internet "best/worst" rubbish, isn't it?Anyway, I tend to think that it's going some to find a genuinely bad car from the last 10 years, but for me a '96 BMW (E36) 316i auto was terrible (a car I test-drove for a mate...he still bought it, which just goes to prove how "desirable" Beemers are), just so slow to accelerate that it bordered on dangerous. Van-wise, an LDV Pilot aka narrow Sherpa, terrible handling, brakes, build quality and to top it all off it would lock the back axle momentarily while changing down from 3rd to 2nd. Is it any wonder it was only the Post Office orders that kept them in business for so long. I'd like to try a Maxus to see if it's up to Transit/Master/Sprinter quality.The car I thought was going to be utter rubbish, but turned out not to be, was a late-ish Nissan Almera 1.5. Looked awful inside and out, but a decidedly capable hatchback all things considered.

[Torsten2001]

Now I had a 2000 LDV Pilot, definitely from another era but I loved it totally and would have another in the blink of an eye, or faster if it had a sliding drivers door. The FSO Caro and Lada were built for a price but still amazingly capable cars that just serve a purpose and I would drive one over almost anything else because of their honesty

[pompei]

I've owned/borrowed/driven plenty of shonkers which have been truly dreadful, but in some cases this was down to the individual car, rather than the breed as a whole.I had a Fiat Uno which at the time was a brilliant car. But my particular example was not. Fiat weren't interested in sorting out the problem. They lent me a 126 once whilst it was in for repair, and it broke down.I have to agree that the 3 pot Corsa was probably the worst car made.

[Torsten2001]

I hear tell that this was the worst car ever made:http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur ... 2%26sa%3DNand I'd like one!

[Jason A]

Can well identify with just how bad LDV vans were as was a post office driver for 7 years and suffered many miles in them horrible things. What a blessed relief when they all got replaced with Transits.Car wise my grandad went through a phase of buying Skodas and although probably well thought of on this fine forum the first one he owned in particular (not sure what engine size it was but think it was sub-1000cc) that for me was the worst drive I've had.

[Milford Cubicle]

Transits aren't that nice to drive either, the driving position is uncomfortable and the steering has no feel.They can be fun though, getting a Highland Council-liveried 2.2ton crewcab Transit tipper sideways was hilarious, and despite the weight they are rapid with the 130PS engine.

[aled]

MY MOTHER HAD A LADA RIVA 1300 , bad driving position, gutless engine wise i hated it. i must agree i dont like german tin - over rated and over priced.best car i ever had was a b reg corolla gt coupe

[Guest greenvanman]

I had a brief go in an Aixam 500 a few years back - uncomfortable, noisy and dangerously slow with appalling acceleration. Comparing it to the 2-cyl Daihatsu Domino I used to own only highlighted what a load of crap the Aixam was. I can't believe anyone actually bought one!

[55bloke]

Morris 1000 traveler on worn X plys! If it hadn't been so agonisingly slow, it would have been a guaranteed death trap!

[Ross_K]

Proton 1.3 saloon

 

 

Skinny tyres. Massive dead zone on the steering wheel. 0-60 in three days. Uncomfortable seats. Rust like mad. The list goes on.

[ashmicro]

Citroen AX Diesel - brick-slow, disconnected steering and my right foot kept hitting the wheelarch bubble when I tried to press the inappropriately named "accelerator"I recently drove a brand-new 3 pot, 973cc Corsa - ponderous acceleration, shit brakes, numb steering, crap fascia, awful seats, rubbish paint job and on the motorway it became the eighth "wander" of the world.I cannot think of one single redeeming feature of that car. Oh, wait - you'll only need a small amount of parrafin to torch the bugger.

[HillmanImp]

Worst car i ever drove was a Punto i hired. Unlike some of the cars mentioned above, this did not have the excuse of age and worn out components on its side as it was brand spanking new.It was just shit. It did not have a single redeeming feature. Unlike earlier Fiats they were galvanised so it would not have even rusted away by now. Strangely one of the best cars i have ever driven was also a small hire car, and even stranger is that it was a mk 2 Micra. Totally shocked by that car, maybe because i was expecting the worst, but i loved it even if it is lacking in style. Did not want to give it back. Sorry off subject.I will probably not sleep tonight now after recounting those horrible few days with that car. At least it will make my Arsetra seem a bit better in the morning.

[pogweasel]

My '58 Land Rover was the most appaling vehicle you could possible hope to imagine. All-out at a deafening 55mph, but you wouldn't want to do that long because it was impossibl to get it to go in a straight line. Acceleration was glacial, so disgustingly uncomfortable, the heater didn't work and the roof leaked icey water into the internal gutters which promptly splashed into you lap if you failed to drive in a totally smooth manner (totally impossible), and also meant you had to wipe the windscreen manually from the inside. The gearbox was vague and had no synchro, and the brakes were woeful. Oh and the exhaust would blow/snap in a totally new location daily.A worse car you couldn't hope to achieve. I of course found this all to be immensely good fun. I found that by having a mental mantra that it was NOT a very rubbish car but WAS a quite fast tractor helped.

[pompei]

I had a Zafira hire car recently - the reviewers seem to quite like it, but I thought it was ghastly. Nasty interior, uncomfortable, brakes were "off" or "through the screen", and though it was no fault of the motor, the hire company had smeared the inside with what seemed like melted margarine, although they'd probably call it "high gloss sheen"

[Albert Ross]

Yugo 45...............I once worked for a Yugo/Dacia dealer in Wiltshire. Need I say more?

[bigstraight6]

A good friend of mine has long championed the fact that the worst cars he's ever driven belonged to me, the VW Beetle and Renner 4 being singled out! but then he has no taste, and if a car isn't 'fast' he isn't interested The worst thing I've ever driven was a Honda Acty van, the engine made a truly dreadful noise and a slight breeze would have the thing blown all over the road while your knee's formed the main part of the front crumple zone

[Richard]

The most unpleasant car I've driven in recent times was a 2005 Honda Stream that belonged to my previous employer. They had bought it to do deliveries up to 200 miles away so I cannot understand why they bought a petrol car at all.This Honda had the V-TEC engine and it was barely drivable. There was nothing at all below 6000RPM then it was off like a rocket. The power band could only be legally accessed in 1st and 2nd gear. Its regular driver, who was by no means a boy racer, said it averaged 28mpg on long runs. It could actually burn fuel almost fast enough for you to see the gauge move.Handling was poor too, I found myself having to slow down because it wouldn't take sweeping A road bends at 60mph. The huge slab sides also made it very susceptible to crosswinds. There was no ride-handling compromise, the ride was every bit as dire as the handling.Queues were a nightmare in it too. My queuing technique is to put the car in 1st or 2nd and control the speed with the handbrake and clutch, maybe not the way to do it but it works well on a diesel. Pulling the handbrake on when this car was moving at all caused an alarming judder. It must have had a Volvo-style drum in disc handbrake or something.I've driven a lot of large estate cars and vans, mostly made years ago by companies that don't claim to be cutting edge all the time, and all of them did the job better than this Honda.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Either a mini automatic, or a B-reg Escort 1100. Both were just utterly awful to drive, unbelievable that people put up with these cars.

[michiel]

2007 Yaris. Blegh.

[Guest greenvanman]

Either a mini automatic, or a B-reg Escort 1100. Both were just utterly awful to drive, unbelievable that people put up with these cars.

I had an automatic Mini, and that too deserves a mention. Still not as bad as that Aixam though.