Best/Worst....

[Baz]

I know that most of us have owned many cars during the course of our "driving career"....My car-buying activities have been somewhat curtailed in recent years due to lack of funds, but nevertheless, my tally is approaching three figures (Which I know, is nothing compared with some of you)....Was thinking yesterday: Which of my cars do I remember most fondly, and most wish I hadn't sold, and which was the big disappointment, that I was glad to be rid of?

 

These are mine....Would be interested to hear everyone else's....

 

BEST: Without a doubt, my 1990 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider Veloce Series 3....I wanted a departure from the traditional red, so I found a beautiful, utterly immaculate white example, with an interesting history (Was sold to the original owner in Honolulu, Hawaii....He then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with it, before bringing it to the U.K. with him when he moved to Sussex....He then sold it to me!)....It wasn't the BEST car I've ever had, but it was utterly beautiful and charming....Made me feel a million dollars every time I was behind the wheel! Sold it when I got married, to finance the honeymoon....Twat....Was bought by a well-to-do chap who wanted to take it to Spain, so I like to think it remains as beautiful today! Honourable mention to my 1991 Mazda MX-5 1600 and my 1999 Alfa Romeo 156 2.0 Twin-Spark Lusso....Both truly excellent cars too!

 

WORST: Definitely my 1987 Fiat Panda 750L....Also White....Was expecting a modern take on the Citroen 2CV, but what it actually was, was a tedious little car with all of the 2CV's disadvantages, but absolutely NONE of it's charm....I think it was made worse by the fact that I traded my VERY charming 1959 Simca Aronde to buy it....The only silver lining I suppose, was that it was followed by a Citroen CX! (Dis)Honourable mentions here go to my 1983 Opel Senator 3.0 Manual (Okay car, but terribly unreliable) and 1988 Dacia Duster GLX Estate (Need I say more?).

 

Tell us your stories!

[Pillock]

Best.... Polo G40. So much fun, willing to be redlined in most gears and quite capable of fulfilling my fantasies of embarrassing BMW drivers at the lights. I could go out in a bad mood and return laughing my tits off.

Worst... Peugeot 307SW 90HDi. Horrid car. Slow as shit, horrible on fuel (which is surely the only reason to buy a 90bhp diesel estate car) and... horrible.

[willswitchengage]

Best: The Subaru I have now. Build quality is just in a league of its own; with the exception of the back window heater, everything works perfectly as intended from the factory and is the only car I have ever owned that has a fully obedient heater/fan. Feels tight as a nut for a 22 year old 140k motor, although it has had about forty service stamps keeping it going.

[Negative Creep]

Best - I could never pick just one car. In many ways the Bluebird was the perfect day to day car, being comfy, easy to drive, with all the kit I needed, and most importantly never breaking down. But the fuel economy was crap, it was slow and no fun to drive. For sheer fun factor it was very hard to beat the MX5, so much so I'd gladly own another one. The Datsun 120Y never failed to put a grin on my face despite being objectively awful. Also had an AX GT500 with a Saxo VTR engine which was a riot, and never even broke down that much. Therefore I could never choose just one as I've had lots of great cars, but they were all flawed in some way.

 

 

Worst - now this is a lot easier, my mk.2 Golf GTI 16v. Utterly vile thing that never stopped breaking down from day one - water pump, battery, idle control valve, distributor, gear linkage - I could go on. It also smoked like a bastard and used oil almost as quick as fuel, and as a final indignation I maanged to strip the sump plug thread days before putting it up for sale. Utterly vile thing I hated so much it put me off VWs for life, and very nearly killed my interest in cars completely. It was that bad. Just checked online and it someone survived until August this year, but the fact it's been fragged does make me grin

[phil_lihp]

The best car I've ever owned was easily the 2001 Honda CR-V I bought about 4 years ago - my battered Focus was struggling with the flooded, muddy and recently icy country roads that led to my work so this seemed ideal, I had to persuade the dealer to sell it to me as he'd had second thoughts about keeping it for himself and it was the only one for sale in the area. Needless to say it wasn't the biggest bargain ever but it was low mileage, spotless inside and out and performed superbly in the mud and snow. It towed a heavy trailer during a house clearance and was always utterly reliable. The only downside was the poor fuel economy (25mpg was a rare achievement) and the clutch was in need of replacement. I came into some money and decided to do something really stupid.

 

That lead to the worst car ever, a 1 owner, FSH 4 year old Peugeot 307 SW 110 HDi (I see a theme here), the most expensive and newest used car I've ever bought. From the moment I picked it up the DMF clutch began juddering, within a month it had gone back for a snapped suspension coil and a brake overhaul as it couldn't even lock up in the wet. It gave me 6 months of appalling reliability, shoddy build quality and expensive repairs, the last problem being a failed anti-pollution system culminating in a hasty trade-in for a scruffy Astra Coupe at a local dealer who also seriously regretted ever laying eyes on it, as it gave him no end of grief too. I lost over £2000 on it to get rid, not including about £600 of repairs spent keeping it on the road. Lesson learnt.

[purplebargeken]

Best: 1989 Landie 110. Tatty as hell but I loved it to bits. Didn't have to worry about keeping it clean and tidy, no hassle if it got clipped in the street. Comfy and practical. hated the day that I had to get rid as I din't have enough money to replace the PAS pump and something else plus the tax and MOT falling on the same poxy day. Huge, huge regret.

 

Worst car: Russet brown Mini 850. The most unreliable car I have ever had.

[wuvvum]

Objectively, the best car I've owned in recent years was probably the Rover of Doom - bought for £300-odd, clocked up 12,000 miles in a year without missing a beat despite being thrashed mercilessly and made some far newer and more expensive cars look very silly into the bargain. I still intend to get it back on the road one day, although the 400 is doing a decent enough job in the meantime - suspect it'll need a new battery before the winter's out though as it needed a jump this morning.

 

Subjectively, probably the Innocenti and the Renner Six, both of which have been in the fleet for years. There have been a few others over the years which I should have kept - and would if I'd had more knowledge / time / money at the time - those that spring to mind are the Renault Novaquatre, Vauxhall 10, NSU 1000, Daimler Conquest Century, Humber Hawk, CX GTI Turbo, DS Pallas, Mk4 Zodiac, Saviem SG2, and probably a few others too.

 

 

The worst car I've ever owned was the Reliant Regal. It had almost no redeeming features whatsoever. The diesel Ligier wasn't far behind in terms of objective shitness, but at least that was comfortable to sit in. And the Lada Samara was a pretty unpleasant car all round, despite being a top of the range 1.5 GXI.

 

There's been a number of other cars I've had which have been a letdown, but more due to the individual car than the design - examples include the Celica which threw a big end on the M11 on the way home from picking it up, the Mitsubishi Sigma estate which was advertised as solid but which actually turned out to be mostly made of underseal underneath (this was sold at a loss to Mr Bo11ox of this parish but turned out to be too much even for his skillz), and the Mazda MX3 which overheated about 15 miles after I'd picked it up and had to be dragged home from Kent on the back of an AA lorry. Overall though, given the total number of cars that I've owned, there haven't been too many shitters really.

[ProgRocker]

Best - the 1999 SEAT Ibiza 1.4 S I owned from 2002 to early 2010. Was a good ownership experience all round if a bit on the slow side. My current car is 2nd best. It has the power and toys that the Ibiza doesn't but just doesn't feel as well rounded. More drafty too.

 

Worst - the 1979 Mini 1000 that was built inbetween wildcat strikes. Pretty crap all around. Should have sold the orange bugger as spares & repair come MOT time.

[Guest]

My best car? Probably my 306. It put up with a shitload of abuse and didn't go wrong a great deal.

 

Never had anything truly shit, to be honest - although the C4 did severely test my patience during the first 18 months of ownership. On the flip side, it's never refused to start, stranded me anywhere and has never cost anything to put through an MOT. That said, I would never buy another PSA car built in that era - if anything, I'd go backwards and buy another 306.

[gimble]

For me its very simple

best 1990 MX5 great fun easy to fix even if..... a bit hairdressy and femenine

worst Chrysler alpine new drive shaft every month or so..... and about 50 miles to a litre of oil...and oh yes the tappet rattle was rather special

[AnthonyG]

Best - well either the 99 'T' Mondeo I bought as a pre reg and my aunt still has now, ran it for 7 years with no problems apart from a dodgy cold pack, or the '57' 2007 one I have now and bought new when the Mk4 came out. This has been a little more troublesome, i.e. the joint between the top of the screen and the roof wasn't properly sealed resulting in a week at the dealer having the interior out and getting resealed, about two years into ownership after a very wet Welsh winter. Its only now needed new pads at nearly 42k, that might say more about my driving style these days though...

 

Worst - K reg Montego 1.6 LX bought from the infamous Empress Car Sales of South Wales. 3 years old and 95k, think I paid £2995 for it on the grounds it was 'only' three years old. Just a pretty shagged old repmobile, with rusting arches and door bottoms and a self-destructing interior. I strongly suspect the car was considerably older than the Aug 92 date of registration, it was a pre Catalyst one and probably sat on an Oxfordshire airfield for at least a couple of years after build. Nothing wrong with Montegos in general, always liked driving my mum's estates, just this was a very poor example.

[Pete-M]

Best? Either my Sapphire Cosworth, Integrale, Impreza or my XJR I have now.

 

Worst? That's easy. Rover 827SLi auto, by a million billion trillion light years. It's a hot contender for worst car I've ever driven, and that list includes some seriously shoddy shit. The 827 eclipses most of them by the huge order of ineptitude it instilled in everything it did. At least it wasn't a KV6 one.

[Pete-M]

I'd just like to point out that my 827 SLi was less fun than the utterly atrocious MGB GT I couldn't get rid of quickly enough. They're that shit.

 

Right, that's that bit sorted. Now to wait for Mr Sterling to start saying things about Jags. My work here is done.

[Spiny Norman]

Best is between a E28 BMW 5 series or an Alfa 156. Both were really good cars to own, drove well, looked smart, didn't cost a fortune to run and were exactly what I wanted at the time. I suspect the Mercedes E320 I have just now is every bit as good as both of them in its own way, but it's such a difficult car to bond with.

 

Worst is between the Rover 600 turbo which I mistakenly bought thinking I was getting a semi-premium product or the Volvo C70 which apart from a fantastic stereo and comfy seats was awful in every way. The key word in both these cars is 'disappointment', they both hugely failed to live up to expectations in terms of the driving experience and reliability, both got scrapped.

I knew what I was getting when I bought a 3 cylinder VW Jetta for £120....

[cms206]

Best: Mk3 Cavalier SRi. Clearly I need to get out and drive better cars.

Worst: Tie breaker between the Hyundai Accent 1.3Si 'Coupe' and the J-reg Proton. Both were abysmal.

[dollywobbler]

Best: Guess it has to be the 2CV. It's been with me for more than 12 years now, and I've covered over 100,000 miles in it. Honorouble mention must go to the Alfa Romeo 164 V6 Lusso I briefly owned a few years back though. I really should have kept that. I am also seriously liking my BX Turbo Diesel.

 

Worst: Probably a Rover 2000 P6. Made the mistake of buying it after previously owning a V8. It was almost as thirst, slow, charmless and cost a bloody fortune to get back on the road. It was so disappointing when I had my first drive in it and received the bill for the work done. Not money well spent. Or it might be the Bond Equipe I saved from the scrappage scheme. That also cost me a shit load of money, was absolutely awful and sold for far, far less than it owed me. I did get some feel-good for saving it from the dreaded Scrappage Scheme, but it was a classic case of buying with heart rather than head.

 

Here's a very flattering pic of it.

[ShiteRider]

Best would be a white Ford Sierra 2l twincam GLSI (K125ANM), bought out of the back of the loot after my then current F-reg sapphire failed it's MOT. The best £350 i've ever spent, the car was immaculate, had never been welded or painted, had 46,000 on the clock and was good on juice but could go like shit through a goose when needed.

Worst is easy; Vauxhall Astra 1.7diesel merit, probaly the most wilfully shit car ever. Constant random component failures ie, 2 brand new o/s calipers in 5 months, fuel pump, battery ,starter the list goes on......it was that shitty red, that no matter how much T-cut and wax you use it still turns milky pink after a fortnight. ragged around in it for 6 months then gave it to my mates kids to use as a field car.

[walk]

Best car: Definitely my Alfa 156 2.5 V6. Owned for 3 years and 55000 miles - brilliant - nothing more to say!

 

Worst: 1991 Fiat Uno 45 Fire. Should have known not to A) Buy an ex Jersey hire car with a shagged clutch at only 4000 miles and Buy from D C Cook!

[RoadworkUK]

My 825Si is absolutely terrible. The steering is vague enough to make you think that somebody else is doing it, the ride is an impossible blend of wallowy and jiggly. The bodyshell has millions of places purpose-designed to trap mud, salt and water, the interior is chintzy with wood that does its level best to look plastic, and then has "Rover" etched into it to hammer the point home; rear visibility is hopeless due to the combination of an hilariously out of place rear spoiler and three full-size headrests. The handbrake is crap and wouldn't hold the car still on a totally flat surface in zero-gravity, the wheels are hopelessly undersized which results in cornering with more sidewall in contact with the road than actual tread.

 

Measured performance is only any good in really strange increments due to the torque-free characteristics of the KV6, 0-20 is astonishing, 20-50 is piss poor, 50-70 is excellent, 70-80 rubbish, 80-100 pretty good etc. etc. Then there's the traditional gripes of three fucking cambelts to change, head-gaskets with rice-paper sealing credentials, not enough space for me behind the wheel, only one poxy fag lighter, electric window switches that KIA circa 1990 would have sacked off, and of course there's the general fact that the Rover 800 had a terrible reputation as an "executive car" from day one, was laughably overpriced and comprehensively outclassed by almost every rival.

 

I'm hopelessly bessotted with it and love it more that any other car I've owned. It is simultaneously the best and worst car I've ever had.

 

My Audi A4 has only once ever put a foot wrong when the water pump packed in. That was 50K ago. It handles well, is quick on-boost, gives me 35mpg, has brilliant leather seats and generally does everything that a current car does despite being 14 years old. Just a shame it's so incredibly boring.

 

Company cars aside, the A4 is probably the best car I've ever owned in terms of sheer competence. Unfortunately, it's the worst by far in terms of Being Interesting.

[AndyW201]

Best, by several country miles, L456 HSH. My 190e 2.0. Shouldn't have been really, as it was brown with a beige cloth interior and had a manual box. But a month in and I was smitten. I learnt to love the colour scheme and the box, and it was just so unfailingly reliable. In 2 1/2 years ownership it got serviced every 6k, half an exhaust, a set of ball joints and a set of el cheapo 30mm springs after one of the rear springs snapped, which transformed the handling and made it actually very nice to chuck about. It was my second 190, and I got seriously into them after this car. But despite having better specced and faster 190s since, I never loved any of them like this car. Not bad for £700 off fleabay,

 

Worst has to be my first car. A povo spec Austin miniMetro 1.0. Absolutely balls-dissolvingly awful. 96,000 (evidently hard) miles on it, its shitness partially hidden by recent front wings, metric shitloads of pug in the rear valance and a shiny respray in MG vermillion red. An early MG herringbone interior had been fitted and the worst attempt at a set of MG stripes had been drunkenly applied backwards, so the stripes covered the wings and the doors, but a big gap left on the rear quarters. It ran sweetly and was quite nippy, so I handed over £600 for it. (this was 1991, and the local rag and autofrauder had sod all else in that price range that week...)

In the first week, the rear wheel cylinders had gone, discs and pads were replaced, along with missing subframe bolts and bolt in one of the front wings. The alternator went along with the coil soon after. After a few months, some hanbrake antics in a gravel car park holed the sill. Replacement of that led to discovering a drivers floorpan made of flattened coke cans and schutz. Every time it went out for a spirited drive (I did see an indicated 95 once with the accelerator pushed slightly to the right), the points needed cleaning and re gapping.

I got sick of it after six months and traded it in at one of the famous Portrack Lane bombsite car lots for a mk3 Escort 1.1 popular. And that fecker has a story all it's own...

[oman5]

Best- Volvo 740 turbo diesel. superb all rounder. The vw engine needs looking after properly but plenty of grunt, really comfy and the hewn from solid granite feel you get in an old volvo, plus potential 45 mpg. they are worth next to nothing.

 

worst- toss up between lada riva and mk2 fiesta 1100 popular. neither of them had any redeeming features, unless you include the fact that they were quicker than walking.

[Albert Ross]

Best. 1991 MB W126 300SE h96 XWR. Simply the best.

Worst. 1981 Fiesta Pop. (Yeah, rubber floors, seats and clutch) Wouldn't pull a greased stick out of a dog's arse. Dangerous to the point I nearly wore a Ducato camper van that followed me out of a turning..... Was swapped for a Gold 3 door Xr3. Scrapped that.

[Junkman]

Best: 1975 Rover P6b - the 1969-76 Rover V8s are arguably the best highway cruisers ever built.

Worst: Any BMW I ever had. In particular a E12 525 I drove in the early 80s. Man, what overhyped rubbish they are.

[Shep Shepherd]

Best: The Volvo.

 

Worst: The nameless 240GL.

[Mr Lobster]

Best - Probably my current '04 Seat Toledo 20VT. Bought at a very good price and used fairly intensively, mega reliable, comfy, quick and a brilliant all rounder. Theres a reason it's still here and should be for a good few years to come.

 

Worst - Almost certainly the recently departed '54 Kangoo dci - In the 11 months and 10k miles of my ownership still managed to get through an alternator belt tensioner, crank oil seal, cambelt (stretched by failing Alt belt tensioner bits), starter, pads and discs, screen wash pump, turbo (x2) and a complete rear axle. Cost approx far too much in the time we had it with the only saving grace being that the horrendous cost was at least tax deductible.

[alfetta]

best overall: Saab 900 turbo 16's.

 

Worst ford cougar V6, POS unreliable crap.

 

honourable mention MX5 (current car) and Merc 190. MX5 is probably my most fun car. Merc was a tank - never spent a penny on it in 4 years.

[stilo_active]

Best car overall: Fiat Stilo 1.4 3dr. One of only two new (actually 12 month old demonstrator) cars SWMBO and I've bought. Was a faithful steed for nigh-on 7 years and, despite being Stilo, a remarkable reliability record. Having said that, it was looked after and maintained properly. Sold as it wasn't very baby-friendly as we had a new arrival. An honorable mention for best car would be my daily driving 205 shitter as that never fails to put a smile on my face, and in the five months I've had it has cost me (other than insurance, as it was taxed when I got it) the fuel I've put in it and the price of a heavily discounted service kit. All genuine parts, but thankfully the parts manager of the local Pug dealer is a good mate and it worked out cheaper getting these than factor parts.

 

Worst car: Shitroen C3 1.4 Lax, sorry, LX. The other new car. When it was six months old, with 3,000 miles on the clock, the gearbox imploded. The engine management light came on so often it was more of a permanent fixture rather than a warning, but all different faults. Electric power steering kept failing. It was difficult to start when wet or cold, in fact my 1988 AX I had at the time was easier to start in the wet. Car was in the local dealer more than the mechanics. Having said that, it was looked after and maintained to the same standard as the Stilo. Toss up between this or my '93 Datsun Sunny 1.6 SLX which was misery on wheels. Unreliable, rusty and utterly, utterly boring. It was meant as a stop-gap car for four to five months, and lasted three. No, still think the C3 was worse. Love old Peugeots and Citroens, but would never, ever buy anything recent again.

[DVee8]

Best my current 2010 Nissan X-trail just a great all round motor,followed close by a Nissan Primera GT and a Nissan Bluebird turbo

 

Worst a W reg Jaguar S-type full of pomp and circumstance just so so fragile then i got one of the first Renault clio 172 it was like driving a roller skate but the quality was shit bits just fell off

[Station]

Best - my current 1990 N13 Nissan Sunny and 1990 mk1 MR2. The Sunny is well built, reliable, economical, interior is ace and comfy and really nice to drive (but a bit slow) and MR2 is rapid, handling is amazing, interior is awesome and is good on fuel. You can get bored of both after a while, I'd happily keep both, unfortunately I see other cars and want them.

 

Worst - I loyally drove Fords for years and was under the illusion they were the best cars ever made until I drove something else (a 1989 Rover!!). Think Ford had the same thing in the 80's and 90's that VW has now. CVH, Pintos, horrible interiors, etc. Driven a new Focus and my dad has a newish Mondeo and I think why wouldn't you go for something else?

[splatthefat]

Best car? A tossup between the Fiat Doblo I bought new, then caned the arse off of it for 5 years and 45,000 miles with only 2 sets of tyres and some pads. It was comfy enough for a non-stop schlep from Norwich to Blackpool and 80+, erm, 70+, erm, 69mph all the way, did 35 MPG (for a 1.4 petrol in a car that weighed over a ton and a half with the aerodynamics of a wardrobe), and had lovely cold aircon, and never, ever, let me down. The other is the Volvo 340GL 1.4 (Sven) that I swapped for a knackered Scorpio. Again caned the arse off of it, including one icy/snowy winter where it went everywhere sideways in 2nd gear, and it's only failings were blowing the change up light (it was always on for some reason...), and when a top hose blew after towing my mates fully laden Transit for 15 miles.

 

Worst car, undoubtedly the Fiat Tempra 1.6SX. This car I owned for 2 years, and in that time went through 3 handbrake cables, 2 sets of wheel bearings, bulbs and full beam relays weekly, it was nasty to drive, quick enough but felt like the front and back were connected by rubber, and seemed to go round right hand bends much better than left hand ones. The end came when it ate part of its carb (for those who don't know the carb is mounted onto the inlet manifold by a rubber mounting, which is in 2 halfs with the top bolted to the carb, and the bottom to the manifold and then bonded together, lovely), basically the bonding went and it ingested part of it causing loads of aggro in the head, it was sold for spares or repairs.

 

 

CJ