Worst cars to drive?

[CortinaDave]

Since we're on this forum, odds are between us we've experienced A LOT of shite cars - just curious as to what you've found to be the worst driving motors you've had charge of?

 

for me - a '63 Morris Minor - clinging on to an MOT by god knows what means - The steering wheel appeared to only very vaguely infuence your direction, the brakes were merely something to brace your foot on as you prepared to meet your doom, the gearbox was a guessing game - it would hold gears, but there was no feeling of selection - you just had to stir it around in hope of finding something, and worst of all - the seat was bolted straight to the floor, so there was no adjustment. Your options were - like it as it is, or walk.

[dollywobbler]

Morris Minors generally seem pretty awful. Woeful brakes and a gear lever that feels like it'll come off in your hand. Plus quite clever front suspension (for 1948) but ancient cart springs with no proper location at the back. There is some charm to them, but give me a 2CV every day of the week. Any Mini is also pretty hopeless on anything other than super-smooth roads. I still find myself wanting another go though. There's no hope for me.

[mercrocker]

Meat and poison come to mind here!   I drive my 63 Minor daily and find it one of the nicest cars I have owned.   The rear suspension is shit though, mainly I suspect, due to rubbish modern springs.  It does have Spax teles on it which help.   Discs up front - not strictly necessary and I wouldn't have bothered - and I like  the steering though it needs more maintenance than my ex.   I must admit I do get pissed off with it's raucous nature now and again but that's probably because I rag it a bit.   Worst car I owned for driving experience was my Mk 4 Cortina which I expect will draw howls of indignant abuse but I have to say it was  absolutely bolloxed and all others I tried have been loads better.   I suppose condition has a lot to do with how most cars drive...Absolute worst bastard thing I ever had to drive was a Dodge Tradesman van with 318 V8 that required 40 percent positive righthand lock to keep it on the freeway.   For 400 miles.   Condition, again, I suppose!

[Geep]

I found an early Espace I had many years ago was a nightmare for using the brake and clutch pedals. So close together I'd invariably go to change gear and end up braking at the same time.

 

Landrover defender for the lack of room for the right side of your body is another.

 

Big old citroens were tricky with their on off switch like brake pedal, and most new stuff is hideously over sensitive in the brake department for that matter.  Think the citroen was a cx, can't remember now but belonged to one of the companies the garage did work for. It had gears and no clutch pedal as well if I remember correctly. Confusing to apprentice's sent to collect from the company or take back to them.

[sheffcortinacentre]

any marina/shital, bigger eng models worst.

[Fat_Pirate]

A nearly-new Lada Riva remains the worst thing I've ever driven.  I remember it being inferior in every way to the tatty 13-year-old Marina I owned at the time.

[Timewaster]

worst? Mk1 Jetta that my then boss was using to teach his daughter to drive in.

Poor girl!

I'm sure now days this Jetta would be an object of desire complete with a pineapple but then it was just the cheapest thing he could find.

 

Dog slow, which was a good thing as i think the Brakes Were an optional extra on that model.

Worn out seats with all the comfort of a park bench.

steering seemingly unconnected to the direction of travel and an over powering smell of wet dog.

Oh and to start it I think you had to give it some sort of masonic handshake.

 

His daughter passed her test in this awful thing and with the exception of an astra had driven nothing but Vws for the last 20 years.

[outlaw118]

Choice of two.

My mates 1979 Ford Fiesta 957.

His first car in 1989, and I'm stronlgy of the opinion that the MoT certificate either came off the back of a cornflakes packet or "in the post". It was slow, uncomfortable to the extreme, the brakes weren't actually brakes at all, rather a "random direction generator", so you never really knew which way it was going to go at any given moment. The window on the passenger side kept dropping all the way down into the door, culminating in it breaking into 173569357395571547 pieces one freezing January night. Nothing electrical inside the car worked. The "optional extra" heated rear window didn't work, but the switch illuminated so brightly, you were in constant danger of "arc-eye". The speedo binnacle didn't light up, the radio MW/LW didn't light up, and none of the pre-select buttons did anything, and the solitary speaker sounded like Howard Jones was trapped inside a massive bucket of shit.

 

OR

 

My mate Gay Dave's 1972 VW Beetle. Just shit. No power, to the extent that if attempting a hill start at The Cross Keys junction, ALL passengers had to get out. It's about a 1 in 9 gradient. It stuck of pez, oil, clutch, damp, teenage boys, and that burning electrical smell, you know the one. Just horrific. Swapped it for a wodge of cash and a 1980 1600 Cavalier. EPIC.

[Negative Creep]

Datsun 120Y. I loved mine to bits, but objectively speaking it was utterly dreadful and handles like a shopping trolley full of logs

[PhilA]

Toss up between the M reg Escort diesel van we had for the runabout mule at the airport or my mate's N reg Seat Ibiza (the shape they seem to have designed the new Polos around)

 

The Escort was dog-slow, had a steering wheel so thick it was hard to grasp, a big airbag that got in the way and I'd constantly try to remove my kneecap on the ignition key. Brakes did work, so long as you pushed yourself hard into the Iron Maiden of a seat.. though the rear load-sensitive valve was sticky and/or chose when to work so the normal effect of braking was to pitch the nose down then let out a howl of one locked up rear wheel followed by a cloud of smoke.

Gearbox was comprised of porridge connected via springs. Steering was naturally unassisted, which required superhuman strength to operate at or near a standstill. It also just plain didn't go very well. At all. It had a nice clutch, compared to the rest of the vehicle. But, the rest of the vehicle was utter shit and smelled like kebabs and raw diesel.

 

I have to say the Ibiza had no redeeming qualities other than it was reliable. Every single piece of switchgear was in the wrong place and felt like it was manufactured by Fisher-Price. The controls were vague and had little to no correlation to the function they were meant to be operating. It also leaked, so driving it was like attempting to pilot a wet dog. when it dried out it assumed that horrible, acrid oily smell only VW/Audi have managed to master the art of. Hateful vehicle. The starter motor also sounded like a banshee, but that seems to be a VW thing also. 

Pineapples to the lot of you, it was horrible.

 

--Phil

[wackywacerwill]

Hard not to offend anyone here but hey, here goes.

 

I jumped into my mates series landy to move it and found the driving position most awkward. To be fair I was wearing moto x boots at the time which may not have helped and a later but still fairly old defender I drove just felt pleasantly agricultural like it should.

 

I enjoy driving anything to be honest and am happy to drive around issues and quirks seeing it as all part of the fun.

[jbz2079]

I  used to think Marinas and Itals were bad till I had to drive a friends Lada Riva.

The brakes were awful very grabby but actually didn't do much in the way of reducing speed.

The steering was so vaugue it was hard to belive it was connected to anywhere close to the front wheels.

The handling was far more wayward and unpredictable than any Marina.

 

I thought that Riva was just a bad example until another friend bought another one.

It was just as bad in all the areas mentioned, but this one was the most unreliable heap of shite I've known.

Had several burn ups from various electrical things, relays, wiper motor and even the heater fan motor lit up like a roman candle on night.

 

Then the starter solenoid stuck in the start position one day while leaving his work, it caught fire in a big way and he pushed the smoking, burning heap away from other peoples motors and stood and watched it burn.

Some heartless sod phoned the Fire Brigade but it was toast fortunatly by the time they arrived.

 

He bought an old 1300 Marina for peanuts with 12 months test and had two years reasonable reliable motoring from it.

At least I was not scared to drive that one.

[oman5]

another vote for the Lada Riva. I wanted to like it, in an anti-establishment way, But steering, brakes,handling all just awful

 

mk2 fiesta 957cc. No power, as in changing down to 3rd on long motorway hills, felt like it was going to tip over going round corners.

 

Leyland daf 200 with 2.0 perkins. to its credit it never actually broke down on me...but everything about it was horrible. naturally I'd have another in a heartbeat.

[Peter Patina]

A Citroen GS running on 2-3 cylinders and pissing green gunge. No risey-uppy, no brakes. Brill interior though [apart from the small colony of ants behind dash].

 

A Dolomite that would lurch into sudden dramatic oversteer on moderate bends and whose gearlever threatened to break through the tunnel when taking up drive. Later discovered that it only had half its gearbox mountings. The twin carbs that would never quite balance, the OMG 18MPG from an 1850, the jarring ride, the failure to live up in any way other than appearance to the Triumph 2000 I'd been so impressed by.

 

Worst newish... an early Clio whose doors didn't fit... and a 1990 Fiesta that was almost as evil-handling as the Dolomite.

[Pete-M]

Marina

Vectra

Astra

Corsa

Strada

Ambassador

Allegro.

Shuma

BMW 318d (2008 shape job)

Mercedes 190E.

 

That's my Top Ten Crap Cars To Drive.

[twosmoke300]

106/saxo range

Pedals so close together that you can press all 3 at once . Shocking brakes and an interior made from spit and Kleenex.

The bigger ones probably have better brakes but the ones I've driven barely pass an mot with everything tip top.

[michael1703]

Had to drive a customers lowered beetle on a 20 mile round trip, I was so tense as every bump in the road caused a grating noise as vital suspension and steering didn't respond as it grazed along

[Split_Pin]

BMW 316 Compact, the later bug eyed one, whatever you call it. I hated it because it had the same dash as my mates lovely 6 cyl Coupe example but the similarity ended there. The interior was this wretched light grey colour. But it was the noise of the engine that I hated. It was like being in the quiet carriage of a train with the noise of a simpering, screaming child wantonly intruding into your peace and quiet. It actually made me angry. Disappointment and the hatred of the job that the car belonged to probably played a part in it, but it remains one of the worst driving experiences of my life so far.

 

I've driven much worse cars that this, including a death trap of a Mk2 Fiesta, but they were somehow novel, as you wrang the last drop if motoring from them.

[Station]

I'll say Vectra, as DATS WOT JERMY CLAKSON SAID

[alf892]

Any Lada.

 

I used to work for haulage firm that had a Lada dealer in 'group' (Newark Road Garage) and lower management were given Ladas as company cars. Poor bastards.

[barefoot]

A Hyundai Accent 'coupe'.

Woefully underpowered and felt about 20 years older than it actually was.

Nothing actually wrong/malfunctioning, just a very, very poorly thought out/executed car.

 

I also drove a Toyota Auris (is there a big version?) that the wife borrowed from work.

It had an electric parking brake with no explanation, but much worse, it didn't actually feel like I was having very much to do with any aspect of the vehicles movement.

It was quite bizarre and with the super thick A pillars it was more like playing a video game.

 

I don't drive many modern cars.

[plasticvandan]

Fiat Panda (original) without a doubt the worst car ive owned/driven (and ive owned over 30 Reliants!) vague steering,even vaguer gearchange,woeful brakes,horrid,horrid,hateful driving postion etc etc

[Sloth in a bowl]

Objectively the worst car I've driven was my Fiat Uno 45S. No power, no brakes, unreliable and rusty, but it had character and taught me a lot about driving and maintaining cars.

 

Subjectively the worst car I've driven was a povity spec wiggy arse Megane which was gutless and the interior felt cheap and nasty. I had an early Laguna at the time and was shocked at how bad the erganomics of the Meganne were in comparrasion.

[Vince70]

I can go with the Lada Riva..

I had to sell my XR3 back in the early 90s due to being skint and due to the insurance going up to 2 zillion pounds and bought a low mileage 4 year old one off a friend for £100 to get me about..

 

The reason he was selling it was he bought it for his girlfriend to drive but she couldn't steer it as the steering was too heavy for her.

 

It handled terrible the engine was wheezy and asthmatic but it had some endearing features such as the insurance was £75 per year and you could leave it unlocked outside the pub all night..

 

Also I liked the mechanical fuel primer for when it ran out of petrol..

 

It was also very reliable and after a year of ownership I put a note in the back window for £75 and sold it within five minutes.

The car came with a years tax and test and I didn't spend a single penny on it and it didn't put a drop of oil or water in the thing.

It was the cheapest motoring I've ever had at £25 for a year.

 

But it did need money spent on it by the time I sold it as I had pulled the handbrake off 6 months earlier and had been riding the clutch so it needed a new one and a mate of mine bought an FSO for a laugh and decided that every time he would see my Lada he would crash into it.. So I would repay the compliment, so it had a few battle scars.

[tooSavvy]

.... can't belive it!

 

Not one J-reg Proton

 

 

TS

[Bren]

1300 cortina.

 

I absolutely love cortinas' but not with a wheezy 1300 engine.

 

Lots of noise and slower than a week in prison. The difference between a 1300 and 1600 is greater than you would think.

[purplebargeken]

One of those Smart* cars, the For2, or 4Two Passion or other such stupidity. It seemed to have no suspension, ate it's gearbox on several occasions and the cab filled with smoke for no apparent reason. Look up 'roundabout fear' and see how it links to small Smart* cars.

 

Loved the idea/concept but the reality was pure shite. It was a 2003 model with full MB history as well. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

[mercrocker]

Honorary mention from me for the Fartcar...Never driven one never will but mrs rocker got lent one from the merc specialist once.   What a  pile of misconceived plastic dog shit.  It  lurched from speed to speed in its ridiculous mickey mouse transmission, stunk like a school lunch Tupperware box and made me feel like a wounded buffalo in a sedan chair.   I was  convinced it was going to fall over and I wish they were all dead.

[Asimo]

Ignoring Cars that were awful because they were broken or worn out:

 

1972 Moskvich 427: crossply tyres and only a few weeks left on it's last MOT. Lovely engine though.

 

1971 Range Rover fitted with a 6 cyl. York Diesel engine. Massively under geared and SOoo nose heavy...

 

2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse: weird, stiff, springy steering, massive torque steer and no cooperation between engine and auto box. 

 

2013 Fiat Punto Trubo dweezil: gutless, impossible to see out of and so uncomfortable. Shocking that Fiat should make such a turgid lump of poo.

 

I liked driving the Smart but there is no excuse at all for that transmission, and even less for doing nothing to fix it. Smarts have been around for 14/15 years now.

[UmBongo]

Austin Metro

 

Fiat Panda

 

The End.