Worst cars to drive?

[Mr Lobster]

FSO Caro. It was brand new at the time but was so shockingly shit it was laughable. Nasty, nasty, nasty, nasty.

 

Also honourable mention for the 2008ish Saab 9-5 which looked like it would be such a nice car but was a massive disappointment to drive.

[HillmanImp]

04 plate VW Polo. This was the bag of shit one my next door neighbours had. I had a spin in it before they took it to 'We buy any car' and I was amazed at how bad it was to drive. Okay this one had a broken spring but it was the everything about it. It was so cheap. It felt like a car from the 1970's but was only 8 years old. They replaced it with a 2002 Fiesta which was space ages ahead of it in pretty much every way.

 

Another car I hated was the Mk1 Punto. Had one as a hire car and hated it. It seemed slow even compared to other cars in its class (I used to get a few hire cars a year), the seating position was awful and the one I had was an garish yellow and had a headache inducing interior although I suppose most small cars had that in the 1990's. 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The worse cars I've ever driven have usually been because I was expecting them to be better. For many years I was in the unusual position of driving around in brand new luxury cars for my day job and spending weekends and evenings buying and selling utter shite. On many occasions I've driven to an auction in a car worth more than my house and bought a £50 Ambassador or something. It was never the shite that I thought was bad.

 

I've driven 2 911s and was massively disappointed with both,the best bit was the steering which reminded me of a Skoda . One car I refused to drive after one journey was an XJ40 2.9, it was so slow I thought it was dangerous, but then I did sulk and threaten to quit after having to use a 230e with no aircon one year to go on holiday! What an obnoxious,spoilt twat I must have been.

So the worst? It pains me say to this ,but my dad's Series 1 Land Rover, it could be because I can only drive it with the seat cushion and backrest removed but I get no pleasure at all from it . And thTs the only reason to drive anything.

[burraston2006]

 

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.

 Change moggie to a series 2 land rover2 1/4 petrol. Fxxking awful. Steering and brakes were there in an advisory capacity only and gearbox had no sycromesh and it was like stirring a bucket of porridge and doors that you held shut by resting your arm out of the window! (I suppose I was spoilt as I was used to a V8 County at the time!)

[hennabm]

Although not owned by me, a mate's dad had a Moskovitch pick up as a works vehicle and I had to drive it from time to time - it was awful.

 

Hired Vectras always gave me back ache as did the Rover 214/216 series so not good for me.

[Junkman]

Lada Riva too here. I had three of them and they simply are the worst cars I ever drove. Interestingly, I also drove an old Fiat 124, which turned out to be one of the nicest to drive cars I ever drove. Only then I grasped the magnitude with which the Russkis completely ruined an actually quite good car.

 

Another one for me is the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa 1993-2000 series. It is so woefully rubbish that it is hard to believe that it isn't from the Eastern Bloc.

 

Then there is the Opel/Vauxhall Insignificant diesel. Not only does it look like a placenta on wheels, but all those patronising little electronic shits they festooned it with make it downright dangerous to drive. I had numerous close calls, because it wouldn't let me just drive on after I pulled out. A light comes on on the dashboard and it almost stalls, while traffic is closing in from behind at 70 mph. I also couldn't figure out how to switch off the light permanently enough for it to not switch itself on automatically after the next re-boot, I don't understand the logic behind the indicator switch, and I can't figure out how to lock it, for which I found an easy solution in the end, though.

[jonny69]

M reg Escort diesel van

 

Oh my god YES! My dad had a fleet of these as work vans and occasionally when I had my 100E off the road I'd borrow one of these instead. It would get up to about 70 and then pressing the accelerator just made it louder in the vehicle and made more smoke. I moved my mate from Bristol to Norfolk with all his belongings one year - it was stacked floor to ceiling in the back and really down on its springs. WAY overloaded! With my mate in the car as well it would barely move and we needed about 50psi in the rear tyres to make it look even remotely legal. We decided to time it to 60 since it was taking so long and we clocked it over 45 seconds. I eventually killed one of them when the engine seized up and (allegedly) stuck a valve stem through the head. In hindsight I guess this was a timing belt failure or something.

 

I remember they always stank of cigarettes inside despite the fact that none of them had ever been smoked in. Always smelt of diesel. Throttle was like an on-off switch when you reached full throttle which used to make it torque steer and wheelspin like crazy in the wet in first gear. It absolutely *would not* do a proper handbrake turn, no matter what you did, not even in a gravel carpark.

[dollywobbler]

How could I forget Smarts? Cars I want to love but which I hate with a passion after 30 seconds at the wheel. I'd still own one just to look at it.

 

Also, Lotus Elan M100 Turbo. A great car on paper, but the one I drove had the build quality of a Blue Peter Tracy Island built by smackheads in an earthquake. Thoroughly appalling.

[Fatchance]

These are my nominations:

 

1. The Viva HA I learnt to drive on, the subject of a major and detailed complaint on another thread. Massive steering-wheel with nautical levels of feedback, though not power-assisted, controls set out to a "design" specified long before the words "ergonomic" and "design" were thought of, or needed, though admittedly quite a responsive short-throw gear change. At least the car looked shit to reflect how it drove.

 

2. Marina Mk2, V-reg with wartime A-series engine, pole-like gear lever, and pedal set up and driving position which would have been ideal had I been able to remove the section of my legs below my knees. (Is that the correct anatomical term?). Radio angled away from the driver to face the passenger. Obviously.

 

2. SD1 Rover, but with 2000 engine. Looked lovely in light metallic green, comfortable seats, faux-wood interior. Ideal as a large paperweight, but not as a car; clunky gear-change combined with power-over-assisted steering to give a handling response on a par with the HA Viva, but without having to make so much effort. Stunning lack of power completed the package.

[morris_ital_lover]

Worst car I have driven has to a be a Series 3 Landy, but I suspect that was due to its condition more than anything else. The gearbox was a magical pot of ratios and stirring it might reveal the right gear, the brakes and steering were used to express preference and had little effect on your speed and direction, but one advantage was that when the steering failed and it mated with a pretty serious piece of timberwork it was still Landy 1-0 woodwork ...However, I'd defs love a go in a non fucked series 3.

[Alexg]

Mk1 Kia Rio. I took one in Part exchange about 10 years ago whilst working for a Vauxhall dealer. The interior felt like an early 90's Jap car but, inexplicably, with less charm. I was used to throwing MK4 Astras competently through corners so routinely hooned it down the road and hooked a right at normal pace... only to then shit myself as it hunted for grip, before falling off the seat as it found some and leaned violently over to the left. It was a short drive, but I'd learned enough.

[mouseflakes]

Ebro Trade

 

 

In fairness, the sticking brakes probably weren't like that when it left the factory. I hope.

[face]

Back in around 1990 we had a good stock of company cars that I used frequently.

 

MG Montego, Cav SRi-130, Audi 80 Sport etc.

 

One day I got given a Sierra Sapphire 1.8 and it felt stone-age in comparison to what I had been driving.

 

I now know that they aren't such a bad car after all, but against the others, it was bloody awful.

 

Also had a go in a Mini Clubman twin-pedaller. That was terrible.

[carlo]

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

 

I'd have to agree with that.  I had a 1976 120Y for a fortnight, and apart from the beautiful gearbox and economy it was a rear horror.  Awful handling, and the ride was laughable.  Couldn't wait to get rid of it.

[scooters]

I don't consider Landrover Series to be 'cars' they are commercial/agricultural vehicles and as such need to be weighed vs tractors and lorries/vans etc. Obviously anyone who dares criticise  series Landrovers clearly needs to question their sexuality 

[cort16]

Saab 93 Convertible.

[Rusty Pelican]

Morris Marina , description is the same as the first post only wiv added no reverse and a banshee diff that made your ears bleed , gear selection was rather like stirring a bowl of treacle with a bendy straw , steering had 3 feet of play , breaks were ok though 

verdict --- shit not shite 

My Fiat Uno had the same box i recon wiv added 5 speed , you had to smash the lever into the dash to get 1st and 3 third , 5 speeds were ironically called selecta which is something i rarely achieved 

[scooters]

worst cars I have driven:

Pre 1979 volvo 240 automatics, had a really poor rear axle ratio which resulted in 4000 revs at 70mph, this was sorted eventually.

most american cars on European roads - they are just not built for it

most underpowered euroboxes post 2000

6 speed Megane TDCI - most pointless 6 speed box eva - just there to make sad suburban fuckwits think they are driving a GT rather than a kid wagon.

 

FSO polonez

 

Lada riva but I still love them

 

Morris Minor - is what it is, it's a 1950's technology car, can't be driven like a modern, once this is understood and it is compared with it's contemporaries then it is actually a pretty decent driver, you should try driving a 1940's Minx or a Triumph Mayflower! Most post war british cars were dreadful rehashes of pre 1939 cars, it took a while to stop producing wartime utility and catering for customer expectations. Morris was one of the companies to recognise this and the Minor represented a major leap forward in design at the time. Jowlett were also real leaders in this as well, the Jupiter and Javelin were advanced, clever and innovative - sadly, like other companies with the same ethos (Citroen) this saw the end of the business and within 15 years the factory was making tractors for McCormic International Harvester....yarrgh

 

Not as bad as I thought it was going to be - Yugo, 45: wonderful push rod fiat 500 revvy little engine, a hoot to drive given it's 1960's technology. Quality of steel is superb, doesn't really rust because of this (there is a story behind this if you'd like to hear it - I've told it before), v poor equipment and the interiors were made of caramac but a much better car than the other offerings from the east at the time.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Is the question what is the worst type of car as a type, or what is the worst example of a type that we have experienced?    Probably both.

 

Although ORL MODAN CARZ R RUBIHS, the fact is that nowadays almost any car is pretty good (but boring as hell).     Back in the day when you rented some cheap-ass car at an airport, it would be a bag of shit, but nowadays even the cheapest rental car is pretty much OK (subject to the modern vices of being too heavy, having thick pillars, having mahoosive wheels and tyres, and being entirely controlled by Skynet). 

[Junkman]

Actually Stockcar F1s are pretty shitty to drive. At least the ones I built were.

[scooters]

My biggest gripe about many modern cars isn't that they are shit to drive, some of them are pretty good but is because most of the ones you would buy on a finance deal are made to last the length of the loan. The idea being that the borrower takes out another loan 3-5 years later to buy another pile of rubbish that falls to bits after the loan is paid off. Some of them are the ultimate expression of how the consumer has been lulled into the throw away society.

Cheap toys - stereos, parking meters, 6 speed boxes, sat nav etc etc are stuck into the shitest of cars to command premiums - none of this changes the fact it is still a pile of crap.

[Junkman]

I forgot to mention the Beetle, i.e. the real one. Man, what a dismal piece of shit.

[mercrocker]

Yes, I forgot  the Beetle too!  My first car, the one with which I should associate with all the carefree abandon of youth and gain a warm feeling of nostalgia.   Zero performance, medieval driving position, manslaughter of a steering mechanism and bullshit reliability reputation....I tentatively approached one or two more several years later, supposedly good* examples and they were just as shit.   The only reason I possess a VW T25 now is because the engines at the back and I got sick of front-engine cacophony in front-motored vans over the years.  Its just as gutless as a Beetle but at least the bloody thing steers properly....

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I don't consider Landrover Series to be 'cars' they are commercial/agricultural vehicles and as such need to be weighed vs tractors and lorries/vans etc. Obviously anyone who dares criticise  series Landrovers clearly needs to question their sexuality 

My problem is I don't physically fit, can't be any need to question my sexuality I've got a Freelander 2, an MX5, a bright red Merc convertible ,a Fiat 500...............oh!

[Junkman]

Actually, I quite liked all those years I had all but forgotten about the Beetle, but this thread somehow made me remember it.

Now another car came to mind, which actually wasn't that bad to drive when it drove, but it rarely did, because it was by far the most sub-standard rubbish ever produced by the non-Eastern-Bloc industry, even including the Opel Corsa B, and that is the Escort MKII. Usually people remember the tiniest wee little fault a car had and for the next 30 years won't go near anything produced by that company, but what atrocious piles of tosh those Escorts were seems to have been erased from their memories with something like this wand used by the Men In Black.

[Vin]

This is easy. Worst cars I've ever driven were the Reliant three wheelers I used to service and look after for my Grandad. A Robin estate and then a Rialto saloon. Utter toss with no redeeming features. Short of ripping the door off, the only way I could ever drive them comfortably was with the window open, leaning forward and my arm outside... Thank god my Grandad gave up driving...

[Sigmund Fraud]

I've driven many of the cars mentioned so far, and I can't say I found any of them particularly unpleasant to drive. In fact, I absolutely loved my old Riva, it was marvellously agricultural, though I agree that the brakes were awful.

 

The worst car I've driven is a 1400cc Golf IV... Yes, the designers had spent a lot of time on the perceived quality of the interior... But had anyone actually driven the fucker ? It felt like the automotive equivalent of spending a few hours in a padded room !!! Compared to it, even my soul-crushing daily Megane is characterful and interesting !

[Spiny Norman]

If I ignore everything that was shit because it was just old & fucked, I'm left with a brand new Mk5 or 6 Escort diseasel estate.

I can never tell the different models of Escort apart, I stopped caring when 3 gave way to 4 and they went to shit but this was by a long way the worst brand new car I've ever driven. Hateful gutless clattery engine, miserable spec inside although it was a run-out model and it was in that horrible late 90s Ford Escort dark, burnt red colour whatever it was called.
Nasty in every way, its sole redeeming feature as a company car for our arsehole of a manager was how disappointed he was that he hadn't been given the then-new Focus he was expecting and got stuffed with this turkey instead.
 

Ditto a year old FSO Polonez my uncle swapped his nice old Mk1 Cav for back in about 1990, new in registration letter only it was decades behind everything else.

[Cavcraft]

I loved the Morris 1000s/Minors I had. Great to drive (especially considering how old hat they are) and also very simple, really couldn't fault them.

 

I had a Riva 1500 for a while which was a laugh but the steering wheel went round (seemingly) for ever before anything actually happened, quite disconcerting when you're trying to beat your best time home down the lanes.

 

Golf Mk3: Just shit on pretty much every level, not the least being the way you perch on those horrible seats then just slide round all over the shop without ever being comfortable.

[pandamonium]

Peugeot 406. In green. (Only kidding)

 

Best car? Lada Riva.

Worst car? Lada Samara.

 

Go figure.