Why are[manufacturer name] so [insert obsenity]?

[Station]

I've never ever had a French car fail on me, but why are French car electrics allegedly so crap? Brake lights coming on with indicators, bad earths, etc

 

Why have I driven Peugeots made over ten years apart and both have a really stiff clutch and accelerator pedal? Hadn't the engineers at the time got their heads together and sorted this out?

 

Also interiors in Italian cars - Brava and Ulyse plastics from the 90s being horrid and rough.

 

Why why???

[garethj]

It's character. If everything drove like a Nissan Micra we'd all be complaining

[HH-R]

Bravo/Brava interiors were really, really grim. Fiat seem to have sorted themselves out mk2 Punto onwards, they look and feel a lot better.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Why does the clutch pedal spring on all 80's and 90's Vauxhalls creak?

[conkerman]

They don't give a shit about RHD

 

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[the judge]

Why did all Fords heaters smell of curry on the 80s?

 

Why did mk5 Escort plastics smell so bad?

[rantingYoof]

I've always scratched my head as to why Renault enthusiastically embraces all modern electronic gubbins even when they still haven't managed to perfect a wiring arrangement that promises working electric windows for the duration of the car's working life.

 

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[twosmoke300]

What about ford and such terrible terminal rust on every model they sell

[rantingYoof]

How does rust happen on anything modern now anyway (i.e. from early 2000s onwards)?

 

I mean, Volvo and Saab had perfected rust-protection from the early to mid 1990s, save for the 400 series which seemed to get infected.

 

My 9000 had a gash above the wheel-arch down to the metal which I didn't treat at all, and it went through the grittiest nastiest winter ever without anything happening to it.

 

I still cannot believe the 2005 X-Type I sat in, where the dealer blandly informed me that "we MOTed it and did the welding that was necessary to get it to pass" and then showed me a massive patch of rust under the driver's door. He didn't seem to think it was a problem that he was still asking for £2,500 for a car with rust, which would need more welding in the future, and that had no history.

 

I suppose the car could have been in an accident in its past, but seriously. Stuff from 2005 onwards should not be susceptible to major body-work corrosion.

[himoverthere]

Is it not just a case of all cars going wrong eventually, and if the fault fits the stereotype you think - "ah, it's those bloody foreign cars again" (unless it's an Allegro with frilly doors or something?)

 

I had an Alfa. The brake line burst (excitement / character, you decide - it happens to the 156 quite a lot due to design error) and the bushes wore out at double the speed I'd have hoped, but it was quite reliable really. And a Shitroen that never went wrong at all. The only car I've had that catastrophically broke was a Fiat, which went from 'rough as but mechanically pretty sound' to 'absolutely shagged' in about a week.

 

I've got an 'Onda now, and the a/c is knackered (as it was in the Fiat and the Alfa, but not the older Shitroen, or the Seat, or even older Ford) the alarm doesn't work and it's losing coolant (although there's no mayo in the oil so I hope it's just a pipe somewhere)

 

So on my experience, buy a Citroen.

[Parky]

Least troublesome car I ever owned was a 1993 Corolla. Seriously all it had was the odd oil change and a couple of tyres in three years, never failed an MOT. Sold it to Parky Snr who got another three years out of it before needing a van and using the Toyota for Scrappage sadly. It was 16 years old when it met its maker and apart from car park dents was sound as a pound. Great car.

 

Worst one was my Vauxhall Chevette. It was complete shit but had been hideously abused, crashed, poorly rebuilt and so it had excuses. Sold it back to the mate I got it from and someone killed it with fire one night. No tears were shed.

 

Sister Parky and I have had precisely no problems with Seats. She has had four, all good. Mrs Parky's Fiat 500 has had a failed battery and a coil pack failure in three years. Not disastrous but not brilliant. BIL Parky has a Clio 1200 and apart from on nom nomming its head gasket, it was nothing a bottle of steel seal couldn't handle and it is still running fine five years on.

 

The moral of this story is buy a 1993 Corolla.....

[RayMK]

Built-in obsolescence keeps factories busy...for spares, and eventually a new replacement car.  Ultra reliable, non rusting cars that take 300K miles to show appreciable wear don't fit the usual business/marketing plan.  Our Fiat Tipo is resisting rust quite well, partly because Fiat had to do something about their reputation for terminal rust in 5 years (and welding at the first MOT!).  Galvanised panels were a good move, but I remain highly suspicious of the thick underseal which will be hiding corrosion.  Its electrics work quite often.  Don't Italians get taught about electrics at school?  Currently, the driver's window operates normally.  In the summer it reverts to 5cm at a time, wait a minute, another 5cm etc. The wipers are comically violent.  The clock is noisy, keeps lousy time and, as it is the only thing still running when the car is locked, must draw many amps because it flattens the battery in 3 days.  The central locking works, but it sounds as though beefy high revving motors are driving 5 kg bolts about  a metre.  And the clutch is heavy.  Fords, even quite recent ones, still rust.  Recent Nissans can do that quite well as well.  My biggest moan goes to nearly all manufacturers.  Why is the oil filter nearly always mounted at a silly angle, making spillage down the side of the engine inevitable and flipping messy?

[beko1987]

Theres a 52 plate punto I see occasionally and the rear lights are comical :

 

Lh indicator flashes the normal rear light

Brake lights up the indicator

brake pedal lights up the top light and both rear side lights

RH sidelight seems to work ok

 

never seen it in the dark, bet its hilarious

[twosmoke300]

It's about half an hours work to fix that properly - remove lights - solder a wire onto earth track on bulb holder - attach wire to suitable body bolt . Repeat on both sides . I've even had to do this on headlights for puntos

[SiC]

Why do Mazda's rust so much and so badly rust protected?

 

If they didn't, they pretty much be the perfect brand for every scenario - Mazda 3 for general family use, Mazda 6 for long distance family use, Mazda 5 for MPV shuttling, CX7 for SUV fans, Mazda 2 for first car and MX5 (or RX8 if willing to go within the last 10yrs) for a bit of fun! All their petrols are sturdy reliable lumps. (Diesels are hit and miss though) Electrics rarely have problems.

 

Yet when they get to 10yrs old, there is a real risk of them rusting away.

[martc]

Why do Mazda's rust so much and so badly rust protected?

 

 

Because the only lesson they have learnt from their corporate overlords is...

 

 Fords, even quite recent ones, still rust.