The reason we drive shite/chod/cars no one wants anymore

[sutty2006]

Today I have hung the keys up for my Diesel Carlton in exchange for a brand new Focus STline (like an Sline but worse) what were Ford really thinking? So it’s only for 3 days while I’m on a course in Milton Keynes with work. New cars are supposed to impress, but I duelly think that I’d rather be driving my carlton....a few reasons may follow.

 

1. It picks up every bump/pothole/ridge line/road kill possible and feeds it back through the drivers seat. A luxury the carlton doesn’t have.

2. The drivers seat. Uncomfortable. My old ST Mondeo was very comfy but this is back cripplingly horrible.

3. The engine. A gutless 3 cylinder ecofail with no torque. At all. It’s boring.

 

Now, I’m not having a winge. Or a moan. I’m mearly pointing out that my old diesel rep mobile with as much street cred as a mouldy jam sammich is a car I’d rather drive over this brand new sugar coated eco warrior. And for a quick conclusion into my findings, is that I will endeavour to continue driving comfortable old nails for as long as humanly possible. Keep smiling everyone, and think yourself lucky you aren’t forced to drive these (yet).

 

On a weird gadget note, heads up display is an interesting feature. Road test later down to Milton Keynes so we will see how this pans out!

 

So what makes you want to stick to your old shite, and not give in and buy something modern?

[D Spares & Tyres]

Purely price I reckon. I don't like that Focus but at £300 I could grow to tolerate it.

 

Depreciation isn't logical for me.

[Guest Hooli]

Pretty much what you said. New cars are ugly inside and out, uncomfy and shite to drive.

[PhilA]

The "pure driving experience" that needs to be ironed into every car these days fails to impress me.

 

Sure, there is pressure for cars to handle well and perform impeccably on a moose test. There is no reason for rock hard seats though. That just feels cheap.

 

In the case of that Focus, a modern eveyday hatchback, all I have to say is Peugeot 205.

 

That car went to prove you could have a comfortable chair to sit in while also maintaining a compliant ride with good road manners.

 

Did car designers all become young? I saw a Pathé film about BL cars being tested im Germany and all the chief people are middling age to older- new cars aren't designed around backache, they are designed around Forza.

 

Phil

[Snipes]

I imagine it would steer much better with smaller wheels/taller tyres.

[N Dentressangle]

Pretty much what you said. New cars are ugly inside and out, uncomfy and shite to drive.

 

Ugly's the word - there's just something unloveable about them.

 

Interiors are dark, cramped and have window sills too high to rest my elbow on. Dashboards are too deep and high too. I sat in an Audi A5 once - it was like what I imagine lying in a deep black coffin must be like.

 

Depreciation is for other people too, if there's a way of avoiding it.

 

Mostly I like to have things I understand and can fix myself, or can pay someone locally if I don't fancy it. The whole throwaway stream of complex tat most people buy seems completely unsustainable, as well as a waste of money.

[lesapandre]

Tried the headlights yet? Or changing a bulb? Or limp mode. No I will stick with old cars. And...why do modern cars have have to be so aggressively ugly - sprit of the age?

[sierraman]

Looks a nice motor!

[Raff]

That Focus looks OK but I can't get over how enormous and ugly most new cars are. Particularly the not-quite-SUVs that apparently will be the only option before too long. I'd just feel a berk driving something that looks like they do and takes up that much space in the world for no good reason.

 

That and I'm cheap.

[iainrcz]

I'll stick to my flimsy old Toyota.

 

Sent from my VFD 710 using Tapatalk

[cort1977]

As above, I'm basically very cheap and have little interest in what other people think about me.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I think for me it's the 'what's broken now? OMG how much??' that seems to go with new cars.

 

My 05 Fiesta is new enough for me to know that a car who's ecu just decides to just say fail when all you've done is start the car or (as I was reminded of the other day) when we were out and the thing would just not lock on the key or the fob that anything packed with with computers with a screen for this that or the other and the million ways they can fail let alone all the normal stuff that's now so crammed in it's near impossible to get to means I doubt there's a brand new Fiesta RS on the horizon.

 

You can get to every bit of my car to check or fix it and although small there's quite a lot of room inside. People do fine it weird that there basically nothing in front of the passenger (low spec dashboard) and that it only has 4 gears.

 

Bad side of old cars is they are shit at crashing. I'm hoping not to find out again though.

[barefoot]

I'd like to see how big a sixties saloon like an Austin Cambridge looks in comparison to that focus.

 

 

 

[mercrocker]

Driving the odd new thing is quite therapeutic.  It underlines what many of us think but forget to re-confirm.   I had a spin in a friend's 67-plate Mazda recently - a 3.  I presumed this was in some way a progression from the 323 in Mazda's line up but it felt and looked bloody enormous.   The info gizmo thing was horrendously unfriendly and distracting, turning up the heating involved about five button presses, I could feel every bloody bump in the road yet had no real idea what the bloody thing was doing and it just felt awful.  

 

Now, I am prepared to factor in a little adjustment time and so on but I couldn't live with that thing.  It just felt like computer sex (not that I have ever had any of the computer variety) in that it was driving but not as I know it. 

 

Many will assume that I am just following my "fuck the modern world" script but I honestly, truthfully, was grateful to get back in my £300 Fiesta for the 65 mile drive home.   It was probably costing him and his missus that much a month.  Godawful thing.

[Justin Case]

The trouble is in the STline nonsense. A good friend has the same model in Titanium spec, but  as a passenger the seats are moderately comfy if not up to BX standard, the ride is acceptable on all sorts of road, and subjectively it feels fairly nippy, much better than my wife's Auris 'slug' version. And he doesn't look stupid driving something pretending to be what it patently isn't. To sum up most moderns are quite good in their standard form, but add on the tacky goodies and the appeal suddenly vanishes.

 

Why don't we all drive them, though? That Focus will cost over £21k new or £300 per month. Nuff said

[Datsuncog]

Mostly I like to have things I understand and can fix myself, or can pay someone locally if I don't fancy it. The whole throwaway stream of complex tat most people buy seems completely unsustainable, as well as a waste of money.

 

^^^ That basically sums it up for me.

 

I know how we love to diss the Haynes Book Of Lies, but despite the (many) shortcomings of these publications, I rarely feel totally stuck if I have one of them to hand for my shite. The only cars I haven't had a workshop manual for were my '04 Alfa 156 (which was a notable disaster area), and my current '03 Subaru Forester... although I do have a massive workshop PDF for the Sub, so that gives me some small crumb of comfort (even if I'd rather have something physical to flick through and on which to spill brake fluid).

 

I'm just not convinced that the latest advantages promised by car manufacturers amount to much more than gimcrackery and farfarnelle. The Laguna II was a significantly worse car than the Laguna I - not in itself, but for all sorts of daft penny-pinching reasons like bad earths and a stupidly high-pressure fuel delivery system. I'd argue the same for the Peugeot 407 vs the 406 - I've known three 407 owners, and they all had their cars plummet to scrap because of stupid sensor issues and electronics, not poor ergonomics or engineering.

 

I don't hate all modernz on principle - not anymore, though once upon a time I too sneered at people driving 'Mundanos' and 'Euroblobs' instead of, ooh, a MkIV Zodiac or Victor FD, yet now a nice Mk1 Mondeo estate would get me rather hot under the collar - but I can't see the cars on today's forecourts being any better at just being a car than something built 20 years ago.

 

Cog Sr's Hyundai i30 does all he asks of it (unlike the Peugeot 407 SW it replaced) and he's perfectly tickled with the automatic Bluetooth phone connectivity, but beyond the Currys/PC World element, it's no better or worse than a car of the late 90s - though I find it much more claustrophobic in the back, the ride seems a bit harsh, and the seats aren't all that comfortable, when compared to, say, my old Mk6 Escort Zetec (which was not exactly a car cursed with a surfeit of charisma) - but at least the Scrote was a decent enough drive, comfort and reliability-wise.

 

Twenty years separate the 2016 Hyundai and the 1996 Escrot - but it feels like not much has improved, and things have even gone backwards in some areas. Personally, I don't like the automatic cut-out at junctions etc - it seems to require an extra few seconds to pull away at lights and what have you, as well as requiring a much bigger (and more expensive) battery.

 

I am an intractable tightwad though, and cars just seem too fragile a thing to sink serious coin into. My tolerance threshold for buying shite is about £400; more than that and I start to worry.

 

I'm currently worrying, even though the Sub' has been fine so far.

 

So far.

 

If I could have procured a Series 1 Laguna in decent fettle (TAZ wasn't), I'd say that was all the car I'd ever need. Reasonably safe, reasonably reliable, pretty spacious and very very comfortable.

 

And I still like MrsDC's Yaris, on the grounds that it's really a very simple thing despite being a 2005 car. But there's so little to go wrong with it, and so far (touch wood) nothing major has, other than a ticking water pump that gave plenty of notice that it was on its way out.

 

So yeah. Simplicity. Comfort. Ease of repair. These are things I value, and things that I cannot find in modern cars. I also like personality in a car, however that's defined, but have now come to accept that it's not really a priority.

 

When I was bombing around in my B11 Datsun Sunny Coupé c.1999, I regarded it as a bit of a compromise; it was just a bit too modern and characterless compared to the 70s classics I craved. There were still a fair few of them knocking around back then, generally giffer-piloted. Now, I'd have another one like a shot based on their now-rarity, yet retaining those three characteristics of being basic, easy to live with and easy to fix. The 5-speed gearbox made it a much nicer long-haul car than my Cortina 2.0. Did it have 'personality'? Not really. But I'd deffo have another.

 

Anyway. Just my rambling tuppenn'orth. Good question, though!

[shedenvy]

As others have mentioned, for me the decision is purely money. I try to balance cost of purchase / cost of running / cost of repair and no matter how you look at it a brand new car is never financially viable. Nearly new still involves depreciation or loan repayments and newer technology dictates huge bills and difficult or impossible diy fix. For me I'm stuck in the 12 to 15 year old phase: near enough bottom of depreciation, economical enough common rail diesel, potential to fix most problems but with the understanding that a major problem consigns it to scrap and a slight prang will write off the car. Would love to one of you heroes dailying in a 20+ year old car but unless it's French the purchase cost also comes at a premium, running/maintaining costs become higher and the issue of rust starts to rear it's ugly brown head.

Oh, and I work for Ford.

[Lacquer Peel]

Carlton diesel? More info please.

[Schaefft]

Because I am now able to afford these cars that have been very aspirational at one point and are able to still see why they were, by putting them in their respective context, something that most people can't. It doesn't matter to me if my Celsior is 26 years old, it is still as amazing as it was back then.

[fordperv]

I just feel right in older stuff, i think for me it's a combination of a few things, I can tell the car what to do not the other way around, no driver aids to smack me on the wrist, old cars give feedback and talk to you through the steering and brakes every step of the way, where as new stuff just feels like driving a washing machine on a set cycle with overly light steering and over servo'd brakes, I like the sounds and smells that come with old cars and above all I love rwd, you all know it's right front wheels for steering and the back wheels for pushing why over complicate it, I would be limited on choice of moderns because of this one

 

Oh and the most important one I love to tinker

 

My comiserations for your back on the drive to the course and back steve

[Broadsword]

+1 for many newer cars being really uncomfortable. I had a brand new Golf 1.0 Turbo as a courtesy car when my XJ40 was written off. The seats were unacceptable, the ride was both harsh and incredibly bouncy to the point that I was worried that something was actually wrong with it (admittedly someone had overinflated the tyres, but after resetting it was not much better). The engine was fun, brakes brilliant, the gearbox was very good and some of the other gizmos such as the park assist and folding mirrors were very good.

 

I don't think I would be happy with the depreciation if I had the money to buy such a thing new. I would probably be ok with buying a 1-2 year old. I also suspect the newer Fiestas are quite good on balance. I also noted that new Fiat spider (MX-5 derived) is very, very cheap if you buy one that is like a year old. The Golf I drove is thoroughly outclassed by my Xantia though for pure driveability. The thing with the Xantia is that it uses less fuel, carries more, grips much better, stops as well, but also has comfort approaching an old Jag XJ, so suddenly lots of new cars seem rather a bad deal.

[sutty2006]

Well we are about 1.5 hours into our journey in the STline ecochod mobile. The headlights are mighty bright, good for us, perhaps not so good for on coming drivers. Everything is auto, even main beam comes on without you knowing. Inside is like a spaceship. Heated seats, heated steering wheel, more buttons than able to shake a shitty stick at. Currently trying to work out the cruise control on the M1. We might die.

[fairkens]

Apart from being slightly broken as a person, i think what was said above about feeling right. Like houses some people prefer new builds, some listed period piles and others mid century doer upers, same with cars

 

I love all kinds of cars and have a v nice modern at my disposal but I'm incomprehensibly excited about getting new tyres fitted to a 20 year old mondeo in the morning

[Marm Toastsmith]

New smells like death, old stuff smells like life. Dirt is good. Fresh plastic is bad.

[SiC]

I don't like brand new cars because they're not yet old.

[clayts450]

New cars = white goods with shiny toys and lights to wow the buyer. Must have shit like touch screen this and that to irritate and distract and make the majority of incompetent tools even more shit at driving. As noted, modernz = nanny state driving. 

 

And yes - they all look the same - bloated shit.

 

But, in their defence, modernz have their place - if you need reliable, bland, A to B motoring, then they'll do the do.

 

But I like to drive a car, not ride in it - I want to engage with it, use knobs to turn things on and off. I want to decide when to flick the wipers or turn the lights on. I'm competent enough to stay in lane, keep my distance and creep along at a set speed using my foot (cruise control has its place on long journeys, just not in average speed zones - the amount of cars I overtake in average speed zones by driving not 'croozin' is often huge). 

 

I also like my cars to be different, not to be the same as washingmachineomobiles. In the short space of time I have driven

the 214 the amount of waves and nods of appreciation I got, even very locally was bizarre but most welcome. I still get double takes when I zip past modernz in my Streetwise. 

 

I love driving - even the commute into work. It's not a drudge, it's an enjoyable experience because I get to engage with the car. If it were a modern car then that too would be a drudge.

[Lord Sterling]

I drive old cars because it's all I can afford to run and sometimes buy.

 

A couple of hundred quid per month is a real big deal for me, but for a lot of other people, it isn't, so they can afford to choose to have a newer car on finance, wheras I can only try and afford a few repairs/bodges here and there....actually, I tend to stray away from bodges and try to repair or replace things with proper items, less chance of going wrong.

 

I've had my fill of new cars anyway, I used to be trade plater and drove hundreds of new or nearly new cars. Very few cars impressed me. There really isn't much currently out there that I'd happily commit a few hundred to a month. If I could save a few hundred a month, I'd save it up and fund my Sterlings, they made me smile once and they can do again just by being actually driveable and on the road again.

[UltraWomble]

Price.

 

Im a nurse with 3 kids, a wife and a second home to pay for - something has to give somewhere.

[Eyersey1234]

I'm unable to afford a new car at the moment, hence the £500 focus, but there's not many new cars I like anyway, as others have said a lot of them seem to be bloated and ugly.

[egg]

I was just born old. And I want old things.

 

Also pride of ownership is not something mentioned so far - even with my own shoddy skills, I know my cars are some of the best maintained in the street.

 

Apart from a few lads, I'm the only one out at the weekend topping up the fluids, and generally faffing around.