Cars that were unexpectedly better than you thought

[artdjones]

25 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Exceptionally lucky that the timing belt didn't eat the aux belt, always a worry on petrol Renners, especially the K4M if that's what it had, as they often did.

They're brilliant cars, just heavily let down by the utterly shit electronics. Crank sensor wiring, window motors, electric power steering motors, electric parking brake (where applicable) to name a few.

Everything else, even the engines when looked after, was brilliant. But all of those faults are ubiquitous and not just stereotypical with the Mégane II, Scenic II, Laguna II etc. Count yourself lucky

All cars have flaws, but Renault just tried too hard to advance them and made them overcomplicated for what they needed to be. 

Once the faults became well known the aftermarket came up with some solutions, but their reputations never recovered. A reasonably low spec Megane 2 estate or saloon is a fairly good bet. We sold a couple of saloons with no comebacks. 

 

[2flags]

On 05/11/2023 at 14:29, Dan the van said:

I know they were much hated at the time but an Allegro 1300 super.1975 vintage so an early one.Bought as emergency transport in 1986 when I took a job bus driving for London Transport.  I was at Merton garage sarf London and it did the trip from Chertsey for 18 months needing just a s/h radiator.Never let me down and was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting.Sold to a mates gf to learn to drive in.She loved it,nicknamed it Guppy.(reg was GPE 558N).Oh,and yes it did have the square steering wheel.

Wasn't my car, but a colleague of mine, when we also worked as bus drivers [Hanwell Garage, 207route]. He would buy a car at the auctions, keep it for a couple of months, then sell it and go back to the auctions and get another. He drover big cars, Rover SD1's Granadas, big Vauxhalls. One day he goes to the auction and everything is either too expensive or shite. He is getting desperate, having sold his car and does fancy having to do the shopping for his wife and kids on the bus. In desperation, he puts in a bid on an Allegro. He wins it. [Early 80's, these were cheap as chips.] He intends to sell it and buy his usual big car. His wife however has other ideas. She loves the fact that it is big enough for the family, the boot will hold a weeks shopping and it is very good on fuel! [35-40mpg as opposed to 18-20mpg] She decides they are keeping the car. This thing simple refused to die. He had to admit in the end, it was probably the best car he had owned! It just kept going!

[Rocket88]

In the early eighties ( when they just “ old cars” I had a late model PB Cresta, which had a 3.3. And a four speed floor change. I expected a wallowy old barge…. Not at all…. went like the clappers, and handled  surprisingly well 

[Timewaster]

10 hours ago, 2flags said:

Wasn't my car, but a colleague of mine, when we also worked as bus drivers [Hanwell Garage, 207route]. He would buy a car at the auctions, keep it for a couple of months, then sell it and go back to the auctions and get another. He drover big cars, Rover SD1's Granadas, big Vauxhalls. One day he goes to the auction and everything is either too expensive or shite. He is getting desperate, having sold his car and does fancy having to do the shopping for his wife and kids on the bus. In desperation, he puts in a bid on an Allegro. He wins it. [Early 80's, these were cheap as chips.] He intends to sell it and buy his usual big car. His wife however has other ideas. She loves the fact that it is big enough for the family, the boot will hold a weeks shopping and it is very good on fuel! [35-40mpg as opposed to 18-20mpg] She decides they are keeping the car. This thing simple refused to die. He had to admit in the end, it was probably the best car he had owned! It just kept going!

A school friends dad was just like that, never kept a car for more than a few weeks. He did a swap plus cash for one of his cars. Probably a Volvo 240 or an Sd1 and ended up with a brown Lada.

Although he couldn't help himself from moving it on after a while, he ended up buying three of four more Rivas over the following few years and became a bit of a fan.

[Richard_FM]

A friend of the family bought a terracotta Allegro in the early 1990s when he was between company cars.  He mentioned it drove better than he expected, though it had no headrests on the front seats.

I get the impression they are decent cars if you didn't get a Friday afternoon special! Probably true of the other BL cars.

[ETCHY]

Kia Picanto.

We got this in 2017 ( it's the current grumpy looking type). It's modern so i thought it'd be shite & crap to ilve with after our beloved K11 Micra died. 

Turns out it's very similar in many ways ( ours is quite a basic one) & actually quite fun to drive .

 

[GeordieInExile]

1 hour ago, ETCHY said:

Kia Picanto.

We got this in 2017 ( it's the current grumpy looking type). It's modern so i thought it'd be shite & crap to ilve with after our beloved K11 Micra died. 

Turns out it's very similar in many ways ( ours is quite a basic one) & actually quite fun to drive .

 

Similarly, I absolutely love the hybrid Panda I've got as a hire car at the moment. Basic and needs to be thrashed to go anywhere. Handles nicely and has loads of room in it for a car of that size. 

[ETCHY]

5 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

A friend of the family bought a terracotta Allegro in the early 1990s when he was between company cars.  He mentioned it drove better than he expected, though it had no headrests on the front seats.

I get the impression they are decent cars if you didn't get a Friday afternoon special! Probably true of the other BL cars.

The problem with the Allegro is it got a bad name early on & the press at the time loved nothing other than Leyland bashing. IMHO a lot of BL stuff was no worse & often better than the stuff Ford were churning out. Difference is Ford had a better image / reputation & changed models far more often than BL who kept stuff in production for years. Therefore a bad rep' lingered on despite the model getting better & the models ended up being rather outdated & old fashioned, thus not helping their image.

[stuboy]

it looked crap, worth nothing but my old polonez, it just started, drove everywhere, did what it needed too do, when snow came the bugger kept me warm and dry whilst others walked too work and got cold, and best seats ever

[Richard_FM]

2 hours ago, ETCHY said:

The problem with the Allegro is it got a bad name early on & the press at the time loved nothing other than Leyland bashing. IMHO a lot of BL stuff was no worse & often better than the stuff Ford were churning out. Difference is Ford had a better image / reputation & changed models far more often than BL who kept stuff in production for years. Therefore a bad rep' lingered on despite the model getting better & the models ended up being rather outdated & old fashioned, thus not helping their image.

My Aunt & Uncle had a late Allegro for years, my Aunt reckoned it was more reliable than the C reg Maestro that replaced it.

[twosmoke300]

11 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

My Aunt & Uncle had a late Allegro for years, my Aunt reckoned it was more reliable than the C reg Maestro that replaced it.

I think the last of any particular model is always a safer bet than the first year or so of a new model . Some of the glitches have been ironed out and the garage know their way around them and the short cuts that can be made to make jobs quicker etc 

[Surface Rust]

On 05/11/2023 at 09:20, Dj_efk said:

I once bought a series one 1300SDL Allegro complete with quartic steering wheel back in 2008ish for a laugh, believing the Clarkson drivel about BL. It cost me a grand on eBay, it had 45k miles from new and was immaculate.

Well the joke was on me: After giving the thing a birthday service and upgrading the ignition to electronic using a kit of parts from a Mini specialist, it was 100% reliable, drove really well and would cruise easily at 65-70mph no bother. It also turned heads everywhere it went and I couldn’t get it to do less than 40mpg no matter how I drove it. At the time I lived in west London and it would make even more sense in London now, being tax and Khan exempt.

I turned from a BL basher into a believer- so when a low mileage series 1 1800HL Princess came up on eBay a year later down in south Devon I bought that too - and once again was astounded at how good a car that actually was compared with the rep, once I’d given it the same birthday + electronic ignition upgrade treatment.

Bear in mind I was in my twenties and my expectations of a car were somewhat lower back then, but nonetheless I still correct obviously biased bollox about BL if I ever hear it now using my actual experience of their products.

It wasn't a yellow 4 door by any chance (as in my signature image)? I sold mine to someone in London around then and always regretted it. 

I found it a pleasant drive and really comfortable.

[Richard_FM]

12 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

I think the last of any particular model is always a safer bet than the first year or so of a new model . Some of the glitches have been ironed out and the garage know their way around them and the short cuts that can be made to make jobs quicker etc 

You are probably right.  There have been some exceptions to the rule, I've heard the Rover P6s after 1970 got gradually worse in terms of build & paint quality.

Some new models can be troublesome in their early years, with it taking some time for assembly workers getting used to putting them together, as well as mechanics learning how to fix problems.

[Dj_efk]

22 hours ago, Surface Rust said:

It wasn't a yellow 4 door by any chance (as in my signature image)? I sold mine to someone in London around then and always regretted it. 

I found it a pleasant drive and really comfortable.

Nope a damask / similar red 2 door.

 

I saw it quite by chance several years later parked in a car park in Worthing - it was a fantastic coincidence as that was the o U.K. day I have ever been to Worthing, I sold the car while still living in London.

It then popped up on eBay a few years ago looking a bit worse for wear - clearly hadn’t been garaged etc. and had deteriorated plus had some one or two interior trim bits fitted - I was a little saddened by this as I know it would still look as good as it did then now if I had kept it.

[grogee]

Hyundai i800:

It's a van with seats. But it drove really nicely, was quiet, and fitted everything in. Unfortunately I got it stuck in a grassy field, not the car's fault. 

Kia Ceed first gen:

Much better than you'd think, equal to a Mk1 Focus in most respects. Quite hard to remove sick from the upholstery. 

Skoda Favorit:

Slow biscuit tin with noisy engine but quite funny and enjoyable to maintain momentum. Largely badger-resistant as I discovered late one evening down an Essex country lane. 

Ford Ka bASe:

Quite possibly the Best Car in the World. 1300 pushrod had uncanny ability to maintain 90 on the motorway. Door handle broke tho. 

Ford Taurus SHO manual:

Sounded great. Firm ride especially considering it's 'Murigan. I liked the button near the steering wheel that skipped to the next AOR radio station. 

Daihatsu Materia: 

Average to drive but looked like it came from the set of The Munsters.