Forum search & shortcuts

Bloody awful cars
 

[Closed] Bloody awful cars

Posts: 7645
Full Member
 

WTF are you all talking about? These are cheap city cars

True but some of them are genuinely bad. The original Ford Ka, is a humble city car but is actually great fun to drive. I hear Suzuki Swifts are good fun to0. Kia Piccanto's and Daewoo / Chevy Matiz's are just hateful tin boxes


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 2:48 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

The original Ford Ka, is a humble city car but is actually great fun to drive.

But woefully under-powered. I wish they had put the Zetec engine in it from the outset.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 2:56 pm
Posts: 91178
Free Member
 

I also drove a new Ka - it was awful. Just too small and cramped, and I'm not a big bloke.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 2:56 pm
Posts: 9178
Full Member
 

My first car was a 1986/7 Fiat Panda 4x4. I'm 6' 5" and I loved it.

Not exactly Speedy McQuick, but nippy enough round town and cheap enough to repair when you had to fix something. Good off road too and well worth 350 quid.

Compare that to the Rover 620SLDi that I bought for commuting. Ok, I pretty much killed in in a couple of years, but it was a horrible car. I bought it for the economy and bits just kept falling off it. In 18 months it needed a new gearbox, the driver's window electrics died, the sunroof stopped working, it got a huge oil leak and the clutch went so badly that the bloke that finally bought it had to drive it home in third.

I was glad to see the back of it quite frankly.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 3:38 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Nissan Juke.

Horrible to behold, horrible to sit in, crap to drive.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 3:38 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Nissan Note +1
but I think an A Class merc I once had as a hire car was truly the worst.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 4:04 pm
Posts: 34026
Full Member
 

I drive a 2001 Vectra, cos it was dead cheap & very low mileage.
But good grief it's an awful thing.

As Jeremy of Clarkson once said of the Vectra : designed in a coffee break by people who don't care about cars.


I've said it before, a truly, hateful, godawful car, seriously the most uncomfortable car I've ever had to spend time in! I'd start fidgeting after five minutes trying to find a position where either my back didn't ache or my arse go numb, not looking forward at all to spending the next two or three hours in the bloody thing.
Fortunately it was a company car.
Yugos were awful, too. Every aspect of the was vague, brakes, steering, gearbox...
Typical communist approach to car building.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 4:59 pm
Posts: 19914
Free Member
 

I drive a 2001 Vectra, cos it was dead cheap & very low mileage.
But good grief it's an awful thing.
As Jeremy of Clarkson once said of the Vectra : designed in a coffee break by people who don't care about cars.

I've said it before, a truly, hateful, godawful car, seriously the most uncomfortable car I've ever had to spend time in! I'd start fidgeting after five minutes trying to find a position where either my back didn't ache or my arse go numb, not looking forward at all to spending the next two or three hours in the bloody thing.

Hmm. We did 60,000 miles in a 2001 Vectra. It was the second best motorway car I've ever driven. Torquey diesel engine, lovely comfy seats, quiet, docile.
The best motorway car I've ever driven is the £400 1998 Omega I'm currently using. Same as the Vectra but more so, then add a quieter petrol engine, auto box and cruise control and I'm as happy as a pig in poo. It's an epic mile muncher. 🙂


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 6:06 pm
Posts: 311
Full Member
 

I currently have the misfortune to be driving a Vauxhall Insignia whilst my car is in the bodyshop for a new front end following a muppet in a van pulling out of a side road in front of me.

It is, without doubt, the most hateful vehicle I've ever had the misfortune to drive.

It's a 1.8 petrol and it struggles to maintain 70mph on a motorway when it has 4 normal sized adults in it.

It's impossible to find a comfortable position to drive in.

The interior plastic would be rejected by Fisher Price for being too nasty.

It handles like a cow on casters.

I have driven several of the cars that folks have cited on this thread but not one of them is as utterly horrible in so many ways as the Insignia with which I am currently inflicted.

Fortunately I should be getting my car back on Friday so I'll be able to return the current heap to Enterprise.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 6:22 pm
Posts: 46212
Full Member
 

Meh, I remember the deathtrap that was the old company car I and (the then yet to be) mrs_oab drove one summer at an outdoor centre. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the beige Lada Riva estate with iffy steering, underpowered brakes and a penchant for overheating and smoking under the bonnet and behind the dash...
[img] [/img]
And for 'modern' cars, it has to be:
[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 6:48 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Good call.

There's so much fluff around the Defender few who drive it actually notice that they are terrible to operate.

Yes, I'm know they are good off road; that doesn't change the fact.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 7:01 pm
Posts: 9112
Free Member
 

Am I the only one who thinks that the Lada Riva is a little bit attractive?


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 7:05 pm
Posts: 46212
Full Member
 

Freak. 😉


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 7:09 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

Neighbour used to own one of these. Gave me a lift in it one day 😯

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 8:56 pm
Posts: 10204
Full Member
 

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 9:17 pm
Posts: 0
Free Member
 

PeterPoddy - Member

I must be a bit odd. I LOVE little Fiats!

Same here, had a Panda and then a 127 when I lived in Spain.. great little cars, the 127 was a real giggle to drive. The new Panda is pretty good too, always book one as my hire car when I pop back over to see friends.

Worst car, either a very tired 1.4 cvh powered 1992 Ford Orion, I left this with the keys in when it finally expired, or the Morris Ital estate I once bought for a laugh.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 9:50 pm
Posts: 19914
Free Member
 

It's a 1.8 petrol and it struggles to maintain 70mph on a motorway when it has 4 normal sized adults in it.

Bullshit. Utter bullshit.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 9:53 pm
Posts: 7130
Full Member
 

^ that was my experience with the insignia as well. Hired a 12 plate for a weekend, 2 adults, 2 kids and festival gear (so light camping). Totally uninspiring, and surprisingly under powered. No confidence, so where I would have overtaken etc in my old 1.9 diesel laguna or 1.8 Mazda 6, the 1.8 insignia forced me to just sit there.

Without a doubt, the dullest repmobile-light I have ever had the misfortune to drive.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 10:10 pm
Posts: 3351
Free Member
 

Mk III Astra was absolutely the worst. I had a Mk2 Golf GiT at the time, with a perfect driving position, lovely ergonomics and comfy seats. In a car designed in 1979.

The 1994 Ashtray I drove had an offset driving position - common to all Vauxhalls I've driven. WHY CAN'T THEY PUT THE STEERING WHEEL IN FRONT OF THE DRIVER? The seats were desperately uncomfortable and the handling was very, very poor indeed. I had to drive that damn thing 450 miles, within forty my back was aching. I've driven a Vectra and a Corsa of mid 90s vintage and couldn't believe how utterly inept they actually were. It was as if someone had sat down and intentionally made the driving experience of all GM cars a trial.

The Carlton wasn't a bad effort though. And for balance, I drove a Mk IV Astra and was actually pretty surprised at how much like a Mk2 Golf it felt.


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 10:22 pm
Posts: 1083
Full Member
 

I used to have a 1.0l micra which had wheels like a fatbike, grass growing on the back seat, and windows that wouldn't quite wind up properly.

Objectively, as awful a car as could be created.

But so much fun to drive!


 
Posted : 10/07/2012 10:37 pm
Page 2 / 2