Worst car you have driven
- Thread starter Milkyway
- Start date
Probably one of the two I took lessons in - a late 90's Fiesta non-Turbo diesel or the early-2000's Micra. Both utterly gutless, and in the case of the Micra everything "flexed" - the handbrake, the steering wheel, the dash, it was all nasty cheap thin plastic.
I would say the worst car i've ever been a passenger in was a 2004 Corsa though. At least the Micra was sittable-in. The Corsa was about as comfortable as being sodomised. And I had to endure it from Exeter to Manchester and back. Never again.
I would say the worst car i've ever been a passenger in was a 2004 Corsa though. At least the Micra was sittable-in. The Corsa was about as comfortable as being sodomised. And I had to endure it from Exeter to Manchester and back. Never again.
Citroen Xsara Picasso - one of my past employers hire car group was this car and I had the misfortune of getting them a couple of times, after that I just asked at the desk for a fiesta or similar sized car, don't care if you charge the company for the higher group car as I didn't want it.
No redeeming features whatsoever.
No redeeming features whatsoever.
Soldato
On the subject of horrible cars... someone I know has a Juke for sale - I had a nosey out of interest... with the colours it was in from the outside it didn't look too bad if you made a concerted effort to ignore certain areas/not look at it from certain angles... but looking inside yikes! what on earth were they thinking. The central console colours and styling literally made me want to throw up.
Soldato
The Juke is definitely up there with the worst.
My next door neighbours Mrs has had 5.
Last one being a nismo RS.
I've had a couple of lifts in a Juke but it was dark so I never truly appreciated how awful it was inside. I've not spent much time in the newer models but the older Juke and Qashqai were horrific body roll wise.
Associate
1.0L Vauxhall Agila I once had as a hire car. It was also a lime green colour.
I am genuinely perplexed when someone tries to tell me that Nissan are a good make. The 2014 Qashqai I owned used to have a doorcard that would flex when you put the window up or down. You could give the doorcard a gentle push and the entire thing would just bend. Putting the windows down to clear rain would not clear even large drops of water from the outside. These are just the little things I use to determine if a car has good build quality.
Soldato
The Juke is a Micra on stilts.
I'm not a fan of either car.
I have been a passenger in a Qashqai it felt cramped and very average.
The seats also broke my spine.
Soldato
So the Fiesta thing.
My dad hates Vauxhall, I've grown up with him hating Vauxhall, so imagine my surprise when he bought a new Corsa (18 plate I think).
He had problems with it, I can't remember the full story, however Motorpoint offered him a great px on a Fiesta ecoboost.
I drove the Corsa to motorpoint on a mixture of high speed roads, it was utterly dreadful.
The engine was totally lacklustre, it lacked both torque, power and character.
The handling and steering where dangerously vague and to be honest it felt accident damaged or badly aligned to me - he was doing the right thing exchanging.
I then drove the 17 plate Fiesta ecoboost, it was a revelation in comparison, torquey eager and nimble, also great feedback - an enjoyable drive.
It was an utter no brainer making the swap.
Later my G/F Focus ecoboost had head gasket problems, my comments relate to how the car drives and not it's reliability.
Would I have one? No I wouldn't but they are good to drive.
My dad hates Vauxhall, I've grown up with him hating Vauxhall, so imagine my surprise when he bought a new Corsa (18 plate I think).
He had problems with it, I can't remember the full story, however Motorpoint offered him a great px on a Fiesta ecoboost.
I drove the Corsa to motorpoint on a mixture of high speed roads, it was utterly dreadful.
The engine was totally lacklustre, it lacked both torque, power and character.
The handling and steering where dangerously vague and to be honest it felt accident damaged or badly aligned to me - he was doing the right thing exchanging.
I then drove the 17 plate Fiesta ecoboost, it was a revelation in comparison, torquey eager and nimble, also great feedback - an enjoyable drive.
It was an utter no brainer making the swap.
Later my G/F Focus ecoboost had head gasket problems, my comments relate to how the car drives and not it's reliability.
Would I have one? No I wouldn't but they are good to drive.
I find Nissan very mixed - the Tekna trim level tends to be fairly good if a bit minimalistic, but anything below that really isn't great and the build quality varies a lot. On the other hand I've found their dealers for the most part a bit better than most main dealers though I did have a less than professional experience with one of them the other day (albeit the circumstances weren't ideal for both parties but sometimes that is the way things go) - fortunately not the ones I use more often.
The rubber in trim and around the windows and the stuff that should clear the side windows, etc. doesn't tend to be that great in general not just in functionality but in far too many cases it ages 2-4x quicker than in other brands I have experience of - I've seen 10 year old VWs with better door rubber condition than 2-3 year old Nissans.
I was surprised by the cramped feeling in the back - I was thinking of buying a Pulsar for a runabout and I swear it felt roomier despite IIRC being based off the same platform and stuff like the Tiguan again feels much roomier despite being fairly similar vehicle.
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I sold a 2010 Tiguan Match to get the Qashqai and the fact I was offered a good deal more than other offers as a trade in was what made my mind up. The Tiguan was a much, much better car but had been over a year out of warranty and I always tend to change every 3 years. I should have just driven the Tiguan for a few more years and took my chances. It would have given less hassles and been far more reliable than the brand new Qashqai that replaced it.
I remember my wife asking if I was just being picky, but I reminded her that the Tiguan was back with VW only twice in the almost 4 years we owned it. The Qashqai was back 12 times in just over a year and not one single issue was fixed satisfactorily. Nissan (two diferent dealers) just kept refusing to fix it, claiming things like "that annoynig rattle behind the HVAC control is within tolerances". Or tried to claim it was not covered under warranty (a failed AC unit). I was once even told the reason they refused to fix the very squeaky suspension, was because there was no technical bulletin so it wasn't a fault. I drove home (with my squeaky suspension) and printed the relevant tech bulletin from a Qashqai owners forum, it even had schematics of the faulty part. Drove back the the Nissan dealership and showed it to the service manager. His response was, "not on our system and if it's not on our system Nissan won't pay us for the work".
During the same period my wife had a Mini Countryman which she kept for 5 years, and it was never once back with the dealer for an issue.
Soldato
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Most on here haven't even driven a Fiesta
I know, its a BMW or bust.
Ah there was a trick to the flooded engine push in the choke put the gas pedal to the floor, turn her over the air rush would clear the fuel and she'd start. A lost art indeed. Which reminds me of when I was telling a young lad how to start a petrol lawnmower on a cold morning and said to pull the choke out. "Whats a choke?" came the reply. That hit home.
There was a old story about a woman who was complaining about how her Mercedes had very poor mpg.
She pulled the choke knob out to hang her handbag on.
( Very long time ago... but you get the scenario)
Also, we had to flip the Winter / Summer setting over on the air intake.
She pulled the choke knob out to hang her handbag on.
( Very long time ago... but you get the scenario)
Also, we had to flip the Winter / Summer setting over on the air intake.
Never been in one... & wouldn’t want to be in the back of one in a smash.
It looks like your head is banging on the back window.
Currently got a hire vw transporter 71 plate and cannot see what all the fuzz is about, the diesel engine is gutless, the 6 speed gearbox is vague as he'll and the steering/ handerling is worse than my hilux. Oh and the interior is covered in drab cheap plastic.
Plus the seating position is terrible for people over 6 foot, you end up with both calve and knee pain after an hours driving.
Much prefer the transit customs
Plus the seating position is terrible for people over 6 foot, you end up with both calve and knee pain after an hours driving.
Much prefer the transit customs
Soldato
Agreed with the Ford Ka, my wife has one and I hate when I have to drive that thing. Glad to be selling it.
I'd probably say: Chevrolet Aveo (just bad all around), Hyundai i20 (might have been the particular one I drove, but the brakes were very poor), Clio MK3 (not a bad car as such, but no feel to steering and a gear change almost comically devoid of feel).
They're the cars that spring to mind. Everything else has been at least half decent. Maybe not Lotus or Porsche level, but fine.
They're the cars that spring to mind. Everything else has been at least half decent. Maybe not Lotus or Porsche level, but fine.