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Car mistakes?

Following on from the 'Why do we change cars?' thread, I wondered if anyone here had made any car mistakes?

My contribution was when I was a bit of an Alfahead, and I had a 3.2V6 GT for a while. I loved that car although it was a real bone-shaker, and you couldn't listen to the radio because of the (beautiful) noise, but eventually after 70k miles, I had to think about a replacement.
I needed something a bit more economical and practical so I traded the GT in for a 159ti station wagon with the 2.7 diesel lump and big wheels.
I went through the front tyres in 7,000 miles, and the fuel economy was tragic for a diesel (low thirties IIRC)
It was quickly chopped in for a Prodrive V6 Brera. I mean, if you're going to burn fuel, you might as well have fun doing it!

1. Many years ago replacing my trusty ancient Vauxhall Viva (Mk1) with the Mk2 which was total rubbish.
2. Also a while back buying a Ford Sierra. The worst handling car I've ever owned - the slightest hint of dampness on the road and the tail would slide out unexpectedly.
3. Buying a Suzuki Grand Vitara - supposed to be 4WD but you could only engage 4WD below 20mph. At higher speeds it was rear wheel drive and almost as liable to spin as the Sierra.
 
One of my biggest mistakes was scrapping my HB Viva because I just didn't have the time or the space to do the welding repairs to the front footwells.
I had just sold mine when it was 3 years old and a drunk driver redesigned the front end. Amazingly, the buyer still bought it after repair. Last I saw of the other driver was being taken away under blues.
 
Only one unreliable car, the Mercedes SL500 R230 I owned for a short while. Too complicated for its own good, and threw up so many fault codes I learned to ignore most of them & they went away eventually. The suspension, whilst lovely, started to leak & that was the final straw.

I've been watching a few uTube videos on these guys who run around in expensive "Supercars", and I'm amazed by how incredibly unreliable they are. No thanks, and besides, in my opinion, they look ridiculous out on the road.
 
I had four and they were no worse than other cars of that era. However they did teach me a great deal about how cars work and how to keep them working.

I changed a fan belt once. That was fun.

The recurrent issues I had with various Reliant’s was overheating. Cracked engine blocks (I think) letting oil into the cooling system, emulsified mess in the radiator.
Mind you, I used to do long journeys to Wales, Lake District and Isle O Wight from Nottingham with 3 kids in the car plus holiday gear. I asked a lot from the 850cc lump.

Character building.
 
Ironically, I also owned a 2005 Mondeo more recently, but that was a Ghia X 3.0 V6 and was one of the best cars I’ve ever owned.

It might say something about Ford's quality control that I've got our Mondeo V6 down as the worst car we ever owned!
 
I've been watching a few uTube videos on these guys who run around in expensive "Supercars", and I'm amazed by how incredibly unreliable they are. No thanks, and besides, in my opinion, they look ridiculous out on the road.

I’ve never regretted buying mine. Even though the wheel trims had to be added later.

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You can’t say that! The PFM massive is always yelling from the forum pages that they NEVER go wrong!

I have had 5 Subarus, always Imprezas and always Turbos/STIs. Four of them were pretty much bombproof, but the fifth is the least reliable car I have ever owned and my only real 'mistake'. Bought new in 2003 it had 7 warranty repairs in 3 years (rear suspension, water pump, alternator, water pump again, gearbox, speedometer and rear suspension again) and then the rear diff borked at 63K... Subaru refused to pay anything towards it despite being only 3K over warranty mileage until it was proved the rear diff oil had not been changed at one of their main dealer services. And even when it was running well it didn't feel as planted as the UK Turbo it replaced, always very skittish on the limit. Sold it and bought a Honda Civic Type R.... bombproof and brilliant!
 
I changed a fan belt once. That was fun.

The recurrent issues I had with various Reliant’s was overheating. Cracked engine blocks (I think) letting oil into the cooling system, emulsified mess in the radiator.
Mind you, I used to do long journeys to Wales, Lake District and Isle O Wight from Nottingham with 3 kids in the car plus holiday gear. I asked a lot from the 850cc lump.

Character building.
Likewise did long journeys but all but the last one was a Trotter style Supervan with a 700cc engine (or was it 750?).
 
Two bad cars amongst the many.
Firstly an Astra estate, company car so no choice. I have problems with the driving position of Vauxhalls, gives me a very sore back.
To it's credit, I treated it very harshly and it lapped up the abuse and gave zero trouble.
Then, Renault RX4 Turbo diesel. As a preamble we had a normal mk1 Scenic for a few years that was perfect, served as a family car/van very well and proved very reliable. Enter the RX4, bought as a low mileage 2 year old, first year was fine and then all the problems started.
Blew turbos regularly, AGR valve problems were almost permanent, lost count of water pumps, fuel pump twice, main drive shaft disintegrated, multiple electrical problems, uplinks snapped, window gears stripped, a few other things until finally the cylinder head went, leading to the overdue scrapping of the junk heap.
 
An early mistake was buying a Scirocco GT2 on a rainy day. I was young and very enthusiastic about buying it and the rain hid what turned out to be a really bad respray job on the bonnet and one wing. So it later became fairly clear that the car had clearly been involved in a hefty bump, and there were various other problems including the whole thing being slightly asymmetrical.

Never buy a wet car, that's my advice :)
 
I think the best car I’ve had is the current one . A VW UP! . It’s perfect for the type of driving i do which is short trips urban. Also my employer pays me a car allowance to only occasionally use it for work ,and if I add that to the BIK I don’t pay any more it pays for itself over and over every year.
 
Likewise did long journeys but all but the last one was a Trotter style Supervan with a 700cc engine (or was it 750?).

To be honest I was guessing at 850cc.

The Reliant vans were the ones to get, I had one with side windows at one point.

I used to paint/stencil 5 point stars onto my cars. I regret not having photographs of each one.
White van had blacks stars of various sizes, and a purple van I owned had a huge gold star on the roof. Those were the days.

My Dad had a Bond 3-Wheeler in the Seventies, but not The Bug.
 
Back when Group B finished in 1986, I saw that Austin Rover were selling Metro 6R4s for £16k, with a spare body shell. I couldn’t get the readies for it, not by a long way. I think they all went into clubman’s rallying and rallycross.
There’s an ex-works car for sale at £450k at the mo.
Mind you, I’d have killed myself in it.
 
can't say my Vauxhall Chevette was a mistake. It was cheap and a workhorse, carrying me and my belongings up and down the M1 between Leeds and London.

Lasted three years till the gear box fell off.

Served me well but wasn't a nice car.
 
I had four and they were no worse than other cars of that era. However they did teach me a great deal about how cars work and how to keep them working.


Indeed. You had to know how to look after a Reliant. I think I’ve mentioned it before but my dad was once a manager at a Reliant dealership and they always had a yard full of ancient trade ins so when my car was beyond repair he used to sell me another for fifty quid with a bit of test and tax in the window. I became that familiar with them I used to spend most weekends fixing other peoples Reliants. When the council demolished my lock up I had to give up :(
 


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