advertisement


Car mistakes?

Did it have the talking dash?

Possibly the MG (yeah, right) Maestro? A school pal’s parents had a black MG Montego that was like a not so loquacious and less camp KITT from Knight Rider. You know the one... “Oh Michael, slow down, my wheels are getting all dusty.”

(This would be around the time I fused the snazzy electric windows on my mum and dad’s hour old Volvo estate by repeatedly doing all four at once for a few minutes.)
 
That reminds me. With my £600 budget for a first car, I looked at some real shockers. One of the few that had decent mileage was one of these:

Polonez_1500_P1000085.JPG


The car was like the one abovee, resplendent in 'Warsaw Taxi Crashing Depreciation White'. However, despite the attractive mileage for the price I walked because things were already falling off and it looked like it had spent a bit of time being used as a mobile pig sty.
 
(This would be around the time I fused the snazzy electric windows on my mum and dad’s hour old Volvo estate by repeatedly doing all four at once for a few minutes.)
Ah yes, electrics. I had a Scimitar convertible for a while. After three hours driving through pouring rain on an autoroute I pulled into a caff and tried to turn the wipers off, only to find the switch had melted in the ‘on’ position. It seems relays were regarded as an effete frippery by Reliant designers, who preferred to route the full motor current through the switch with hilarious consequences.
 
I wouldn’t say it was a mistake, but my Polo (0-60 in 19 seconds, according to the manual) was quite a handful on country roads. Steering by telegram or something.
 
I wouldn’t say it was a mistake, but my Polo (0-60 in 19 seconds, according to the manual) was quite a handful on country roads. Steering by telegram or something.

Was that the version of the Polo that didn't have assisted brakes? One company I was with used to have a Polo as a spare, mostly used as a punishment measure when folks had crashed their Golf or Peugeot GTi's and I remember that as being quite scary to drive because of how heavy the brakes were.
 
Not sure? The one almost like a 3-door estate. Often had a really low idling speed, so I’d have a foot on two pedals at junctions and so on to stop it stalling.

It was never the same after a telegraph pole ripped the driver’s door mirror off while overtaking someone down a narrow lane...
 
Not sure? The one almost like a 3-door estate. Often had a really low idling speed, so I’d have a foot on two pedals at junctions and so on to stop it stalling.

It was never the same after a telegraph pole ripped the driver’s door mirror off while overtaking someone down a narrow lane...

That'll be the old Formel e.
 
Brown Vauxhall Viva was really horrible. My first company car.

It had a tiny engine and you could stand next to it in the engine bay; i think there was a version with something better.

Every time it reached 90 a rebuild was required, fuel economy was terrible as to get anywhere you had to keep it close to full power.

The only good feature was that the boot was wide enough to take a 46kg propane cylinder.
 
Not sure? The one almost like a 3-door estate. Often had a really low idling speed, so I’d have a foot on two pedals at junctions and so on to stop it stalling.

It was never the same after a telegraph pole ripped the driver’s door mirror off while overtaking someone down a narrow lane...
My ex had one of those (B reg so 1984). I remember reading the sales brochure, and it showed they were desperate to find positives. One of them was having LED lights on the dashboard (for indicators/oil/temperature etc) instead of normal bulbs to save energy. I kid you not
 
Had a fair few company cars and managed not to hate any of them, even the 1.6 Mk4 cortina in beige! It got better when I was able to choose rather than take whatever the car manager had managed to snag cheaply.

The only mistake was downsizing to a SEAT Leon after retirement - it was peppy and fun to drive, but after an hour or so I'd get out looking like I'd spent an hour in a spin dryer, limping badly and holding my back like an old(er) man. I could not get a comfortable driving position aand ended up trading it in at a big financial loss. Lesson learned - long test drives needed.
 
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!

V6 GT has been a mistake and a blessing. Mistake because it really takes a lot of care to keep going but a blessing because as you know it is so much damn fun! It is likely my last petrol car before the inevitable bore of an electric so I plan and keeping her going until illegal or she quits.
 
V6 GT has been a mistake and a blessing. Mistake because it really takes a lot of care to keep going but a blessing because as you know it is so much damn fun! It is likely my last petrol car before the inevitable bore of an electric so I plan and keeping her going until illegal or she quits.
Does it have the last Arese V6 engine with the chromed manifold? Work of art that.
 
I’ve had lots of shitty cars but the most disappointing was the Kia Optima. It replaced a Passat and it was supposed to be an equivalent from the same designer. It was a Passat by check box. Similar interior and spec but just did nothing as well as the VW did. The engine claimed to be as good but never achieved anything like the economy or power the 2 litre TDi did, even after the diesel gate fix. Everything just lacked fine details. Now I have an electric E-Niro which has almost the exact same interior as the Optima yet couldn’t be more different in use.
 
Peugeot 206 GTI . Very uncomfortable . Almost undrivable pedal positions . BMW 330D felt the same but different .
 
1999 VW Passat. Fast and fun to drive, but by far this was the most unreliable car I’ve ever owned. One electrical or mechanical problem after another. The straw that broke this camel’s back was the driver side window going a third towards closing, then stopping dead. During the torrential rain storm that followed, I definitely expanded my vocabulary!

VW? Never again!
 
Personal cars I’ve done ok with. Police vehicles were far more varied. I recall the Rover 827 we used on or advanced course. Honda V6 petrol engine was just far too potent for the brakes. The instructor knew his stuff, and let us ‘fail’ where it was safe - the brakes got over cooked. Ford Granada 2.9 was much slower, but the brakes on that much better - they did what you wanted them to do, and when it was needed. Vauxhall Senator was simply an animal. 3.0 v v6 with ridiculous pace for that kind of car.

Subaru Impreza - a go kart, and always breaking down. Sierra Cosworth - too unreliable. Volvo T5’s - awesome, and the estate was my favourite. They would just go and go.

Drove lots of other stuff as well.
 
Peugeot 206 GTI . Very uncomfortable . Almost undrivable pedal positions.

I had one of those as well (my first company car) but don't recall any issues with the driving position. I was young then though! It was a temporary one as well so I only ran it for a few months while waiting for my Honda Civic VTi (which was much better in every conceivable way as well as being a lot faster) to arrive.
 
Car mistakes? Too many to list but heres a few.

MG Metro - my 2nd car, purchased with 11K on the clock. Borrowed by some low life who left the steering lock on the floor & most of the front tyres on the tarmac behind Milton Keynes train station car park. Can't remember how many head gaskets and gearbox main shaft bearings that thing got through.

Nova SR - brilliant little car. With the addition of Astra GTE 16V brakes it would actually stop.

Astra GTE MK1 16v Turbo. Technically my brothers car. Broke everything. Gearboxes, driveshafts....nothing lasted very long.

Audi Quattro's / Audi S2 - wish I'd kept the S2. Loved that car. Brakes were appalling (common theme here) however a set of 996 calipers and S8 discs sorted that out.

Audi A6 2.5TDI Quattro Sport Avant - spoiled by Audi making the cam shafts from Cadburys finest. 1st thing I knew about it was when it dropped a cam follower out on the M25. All 4 cams were so badly worn more could have escaped at any time.

Audi A6 3.0 TDI - all 6 injectors failed with less than 90K on the clocks. That will be 2 grand please....final straw came when 3rd gear syncro got its coats and left the party.

Audi A3 2.0 TDI - pile of steaming &*^!. As good as the 1.9TDI red eye it replaced was it wasn't. Part ex'ed for new gen Mini Clubman & have have never looked back. It would take alot to get me back behind the wheel of an Audi now.

Audi S4 V8 - lunched its timing chains twice (2nd set requried because a bolt was cross threaded during the 1st replacement, unfortunately for me too late to claim on the warranty). There are 4 timing chains and it's an engine out job as Audi fitted them to the back. Sounded glorious with the non resonated Miltek exhausts.

Mini R55 JCW - oh boy. The PSA N14 engine is fragile. Currently has 53K on the clock and has had the following replaced - Cam chain and tensioner, high pressure fuel pump, clutch, most of the cooling system including pump, thermostat & hoses + a whole heap of other parts I've forgotten about. That said I love it.
 


advertisement


Back
Top