What is the most unreliable car you have ever owned?

carzony

I thought this might be intresting thread? I havnt sen it done before so...7

For me it has to be my 2001 almera, within 6 months I needed 2 new wheel bearing, an engine mount, timing chain rattled like f**k (technically it needed a new chain but it just wasnt worth it) and the clutch started grinding in reverse. I tell ya never again them almeras really are horrible yokes imo

Henry Ford III

carzony wrote: »

I thought this might be intresting thread? I havnt sen it done before so...7

For me it has to be my 2001 almera, within 6 months I needed 2 new wheel bearing, an engine mount, timing chain rattled like f**k (technically it needed a new chain but it just wasnt worth it) and the clutch started grinding in reverse. I tell ya never again them almeras really are horrible yokes imo

Clutches don't grind - gearboxes do.

CiniO

For me it was Ford Mondeo.
I owned it one year, and amount of things that broke down was bizzare. Car was 8 years old then with 100k miles.

On the other hand the most reliable car I owned (and still own) is 01 Fiat Bravo.

carzony

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Clutches don't grind - gearboxes do.

so it needed a gear box so? jesus, How did that car last me the full 6 months :eek:

_sheep

A 05 Saab '93 1.9 tid. First year of ownership was fine but then as soon as she hit 60k km's everything started going wrong for the next two years. I think only seats and steering wheel remained unchanged in that car - thank god for the hire purchase half rule!

neddynasty

00 1.4 VW Bora. Was in the garage 11 times in the first 12 months of ownership. 2 of those times for 4 weeks each for engine rebuilds. Luckily it was all under warrenty.

H3llR4iser

Interesting...in all my years, I never really had a very unreliable car, just the normal odd annoyances that come with driving one on a daily basis.

The most "prone" to these annoyances was, unsurprisingly, a 1984 Renault 5 that I had as my first car; I would say the car had a mind of its own since most of the issues weren't really big ones, just extremely annoying (e.g. the car had a manual sunroof with wonky hinges that would refuse to close down when it started to rain and conversely stay shut when there were 35 degrees).

One thing, however, I am extremely unlucky with: the damn electric windows.
To this day, I didn't ever have a single car on which at least one window regulator, usually the driver's side, didn't fail spectacularly making me drive around with two half clothespegs holding the window up!

tossy

I think a lot of people mistake wear and tear and poor service history for unreliability!

If you buy a car with any kind of decent mileage on it things like wheel bearings,bushings,clutches etc aren't unreliability the are wear and tear - think about it.

Kenny Logins

Golf Tdi. What a nightmare! In August 2008 it broke down outside my local shop and I had to walk home. Engine management relay.

Nothing else happened in the 70 odd thousand miles I drove it.

transam

neddynasty wrote: »

00 1.4 VW Bora. Was in the garage 11 times in the first 12 months of ownership. 2 of those times for 4 weeks each for engine rebuilds. Luckily it was all under warrenty.

we had 00 1.4 bora too , never again , engine was heavy on oil and giving number of problems

Yawlboy

A brand new Land Rover Discovery 3 manual I bought in 2007 - 17 breakdowns in 2 1/2 years including 8 trips on a tow truck. A complete Lemon

H3llR4iser

tossy wrote: »

I think a lot of people mistake wear and tear and poor service history for unreliability!

If you buy a car with any kind of decent mileage on it things like wheel bearings,bushings,clutches etc aren't unreliability the are wear and tear - think about it.

And that is probably why I say I never had an "unreliable" car; Of course I did have the odd failure and breakdown, but it always was something that had its fair share of mileage and was sort of "expected to go" sooner later than later.

Stallingrad

Fiat 128, that bloody thing would start maybe 50% of the time!

BrensBenz

My first car, the mighty Hillman Avenger 1300 Coupe, was specially developed by Rootes Group in order to encourage young lads to develop an interest in car repair.

• Brake cylinders, I learned, were cheaper by the dozen;
• Clutch cable (cable through bulkhead / bulkhead collapsed);
• Clutch replacement got much easier with practice;
• Ignition coil, designed to coat the points to a standstill every 51.4 miles;
• Accelerator cable that regularly went twang;
• Radiator hoses frequently irrigating the engine bay;
• Engine timing adjustment / correction - eventually, I could do it without that strobe light that gave you an epileptic headache; etc.

Unfortunately, these best intentions of Rootes, while teaching me everything I know about fixing cars, merely hastened the death of the British motor industry. I've never had to demonstrate these skills since owning that car. Damn Japs, coming here with their cars that work! How dare they?

dgt

My beloved E34. Couldn't rely on it for a while due to corroded wiring. It's grand now

StompToWork

I have owned many cars in my time, and have been blessed with very few problems. However, into every life, a lemon must fall, and I am currently dealing with just such a lemon, in the form of an 03 Mondeo 2.0l Tdci with 90k mls up on her.

Bought it knowing the rear bushings needed to be done, and the driver's seat height adjustment was broken. Not so bad, got a couple of hundred off the price to get those done.
Next, I discover that all four injectors needed to be done. All four failed leak-off tests, so that was 800notes to get the four of them reconditioned.
Next, rear break calipers jammed. Installed seconds, and one of those is gone again 3 months later.
Next, fuel pump decides to pack it in. (imagine my surprise when car started showing the same symptoms as when injectors gave up the ghost!!)
Changed pump, filter, car still cutting out.
Finally, we decided to drop the tank and have a look there, and came to what I believe was the source of most of the issues. We pulled some amount of sludge out of the bottom of that tank. Came to the conclusion that previous owners may not have been too picky about where they sourced their diesel!!

All was going well for a few months until I lost power trying to overtake one day. This time, not such a big job, there was a slight hole in the exhaust between manifold and turbo, so we welded that up. Turns out a pipe to the EGR had also failed, so instead of shelling out for a new pipe, we just blanked off the EGR.

All in all, I'm sick to the back teeth with this b0110x of a feckin' motor. Can't believe that I had a Laguna Mk2 Ph1 for 5 years, and the most trouble it ever gave me was a faulty cam position sensor!! That's saying something for a model with notorious reliability issues.

jeni

Mercedes a140

Door opend on sharp bends
Light on ceiling went up into roof couldnt get it back out
Horn broke
Power steering went
I had to guess how much petrol was in it
Didnt charge the battery, had to bring it in n do it manually

And this all started three months and one week after i bought the piece of shid, warrenty was for three months ;(

Amprodude

Renault 21. piece of s**t. Riddled with faults. Doors wouldn't even shut in it at one stage. Engine even caught fire it was that bad.

corkgsxr

Toss up between a 96 1.4 polo and the current 1.6hdi berlingo 07

I think the problem with berlingos is there made from case hardened cheese.

arleitiss

the recent E46 I bought, though I wouldn't say it's unreliable. It had very very bad servicing history, many components such as thermostat were removed by previous owners to cope with blown headgasket. Radiator was badly damaged and never replaced, oil was nearly as crude oil (very black), filters were bad as well. Air mass meter was damaged and never replaced. So in general previous owners looks like never serviced the car. But even with all these problems (didn't mention about 8 other problems that had to be fixed) the car drove, stopped, shifted, accelerated, shifted up, shifted down no problem. In fact these were type of problems that most likely only mechanic would notice or person with fault code reader. So I paid for my mistake for trying to go cheap on car, ended up spending 1600 on car, and extra 2000 on servicing for all that previous owners didn't.
Now car is perfect and going nice and well. So yeah, I wouldn't call it unreliable if it still goes smooth with to many problems, but bad servicing history let's you know about itself.

con1421

Peugeot 206...Biggest piece of **** that I have ever owned. Please Please Please never buy one.

I bought mine for 2 grand and no more than 4 months later the gearbox went on it setting me just over 600 euro. Then a few weeks later for whatever reason my battery died while I was driving and nearly killed me. That set me back another 70ish euro. Then the battery died again. Then when I went to get it serviced almost a year later I was told that the car was on its way out. The head gasket was damaged along with so much more. Then I found out there was no airbag in the car and that car had been tampered with so the bulb removed so it didn't show up on the dashboard.

I have driven and owned many cars in my time and have to say its a bad choice buying a Peugeot. I have never owned a car since. Cost me thousands of euro (money that I didnt have to spare)

tossy

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Golf Tdi. What a nightmare! In August 2008 it broke down outside my local shop and I had to walk home. Engine management relay.

Nothing else happened in the 70 odd thousand miles I drove it.

I presume this is sarcasm??

H3llR4iser wrote: »

And that is probably why I say I never had an "unreliable" car; Of course I did have the odd failure and breakdown, but it always was something that had its fair share of mileage and was sort of "expected to go" sooner later than later.

I would also say i've never had an unreliable car - touch wood- i think sometimes people need to lower the "realistic" bar. A new Landrover breaking down 100 odd times in the first 2 years is an unreliable car,a car with 80/100 k that needs some suspension arms or bearings is not unreliable it's just an old car.

Kenny Logins

tossy wrote: »

I presume this is sarcasm??

No. That really was the most unreliable car I have owned.

Scortho

Hmm no one mentioned alfa yet but loads of fords and VW's!:D
Have never owned an unreliable car but I'm still on my first one

TestTransmission

dgt wrote: »

My beloved E34. Couldn't rely on it for a while due to corroded wiring. It's grand now

Knowing what your current daily is like, that E34 must of been pretty bad. :pac:

tossy

corkgsxr wrote: »

Toss up between a 96 1.4 polo and the current 1.6hdi berlingo 07

I think the problem with berlingos is there made from case hardened cheese.

Out of all the vans/car vans we've had in work i liked the barely go the best,second best was a micra van lol Corolla van was a dog and the opel combi we have now is a dirt box.

conzy

Renault Laguna II

shockin'

shinkansen

interesting thread.

no woes for me, but that might be my passion for all things honda

contemplating buying a legend later this year, if i do i will be forever married to it.

TwoShedsJackson

Never had a problem with our own car (an Astra), but my sister's 02 Primera was a disaster, window regulator went, fuel gauge didn't work, some sensor went that caused the car to use way more petrol than it should, dent in the boot (ok that was her husband's fault), few other things, always something going or gone on it.

My sister-in-law had an 04 Megane. Enough said.

Victor Meldrew

Yawlboy wrote: »

A brand new Land Rover Discovery 3 manual I bought in 2007 - 17 breakdowns in 2 1/2 years including 8 trips on a tow truck. A complete Lemon

You see, that is "proper" unreliability. New car, sends life in garage.

Nothing has yet beaten the 1981 Citroen CX we had when I were a young lad.

Nothing that had moving parts, or was a moving part, or held liquid, or current, remained unscathed.

Binned for scrap after 5 years.

haminka

Kia Ceed - sold by an authorized dealer. Immediately after the sale I drove down the motorway and the car was rattling no end. Brought back to the dealer, back tyres changed. Still problems, tyre service changed back tyres and told me that the brakes in the back were totally worn out. The car was severely understeering despite the new tyres, balancing and alignment done. Three months after I bought it the steering failed and the car was gone.
I'm not sorry the car is gone as I didn't trust it after all the little slips and problems it had. I know I'm to blame for not getting an experienced mechanic to check it out but I was stupid enough to believe the authorized dealer will be able to provide a decent service.
Will never buy Kia again and will never buy from that dealer ever again.

dak

My most unreliable ( and in some ways dangerous) was an Automatic Opel Omega 2Lt Petrol ( Eco Engine).

It had an intermittent fault when slowing down to make a stop of cutting out. That is not a good situation to find yourself in .. no steering , no brakes etc . I had to quickly put it neutral and turn the key and put it back into drive while at the same time avoid causing an accident.

I replaced the usual sensor supects ( Camshaft etc) but the problem never went away. It was like petrol starvation which only occured under certain decelerating conditions .

Thatnastyboy

Most unreliable...


A late e34 520i

Awful pile of sh1te, perhaps i just got a bad one, and although most of the problems could be viewed as consumables, I still call it a bag of dirt.

in the few short months of ownership i had:

2 ball joints failing
Window regs: 3 out of 4 failed
Wipers stopped working
Thermostat stuck closed
HG faliure
Starter motor packed in
2 failed shocks
Boot lid wouldnt stay shut
Dash lights stopped working
Serious play developed in the steering, to the point where it couldnt be driven in a straight line on the motorway.

:mad:

zenno

My previous car, a rover 400 1998 was a right pile of junk, the head gasket would keep blowing and the coolant bottle would keep bursting and many many other things so scrapped it fast.

homeless student

my sister has a 00 reno clio, pile of dirt, always in the garage getting fixed.

NobodyImportant

No worries from me, pretty much always had Japanese car bar 6 months in a 156 (which wasnt too bad, mainly bulbs blowing was the annoyance).

My sister on the other hand had a scrap a Lupo with less than 60k on the clock! ECU went, Gearbox bearing went, pedal box went and the nail in the coffin was when a valve bent. All that within 30k miles and 3 years of ownership. I think there was one or two other minor issues too like a brake light switch etc.

Mr Benevolent

Alfa 156 - gearbox went after three months of ownership. Cam position sensor went too, but that's a fairly common problem on a lot of cars. Good car overall though. At the end the wishbones were failing, but they're a consumable on the 156. Lately I'm hearing more and more bad things about VW and Ford.

Tea 1000

haminka wrote: »

Kia Ceed - sold by an authorized dealer. Immediately after the sale I drove down the motorway and the car was rattling no end. Brought back to the dealer, back tyres changed. Still problems, tyre service changed back tyres and told me that the brakes in the back were totally worn out. The car was severely understeering despite the new tyres, balancing and alignment done. Three months after I bought it the steering failed and the car was gone.
I'm not sorry the car is gone as I didn't trust it after all the little slips and problems it had. I know I'm to blame for not getting an experienced mechanic to check it out but I was stupid enough to believe the authorized dealer will be able to provide a decent service.
Will never buy Kia again and will never buy from that dealer ever again.

You bought a Kia that was obviously a lemon from either unusual wear and tear or possibly a rear ending shunt, and somehow blame the manufacturer? Hardly fair?

piston

I wouldn't have described any of my cars as unreliable. Bits wear out over time, I wouldn't include things like a clutch or brake pads as signs of unreliability.

If anyone finds they get through a lot of clutches or brake pads, perhaps, they need to look at how they drive.

I've come across rough drivers who could break just about anything, others who never bother servicing their car at all and then complain when it breaks.

I've always looked after my cars and they look after me.

dgt

TestTransmission wrote: »

Knowing what your current daily is like, that E34 must of been pretty bad. :pac:

It was that bad its the only car I've had I sent to a garage :eek:

Somedays it would start but no drive, drive then suddenly die. It sat for 3 months at the front of my house broke down, heads scratching as to why it wouldn't start.

That was 6 years ago..... Started yesterday on the button

pred racer

98 opel vectra 1.6 lovely car to drive, but what a heap!
Bought it in 2000 with 35k miles (newest car I have ever owned)
In 1 year of ownership.

Alternator failed twice
Starter failed
All the bushings in the rear suspension collapsed,
Timing belt bearings failed,
Water pump siezed
Rear door catches rusted,
It used to get static buildup on a board under the steering wheel, which resulted in every warning light on the dash flashing and the leccy windows going up and down on their own.

Every time I brought it back to the garage (it was Lewis opel in Portlaoise, they are gone now but in fairness they stuck by the year warranty and fixed everything) they said "ah yeah, that happens with dem vectras":rolleyes:

I traded it in and the woman who bought it had it for 4 trouble free years

haminka

Tea 1000 wrote: »

You bought a Kia that was obviously a lemon from either unusual wear and tear or possibly a rear ending shunt, and somehow blame the manufacturer? Hardly fair?

That Kia was 09 and low mileage, full service history, no accident reported. That might or might not be true, I don't care. It was last time full serviced by an authorized Kia dealer, second authorized dealer had the car after the accident. Their attitude put me off Kia for life. Call it irrational, knock yourself out. But no more Kia or any Korean car for me. That and the fact that the car got a few scratches in front from gravel flying from truck tyres and three days later, when I went to treat them they were already rusty. Never happened to me before or afterwards on any other car.

L-M

Saab 93 Aero
Engine basically blew on the way home (Own stupidity for not researching them)

Jaguar X type

Air flow meter wiring
Alternator failed
Engine shat itself.
Powersteering pump

Tea 1000

haminka wrote: »

That Kia was 09 and low mileage, full service history, no accident reported. That might or might not be true, I don't care. It was last time full serviced by an authorized Kia dealer, second authorized dealer had the car after the accident. Their attitude put me off Kia for life. Call it irrational, knock yourself out. But no more Kia or any Korean car for me. That and the fact that the car got a few scratches in front from gravel flying from truck tyres and three days later, when I went to treat them they were already rusty. Never happened to me before or afterwards on any other car.

I can't make sense of that highlighted sentence there.

BigEejit

My first car was a 4 speed 1.2 Opel Kadette ... it would probably be easier to list the things that didn't break.
Alternator twice
Windscreen wipers stopped working (and the garage broke my windscreen fixing them)
Gearbox completely wrecked
Lights blowing randomly (must have replaced every fecking light twice a year)
Head gasket,
Radiator leaked a good few times
Driver seat back just flopped back WHILE I WAS DRIVING
Wing mirrors used to fall off on heavy bumps/potholes (piece of string stopped them falling on the road)
It burned oil by the gallon and I was broke from putting petrol in it

I literally had to check the levels of everything every day before i drove off.


/edit and the fecking rust, I forgot the rust, all over the car rust spots on a 3 or 4 year old car from Dublin, wasn't even from the wesht

haminka

Tea 1000 wrote: »

I can't make sense of that highlighted sentence there.

The steering went while I was driving. So, the car was towed to another authorized Kia dealer in another town. Between those two dealers I got a very bad impression of how they deal with any problems. So as I say, put me off the brand completely. Might be just my impression but there you go, the thread was called What is the most unreliable car you have ever owned? so I answered. This is a subjective topic and this is how I see my post. I'm not going around telling anyone don't buy Kia or don't buy Koreans. I'm just saying, I'm not going anywhere that particular brand now or in future.

macrubicon

1995 Citroen Xantia 2.0 petrol. One of the more comfortable cars I have even owned but in the 9 months I had it, well over half of that was in a loan car while it was in having work done. The dreaded Stop light would come on and that would be that. Always a mix of Hydraulics or brakes or coil or something. Thankfully usually covered under warranty.

Then the engine started cutting out randomly when I put the clutch in to change gear.

Started thinking about changing when it did the cutting out trick as I downshifted to take the turn at the Enniskerry exit of the N11. Decision... brakes or steering?

Oh - and the wee plastic clip holding the clutch cable to the pedal went on Christmas eve. ( though that's more wear and tear )

Ditched it finally after it failed the NCT on the front brakes... after spending a fortune to have the disks and pads done to fix other issues the dealer managed to miss the corroded brake lines.

Managed to get that work refunded so all in all got out not too bad. Made to move to German cars after that....

Alanstrainor

Haven't really had an unreliable car, I've only had 3, and I guess if I had to pick one it'd be my current e46. But that'd because on the others not one single thing went wrong, where as on the e46 i've done jobs here and there but nothing major.

L1011

12 reg Toyota Auris. More electrical niggles than you could count, and then the turbo went without warning (as it did on others in the company fleet).

Suasdaguna1

Landcruiser amazon......do all my own servicing....regular fluid changes.....a crude large straight 6 4.2 TD .....never misses a beat...roll on the next 100k

BigEejit

Suasdaguna1 wrote: »

Landcruiser amazon......do all my own servicing....regular fluid changes.....a crude large straight 6 4.2 TD .....never misses a beat...roll on the next 100k

Think you missed the 'UN' in front of the 'reliable' in the thread title