Worst decisions

TallGlass

What are your worst decision you have ever made in Motoring?

One of mine is, I once sold an Evo 4 for 1000 Euro, I don't even know why, I wasn't stuck for cash, but it was lying up in the drive, no NCT, no tax, but it always looked great after a wash. I regret it too this day.

colm_mcm

Buying the Shogun. Was fun converting it to commercial but was slow thirsty and I didn't actually use it off-road as much as I'd planned.

Dartz

According to everyone I know, buying the RX...

I've loved every ****ing minute.

ger vallely

Selling an 04 Audi A4 to buy a 12 Seat Leon. I know the tax is way less but what a ****e car.

GustavoFring

Spending north of 2k on wheels and tyres...selling it two weeks later. Still haven't thought of an excuse.

Four Phucs Ache

Worst buy was a 2001 silver lancer 1.3 with sunroof,grey cloth interior with sport trim.
The issue was my wife had a 2001 silver lancer 1.3 with sunroof,grey cloth interior with sport trim.The feckin questions and cocked eyebrows we got off friends, family and neighbors never ended.Still don't know why I bought it.

Worst driving decision was to go up the sallygap in my first car at 3 am with my brother in the winter.Just for the spin.Ended up in a Heather bed thanks to stupidity and snow.Long night.

Worst diy decision was my first attempt to ever change my TB.I took the locking tool off and watched the fooker spin like a clock.I never attached the tensioner.Great craic !

galwaytt

Worst buyers remorse : 2003 Mazda 2.0 diesel. Pure shyte.

Worst sellers remorse : panicking in '10 at the height of the bruhahah and selling my pair of 968's......one to a breaker......makes me ill now thinking of it...

Ferrari3600

An XJS.

Say no more.

Voodoomelon

GustavoFring wrote: »

Spending north of 2k on wheels and tyres...selling it two weeks later. Still haven't thought of an excuse.

In a similar vein, I swapped two rear shocks and springs on my 728i as preventative maintenance (only one spring actually broke), only to sell it a few months later. Must have put €800 into that.

Ferrari3600

galwaytt wrote: »

Worst sellers remorse : panicking in '10 at the height of the bruhahah and selling my pair of 968's......one to a breaker......makes me ill now thinking of it...

Gah...you are making me even sicker...would have bought one of those off you for semi-reasonable cash even in 2010. Don't think I've seen more than two 968's in my life. I remember a place in Terenure had a red one circa 2003, I think they were looking for €14k or so IIRC.

Ferrari3600

Four Phucs Ache wrote: »

Worst driving decision was to go up the sallygap in my first car at 3 am with my brother in the winter.Just for the spin.Ended up in a Heather bed thanks to stupidity and snow.Long night.

Consider yourself lucky, I'm aware of a similar early morning 'test-drive' in that neck of the woods that ended in one death and another guy being critically injured.

gitzy16v

Selling a rusty,electric gremlin riddled 400bhp 4x4 cossie for 5k...that and buying fast rusty old Renaults as my 1st 2nd and 3rd cars lol

gitzy16v

If there was a best decisions thread,the reply be the same

Dord

Buying a Mercedes A-class (w168). Bottomless pit of rust and mechanical issues. I was so happy when I sold it.

xabi

Trying to sell my 630 currently cause I "think" I want a change, the 630 is growing on me again with every other car I test drive, talk me out of it! Or tell me what can beat it

Skill Magill

xabi wrote: »

Trying to sell my 630 currently cause I "think" I want a change, the 630 is growing on me again with every other car I test drive, talk me out of it! Or tell me what can beat it

Sorry man, but

fancy pigeon

Worst decision: buying a 330d thinking it would be reliable. How I got that one wrong!

I've had many works in progress over the years but the worst was a 156 ts that I originally wanted for its engine, ended up renovating a lot of it, converting to run a 3.0 busso, had a massive turbo (HX50)/mounts/scavenge pump/mf2 style boost setup ready for it then scrapped the lot due to unforeseen circumstances...

At least I kept the turbo

FortySeven

Spent two years doing up an e34 estate. Lowered it on eibach prokit springs and bilstein b6 shocks, redyed all the leather myself, replaced all arms and bushings with lemforder. Built my own looms for the rear tailgate. Loads of work and money. Loved that car.

My mother in law sold it for less than I paid for the shocks because I left it in Poland. Somebody got a cracker of a car for nothing.

I've got a rebored, crank rebalanced, brand new pistoned Volvo red block in my garage that I'm about to abandon.

Was due to go into my rebuilt 360, would have been a pocket rocket but my ex took the keys and I can't be bothered with it.

ARGINITE

FortySeven wrote: »

Was due to go into my rebuilt 360, would have been a pocket rocket but my ex took the keys and I can't be bothered with it.

Any plans on what you intend to do with the 360?
Would be a shame to let it sit.

FortySeven

ARGINITE wrote: »

Any plans on what you intend to do with the 360?
Would be a shame to let it sit.

No idea to be fair. Probably getting left.

James Bond Junior

Thinking in my early 20's that every car I bought had to be as new as possible/expensive. Spent 0000's as a result and all on loans loans loans.

galwaytt

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I had almost forgotten about your 968's I remember at the time trying to get the cash together to buy one from you.

...I know, I know.....The mint one went to UK for 6k.....The D Tip went to a breaker for 2700.....have you seen prices since......uuggh. ..

CianRyan

Putting a full tank of petrol in my Almera and then plowing it up an embankment and through a fence.
It least the engine still ran, pity about the rest of it.

See sig for Almera. RIP

_Kaiser_

xabi wrote: »

Trying to sell my 630 currently cause I "think" I want a change, the 630 is growing on me again with every other car I test drive, talk me out of it! Or tell me what can beat it

It's heavy, slow to take off in ordinary driving, the BMW iDrive isn't a patch on the Audi MMI (in terms of UI and usage), it's thirsty, it's completely impractical if you have any more than 1 other person in it

You're welcome (source: I've had a 07 one for a few days recently)

My worst would probably be the 02 Passat I bought from what I later realised was a cowboy But it was my first diesel, and back then automatic's weren't as plentiful so I was under pressure to get something better suited for a new job with more mileage. It's not that I had major issues with it, it just there was always something needed doing with it.

The 06 Passat that replaced it was far more reliable - even despite the DSG horror stories (I found it great), it didn't have much go wrong beyond normal wear and tear stuff for high milers

The first A6 I bought (the grey one for those who remember) developed injector issues a few weeks in, but in fairness to the dealer he agreed to undo the deal without much hassle. The replacement A6 (which I've only changed this month) hardly put a foot/wheel wrong and was better specced than its predecessor.

My new A6 has a few niggles and again these are being taken care of (this is why I would never buy a car worth more than 2/3k or with expensive complicated components privately!) so fingers crossed once these are sorted she'll be as reliable as the one I've just sold

Mr_Muffin

My first car was a Colt - i payed slightly over the odds for it now looking back at it but i was an eager young lad who couldn't wait to get on the road.

I've learnt from that now and never buy a car for my than 1k which has served me excellently.

_Kaiser_

Mr_Muffin wrote: »

My first car was a Colt - i payed slightly over the odds for it now looking back at it now but i was an eager young lad who couldn't wait to get on the road.

I've learnt from that now and never buy a car for my than 1k which has served me excellently.

My first 2 were Colt's/Mirage's (one hatchback, one coupe) and aside from being somewhat underpowered when full, I thought they were great. Cheap enough to run and zero mechanical issues.

But once I moved out of Dublin and changed jobs, I had to go diesel.

9or10

Not so much a regret but a car I dearly miss:(

2.8i Granada (obviously dates me) but this car was the total nutz.

Sadly we couldn't afford to run it with mortgage and stuff so traded it in for a sensible boring .. blah blah

H3llR4iser

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Worst decision: buying a 330d thinking it would be reliable. How I got that one wrong!

I've had many works in progress over the years but the worst was a 156 ts that I originally wanted for its engine, ended up renovating a lot of it, converting to run a 3.0 busso, had a massive turbo (HX50)/mounts/scavenge pump/mf2 style boost setup ready for it then scrapped the lot due to unforeseen circumstances...

At least I kept the turbo

You...scrapped...a...Busso? For real? Hand in your driving license, driving gloves and torn out liver, now. NOW!

Not sure about mine...some will say getting my current 159, the poor car was utterly neglected by the previous owner; I paid very little for it (2700 for a 6 years old 159 at the time) but ended up spending twice that over the years to fix up all the previous wrongdoings, but...I know that besides the "06" plate, most of the engine, transmission and suspension in the car are brand new (and it feels like it driving ).

Probably, the strangest one was redoing TB+pump in the old Megane three months before I sold it off, but that waterpump was leaking water more than Donald Trump's electoral promises...from a full reservoir to empty every second day!

damo86

Putting on a miltek exhaust and remapping a MKV Golf 2.0tdi 140, turbo blew shortly after, all sorts of **** happened and I went from enjoying the car to hating it. Should of left it alone.

CianRyan

damo86 wrote: »

Putting on a miltek exhaust and remapping a MKV Golf 2.0tdi 140, turbo blew shortly after, all sorts of **** happened and I went from enjoying the car to hating it. Should of left it alone.

Should have just bought a GTI if you wanted something fun.

cantdecide

I was about to buy a pristine, low miler 6yr old 1.8 Passat Sport when I was more into VWs but being younger and less cynical at the time, I let my dad talk me into buying a very used out A4 diesel instead... because "you'll never drive a petrol car again". I spent the next 18 months fixing lots of it and being annoyed by the bits I couldn't justify paying to have improved. I gave up on it about a year later and just bought a better car.

I should have generally borrowed more and bought better examples, which is what I've finally done now and don't regret it. I could have been luckier in my motoring life but I haven't made very many decisions that didn't have some degree of sense behind them.

The best decision was buying my GSX1400. I've owned it 8 years and still love it.

damo86

CianRyan wrote: »

damo86 wrote: »

Putting on a miltek exhaust and remapping a MKV Golf 2.0tdi 140, turbo blew shortly after, all sorts of **** happened and I went from enjoying the car to hating it. Should of left it alone.

Should have just bought a GTI if you wanted something fun.

...and I did

damo86

CianRyan wrote: »

damo86 wrote: »

Putting on a miltek exhaust and remapping a MKV Golf 2.0tdi 140, turbo blew shortly after, all sorts of **** happened and I went from enjoying the car to hating it. Should of left it alone.

Should have just bought a GTI if you wanted something fun.

...and I did

CianRyan

damo86 wrote: »

...and I did

Best possible outcome!

GustavoGaviria

Had a Sierra XR4x4 2L Sapphire hatchback that had been converted to RWD on UK plates, the rear had been replaced with a 1.6 axle. Needless to say the rear diff exploded a couple months later. Had Cosworth LSD internals got for €200, scoured every breakers in Ireland but couldn't get a un-welded diff to build into. Threw in €100 welded diff to put her back on the road.

The fleet expanded and before heading on a J1 I needed to leave space around the house. Kept my daily Calibra and sold the rest. Sierra for €450 to a mate, he wrecked her. Sierra prices went through the roof and I never got another since.

I can't even understand my decision making at the time. Was such a rare model, and should have been restored to 4x4.

fancy pigeon

H3llR4iser wrote: »

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Worst decision: buying a 330d thinking it would be reliable. How I got that one wrong!

I've had many works in progress over the years but the worst was a 156 ts that I originally wanted for its engine, ended up renovating a lot of it, converting to run a 3.0 busso, had a massive turbo (HX50)/mounts/scavenge pump/mf2 style boost setup ready for it then scrapped the lot due to unforeseen circumstances...

At least I kept the turbo

You...scrapped...a...Busso? For real? Hand in your driving license, driving gloves and torn out liver, now. NOW!

That particular engine was sold on with a rake of spare parts (new belt + pump) and a 6 speed 166 box for peanuts. The whole thing was converted to drop into a 156...

I've scrapped many a busso as some here will contest to :eek:

However, I feel worse for the few XUD blocks I sent for scrap

veetwin

Brimming the tank of my recently acquired Discovery...with petrol:o


€80 for the petrol, €250 to a guy to drain the tank and another €80 to fill with diesel:rolleyes:

bear1

My wife will say my 156.
I loved it more than anything and forgave all the **** it threw at me.
Even when it's turbo blew in Italy and the mechanic offered to swap me a 166 jtd for the 156... and I said no cause I was just so in love with it.
Year later the water pump failed on an eu road trip and my uncle had it scrapped.
The only car I miss to this day
01-wd-3066.
Remember no other number plate

steveshort

My most regrettable but was a mer ML 270, complete money pit.
My most regrettable sale was a CBR 1000rr , had it for over 4 years sold for 5 k back in 2010 when bike prices where on the floor

serious3

Selling my 1988 Audi 100 estate, it had the fabulous 2.2lt motor in it 100mph through horseleap with no hands on the wheel! best decision? Buying a 2003 s-type jag for bangernomics money, 2.5yrs of trouble free wafting around!

diomed

bought a second-hand Audi 80 with 63k miles on it :rolleyes:
quickly needed the gearbox redone.
got 27 mpg if driven carefully.
i spent plenty of time in service stations filling the tank and buying chocolate
it cost a fortune in chocolate

TallGlass

After all these posts, I must say it's good to feel I am not alone. Oh and as someone said, the evolution had a fresh set of tyres on it. Toyo Proxies P1s. Cost me a fortune, easy 350/400€ on brand new sprayed Evo 7 wheels. Got to stop thinking about it gonna drive myself mad !

Damien360

Mine is a bit more mundane than the stories here.

Wife wanted a 1.4 Renault Scenic and we bought a ex demo in 06. It moved like a snail, drank petrol like a v6, had a few electrical niggles, got to know the garage very well and lost a small fortune moving it on in 08.

We still get letters from Renault inviting us to events and we both say "never again".

DakarVert

GustavoGaviria wrote: »

Had a Sierra XR4x4 2L Sapphire hatchback that had been converted to RWD on UK plates.

Xr4x4 in a 2.0 is fairly rare.
Sapphire is a saloon BTW.

ShadowHearth

Worst decisions... Hmmmmmm had a few I guess. Just from the top of my head:

1. I had r33 4 door ( yes, 4 door) skyline gtst with 400hp. I loved it and it was extremely unique. I kind of hit hard times and running it became a bit off a nightmare with mpg being in low teens! So had it parked and drove 1.6 mondeo with a hope to restore my skyline.
A year later I just gave keys to my friend to sell it. Got back for it about 60% of my money, but it had no nct or tax. Off road for a year too. I miss it now so much and even worse I found out that the fella who bought it, striped it and threw body in a ditch. I regret selling it to this day and it's fate only makes me even sadder. You can't get those anymore.
2. Giving my ex my mazda mx5 "10th anniversary edition" when we split up. I tried buying it off her later, but she refused. Then she crashed it and I tried to buy it again, but she refused. Was great little car and still most fun I ever had in a car.

GustavoGaviria

DakarVert wrote: »

Xr4x4 in a 2.0 is fairly rare.
Sapphire is a saloon BTW.

I stand corrected, dunno why I always had it in my head Sapphire was the 90's face-lift. Found a old picture of her.

Mini850

Worst is selling my Mini City 850. A regret of the highest order. 637 MZJ if anyone has it.

Best is buying my Alfa 147. Best €500 I ever spent.

MetzgerMeister

Buyer's Remorse: 1999 E46 318i

Seller's Remorse: RX8

ejabrod

Worst: Buying my 2nd last Evo 7. Trusted an Evo "specialist" to inspect it. Worst decision of my life.

Best: Buying my current Evo 7

J.pilkington

Sellers remorse; selling my rs4 3 months before the VRT refund scheme was launched

JBokeh

Two words, Land Rover, never stopped leaking, creaking, or squeaking. There was always something wrong with it, and I still loved it and pumped endless amounts of money into it.

I had an e36 318i 2 door, that I put a 328i engine, box and brakes into, m3 limited slip diff, m3 interior, and a few other bits. That was a great car, and very stealthy because I left the body alone. Found it very hard to keep myself in check on roundabouts so I sold it, the chap I sold it to crashed it and made a right mess of it. Should have kept it and used it as a drifter