Recent-ish cars that were once ubiquitous but which you don't see anymore

horseofstone

Renault laguna mark 2 are getting scarce on the roads these days.on the other hand the mark 1 almera is still a common sight in particular the saloon model.I've seen 2 in black and a navy one in the last few days

ofcork

That's because they were piles of scrap had one worst car I've owned.

flazio

Any Opels. The Corsa and the Astra were quite popular cars not so long ago, pretty sure the Zafira was the best selling mpv for a time.
Very rare sight on the road these days.

Duke O Smiley

M7roadrunner wrote: »

Probably before the time frame your referring to,
But does anyone remember the Isuzu Gemini on our roads?
For a few years in the early nineties they were everywhere, every farmers wife had one, and the rattle from the Diesel engine was instantly recognisable (a bit like the transit).
Then, all of a sudden, there was none, it’s as if they all melted into the ground.

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Yes!! We were the only country in Europe to get them. Pino Harris imported and sold them first in Dublin, then he started distributing them to his agents around the country in Cork, Athlone etc so they were common wherever there was a Hino Harris franchise. There was also the Isuzu Aska at the same time. They were basically an Opel Ascona. For a time when you bought a Hino truck you got an Aska free too.

There is still a blue 89 Gemini hatchback in use in north Dublin. I posted a picture of it on. the Oldest Car thread ages ago but I will have to go and find it.

Still going strong, Drumcondra

davidglanza

You don't see any BMW e34 anymore.
Used to be everywhere before.

BuboBubo

Daewoo Matiz, horrible little cars made from tinfoil and chewing gum. Chevrolet didn't improve them either.

Fiat Punto, an old favourite of the scrappage scheme in the late 90's/early 00's the country was littered with them - they were as reliable as a baby's arse.

Nissan Almera/Primera and the good old Micra, favourite car of nuns and yer granny. Rare as hens teeth nowadays.

Peugeot was very popular with young wans, not very common now.

Jap stuff - the Levin, Skyline, the ones that were Micras but had a different name - probably wrapped around trees by chap racers years ago.


Still see the odd Isuzu Trooper in these parts (rural Carlow), along with Pajeros.


But there are an awful lot of Hyundai Santa Fe's nowadays, will there be a thread in 10 years lamenting their disappearance? Doubt it - ugly looking things!

Yakuza

Opel Calibra, Frontera (short wheelbase). They mightn't have been that ubiquitous but I had a thing for the Calibra so maybe noticed it more.
Mazda 323F coupe was everywhere in the early/mid '90s, as were the JDM CRX's
E46 320i disappeared after the 2008 tax change, 2.2 petrol was mega €€€ to tax.
Nissan Tiida (insert vomit emoji here) was replaced by the Qashqai.
Going back again to the 90s, there were a fair few JDM 100NX's (esp the T-bar one) and 200SX's around (and the odd 300ZX) to be seen around.

Blue850

Mk1 Skoda Octavia , on sale from 1999 to 2010, they were everywhere but are disappearing quickly.

jpfahy

The Chrysler PT Cruiser, a real Celtic Tiger car, sold up until 2010 but you never see one now.

Vicxas

Werent they horribly unsafe?

Dravokivich

Yakuza wrote: »

.
Nissan Tiida (insert vomit emoji here) was replaced by the Qashqai.

I don't think so? They were sold alongside each other for about 3 or so years. Are you thinking of the Primera? Tiida was just run out because Nissan banked on the SUV/Cross Over market. With the likes of the Juke.

BuboBubo wrote: »

Nissan Almera/Primera and the good old Micra, favourite car of nuns and yer granny. Rare as hens teeth nowadays.

Peugeot was very popular with young wans, not very common now.

Jap stuff - the Levin, Skyline, the ones that were Micras but had a different name - probably wrapped around trees by chap racers years ago.

You don't drive in Dublin much?

Wibbs

Vicxas wrote: »

Werent they horribly unsafe?

to look at.

Arthur Daley

Dravokivich wrote: »

I don't think so? They were sold alongside each other for about 3 or so years. Are you thinking of the Primera? Tiida was just run out because Nissan banked on the SUV/Cross Over market. With the likes of the Juke.?

Think the Pulsar was in there since. Quasqui replaced the Primera really.

BuboBubo

Dravokivich wrote: »

I don't think so? They were sold alongside each other for about 3 or so years. Are you thinking of the Primera? Tiida was just run out because Nissan banked on the SUV/Cross Over market. With the likes of the Juke.



You don't drive in Dublin much?

I do, but all I see is busses, taxis and kamikaze cyclists

Old diesel

Car with a fault - 1500 to fix - but car only worth 1000 euros = going for scrap. No matter how good the car is on a wider level.

Thats pretty much the biggest issue - along with the insurance issues.

Someone mentioned P11 Primeras earlier - well the P12 is also very rare now - they were a bit crap so not really suprising. You still see N16 Almeras though which is a suprise given the timing chain issues (Primera P12s had that issue too afaik).

I drive a 1999 car to mass every Sunday, its one of the 3 oldest cars there - theres a 1994 Corolla diesel (looks an NCT failure away from the scrapyard) and a 1992 Golf van.

Everything else is at least 2004 on usually - even the E12 Corollas.

Yakuza

Dravokivich wrote: »

I don't think so? They were sold alongside each other for about 3 or so years. Are you thinking of the Primera? Tiida was just run out because Nissan banked on the SUV/Cross Over market. With the likes of the Juke.

Happy to be corrected, I just don't recall seeing many of them when the QQ came out, could be that I was just blanking them as they were hideous.

Noccy_Mondy

Late 90s pajero. There's only a handful of 1990 to 1999 on donedeal. The father has one, rare enough sight to see another one around.

Yakuza

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Late 90s pajero. There's only a handful of 1990 to 1999 on donedeal. The father has one, rare enough sight to see another one around.

On a side note, Pajero in Spanish means "[EMAIL="w@nker"]w@nker[/EMAIL]", so they called it the Montero here (in Barajas Airport as I type this!)

V8 Interceptor

Old diesel wrote: »

I drive a 1999 car to mass every Sunday, its one of the 3 oldest cars there - theres a 1994 Corolla diesel.

Plastic Jesus on the dash?

ba_barabus

Rover 25/45 are all but gone.

Mk1 Seat Leon and Toledo too.

Ash.J.Williams

OSI wrote: »

Pretty much any French hatchback.

Odd statement considering they're everywhere lately

Old diesel

A big one for me the more I think about it is E46 BMW 3 series.

Considered a desirable car when new and also the car that was there to buy when the Celtic tiger allowed many people live the dream of BMW ownership for the first time.

Much less common to see on the roads now imo - although nice 6 cylinder ones will always have a following in 328 or M3 form.

The 98 to 04 Opel Astra is also now very rare yet popular back in the day.

B5 Passats are the next big selling car to go to rare status - I'm fairly sure that I'm seeing them much less.

Someone picked up calves from us with a B5 Passat as his towcar in April/May this year. 5 to 10 years ago this would be totally unmemorable - as the things were in farms and Mart car parks all over the country.

redlead

I've come to the conclusion that the MK2 Micra has to be the best car ever built (in terms of reliability). I know it's the opposite to what the thread is about but they have to be the most common really old car you still see all over the place. You still see a tonne of MK1 Yaris about too. I had one for a few years, horrible thing to drive but would run forever.

tuxy

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

Plastic Jesus on the dash?

My 97 starlet has the Padre Pio Sticker on the front windscreen and Tipp FM sticker on the back.
Stickers must be holding it together because it just passed another NCT

horseofstone

jpfahy wrote: »

The Chrysler PT Cruiser, a real Celtic Tiger car, sold up until 2010 but you never see one now.

I've seen a few in black recently,cool looking car

tuxy

horseofstone wrote: »

I've seen a few in black recently,cool looking car

It makes the multipla look attractive!

Stovepipe

Opel corsas...but as soon as you say that, you start seeing them. Old sluggers, still going, mostly transporting old ladies about.

horseofstone

tuxy wrote: »

It makes the multipla look attractive!

Crikey, the fiat mutiplia , I haven't seen one in ages

handlemaster

Carina E were a good car.

theteal

redlead wrote: »

I've come to the conclusion that the MK2 Micra has to be the best car ever built (in terms of reliability). I know it's the opposite to what the thread is about but they have to be the most common really old car you still see all over the place. You still see a tonne of MK1 Yaris about too. I had one for a few years, horrible thing to drive but would run forever.

I learned to drive in a '98 Micra. It was passed down through the family and I know the only reason it's not on the road anymore is because the cousin rear ended someone with it. I bought one years later for the missus to learn in too - the 1.4 engine even caught me by surprise. Funnily enough she's now driving a 55 plate Yaris, apart from me putting in new headlamps (failed MOT, they were yellow in fairness) it hasn't given any trouble.