Worst Cars/Engines

Firblog

Thought it might be useful for people to list what cars they've found to be very unreliable

My pick is the Mazda CX-5

OH has a 2.2 Diesel 141 model for 6 years now - Turbo replaced after @ 3 or 4 years old, and engine rebuilt last year (4K in parts alone, thankfully all paid for by Mazda) - have met 3 others who've had much the same problem with theirs - surely one of the worst cars going and anyone thinking of getting one should be told to AVOID.

zg3409

Mazda made diesels were bad, but older 1.6 diesels were made / shared by Volvo, Peugeot, ford etc. These were reliable. Often reliability is based on specific engines rather than car brand or model.

Rover, range rover often win worst reliability contests.

route66

BMW's N47 engine's timing chain wear resulting in catastrophic engine failures

teediddlyeye

N16 almera 1.5

An abortion of a car.

colm_mcm

Mk6 Golf must be in with a shout. Probably an unpopular opinion but couple the dieselgate engines, especially 1.6 TDI and all the issues they had - with the chain driven TSI engines and if it was any other car it would be called a crock.

Ubbquittious

2.0 Pömpe Düse TDI

Larbre34

Yeah came to say the VW 1.2 TSI but its already been said.

Ford Ecotec of various sizes, disastrous fuel consumption.

Subaru Boxer diesel. Crap and why?

And all Jaguar Land Rover products from 1960 to date.

teediddlyeye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119772195#Comment_119772195

The 1.2TSI chain wasn't a bad engine, if the chain was done feck all else went wrong with them. The odd coil pack or HT lead.

The 1.2 chain driven polo was another story, although the 12 valve was a massive improvement on the 6 valve.

Actually I'd add the 9N polo to the list of crap cars.

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119772283#Comment_119772283

Ford Ecotec? Never heard of one.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119776135#Comment_119776135

Think he means Ecoboost

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119772195#Comment_119772195

The twin charged 1.4 TSI was also awfully unreliable

O.A.P

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119772283#Comment_119772283

Landrover freelander 1.8 petrol engine is certainly a contender, but the 300 TDI, 200 TDI and the td5 were good engines.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119772283#Comment_119772283

ah the ecoboost fuel consumption is a wider issue? thought it was just me :(

MacronvFrugals

VAG 1.4 TSI, the 170BHP one with the supercharger and turbo, absolute junk!

mk7r

The Mazda diesels and insignia flavour 2.0 diesel are probably the worst commonly found out in the wild

For Forks Sake

That Mazda 2.2 diesel is an absolute dog.

colm_mcm

I suppose we should mention the IS220d

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119776227#Comment_119776227

Nowt wrong with the modern ones. Multi award winning unit.

I've driven one (155bhp) for a few thousand motorway miles.

Loads of performance and 50+mpg.

mk7r

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119776954#Comment_119776954

They were sketchy at best until 2017 ish and in fairness the stupid ignition key to open the bonnet idea was also award winning 😬

barneygumble99

My shout is the Qashqai, sold by the boat load but non stop issues with corrosion and failed suspension and steering parts. Chassis made from chocolate.

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119777008#Comment_119777008

The first of the dusters that were failing their first nct s due to rust issues , should get an honourable mention too

ofcork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119776747#Comment_119776747

Only head gasket issues i believe same engine used in some avensis,maybe japan and diesel dont go together!

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119782614#Comment_119782614

There were injector issues as well, plus the way it was mapped was ridiculous, no low down torque, plus crazy gearing that made 6th gear almost unusable.

The later 200d version of the same engine was a lot more usable and not nearly as troublesome

hoodie6029

Nissan pulsar diesel. No power whatsoever. Woeful driving experience to boot.

Old diesel

The Isuzu 3.0 litre common rail diesel in its earliest incarnation in the Trooper was noted for giving issues.....

Also a Laguna II and 1.9 DCI engines could individually break your heart. Combine the 2 and its sad times.

bladespin

Early naughties Ford TDCi, literally ate their injectors.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119786316#Comment_119786316

They’re supposed to be like that though!

hoodie6029

What an abomination!

Mech1

Landrover ingenium engines are self detonating all over the world at the moment. Timing chains or balance shaft issues or both.

Mech1

https://www.discoverysport.net/threads/engine-blew-at-54000-miles.13914/

Mech1

I'm a independent Land rover specialist, but I will only service a ingenium equipped car after informing customers that its likely to fail soon. Perfect oil and genuine filters make no difference. Detonating with full dealer service history anyway.

divillybit

Is that 2.2 diesel in the mazda 6 similar to what you'd get in some ford's or Jaguars? Thought madza was owned by Ford at a stage. My neighbour has a 2012 2.2 liter diesel jag...x something.. Lovely car but I'd be wary of it too

Had an opel cdti combo, dismal engine in it. Timing chain stretched and snapped on it. Thankfully it was a work van. Id never buy a diesel opel.

Had a 2.0 d4d corolla work van before, thought they were a good engine. Had a few 1.9tdi vw's and audis in the family, and they were reliable engines.

BK5

Most makes have had a model that was dodgy or had something weak or unreliable in them but Opel must take the prize for having the highest percentage of dog **** in what they make? Especially in the last 20 years.

bad2thebone

Those Corolla 1.4 diesel, gearboxes like chocolate. As they say,a soft aul gearbox.

I probably drove the ring out of her, I do a lot of mileage.

Had one for a few years and the gearbox went twice. Changed to a new 2.0 litre Passat estate, it's way more economical and it's like a tip inside. I keep up with maintenance services etc, but an absolute mucker. You have to wipe your feet when you come out. Smells like a cross between a fish monger's, 80's vegetable shop, and seaweed.....

Moss growing on the side of the mirror, spiders web there most mornings on the mirror too. It's only two years old. I'll give her an expensive valet before I change her in another two years. Nobody will know the difference. Definitely lived in that's for sure. A car needs character, and good Feng shui 😂👍

divillybit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792671#Comment_119792671

That's depressing reading.

Were the 1.7 diesel Hyundai i40 engines problematic? Was looking at a kia optima lately and I think it shares the same 1.7engine as the i40

L1011

My worst experiences driving modern cars have all been 1.0 TSI VWs, but I don't think it has any real reliability issues. Just overly big cars with a tiny engine.

bad2thebone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793662#Comment_119793662

Knew a guy in Shannon year's ago during the 80's that managed to put a small engine in a jaguar. Don't ask me how he did it. But he wasn't fooling anyone lol

Back then people could get away with fiddling with all kinds of skullduggery.

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119790977#Comment_119790977

The problem with the isuzu engine was tge seals on the injectors would fail and flood tge engine with diesel causing the engine to basically rev itself to death

To be fair to isuzu they stood by the engine . I know lads with 10 /12 year old troopers at the time that had injectors and engines replaced FOC .

Then they did the scrappage scheme to get them off the road.

The nissan navara with the chassis cracking /snapping due to the chassis rotting from the inside out was another disaster but to be fair to nissan they seem to be doing their best to fix it , navaras being sent to spain to be repaired, bought back or a good trade for a new one. I believe the same issue was with the pathfinders as well

JKerova1

The 1.6 diesel Peugeot Ford Volvo engine has a woeful reputation...

Old diesel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793987#Comment_119793987

Pathfinder is almost certainly on same chassis as Navara.....

Effectively an SUV version of the pick up.

Im right in thinking that these Navaras were an old school separate chassis with body mounted on top?????.

Like old Land Rover Defenders.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793393#Comment_119793393

There'd be certainly more fellas on here that know more about it but as I understand it the jag XF engine was reliable up until the new model came out in 2016,same engine in the XE I believe.Was told to stay away from both.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119772617#Comment_119772617

am driving a ten year old 1.2TSi octavia, and funny enough less than 24 hours before the NCT last month, the engine went to pot, but thankfully a quick swap of coil pack and leads sorted it. wasn't firing on cylinder 3.

worst car i've driven was probably a daewoo matiz. heap of junk, the funniest issue was that the seat position mechanism used a cable about the same gauge as a bicycle brake cable. when it broke, the seat wouldn't anchor in place; so when you accelerated, the seat slid back and lifted your foot off the accelerator; and when you hit the brakes, the seat would slide forward and bury your foot on the brake pedal.

The very worst car I ever drove in my life was an Opel Corsa, hired from Donegal Airport about 2017. It was one of those horrible types of automatics that Opel produced which throw you out of seat when engaging new gear. Had experienced similar in an Astra but it wasn’t *quite* as bad as the Corsa. The car couldn’t cope with the hilly roads of Donegal And would stop at certain peaks, and to steer it around any kind of bend required several turns of the very loose feeling steering wheel. It was the most disconcerting machine I ever drove.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793393#Comment_119793393

I think engine when it was in the X Type/XF would have been PSA sourced/Co-developed. PSA also did the 2.7 6 pot.

The Mazda diesel is unrelated, thank god.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119796203#Comment_119796203

The dreaded Easytronic, see also Toyota Multimode/MMT/MM, Ford Durashift EST, Peugeot ESG, SMART Softouch and Honda i-Shift for the same flawed concept.

SCOOP 64

By the time this thread ends every car on the planet will get a mention.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119797010#Comment_119797010

Cars that won’t get mentioned:

Any hybrid Toyota or Lexus, unless someone moans about the CVT gearbox not being nice

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119796203#Comment_119796203

actually, i did end up driving an opel mokka in about 2015 (hired from bristol airport) and the stop/start system on the car was a nightmare. it cut the engine out on me several times while shifting gear.

Mad_maxx

Is this troublesome cars or cars we hate ?

I bought a VW Jetta for tiny money a few weeks back for the Mrs ,it's a temporary get around, absolutely personality free, hate it

SmartinMartin

I'm amazed the Insignia hasn't got a mention yet. Dirt.

Mervyn Skidmore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119781942#Comment_119781942

I think they were nicknamed Dacia "Rusters". They were made in India I think and the issue was rectified when production moved to Europe.