The gearbox on my wifes car gave up after only 125000km and the dealer and main importers into Ireland said it was outside the 2 year guarentee and they could do nothing about it even though it is an non serviceable item. I wrote to Skoda in Check and they tell me that they are there to sort out technical problems for the Dealer {gearbox must not be a technical problem} and that its outside there goodwill period even though i told them it was not fit for purpose and the they must not use ISO standards of manufacturing.I am on my fifth Skoda and my wife is on her fourth Octavia diesel. Has anybody out there had similar problems and if so what was the cure, i fitted a second hand gearbox but skoda will not stand over it as i did not get it from them and they did not fit it.

Vauxhall Omega 2.5 V6.

Head gasket went.

Heater matrix packed up twice. Estimated cost of replacement £700 - value of car £450.

Needless to say, I bypassed the matrix and traded it in before winter!

I did like it though - a real motorway mile muncher.

Nissan Pulsar GTIR i imported it from Japan it was the highest grade car i could buy using their auction systems over there,this did not stop the wretched thing from going constantly wrong,what a money pit unusual for a Jap car but i know other people who had GTIR's and also had loads of expensive issues.

The other 20 or so cars i have owned have been reliable maybe its because i avoid French and Italian cars like the plague.

I had a similar Jap experience Seagull. Mazda 323 4x4 Turbo - a little known homologation special. Permanent 4 wheel drive with 3 diffs and electric diff-locking. It had next to nil competition at the time and ran rings around contemporary FWD GTI's but if you bottled 4wd cornering commitment it would attract hedges.

In a 3 year mad love affair with it I coughed for 7 wheel bearings, driveshafts, propshaft and bearings, gearbox rebuild, gearbox replace, engine rebuild, power steering pump, discs and calipers, springs, jaw-dropping exhaust cost (then went to Kwikkers who told me to sit down to read their quote), clutches and numerous others that I have thankfully forgot. I kept telling myself that surely nothing else could break as I had replaced everything, but then stuff broke again. The only bit that never went wrong was the turbo! I kept all the receipts though and I spent £8k fixing it 20 years ago.

Still it had soul. Hmmm. I'll just have a look on autotrader.........

I owned a 08 Mondeo 2.5t Quick, Comfortable but huge electrical fault! Battery went flat if not used for 36hrs! Not ideal! Spent two months arguing with the garage. Eventually got my money back. Have a 10 plate Octy VRS very happy chappy now )

Citroen XM 2.0SEi automatic. I should have known better but it was a very nice car to drive when it was working properly, which wasn't a lot of the time. It seemed to choose something expensive to break every month while bits of trim fell off regulary and it rusted away underneath. I scrapped it after the replacement automatic gearbox packed up after five months and was glad to see it go. Absolute rubbish and put me off Citroens for life.

Citroen XM 2.0SEi automatic. I should have known better but it was a very nice car to drive when it was working properly, which wasn't a lot of the time. It seemed to choose something expensive to break every month while bits of trim fell off regulary and it rusted away underneath. I scrapped it after the replacement automatic gearbox packed up after five months and was glad to see it go. Absolute rubbish and put me off Citroens for life.

I also had one of these, and it was also my worst car. I sold it after 6 months and 3 RAC callouts, 2 of which were because of hydraulic fluid leaks from different places and 1 where the heater matrix packed up and the interior was flooded with coolant and steam. When I pulled up at the garage to pickup its replacement, hydraulic fluid was once again leaking out of the thing. I signed the paperwork and made a hasty get away.

I've been pretty lucky on the whole, but I did own a Mazda RX8 for all of eight months! I was expecting high fuel bills and heavy oil consumption. What I wasn't expecting was for the thing to be constantly flooding (despite going through all the various rituals you have to use when turning off a rotary), struggling to start when cold, refusing to start when hot, and then one of the catalytic converters to break up - that would have been a big bill had it not still been under warranty!

It was a great car to drive, but with that sort of reliabilty, using it every day was a nightmare. Still miss it at times though... :'(

A Triumph Dolomite Sprint!

Game over, nuf sed.

An owner would call it a Dollop of Sh*te.

Their best feature was that they looked like a ordinary Toledo 1300 but went way quicker. Unfortunately they didn't stop or turn any better than the Toledo.

im the most unlucky owner ever

i think with every VAG car i've owned i get all the common faults

im the most unlucky owner ever

i think with every VAG car i've owned i get all the common faults

Same... so far, my Octavia has cost me £980 since November.

:(

Had so many cars over the last 46 years I cant remember them all. In the last 15 years I've had a Merc M-Class 4x4, a Merc 'C' Class, a Volvo S60, a Volvo V50 and at the moment a VW Tiguan - all diesels. I tow a caravan and need bottom end torque and preferably 4-wheel drive. Have just agreed the purchase of a new Skoda Superb Elegance 2.0 TDi 4x4 Twindoor - in terms of quality build it looks good. The Volvos were both superb cars, beautifully made and finished and both knocked the socks off the Mercs, I wouldn't go back to Mercs if only because of their service charges.....obscene!!!!

The worst car I've EVER had was a 2.5 petrol Mitsubishi Shogun - admittedly I bought it second hand from what turned out to be a shady dealer in Mitcham but I had nothing but trouble, trouble, trouble. Best value car I ever had was a 1954 Morris Minor (split front windscreen) when I was a student - bought it from my girlfriend's Uncle for £18 and was magic!!!! Ah...those were the days!!!!!! I learnt all my DIY car mechanics on that little beauty. Now I daren't touch anything on a car engine as it's all far too complex, just as well cars in the 21st century are so much more reliable than the 1960's.

I think in my brief driving history, my current car is probably the most unreliable I've had so far.

When I was moving out for start of term, a wire somewhere deep down inside decided to disintegrate, leading to the fuel pump not pumping any fuel, resulting in a tow to the local garage.

Fixed no bother, but before then and still ongoing, throws up the engine management light with a side order of limp mode. Fault reads as Overboost 17965 ( I think ),which looks like it could be any number of faults, but not got the time/energy/funds to deal with it the now seeing as I hardly use it

2001 BMW 325ci.

Got it with 68k on the clock and after about 74k it started ****ting the cooling system (replaced rad, exp tank 1st time round, 2nd time, full system, 3rd time, exp tank and rad. All oem fitted by BMW untill i did it myself last time and all was fine after that). Suspension arm bushes went twice untill replaced with Powerflex, both sides, rear shock mounts, engine mount, exhaust bracket, air sensors, electric seat switches went, drivers window 'popped' out of the seal every time I hit 70mph and let in water, aircon didnt like cold weather so just didnt work untill the car had been running for ages (usually by the time i got to work). Rust appeared in the arches and the dors started to not line up when you closed them!

It was in fairness a great car when bits werent falling off it. but I got it at the time were everything went wrong.

Got it for 5.8k but musta spent the guts of another 3 grand on it over a year and a bit. Patched it up, traded it in, bought and Octavia.

Peugeot 306 Rallye was actually great. No real probs at all.

Austin Metro 1.0 Too many things went wrong but the funny thing was, always cheap to fix. Bought for £200 and sold after 2years for £300. Otherwise no other disastrous cars, I look after them :yes:

In my 30 years of driving/owning cars the worst are:

76 MK2 Ford Capri

76 MK2 Ford Escort

88 Mk3 Astra GTE

85 MK2 Cavalier SRi 130

88 Montego 2.0 Turbo Diesel(there was a turbo somewhere in there )

85 MG Maestro Turbo

87 Rover 213(good engine Honda) body fell apart

87 Rover 827sli(2.7 Honda engine)the rest was sh**

F O R D = Fookin Orrible Road Device

The best have been:

Lots of Toyotas

Lots of Nissans incl.280ZX 2+2,300ZX 2+2,R34 Skyline(very sadly missed :'( )

Oh of course the 2 Octavia Tdi,s

Ok 35 years of car ownership and the worst was .... a Lada (hangs head in shame)

I should have known better but, my neighbour had one and never had a moments trouble with it. I suppose it was because his was a 1200 basic version (there was nothing to go wrong with it) and mine was the 1600 and everything that could did, despite it being brand new and still in warranty.

God that thing almost broke me, I lost £3000 on it when I gave it away, I was too honest to set the thing on fire which would have been a kindness and brought immense satisfaction to me at least.

The next most unreliable and it was a close run thing was a Triumph Dolomite Sprint, God, the head on that engine was made of chocolate, I swear, I must have done three head gaskets before a mate decided to break his 1500TC and I got the engine and gearbox from him and put it in the Dolly. A lot slower but at least it was still going when I sold it 3 months later.

I've had countless Fords, Escorts, Capris, Cortinas.

Nissans, Micras, Bluebirds, Primeras.

Vauxhalls, Vivas HA, HB and HC up to Astras Mk1, 2 and 5.

Issigonis Minis (4, I think).

Seat, Toyota and then I finally discovered Skoda, and fell in love with my first vRS Fabia.

I stupidly sold it to get two of my great loves at the same time, a Primera GT and a Honda VFR 800i (yep, full blown mid life crisis).

After a year the Honda tried to kill me and I promised my wife after three months off work recovering, no more motorbikes.

So back to vRS Fabia again for me and I can't see me changing it for anything other than a newer model or perhaps an SE (I prefer the Tdi engine).

Nothing else does what it does as well as it does. Ok there are character flaws but, they all pale into insignificance

when you take the whole experience into consideration and that puts a big smile on my face every time I drive it.

Edited 4 June, 201214 yr by Coffin Dodger

Probably my mk4 Golf TDI. Didn't like starting from hot, even after replacing the CTS. Remote central locking stopped working, door locks and CCMs were going to be expensive to try and fix it. DMF was juddering when pulling away in first. Most fairly common problems I think, but not what I expected from a VAG car.

Next is probably my VRS which needed a full set of breather hoses and new brake vacuum hose not long after I got it (my fault for not checking thoroughly enough when I bought it, but it was from a dealer and described as "mint"). It has also needed a new MAF. Touch wood since fixing these the hesitation is gone and it has been reliable. I'm driving 400 miles each way to Le Mans in less than 2 weeks, so obviously don't have any more worries about it's reliability.

Most reliable car was my first car - 1994 1.3 Honda Civic hatch. Nothing broke other than common age related things. Probably didn't have a quarter of the electronics the Golf/Octavia have though.

1. 2001 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SXi - Parents bought the car new, never skipped a beat in 7 years. I got it when I passed my test in 2008 with 35,000 miles and it would just randomly cut out. Had it 18 months and Vauxhall and various auto electricians couldn't fault it. Never really ventured out of town incase it did cut out.

2. 2005 Ford Fiesta Zetec S TDCi - Bought it at 4 years old with 58,000 miles. Day after getting it home it wouldn't start. The fuel pump had failed. 5 days later the fuel rail failed. Had a spring snap as I was hoovering the car out. When it rained it would put the car into limp mode. Turbo failed at 84,000 miles. The exhaust snapped on the M6 200 miles from home. Alternator failed. Fuel leak from one of the fuel rails. Injector seals had to be replaced. Clutch started slipping at 103,000 miles. I also got intouch with the Dealer which done the servicing before I owned the car and they replaced the AC Pump, Injectors and ECU. Safe to say the new owner shouldn't have any faults as there is only the Starter motor to replace! The annoying thing was, it was properly serviced and always looked after, just the fact it is a French unit. Still absoloutley love the car though!

3. 2001 Kia Shuma 1.6 SX - We bought this to take part in a banger rally across Europe. Paid £150 for it with 10 months MOT. Racked up 4,000 miles in 10 days, the car never missed a beat. Didn't use a drop of oil or overheat. It sat flat out on the Autobahn for 2 hours and that didn't phase it one bit. Was a shame to scrap it.

4. Skoda Fabia vRS - I had the car 3 weeks and it lost power and started making a rattling noise on the motorway. No one can fault it, and it's never done it since. The cruise control is a little tempremental. Otherwise its all good.

Hi all

1. Had a '92 lada samara. Did 100k without a cambelt change and DIY servicing. Only got rid of cos clutch (gradually) went. Awful car, but 100% reliable. Think I nearly got 60 in second gear once. Amazed it never went pop!

2. 1991 Clio 16v. Amazing handling and very rapid, but shocking reliability. Needed new clutch, immobiliser intermittently failed, leaked oil like a colander, overheated, generally crap, but loved it.

3. 1996 Astra 1.6 16v gls ecotec 5 dr in metallic maroon (what was I thinking!) Officially the worlds most boring car, but never let me down once in 60k miles. Think it ws serviced once!

4. 2004 Renaultsport Clio 182. Bought brand new. Crap plastics. Only had it a year, but always reliable. Gutted that I had to sell due to having a baby.

5. 2003 Vw passat tdi 130 se. Never missed a beat in 40k, but rip off servicing at main dealer.

6. 2006 octavia vrs tfsi. Fmdsh, always used super unleaded, maintained regardless of cost, never one penny skimped on it. Inlet camshaft snapped at 44k, trashed engine and my wallet. £3000 to fix! Ouch.

7. 51 reg Subara forester awd 2.0 auto. Excellent ride and handling but independent dealer tucked me up as had chronic piston slap. Sounded like a bucket of spanners in a cement mixer when cold, made Oliver Reid look parsimonious, but never even looked like putting a foot wrong in 30k ( serviced once). 101% reliable.

8. 2003 Volvo s60 d5 se auto. Felt like it weighed more than the moon, and had suspension made out of scaffolding poles. Best car in world if you lived immediately on a motorway, but cramped in back and only 33mpg in normal use. Only had for 11k (96k-107k) and always solid, but could sense turbo, suspension, gearbox, and steering were needing attention.

9. 58 reg superb 170 cr se. To date, the bestnall round car ive ever owned. No issues, amazing comfort , equipment, ride. Motorway stability unbelievable. Kids love it.

Always depends on whether you're lucky or unlucky. Overall, let's not forget just how reliable almost all modern day cars are comparison with even10-15 years go!

Most unreliable

1987 Holden VL commodore, everything breaking on it, the odometer broke, its blowing grey smoke, and it constantly smells like petrol, it uses way more petrol than it should.

Most reliable

1998 Nissan Pulsar n15 sss, the SR20DE engine in that thing was so reliable it withstood 20,000k of constant abuse, missed oil changes and it still went strong.

I posted earlier in this thread that my old Citroen XM was the most unreliable, as I had just bought the Audi at the time. Now 5 months later, I think the medal goes to the Audi, whilst its not totally broken down things keep going wrong.

Snapped rear coil spring, fixed by replacing rear springs with secondhand parts (£80 for the pair + Labour to change)

Broken headlight mounting, fixed by purchasing repair kit from Audi (£15)

Fuel tank sender rubber seal, fixed by purchasing repair kit from Audi (£10)

Sticky brake caliper, fixed at local indy by stripping and cleaning and reassembly (£60 labour, no parts)

Failed front crankshaft oil seal, still outstanding. had quote of £360 to replace a £6 part due to whole front of car needing removing again.

These are in addition to the £1.5K spent on service / cambelt and front suspenstion in January and £500 spent on new tyres.

The car is great to drive, I just wish things would stop breaking.

2002 Ford Ka with the 1.6 engine. Its was a quick little bugger, but I've never seen a car with more problems. I didn't actually own it, but I drove it almost daily for about a year. I think the brakes were the only thing that worked. I spent more time fixing it than driving it, which is sad, because the 1.6 Ka is a great little car.

Had a few bangers early on all with problems but never really let me down until a 1992 Astra 1.4i Merit. Brakes stuck on and I kept driving to get home. Wasn't far and didn't realise it was that. Just thought it had lost power. Cooked the entire system. New lines, calipers, discs, pads, master cylinder. Turned out the fluid had been topped with something that shouldn't have been in there. Also sometimes wouldn't start for a week at a time. Tried a few things before giving up and getting rid after a year.

Was lucky with the cars that followed it though I guess.

K reg 1.6i Cavalier. Had 2 lambda sensors (first was a used part so didn't last long) but other than that nothing ever went wrong in 3 1/2 years. The woman I sold it to had it for 2-3 years after and only got rid when it started to cut out when pulling up at junctions etc, she was told it would be an expensive fix. Gutted when I told her it would've cost about a tenner and half an hour of my time to clean the Idle Control Valve.

X reg Vectra SRi 130 1.8. Bought at 2 1/2 years old, ex company car. Had it 2 years and nothing ever went wrong with it until it was killed in the carpark at work.

X reg Vectra SRi 150 2.2. Bought it at 4 1/2 years old with 44k. The only thing I ever had to fix in 6 years of ownership was the crankshaft oil seal, it had a new flexi joint in the exhaust, snapped downpipe replaced and I think that's it. Front discs and pads, rear pads,tyres and two new batteries (one when i bought it and the other about 5 years later) were the only other thing that cost me any money tbh. It never once broke down, never had a sensor fail and of 5 MOT's that I put it through, never failed any of them. I got rid in the end because it was chucking blue smoke out. Suspected stem seals, probably my fault for giving it hell when cold,but it wasnt worth spending the money cos I was ready for a change so sold it to someone who wanted it for banger racing and bought my '51 plate Octy vRS.

In 16 months I've replaced the MAF and the CTS and had new tyres all round. Hopefully I will be lucky again and there won't be much goes wrong with it.

Matt

X reg Vectra SRi 130 1.8. Bought at 2 1/2 years old, ex company car. Had it 2 years and nothing ever went wrong with it until it was killed in the carpark at work.

Did it owe protection money to the mob?