I'm slightly embarrassed to say, but I've only ever owned two cars, and both have been superb.

First car was a 96 P Fiat Punto - 1.6ELX, gutsy for a first car, 5 doors, handled reasonably well, had no major mechanical problems. The one thing it did do was drop the rear 2/3 of the exhaust system at 80mph on the M62 one dark, rainy december night...

That said, it was largely my/my dad's fault, since we'd agree that it was OK and would last a couple more weeks...

Second (and current) car is a 99 S Alfa Romeo 156 1.8TS. Quick and nimble, and contrary to reputation, has let me down only once - and that, I'm 98% certain, was due to the mechanic in the garage not correctly reconnecting the hydraulic clutch line.

The Alfa has had a fair bit of work done to it to keep it in good shape (that warranty has paid for itself a few times over ), including a gearbox rebuild that wasn't essential (but since the warranty covered it, I had it done). The reason I'm planning on replacing the 156 with an Octy vRS? Because the 156 isn't practical, and the Alfa GT is far too expensive... :(

Nice Guy Mike

Cant say i've had any bad cars, but the car that seemed to cost me the most to sort out (relative to what i was earning at the time i suppose) was my second car:

pug 205 gti - drive shafts, clutch problems.. but i loved it as it was so much fun!

The worst car I ever owned was the first one - a Ford 105E Anglia. Just a year old when I bought it (back in 1965/66, can't remember exactly) and the factory-installed rust was already bubbling through the doors and wings. The engine was over-square, which meant that it didn't have enough torque to pull the skin off a rice pudding, and to add insult to injury the gearbox was a pre-war three speed box with an overdrive fourth added. I'm told that Ford make some quite good cars now, and I've driven some decent Ford hire cars, but whenever I see the blue oval I remember that Anglia, and inwardly shudder...

My worst car was the first new car that I purchased new and this was a Fiat 1.0 Uno Start. Truely awful.

Best car has to be the Fabia Vrs closely followed by my Rover 216 ( Honda Ballad one). Yes it did rust but was uttery reliable and was a step up from the Escort I had before.

Had an Audi A4 nice car but not as reliable as you may think. Two Citroens one a 1.4 which was slow, the other the 1.9 dturbo volcane which was really rather nice.

I drive a 306 xrdt as a second car, typical french biuld quality but that engine is so robust if a little noisy at idle.

Gotta admit i've not had any car yet thats let me down in a big way. The Golf has been the least reliable so far, but ultimately has only had minor things go wrong, so i cant complain about that, and its so good to drive its forgiven

Renault Laguna Mk2. The mk1 was fine, but early mk2's are woeful!

My old "F" reg Peugot 405 estate.

It was quick, for a 1600, and had brilliant steering and handling, but it was noisy, uncomfortable and left a trail of broken bits wherever I drove it. It was doing 1000 miles per litre of oil when I finally got shot of it (It was a company car), and this was "acceptable" according to the dealer.

I wouldn't have minded, but I was doing 1,000 miles a week at the time, and the comedy oil filler on that model made it a horrible job to top up, especially while wearing a suit.

God, what a pile of poo.......

Phil

It's got to be dad's Austin Allegro! A truly terrible car that required 2 new engines in less than a year!

Never hated any car I have owned despite some being really awful

If I must I have to agree with the MG Metro Turbo boys.Probably saw it as the best car in the galaxy at the time, as did my jealous friends.This being despite

1) Liquidised gearbox

2) Having to be towed back to the garage on many occasions for some faulty chip or other

3)Handling like a dog leaving me facing in the wrong direction on roundabouts

4) Taking on the handling and feel of a hovercraft at ??? mph

5) Somehow snapping the engine mountings (IIRC) another back of the tow truck job

6)Having a steering wheel angled like a bus steering wheel

But I still LOVED that car

From experience, I believe that should read

Renault Laguna Mk2. The mk1 was awful, but mk2's are ****ing awful!

Renault Clio, expensive pile of tosh

Work pool cars the worst - two equally bad:

53 plate Corolla d4d - awful.

53 plate Focus 1.8 tdci (100bhp) - where the bloody hell are the 100 horses - think 30 are running the opposite way slowing me down!!!

Best car: Panda 4x4 Sisley!!! Quality car!

Not had any bad cars personally, but Dad did make the mistake of buying a Morris Marina. That was the worst car the family has had, spent more time off the road than on it. He sold it very rapidly and went back to Ford Capris. We never bought a "British" car ever again.

The worst car I've ever driven: well there's a few contenders A Peugeot 405 pool car that had 60K miles showing (more like 160K!!!) and was absoloutely knackered, the diesel engine felt like it had only 40 horses left alive, the gearbox was incredibly stiff, the suspension was wonky, no power steering, no brakes to speak of and the seller had sorted a wobbly drivers seat by jamming a biro in the runners.

Then there was the Astra estate (that I crashed) it went really well, but handled like the aforementioned paddle steamer(LOL ) leading to a fatal meeting with a telegraph pole and a rock

One of my bosses had a Renault 21 turbo. That was a quick car, unfortunately he never looked after cars, so whenever I got a drive of it, I never knew if I was gonna get where I was going or if I would get back again without it breaking down :(

Next was a Montego turbo diesel, that was just gutless until you got past the incredible turbo-lag.

The most disapointing car we've had in the family was a P plate Peugeot 406 estate. The 1.8 petrol engine went well, but only if you thrashed the nuts off it, below 4000rpm it was totally gutless (I even gave up overtaking a tractor because it didn't want to go in 2nd gear at 20mph :eek: ) Ride and handling were pleasing but the brakes were very peculiar, and it drank oil. Dunno where it was going as it wasn't burning it, but the stuff disappeared nearly as fast as the petrol did To top it off, by the time it reached 50K miles, it had so many rattles and squeaks I expected the interior trim to just fall off at any time. Oh, and the seats were absolutely shockingly bad.

In contrast the K plate 405 diesel estate we had before it was a superb car! Went well even without a turbo, handled well, nice ride, good economy, great seats! no rattles or squeaks even when we sold it at 60K miles! Peugeot really lost the plot after that it seems :(

Dad sold the 406 and bought an Octy TDi instead which he has to this day I'm in my Furby vRS which is the best car I've ever owned, and I'm still loving it

The most disapointing car we've had in the family was a P plate Peugeot 406 estate. :(

My dad remembers your dad having about as much faith in that Pug as my dad has currently in a) winning the lottery; and having his hair growing back into a combover state.

How could I forget my mum's RAC Escort van - the one she drove at 90mph in the Lake District with brake pads that had worn through to the metal :eek: She never understood why it took longer to come to a halt than her VW Scirocco (which had new pads!) :eek: Needless to say, mum isn't on my car insurance hehehehe!

Has to be my Fabia :( Not necessarily a bad car' date=' but the most unreliable car I've owned, breaking down twice in the one year I owned it! :(

Chris[/quote']

Cheers Chris. Really needed to know that...

What was it, by the way? ABS still not working, although technically

I broke that by farting around with the hub.

I have been lucky, although my first golf I replaced pretty much everything besides the body and even parts of that was replaced ! But who cares when you at least got your first car.

I still fondly remember my first car, a 950cc Ford Fiesta Popular. Talk about basic!! 45 rampant horses under it and glacial 0-60 of about 19 seconds Never let me down and it drove pretty well considering

My worst car was a VW Polo MKII, it was a yellow combi...

I bought it for 100 Marks after it stood one year under some

trees.. ( So green stuff was growing on the roof and everywhere in

the trunk and the engine bay )

But after stripping it, I cleaned it with a pressure washer ( in- and outside )

My girlfriend ever refused to enter the car, because she witnessed that I blew

lots of insects out of the car.

It remained running for four weeks, then a piston rod and the crank shaft decided to break up their relationship loud and clear :eek:

I sold it afterwards for 300 Marks

Cheers Chris. Really needed to know that...

No need to worry mate - it was only the things I mentioned to you and as I said, they've all been fixed now!

Chris

Never had one. I only make sensible choices.

Have to mention my first car - my baby Jimbo / Petrol Green GLi Felicia.

I'd been learning to drive in a gold Mk4 Golf (bling stylee!), which I LOVED. Then a week before my test I bought Jimbo. Drove it home - hated it. Tried to park it - hated it. Was so different to the Golf...

Then the night before my test I took it out (with mum supervising)...and as if by skoda-magic - fell in love with it! Sure the 'power steering' wasn't that powerful, and he wasn't the most sprightly beast out there, but hey it was the start of the Skoda revolution for me!

Unfortunately, 11 months later, his wheel arches started to rust, so not being a fan of bodywork touch-ups, he was replaced by Cally, a gleaming silver Furby - the coolest Furby in Carlisle (with the exception of the boyfriend's red vRS hehehehehehe!)

A J-reg, Network Q Vauxhall Cavalier..................got rid of it in 1996 and to my surprise I still saw it running a few weeks ago!

1982 Metro HLE.

Completely cr*p. Noisy doesn't even start to describe it. By 60 mph the engine/gearbox was screaming for mercy. Everything rattled. You couldn't hear the radio at any speed. Battery often went flat for no reason that anyone could find. Rusted eveywhere. Was supposed to be the economy version but drank fuel.

AndyC

A 2002 Nissan Primera SVE Estate 2.2 TD......

Had all the toys like sat nav and reversing camera etc etc but spent more time in the garage than on the road, drive shafts and wheel bearings were the usual story although it destroyed it's clutch, flywheel and gearbox after 34,000 miles!

I have been pretty lucky with my cars, had 6 cars in 10 years.

Fiat Uno - It was 8 years old when I bought it, only trouble I had with it was the handbrake kept slipping and when it rained in a certain direction it got inside the car, started first time every morning

Fiat Punto 1.1 S 3 door - It was a year old and I paid over the odds for it.

Fiat Punto 1.2 SX 5 door - Again 1 years old didn't have a problem, sold it to a work mate who as everything go wrong with it.

Seat Ibiza 1.2 12 v S 3 door - This was my first ever brand new car in 2003, I loved the engine ( same as my current fabia) loved the car but after 18 months couldn't live with the firm ride any more so I part exchange it for a...........

Nissan Almera 1.5 S - My first ever grown up car after my smaller cars, not a bad car but after the Ibiza's top materials and finish the Almera just felt cheap.

Skoda Fabia 1.2 12v - Went for a test drive and the great sounding 1.2 12v engine was in my hands again. A softer ride than my Ibiza.