With apologies to the many Marque aficionados it's the .....
Citroen C5.
I couldn't get comfortable and the seats had so little lateral support that when I went 'round a roundabout quickly, I ended up sitting in the passanger seat while hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life.
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Ford Orion. Gears like stirring soup. Suspension & chassis set up stuck at "vomit" setting. Steering wheel offered only guidence toward where you wanted to go and cornering was a supreme act of faith.
A hateful, hateful bit of junk.
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To dd to that, I had an Orion automatic asa hir car. The upshifts were like a kick in the back. A real dog
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worst car that i owned was a R5 Campus, with the big sun roof. Not very well screwed together and had a tendancy just to give up and not start again for about 15 minutes. the steering went in its own direction and the breaks veered sharply to one side.
worst hire cars
renault clio 1.0 (or maybe 1.2) gutless, uncomfortable, cramped but it was clean.
toyota avensis 1.2 - seemed to be different to the ones over here. gutless, dead steering, uncomfortable, but it had an electronic speedo (stuck in the middle of the dash which I hate) and was clean.
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Do you really mean that there is a 1.2 Avensis kicking around somewhere? Or was that a typo?
I thought my 1.4 Fiesta was a touch underpowered!
Blue
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Wasn't a typo - def a 1.2 Avensis that was hired in Barbados. As I said it didn't look like a European one but had that dowdy styling so favoured by the Japanese.
As it was a hire car it went fast enough when needed not that Barbados has many chances to get above 30 mph.
Best thing about the car was the auto box which zapped what power the car had
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Mine has to be a Ford Sierra 2.3 diesel. Pumped out a measly 67bhp IIRC which meant 0-60 in about 20 secs and 90 mph flat out. Rough as a bag of nails, and with no power steering I doubt a smaller member of the fairer sex would have had the strength to turn the wheel when trying to park it!
I'm a loser, baby....so why don't you kill me?!
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Punto 1.2.
Truly hideous interior (grey and electric blue anyone), totally vacant steering feedback, truly no feedback with 'girly button' depressed which resulted in 45o movement to remain in a straight line. Gutless engine, useless brakes. Stupid console with electric window button almost on the floor requiring you to bent forward to reach them. High chair driving position was also very uncomfortable.
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>>> I doubt a smaller member of the fairer sex would have had the strength to turn the wheel when trying to park it! <<<
From this, and many other posts, it's interesting to see how PAS is now seen as essential.
I even read a road test the other day lambasting the basic Ka because it is not so equipped.
For heaven's sake! PLEASE!
What are we? A bunch of wimps? ;-)
Sure, stick PAS on anything bigger than a Focus if you like, and even a diesel Sierra, but on 'superminis' and smaller.....
Going back through the years, I recall how my then twenty-something mother used to handle the truck called our family Volvo 144S with aplomb. U-turns. Parking in spaces precious longer than the car (helped my fabulous steering lock). Swift B-roads. All no problem and without physical struggle. PAS? Not a chance of it!
Infact, when the 144S was replaced with 244DL, one of the dis-benefits that both parents commented on was the lack of feel from the now assisted steering!
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Rental time in UK 1999: those who try harder wanted to give me one of those ghastly Mercedes bubble cars and looked aghast when I said you'll have to try a lot harder than that, I won't be seen dead in a kiddy-car, then they inflicted upon me a Volvo S70.
Awful thing, fumbly gearchange where 1st kept getting mixed up with 5th, no poke whatever, poor brakes and a very cramped interior. When it finally wheezed its way to Lincs it was clear Volvo had definitely lost its way, what a dog.
Truthfully I have seldom had a rental car in UK I ever really felt at home with or enjoyed driving, with some exception -- a Sierra 2 litre around 1995, which was a very nice comfortable fast car, and a Vauxhall Chevette which I rented for two months in 1978 and which was super.
I forgot the Rover 826 (is that the one, the big one anyway). My admin had booked for me one of these at LGW and I had to drive up to LHR to collect some senior Japanese colleagues and drive to Maidenhead. Much interest from them in ah so this Engrish car, only to have it expire 20 mins later on the M4. I'm not into hara kiri but I feel loss of face as keenly as any Asian.
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Greg Parker - Mazda 626 unreliable?
Questionable build on the Honda Jazz?
Have you tried these...
Metro. Admittedly pre 1990, but what a grim experience in every way.
Post 1990, I hired a Citroen Saxo once. Just once. Stalled on the motorway doing 55 mph and another 40+ times in a single weekend. I may have had a bad one, but the pedals are awful. For people with small feet who know nothing.
The only good thing about these cars is if you needed to be cut out for any reason, there's no need to wait for the fire brigade. Any passing motorist with an item of cutlery can get you out.
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Post 1992, a couple have been very poor, I was unfortunate enough to have to drive one of those Suzuki XC90's I think that's the name, absolutely awful.
I had to endure a Vauxhall Corsa hire car when I had a company motor in for service and it was awful. The good lady of the time had a Fiesta 1.25 and the difference was untrue, the fiesta was so much better. I hope the new Corsa os better than the old.
The funniest (although not for my dad) was when he as a Land Rover driver had to take the wheel of a frontera, not good, we could see how they managed to reach bottom of the JD Power survey so often.
Paul.
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1997 Rover 220D. Gutless, 1970's build quality. What was dissapointing was that I remembered driving a few of the previous models: 216/220SLi/GSi, 92/93 I think, which was a much better car. (Something to do with Honda was'nt it ?).
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B-Reg rover 213 in a nice benson and hedges gold colour, my first car, on 2nd MOT after a year living near the sea the testers hand went through the bodywork and sill numerous times.. nice engine shocking steel
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Toyota Corolla - one of the last rear wheel drive ones. Unbearably noisy over 60 mph, steering connected to the wheels by rubber bands (or so it felt) and suspension that made the car bounce sickeningly over bumps of any size. Also the brakelight switch was mounted directly on the pedal and clicked annoyingly every time I braked.
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The Lada Riva, a real journey back in time.
Original Vauxhall Frontera 2.3TD. Cynically under-engineered load of carp which had no guts over 60.
The Lada wasn't surprising, the Frontera was simply jumping on the awful lifestyle bandwagon, so my prize actually goes to:
The 1990 Ford Escort. Demolishes Vauxhall for cynicism through a combination of appalling dynamics and grim build quality. I particularly remember two things: unassisted steering geared so low it turned mini-roundabouts into bodybuilding exercises, and a marketing slogan built round 'breaks the law of averages'.
If that was average then mediocrity had plumbed new depths.
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Having read through all these threads, I would agree with all your comments, with two exceptions. Firstly the Ford Ka has been applauded by all the knowledgeable motoring journalists for its go-cart handling and ride qualities, which still compares favourably with anything introduced recently in the mini sector. As for its performance, it will hold an indicated 90 mph all day on the motorway, so what more do people expect from a vehicle retailing for less than 6k ???
Secondly was the Riley Monaco, which when introduced in 1932, was an advanced design with a 1089 cc OHV engine, whilst most of the competition were still plugging side valve motors.In fact Ford stuck with side valve engines right up to the early sixties with the 100E engine.
In their day Riley was a quality vehicle with superb handling, and engineering integrity. To compare the name of Riley with some of the dross mentioned on this thread is an absolute insult to one of the greatest names in British motoring heritage and I would love to get my hands on one today!!!!
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i have owned dozens of cars from a mini to a merc and the worst was a vw polo on an f plate it made me feal physicly sick after a couple of hundred yards everytime i drove it.
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Thank you Dude, I knew that I couldn't be the only one on here to appreciate a Riley 9 Monaco.
Phew!
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"In their day Riley was a quality vehicle with superb handling, and engineering integrity. To compare the name of Riley with some of the dross mentioned on this thread is an absolute insult to one of the greatest names in British motoring heritage and I would love to get my hands on one today!!!!"
It was awful to drive: and Riley you may call a "great name", but I also remember Riley 1.5/2.5s with awful canvas roofs etc.
Frankly any one who designed a car with the fuel tank mounted above the passenger's feet over the engine was a witless moron even in the 1920s and to call that "engineering integrity" makes a mockery of the words.. imo..
absolute carp car:-)
madf
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I had a Riva for 7 months or so. It was on a K plate. I sold it to someone who simply wanted basic transport to and from work. Having borrowed a Riva Estate for a few months he was absolutely struck on them. Despite the fact that it only had 3 months on the MOT left, he was happy to part with £100 for it.
Despite the clutch needing adjustment, it was a fine car. I used it to tow my trailer and for local run abouts. Despite the bad press they got they're excellent towing cars for their engine size (mine was a 1.5l which qualified it as a £105 RFL car).
I Don't know if I'd have another. but I wouldn't class it as the worst car I'd driven.
****Signature? - Ideas on a postcard please anyone!****
Hugo
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626 are not unreliable, but they are not as good as a toyota. The honda jazz has good build, but not good enough and should be improved especially that dash.
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