Cars you have adored despite problems

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Mon 5 Dec 2005 12:39
Cars you have adored despite problems - SlightlyFatRep
I remember fondly the Citroen GSA I had when I was about 19.

It was a milk chocolate brown colour and was quite startling to own because of its quirkiness. The radio was where the hand brake should be and the handbrake was like a spade handle that you pulled out of the dash.

There were no stalks for indicators etc just 'pods' either side of the steering wheel with swiches (worked very well). The speedo and rev counter were windows showing the speed / revs displayed on a rotating wheel behind. The brakes were powered discs all round (for a 1.3!) and would stop the car as if you had flicked a switch.

The engine was a Boxer aircooled 1.3 with loads of torque and of course the car had the Oleomatic adjustable suspension. I had a girlfreind whose house was at the top of a field and that could only be reached by a 4x4 (her father owned Isuzu Trooper and mother a Panda 4x4). My car was the only 'normal' car that ever reached the house as you could really rise it up! It was also the comfiest car I have ever driven.

It was these phenomenal differences from a standard car that made it a joy to own.

Sadly it was not built to last. In the 9 months I had it it went to running on 3 cylinders (did that for a month and kept driving as too skint to repair). I discovered when toppng up the tyres that both the rear discs had worn down sooo much they had become disconnected from the hub and I had no rear brakes at all (I can't say I noticed and it still stopped incredibly well). The final straw was the exhaust falling off. I 'fixed' this by wrapping a bit of old denim round it and whacking a jubilee clip over the top.

I then traded it in at the same dealer I had bought it from for a newer Astra. The guy who sold it to me valued my car without even looking at it. He said there was not much bad I could have done to it in nine months.

You have never seen someone drive off a forecourt quicker than I did in that Astra!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 13:25
Cars you have adored despite problems - mrmender
My second was a car Cortina 1600E loved it to bits but at the time i was serving as a apprentice in Liverpool and it kept getting nicked
VW Type 2 Camper slow cramped but it had so much charachter and with the other owners you felt as if you were in one big happy family
Range Rover Classic i owned 4 years ago 1982 Heavy on fuel doggy handling etc but that V8 i would forgive it everything for that noise. The biggest gripe was when i came to sell it. Make no misstake the example i had was an absolute minter genuine 60k never ever been welded top and bottom tail gates as new, rear x member and inner wings were without blemish it took 3 months of advertising before (cost a packet) i gave it away for a paultry sum. One punter phoned up as i was describing the condition over the phone, had the cheek to say i was telling lies. The others that came had not a clue what they were looking at. Then by chance a range rover enthusiast from Cheshire came and bought a bargain and he knew it. Ive sold some cars of questionable quality over the years but it was not one of them
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 13:38
Cars you have adored despite problems - Chris S
A Rover Metro - for the handling and fuel economy. Unfortunately I couldn't find another one that didn't have imminent HGF so I had to replace it with a Micra.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 13:45
Cars you have adored despite problems - Pezzer
My 309 Gti. I bought it off a car lot in 'sarf lundun' in my mid twenties when it was only 2 years old. It had had a slight ding on the rear wing and was at the time when insurance companies started taking a dim view of hot hatches so I got it for peanuts.
I had always admired the double fog lights set into the front bumper and loved the fact it wasnt a 205 which was the in thing. But that car went like absolute stink and handled really well (better than the 205 imho). Not only that it was an immensely practical car with or without the rear seats folded down.

On the downside everything rattled, especially the lever operated rear windows which also leaked, the electrics were rubbish using the cheapest components possible and it regularly need bulbs and connectors replacing. I also went through about 4 clutch cables.

P
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 14:13
Cars you have adored despite problems - Group B
First car bought after Uni was an 1984 Audi 80 quattro with the 2.2 5 cylinder engine. For the first few weeks it made a "boing" noise on full steering lock, which I found out was a broken roadspring. Chassis was a bit rusty and usually needed some welding to pass the MoT. Rear brake calipers were £100 each cos of the quattro system. The rear diff. started to seize up because the oil change plug was corroded into the casing, so couldnt put new oil in it. I scrapped it when a front wheel came off while I was driving home from work!

On the plus side it was quick, with tons of torque; had fully independant suspension and handled like it was on rails; the engine sounded like a proper Audi rally car; it was brilliant to drive in snow. It had more character than 20 modern hatchbacks put together!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 14:35
Cars you have adored despite problems - SlightlyFatRep
Have just remembered that the Astra that took over from the GSA had a problem at one stage that 2 garages failed to sort out.

It would start OK and then when warmed up would die. Guy from the AA spent some time on it and found a screw had fallen of the choke linkage forcing the choke to stay on. He used a bit of wire to stop the choke from being used as a 'get you home sir' and it remained like that for the next two years. Never needed choke even when covered in ice and snow.

I loved that car but used it to write off a Volvo estate that was turning out of a farm track on a blind bend (my fault I know) and whilst the engine still ran the fact it was about 18 inches shorter that originally designed meant it got replaced by my 2nd Fiat 127.

Loved that too as it cost £100 and was my faithful transport for 2 years before it died. Even got £20 for it at the scrap yard!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 14:39
Cars you have adored despite problems - Stuartli
A Vauxhall Magnum 1800 in platinum - looked good, drove well and had superb brakes (Lockheed and Girling combination but can't remember which marque was used at front/back).

Loved it despite the fact that one wet and very windy November night the engine, with only just over 13k on the clock, suddenly began spluttering and eventually died on me on the town's sea front.

All the standard ignition checks failed to work and it was left until the following morning.

The problem turned out to be a neopreme timing belt going to an early grave, my first experience with such modern technology.

The replacement remained intact until the Magnum was reluctantly changed with approximately 77k on the clock.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 14:56
Cars you have adored despite problems - NowWheels
My second car was a 1980 Vauxhall Chevette estate, bought in 1989 to replace a 1977 Allegro I'd had for 3 months until I passed my test.

The Chevette died after 4 or 5 months from engine failure and rust, and along the way the hinged rear windows leaked (when they didn't fall off), the speedo cable broke and a few bits fell off.

But although it was not fast or fancy (OK, it as slow and ugly), and not particularly economical on fuel, it was very easy to drive. The rwd gave it a very smooth and direct gearbox and light unassisted steering, and it was very easy to park. It was the first car I drove for any serious distance, and I have lot of happy memories of trips with friends.

Pity it was so badly made.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 15:05
Cars you have adored despite problems - Thommo
Mk1 Escort Mexico in purple (think they were all purple). Had to get the old man to co-sign the HP and it was mine all mine. Fast for the time but handling did not match the power partially because the shocks were screwed and the tyre were baldish and I could not afford to replace them.

Wrote it and nearly myself off after 6 months, TFT all I could afford, ending up paying another 2 1/2 years of HP whilst riding a moped to make ends meet but I loved that car and would do it all again tomorrow...
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 19:10
Cars you have adored despite problems - Waino
Mk1 Escort Mexico in purple (think they were all purple).

My mate had an Escort Mexico (new) in 1974 that was vivid lime green - would that have been a Mk1?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 15:00
Cars you have adored despite problems - lordy
my mk I astra when i was a student. It was the quite rare '4 dr', which looked identical to the normal hatch but had a boot hinged beneath the rear window. This caused no end of problems when a friendly local passing through studentsville put a brick through my back window. The number of scrappys who directed me to a hatchback window. In the rain. Ahh happy days!


let me be the last to let you down....
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 15:51
Cars you have adored despite problems - David Horn
I'm a lot younger than you folks and I'm very attached to my current car, a vomit yellow 1.9TD Xsara Coupe. Comfortable, looks OK (apart from the colour), I can get my bike + 5 boxes of junk in the back, and it's pretty nippy too.

Never had any problems apart from when I snapped the door handle off in freezing weather two years ago. Though, come to think of it, I'm a bit concerned about it at the moment as I'm used to getting 48mpg (500 miles per tank of diesel), but the fuel gauge is reading practically empty and I've had less than 400 miles.

Hoping that the gauge is faulty!!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 16:05
Cars you have adored despite problems - mike hannon
A Wartburg Knight - three-cylinder two-stroke refugee from East Germany for you youngsters - that was never less than fun to drive even though the gearchange linkage kept disappearing through the floor and the head gasket and water pump were among the many things that failed. Final drive failed just after we turned it in as well. When I wrote to the UK importers to complain about all the faults and mentioned that my local garage had been very helpful they wrote to him offering a dealership!
I was also very fond of an Alfa 33 1.7 boxer Sportwagon that had the usual electrical niggles - often in wet weather and sometimes when dry as well - and once ate a couple of exhaust valves when I was doing a longish commute. I put the remaining half of the (expensive) head gasket set on Ebay for a quid but got no takers!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 16:39
Cars you have adored despite problems - SlightlyFatRep
Though, come
to think of it, I'm a bit concerned about it at
the moment as I'm used to getting 48mpg (500 miles per
tank of diesel), but the fuel gauge is reading practically empty
and I've had less than 400 miles.
Hoping that the gauge is faulty!!

>>

Quite possibly. On the old Fiats they used to read OK 'til they were 1/2 full an then quite literally plummet to zero even though there is 1/2 a tank full. Ah the joys of car ownership!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 16:48
Cars you have adored despite problems - Happy Blue!
Adored cars eh!

Well there were my two Alfasuds (one after the other) which were a hoot to drive, but rusted, leaked, broke down etc etc.

Fiat Uno, which was lovely except the leak of water into the rear passenger footwell was never traced.

Ford Orion 1.6i - same engine as XR3 but with a boot. Poor turning circle and central locking would go haywire.

I loved my Peugeot 605 SRDT Auto until the fanbelt snapped, wrapped itself around the cambelt pulley or something similar and yanked the cambelt into oblicion. The repairs were £1500 and the car was never the same again. Sold it after a year for a drop of £4000 plus the cost of the works.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 16:52
Cars you have adored despite problems - No FM2R
Any of the several Lancia Betas I owned. Rotten through and through and a nightmare to work on, nonetheless I loved them.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 17:00
Cars you have adored despite problems - islandman
I remember fondly the Citroen GSA I had when I was
about 19.
It was a milk chocolate brown colour and was quite startling
to own because of its quirkiness.


I had a GS -- which I recall was out just before the GSA. Mine was brown to and I loved it because it was so so different from most cars of the time. Superbly comfortable and with all the quirks you mention. I remember the front discs were 'inboard' - away from the wheels and accessed from inside the bonnet -- how different is that. Rust was a problem with mine and when I sold it --- 1st day advertised and bought a cortina I thought 'what have i done.



+

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 17:12
Cars you have adored despite problems - mike hannon
Forgot to mention my lovely Lancia Beta HPE - although the only problem was an oil pressure gauge needle that used to drop back a bit on the same stretch of road every time. Never gave any trouble though and the body was clean as a whistle!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 18:47
Cars you have adored despite problems - glowplug
I was fond of my Mk2 Cortinas, 1600 super and 1600 GT, my second and third cars respectively. But the one I really miss was the fourth car, a Mini 1275GT clubman. I bought it from my brother, who'd bought it for his wife from a member of the local motorsport club. He sold it because it was too small. Anyhow that was back in 1988, I was just 19. It had a loud stereo (I fitted it), bucket seats, 1310 engine, freeflow exhaust and K&N with a stub stack. After dyno tuning it went like hell and boy did I enjoy it. But I got a job with a van that meant I was away from home more and more, so when driving it one weekend and the clutch wouldn't disengage, my then girlfriend ended up pushing it to start it then jumping in whilst moving (in a very short skirt and heels!) I decided it had to go. The chump I sold it to wrote it off in 2 weeks...

Ah the joy of youth.

Steve.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 18:57
Cars you have adored despite problems - Pugugly {P}
SWMBO's 1300 Maestro Comapany car on an F. Roomy, fast, out handled Sierras and Cavs. Choc brown interior and actually found a piece of poo (painted over by the way) in the boot. The car went like stink but needed constant fettling (which coul actually be done) - never broke down though. Cracking car.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 19:05
Cars you have adored despite problems - PhilW
"my then girlfriend ended up pushing it to start it then jumping in whilst moving (in a very short skirt and heels!) I decided it had to go"
Extraordinary decision, given the circumstances!!
Phil
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 19:12
Cars you have adored despite problems - glowplug
Even more extraordinary was that this was at a roundabout junction on the A61 in Chesterfield at the start of the bypass. What can I say she even dug the garden in heels once! Just what a 19 year old needs...

Or did you mean the decision to let the car go? Anyhow looking back it was probably faulty seals on the clutch slave cylinder.

Steve.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 21:23
Cars you have adored despite problems - Altea Ego
I am so fickle I have loved them all in some way or other.

Even the Touran, still in its courtship. I have discovered that below certain temperatures the webasto auxilory heater comes into play. Its deposits clouds of smoke from under the car, and smells like an old mamod steam engine. It also has a cruel habit of dumping litres of rainwater water on your neck from the roof as you open a door.

I am suprised and delighted that such a dour car as a brick shaped volkswagen people carrier can exhibit such foibles.
--
RF - Da DAA. < changes in phone box > Its TOURVAN man
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 21:28
Cars you have adored despite problems - Xileno {P}
Renault 20. Wonderfully comfy car, fast and reliable.
But suffered terminal rot in the end.
The biggest regret I have is not taking any pictures of it, I only have vague memories of what it looked like :-(
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 22:05
Cars you have adored despite problems - PhilW
Renault20/30
I always fancied one of the 30s
What they looked like ??
www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Show/9396/index30.htm
Phil
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 21:36
Cars you have adored despite problems - adverse camber
for me the subaru svx.
went through two gearboxes, but the handling in bad conditions was unbelievable.

picked a colleague up from the station at york and drove him 50 miles over country roads at night in bad weather - he said it was the most memorable drive he had ever had.

If it had only had a manual box it would have been a better gt than the porsche.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 22:30
Cars you have adored despite problems - Steptoe
I have owned and enjoyed more cars than I care to remember, until a few years ago I always wanted a change after about 6 months, but one car I always coveted was a Reliant Scimitar and I did eventually buy one about 10 years ago, paid £675 for it with high hopes soon to be dashed. At that time my neighbour was in the glass fibre trade so he fixed the front wing which was becoming detached from the rest of the car. I rubbed down the worst of the crazing and resprayed it with a few aerosol cans. The mechanics at the garage used to cringe with fear when I brought it in for MOT's, not easy to weld outriggers encased in a glass fibre tunnel. Did I mention it leaked like a sieve so I always felt I was driving round in a foggy aquarium, but the real problem was the lack of get up and go, the 3 litre V6 could miss for England, the bog standard 1.1 Fiesta we had at the time could outrun it. I finally treated it to a diagnostics tune-up, the verdict was that the rear pair of cylinders were actually holding the front four back.

The final straw was when it shed a front wheel whilst No. 1 son had borrowed it. I sold it to a wheeler dealer who only wanted the V5 (it was tax exempt) so it languished in the driveway for another 9 months till I persuaded him to uplift it, amazingly enough it still started & drove on the trailer.
----------------------------------------------

One mans junk is another mans treasure
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 22:33
Cars you have adored despite problems - Hugo {P}
My first car, a mini 850 that I had for 6 months.

I inherited a cooling problem that was down to a dodgy thermostat. The old lady I bought it off had taken to keeping a bottle of water just in case. I knew when there was a problem when the interior filled up with steam!

Once that was fixed I was very happy with it.

The mutt I sold it to wrote it off within a few months of his parents buying it for him.

2nd car, Excort Mk2, mustard yellow. This car was bought from a very dodgy looking guy in Roehampton, ran for around a year then sold to an even dodgier looking chap in Leicestershire. I never serviced it, though my dad insisted on spending a couple of hundred on the brakes - very wise, so the car cost a total of £300 to buy and fix. I changed the radiator and the thermostat as well. That car covered 10,000 miles in a year.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 5 Dec 2005 23:15
Cars you have adored despite problems - SlightlyFatRep
I have just remembered the two Capris! 1st was a 2.0 that I rescued from a scrap yard as it was too pretty to destroy. Got that for £100 and spent the next year lavishing nearly £1,000 on it after which I had enough of the bills and sold it to my brother in law who did the same, maybe £800 before he got fed up with the same problem and sold it to a guy who was going to banger race it! Cruel end.

The 2.8i Special was special though. Best bit was the noise of that V6. Always sounded great (apart from when the head gasket went). The performance was poor initially and one day I replaced the fuel filter. Hoooweee!!! Nearly span it on the first round about after that!

Apart from one of the head gaskets going, the alarm system catching fire and the rear diff snapping (whilst in the middle of an overtaking manuovre up a hill) it was reliable and never failed in putting a smile on mine and my wifes face (her car).

The Fiats were fabulous when not rusting. GSA and Astra good cars. A mkII Cavalier was great and the Escort 1.8 16v good.

The Punto was a cracker - so much room inside! No power though.

The Mondeo estate was superb.

The S60 is great - especially that Diesel engine!!! But even so every car has it's foibles - RF is right there.

And would we want it any other way? (I can hear RF / Tourvan Man's collar being turned up as I write this - time to buy a hat?)
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Dec 2005 05:10
Cars you have adored despite problems - uk2usa
My B reg Fiat uno 1.1 which i bought in 1997 for 50 quid (I was 17 and still at school). Spent about 200 more fixing it to pass an MOT. But what a learning experience, because i fixed everything myself, except the welding which I got a mate to do. It was so temperamental and had a personality. After giving it a kicking down the backroads (as you do when you are 17) it would be reluctant to start. Every couple of weeks I had to dismantle the carburettor and readjust the floats and the mixture or it would refuse to idle properly. The handbrake did not work and I have a very steep junction near my house which would always be queued with traffic, so i couldnt afford to roll backwards. Ended up keeping a golf club next to the drivers seat to use as a "third leg" on the brake pedal for doing hillstarts!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Dec 2005 07:01
Cars you have adored despite problems - L'escargot
I don't adore any car. I just tolerate it until I can afford something newer, faster, or generally better!
--
L\'escargot.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Dec 2005 07:17
Cars you have adored despite problems - greenhey
Had a job where I was provided with a car, and a budget for it, but allowed to choose and negotiate within the budget.
I managed to get a 3 litre Senator, auto .
Endless power , nice handling , had an interesting effect on motorways - as at that time the police used Senators I realised that when people saw one in their rear-view mirror they got out of your way .
Maintenance and fuel were not good, but I wasn't paying..
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Dec 2005 08:56
Cars you have adored despite problems - Roly93
Never had a car with problems that I adored. I tend to adore cars which are rattle, squeak and trouble free !!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Dec 2005 13:35
Cars you have adored despite problems - oldtoffee
1981/2 Alfasud 1.5 Sprint Veloce, adorable and infuriatingly unreliable but the way it went and sounded always won over the dodgy electrics, leaks and its ultimate killer, rust. Replaced by a Golf MK2 GTi - not quite as much fun but utterly reliable.

Since then marriage and a growing family has meant family hacks, estates and MPVs for best part of 20 years. Some good but none of them as engaging. Now the kids have grown up, they need the larger cars not me.

Now I've reverted to type and drive a Fabia vRS which I rate very highly for smiles per gallon!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 6 Dec 2005 14:53
Cars you have adored despite problems - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}
Renault 18 TL. Only 1.4l and 4 speed. Very comfortable and smooth and with great traction in snow, having the engine hanging out the front.
Lots of expensive maintenance but a great improvement over crummy BL predecessors.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide

From choosing the right tyre to what to do when it goes wrong - we have the answers.

Tyre News And Advice