What was your best car / worst car ?

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 16:55
What was your best car / worst car ? - diddy1234
Although there are various stories on the web I was wondering what your best car was and why.

On the flip side what was your worst car and why.

For me the best car was a Vauxhall Astra 1.6l SXI.
Very reliable but not completely cost free (tires not cheap to replace etc) .

My worst car was a 1990 Ford Escort 1.6l LX (not even injection).
Always munched through light bulbs, engine very rough running (even after new spark plugs and service). Slow acceleration.
On the day I got rid of it the heating fan packed up.
Very much a Friday afternoon build car.

Edited by Pugugly on 03/10/2009 at 17:08

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 17:00
what was your best car / worst car - strangehighways
Best Car - Alfa 164 3.0 V6 24V Manual. L reg. Great car. Bought it during the last year of uni. Fantastic engine that sounded incredible, immediate throttle response, fast, comfy and so much personality. Would love another..

Worst Car - I haven't ever owned a pink fluffy dice car. The most troublesome car was my 2.8i Ford Capri from 1984. Cost a lot to repair, but it was a great car all the same.

{the swear filter rule applies to everyone!}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 02/10/2009 at 20:07

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 17:15
what was your best car / worst car - NARU
The one which made me smile most - 1993 Mondeo 2.0Si [Mondeos were new out and the Si was my first new (company) car; wore out the front tyres in 8000 miles]

The one which most impressed for quality - 1989-ish Mitsubishi Shogun which I ran for two years in Kenya 1994-1996.

Best - 2000 BMW 330d estate - extended the lease to keep it a bit longer

Least enjoyed - 2005 Mondeo 130 TDCi - followed the BMW, and although it was OK it didn't stir the soul. Paid extra to terminate the lease early.

Broke down most often - 1981 minivan - broke down every time it rained hard. Eventually tracked down to weak springs holding the distributor cap on

Worst car - none were out and out dogs. The mondeo was the only one I didn't really enjoy driving.

Edited by Marlot on 02/10/2009 at 17:18

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 17:16
what was your best car / worst car - b308
Worst was my first, an 850cc Mini rustbucket...

Best? As far as value for money, a 1.3 Marina purchased for £75 that did 8k trouble free miles in 6 months!
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Mon 5 Oct 2009 15:49
what was your best car / worst car - Roly93
Best? As far as value for money a 1.3 Marina purchased for £75 that did
8k trouble free miles in 6 months!

>>
Well you must be the luckiest man on earth !
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 17:17
what was your best car / worst car - stunorthants26
Worst car was a Renault 21 2.0, thing was build by the proverbial communist blind man. Such a good design let down by poor assembly, or lack thereof.

Best car was my Volvo 460 Xi. Low mileage minter, it had a radio, heated seats and C/L, everything else was DIY, but it was spacious, very comfortable and ultra reliable. I nearly cried when some fool effectively wrote it off.

Car i most enjoyed was my old Jag, but boy was it thirsty and a wee bit fragile!
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 17:22
what was your best car / worst car - bathtub tom
Best car - got to be Austin Maxi, because it was the right car for me at the time. Small growing family, remarkably comfortable on long journeys and very economical with cheap parts (brakes, tyres, exhaust etc). It was also capable of competing, very successfully, at club level trials, autotests and even an outright win in an economy run.

Worst car - Austin Ambassador, because it was such a disappointment in replacing the Princess that followed the Maxi. It drunk petrol, got through numerous front discs that it warped with grim regularity, parts were expensive (and frequent) and it was able to break down in various devious ways that were a pig to repair. Front suspension arm bushes spring to mind, I've still got a funny thumb that I broke in changing them!
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 18:20
what was your best car / worst car - DP
Worst was a 1998 Polo 1.9D CL. Horrible to drive (I could forgive it this, as I knew this when I bought it), spartan, rattly, constant niggling faults, and with rust bubbling on the rear arches and below the tailgate glass at 5 years old. The car had been bought new by my inlaws and had never been pranged or abused. Not a patch on the year older Fiesta that replaced it, in any way, shape or form. The only car I've owned that I felt no attachment to at all, and was glad to see the back of.

Best was probably the MX-5. Great to drive, utterly faultless, brilliant dealers and just did everything you could have ever expected of it. Had bags of character, yet was as dependable as the tides. Our current Golf runs it a very close second. Doesn't have the build quality, but otherwise incredibly hard to fault in terms of being a bit of fun when you're in the mood, but otherwise just reliable, cheap to own transportation.


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Fri 2 Oct 2009 18:57
what was your best car / worst car - Rattle
I always found them Polos very over rated, people are still paying silly money for them too, N reg rust bucket with 150,000 miles, oh its a VW they last for ever £995.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 17:59
what was your best car / worst car - sandy56
worst car- not many but my current Ford Mondeo v6 is becoming a money pit. I like it but it is very expensive to keep in good order.

best SAAB 95 2.3T fast comfortable great autobox and nothing went wrong.

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 18:47
what was your best car / worst car - LikedDrivingOnce
Best Car - Nissan Primera 2-litre Auto. Very reliable, easy to drive, bags of space and very comfortable. By the time I needed a new car they had stopped making them, otherwise I'd have had another one like a shot.

Next Best - Nissan Sunny ZX. Not glamorous, underrated, but very ... err ..."responsive". The last car that I really enjoyed driving, TBH.

Worst Car - Ford Capri 1.6. Not too costly in terms of repairs, and looked nice, but that long bonnet was a pig when emerging from junctions, and the clutch was as sharp as a MIL's tongue. But the worst thing about it was the terrible handling in poor conditions, for which its RWD layout was a major contributory factor. (But then, I've never got on with RWD cars. If you are a good driver, then RWD is perfectly OK - but I'm not a good driver, unfortunately).
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 18:56
what was your best car / worst car - Rattle
Do I even dare reply to this? I haven't decided what my worst car was but its a choice of two fiestas.

Fiesta 1 - Bought Jan 07 with 104k on the clock and no service history and 9 previous owners. Engine sounded ok from warm and there was no smoke so bought it for £400, soon found out the piston rings had gone and it had a habbit of burning stupid amounts of oil. My dad ended up using this car (long story) and put 3k on it before the engine gave up. To be fair it passed its MOT.

Fiesta 2- Paid £350, was a 96 1.3 Encore, I knew it had wleding in its last MOT but it seems it wasn't enough, on top of that it went like this:-

1) Day two of ownership - drivers door lock mechanism brakes meaning it would not open from the inside cost me £40 to sort out at an indie and I had to go to a scrap yard.

2) Week two noticed it would ocassionaly pop out of gear and developed a buzzing noise at idle.

3) Week three - Clutched slipped on me and eventualy I got the burning smell, I never got that fixed.

4) Week for had an early MOT done it to see if it was worth fixing that clutch, it needed far more work doing than even I imagined :(.

Best car my dad ever had a 1995 (new shape) Escort with the 1.6 Zetec engine in it, even at 97k it sounded like a brand new car at tick over.

I think that second Fiesta was the worst car, I only did 300 miles in it before getting rid of it!


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Fri 2 Oct 2009 19:03
what was your best car / worst car - Lud
Had quite a few bad cars of which the worst was probably a Simca 1100. The model had plenty to recommend it, it was the example that was bad.

In some ways the best car I have had was the Escort Estate that has served me for the past five years, still with a couple of months of MoT on it but nearly a month out of VET, that now looks like going to seed in the country because Ms Lud doesn't use it when she's there. Don't really blame her. It has performed well and been kept going at remarkably small cost, is a modern car with all the convenience that implies but without irksome unnecessary troublesome refinements, has been economical on fuel, tough over bumps, invisible round London and generally faithful.

Only its little foibles and the absence of any real money value prevent me from puting it in Classifieds actually. In the hands of an intelligent young man it might even last another couple of seasons, but it wouldn't suit a clueless teenage girl or any sort of ape or ignoramus really. I may have to take it into the wood and shoot it, but I'm a bit reluctant.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 19:28
what was your best car / worst car - ifithelps
Worst car: Rover 3500 auto, I knew I liked the good ones, but made the mistake of buying a bad one.

It had fibre glass wings and the V8 never ran properly but still drank fuel.

Inside was nice, though, and I don't think it ever left me stranded.

Best car has to be my current Focus CC3, partly because cars designed and built now are so much better than the stuff I could afford in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 20:29
what was your best car / worst car - 659FBE
Best car: SAAB 96 - brilliant design for its time with wonderful handling and attention to detail without extravagence.

Worst car (by a mile): Hillman Hunter - American crudeness at its worst (they've still got a long way to go) and thrown together by a bolshy work force in Scotland. Total rubbish.

659.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 21:01
what was your best car / worst car - Badwolf
The car I remember the fondest was a 1984 Peugeot 505 2.5 GLD that I owned for about nine months five years ago or so. Surprisingly nippy, extremely comfortable and good on juice. I still regret getting rid of it but it was in very good nick and I wanted it to go to someone who could look after it better than I could.

The best car I've ever had is probably the last one I owned - a '95 Saab 9000 2.3 lpt Automatic. Bloomin' lovely car and never put a single foot wrong. Sadly, it cost me an arm and a leg to run so it had to go.

The worst car has to be an 'E' reg Sierra 1.8 GL Estate I ran when I had my own mobile disco business. It was only about 8 years old when I bought it, but was slow, thirsty, sounded like a bag of spanners and had an endearing habit of cutting out for no apparent reason and with absolutely no warning. It went to several garages but nobody could fathom out why.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 21:25
what was your best car / worst car - L'escargot
Best car ~ my current 03/03 2 litre petrol Focus Ghia.
Worst car ~ my first car, a 1936 Wolseley 14 bought in 1956. I was young, naive, and inexperienced. I didn't realise that the car had a hole in the top of one of the pistons when I bought it. Expectations were much lower in those days.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 21:32
what was your best car / worst car - Pugugly
Best Cars BMW 535 biturbo, closely followed by the venerable E39 530d and then a smidgen behind the E46 330d....


Worst car a 1968 Triumph 1300 FWD I had as a student - horrid car with its clicking drive-shafts and jamming starter motor.

Edited by Pugugly on 02/10/2009 at 22:46

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 21:34
what was your best car / worst car - doctorchris
Worst car was a white 1.3 Talbot Horizon, I think a 1979 model but not sure. Cam chain rattled all the time, awful colour, horrid to drive, I just don't know where to end with my complaints. Bought to fulfil a lifestyle that I didn't want at that time in my life so full of terrible memories.
Best car(s) have been my previous Fiat Panda 4x4 Climbing and its successor a Panda Cross.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 22:33
what was your best car / worst car - Andrew-T
I think I must have led rather a charmed life. After owning three Morris 1100s, a Triumph 1300, five Maxis, a Cavalier estate, a Nissan Prairie (this was the point when a brick-shaped vehicle was useful ferrying daughters and their clutter to Uni), a series of various 205s, four 306s and finally a 207 SW, I would not call any of them a bad car. I have omitted a 206 Garros and a 106 which I owned very briefly - both of these were decent cars, but the Garros seats became uncomfortable after an hour or two's driving, and the 106 pedal-box was just too tight.

As far as I can decide, the 'best' cars were SWMBO's 205 Dturbo (1993-2001) and my 306 HDi (2002-2008) as is shown by how long we kept them.

Edited by Andrew-T on 02/10/2009 at 22:35

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Fri 2 Oct 2009 23:03
what was your best car / worst car - smokyjoe
One off the worst cars i have ever owned is the B6 passat i currently own and i have owned some real dogs in my time but nothing comes close to this car.

the ones i would like to have again are
colt mirage pre 84 as they never let me down,
passat 16td 1991 which i kept for 5 years and had covered 485k miles when i sold it.
peugeot 305 estate which was a real peach but died at a ripe old milage off 630k.
1986 audi 80 sport 232k miles.
2001 passat tdi 145k miles and never cost me a penny appart from serviceing infact i would go so far as to say i wish i had never traded it in for my present passat.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 23:20
what was your best car / worst car - 105Ewithaheater
Best car: my 1998 SAAB 9000 CSE 2.3T auto - excellent for comfort, load carrying, performance & durability. And, contrary to what JC stated in a TG programme, it does go round corners just fine! Still have it and now trying to find a good home for it due to arrival of nice shiny nearly new 9.3.
Second best: 1982 VW Passat GL5 with the five cylinder engine. Very similar style of car to the Saab and did some very long trips with that one. However it did cause me some embarrassment on one trip when the ignition failed just on joining the Peripherique in a morning rush hour...
Worst car: the very worst without any doubt was the second of my BMW 525 Se autos - 1991 model with lots of toys and lots of problems - e.g. 2 gearboxes, a limited slip diff, rear suspension & numerouis electric/electronic items all replaced under guarantee. I always reckoned that the car was built on the last afternoon before a Turkish or German bank holiday.
Second worst: a 1979 Renault 18 TS. Renault UK, the AA & local dealer could not agree between them as to what were the correct plugs for the car! And had some hair raising moments when braking hard before corners which eventually led to the discovery that the rear axle had not been securely bolted to the suspension members. It might raise a chuckle now but it was frightening at the time.
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Fri 2 Oct 2009 23:58
what was your best car / worst car - kayks
My worst was a 1989 Fiesta 1.4 Ghia I had in Uni. The exhaust fell off on the A45 in Coventry. Fuel leaked from the fuel filler. Valves stopped functioning after 30 miles of 60mph motorway running. Rev counter had a mind of its own. Kept breaking down, despite servicing twice a year. Replaced it with a bicycle and increased street cred 100%

My best car was a VW Golf GTi Mk 2 8v. Had great fun chucking it around corners, and enjoyed terrifying my house-mate making 90-degree left turns at exactly 35mph! Would do 100mph steady for miles and miles on end. Even did Edinburgh-London non-stop in it, did not feel tired in the least.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 00:06
what was your best car / worst car - BB
Worst car 1998 Passat Tdi. Threw two cambelts, one involving a £3k engine replacement.

Best Car(s) 1995 Golf VR6, I was age 22. Perfect! 2002 Jaguar XK that I currently own, wanted one since my first day working at Browns Lane when I saw a slate grey one on the tracks with Ivory Recaro trim. Took me a long time to find one (and afford one!)
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 00:55
what was your best car / worst car - Avant
Best car: the Audi A4 Avant 2.5 TDI - at least I think so. But the more I drive the current Octavia vRS estate, and the more it loosens up, the more of a contender it becomes. It's essentially a Golf GTI (GTD, actually) with an estate body, and all that that implies.

Worst has to be a Fiat 131 estate that we got in 1981 for SWMBO to do the school run in: bought new, it let her down 3 times in as many months. I accept that Fiats are better now, but she never will.

Most disappointing - Mercedes B200 CDI with CVT. Reliable - I'll give it that - but sluggish and unexciting to drive, and made a noise like a London taxi only louder.

Best loved - still my first car, an Austin A50, bought when it was 14 years old but started first time every time and never let me down. In the 1950s Austins were the best mass-produced cars you could buy, and it still makes me sad to think how this was all thrown away. Who would have thought in the 50s that in 50 years' time, to get the qualities for reasonable cost that an Austin gave you, you would be well advised to look to what was then Czechoslovakia?

Edited by Avant on 03/10/2009 at 00:58

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Sat 3 Oct 2009 09:27
what was your best car / worst car - ohsoslow
Worst car

A Fiat 850S, owned in Hong Kong in the '70s. More rust than steel so water came in from everywhere when it rained. Very probably a complete death trap, but being young I was of course immortal then. It even had a resident chit - chat (a little lizard) which seemed to thrive on the flies etc that were fellow travellers.

The engine was good though so it was a great little car for buzzing around the city traffic.


Best car

My MX-5. Even after 4 years I still take it out at lunch times or evenings for a blat around the countryside as it is so much fun.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 09:35
what was your best car / worst car - injection doc
Worst car, difficult to choose between vauxhall via HC1300 that was truly awfull & should never of bought! & a vectra SRi 140 that if it lasted a week without something going wrong was a miricle!

Best car ever for me Vauxhall carlton GSi 24v Manual. owned for 7 years from ex demo & it was a joy to drive . Smiled every time i drove it.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 10:53
what was your best car / worst car - Harleyman
I've had several cars that qualify for "best" but for different reasons.

Best for value; the £300 Volvo 340 which did me for three years and never once failed me. Comfortable too but I yearned for the 5-speed box to improve fuel economy on long runs.

Best for quality; a toss-up between the Rover 2000TC and the BMW 525TD, both of course aimed at a similar market.

Best for fun; has to be a 1951 Land-Rover which despite having a dipsomaniac attitude towards petrol was an absolute hoot when stripped to basics and thrashed around the Peak district.

Worst; Citroen BX19 which put me off the make for life.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 11:03
what was your best car / worst car - harry m
worst car was a brand new morris 1300 gt,it was forever going wrong and as i worked at the garage i got it from did all my own guarantee work.
best car my 1982 xr3 kept for 22years apart from a leaky front strut at 6 months old and a broken clutch cable never let me down.present car a merc ml270 had quite a few problems with this perceived quality car.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 11:17
what was your best car / worst car - gordonbennet
Been thinking about this for some time, best..hmm most reliable without question the very old school Landcruiser, best to drive probably the P6 3500 auto in it's day of course with superb ride/handling, never owned a Jag which is a regret but friends who had them spent lots on upkeep.

Best cars overall, the Rover 827 much derided but a reliable and very capable fast car, and maybe my present ageing MB 124 coupe which has had it's problems, but is a dream to drive.

Various cars have had their strengths and weaknesses, the most tractable engine was in the 3.3 Ventora, it would pull without question from 10mph in overdrive top.

Worst cars, Morris 1100, Austin 2200 landcrab, but the title goes to the Rover 2300, words fail.
There seems to be a common theme with the worst but before i realised the sizeable Northants Indian population knew which cars to buy i had previously avoided Japanese cars, it was the Honda engine that made the Rover 827 so good.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 15:49
what was your best car / worst car - DP
the Rover 827 much derided but a reliable and very capable fast
car


One of the managers at work ran an 820 Vitesse Sport as a company car. Bought new, and suffered a complete gearbox failure within 2 weeks, after which it went on to do 130,000 miles with literally nothing else going wrong with it. Great to drive, handled far better than you might expect of such a big car, and what a lovely engine that 200 bhp T16 was. Progressive, smooth, gutsy and with near zero turbo lag. Still flew at 130k too, but was starting to use a bit of oil.

You still see some tidy Vitesses about, and I actually rather like them.

Cheers
DP
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 15:59
what was your best car / worst car - Alby Back
Many years ago I had a, then new, Rover 827. Not by any means the worst car I've had but it did suffer more problems than might be considered reasonable.

The most "hamlet cigar" moment it had was when I was at the head of a queue of traffic being directed by a policeman in pouring rain. The driver's side windscreen wiper arm and blade flew off and hit him in the chest. He calmly picked it up and passed it to me through the window before waving me through the junction. At that time the police used similar cars and I always supposed that he saw nothing especially unusual in that event.....
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 11:16
what was your best car / worst car - watergate
Best car & first car Ford Popular Paid .£85 cirrca 1958.Worst car Renault 4.What a pig.At one stage tempted to drive into River Medina to drown it.Only thing that stopped me was wife and daughters in said pig.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 16:15
what was your best car / worst car - Group B
Worst car: 1986 MG Metro - the heater didnt work, tyres constantly deflated (porous alloys), rusty bodywork at 4 years old, wasnt particularly quick, suspension creaked/ squeaked constantly. I wrote it off in the end and was not sorry to see it go.

Best car: 1984 Audi 80 quattro, when I was skint and just left university - 5 cylinder engine note to die for (no cat and a generously sized exhaust), amazing traction in the wet, great fun in snow, and it was pretty nippy. I wish I still had it just for the engine noise. I sold it about 10 years ago but had a dream about driving it a few weeks ago!
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 19:05
what was your best car / worst car - corax
I had 1986 90 Quattro for 3 years. I loved that car, the exhaust note was fantastic. It took me months to sell because no-one knew what it was, and replaced it with an Opel Monza. Worse decision I've made, that thing was a money pit. Wish I'd kept the Quattro.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 20:54
What was your best car / worst car ? - barney100
Most loved was a Simca 1100 which I bought cash for £300 and gave good service. It was comfy with a certain charm and did the job although the tin worm came along and did for it in the end. Worst was a Mirafiori which had a dodgy paint job and the headlights looked like fish tanks when it rained. The tin worm really got this one early and i was glad to be rid of it.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 22:00
What was your best car / worst car ? - cuthbert
Best car - Citroen BX


Worst car -Joint first place Ford Anglia- Hillman Avenger
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 22:56
What was your best car / worst car ? - Armitage Shanks {p}
Best was an old build (1988) 320SL and the worst was a Ford Anglia 100E - side valve engine, 3 speed box and vacuum driven wipers which stopped when you went to overtake! I liked my Citroen SM but I wrote it off after 2 weeks ownership and hadn't come to a conclusion about it!

Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 03/10/2009 at 22:57

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Sun 4 Oct 2009 03:52
What was your best car / worst car ? - Westpig
best: current car Jag S Type ....bought it at 2.75 years old, still got it at 10 years old. Will keep it now for good, not worth selling it. Lovely car, only down side is fuel consumption, so use it as a second town car on 4,000 miles p.a.

worst: dark brown 1979 Rover SD1 2600 auto. Damned thing literally fell to bits around me. I have never in my life seen more leaks in any car, inc early convertibles. Strange thing is though, despite the fact I had to get rid sharpish after a year, I secretly quite liked it. It handled well enough (heavy... and neutral on the limit) and for the 2.6 went quite well as well, with a nice 6 cyl noise...there was so little holding the windscreen in, my mechanic laughed and said if i'd done a good emergency stop the windscreen would have popped out.. and you couldn't see the spare wheel, it was submerged in water, i ended up banging a couple of nail holes in the floor to let the water out
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 10:47
What was your best car / worst car ? - Rob81
Armitage Shanks; you owned a SM? I'm incredibly jealous!

I'm far too biased to say which car has been my least favorite but my best was either my CX or Xantia Activa.

Rob
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 13:27
What was your best car / worst car ? - Fullchat
WP

You know you want to :-]

tinyurl.com/ya6k8q9


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Sun 4 Oct 2009 13:38
What was your best car / worst car ? - ifithelps
Did either of you use one of these as job cars?

West Mercia police had quite a few and I think they were all 2600 autos.

I remember the high stall speed on the auto box, which meant if you booted it from standstill, the engine would race ahead, rather like a slipping clutch.


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Sun 4 Oct 2009 16:42
What was your best car / worst car ? - Fullchat
No we only had a black 3.5. It was a machine and a half which required a particular driving stile.

But if you want to see a Rover 3.5 at it's best and a full history of what 'The Liver Run' was all about:

www.ukemergency.co.uk/information/theliverrun.htm
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 21:04
What was your best car / worst car ? - legacylad
I seem to remember the late Tony Pond driving one of these quite fast on the Manx International many moons ago. Entertaining to say the least.
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 23:19
What was your best car / worst car ? - Fullchat
Didn't he stuff it early doors on an RAC Rally?
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 18:54
What was your best car / worst car ? - Westpig
Did either of you use one of these as job cars?

Yes. 2600 auto....... 'A780UJD' (how sad is that?)....traffic got the V8's...;-(

you could tell the difference, the area cars had only one feeble blue lamp in the middle of the roof (which used to revolve at every other lamp post)...whereas the trafffic ones got two either side of the roof

When the 'A' reg one was handed back, for a while we got an 'E' reg one, which was 2 years out of synch i.e. the last SD1's were on a 'C' plate....so Rover must have had it sitting around not sold and gave it cheap to the Old Bill. The car was re-sprayed white, but under the bonnet etc it was metallic blue...and was the Van den Plas version with 4 leccy windows and some cheap wood. The steel sunroof was jammed closed though
..and the VdP badge had been pulled off the back...rumour had it that someone complained that the police were getting upmarket cars, so they pulled the badge off it.

Weren't all that quick really, but looked the part, handled well and were built like a brick outhouse from the safety angle. Every now and again we'd take our Central London one down the M4 to blow the cobwebs out...and it needed it....i think they call that sort of thing an 'Italian Tune' don't they?
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 18:40
What was your best car / worst car ? - Westpig
You know you want to :-]


I do have an affection for them....the Ubergruppenfuhrer would throw a wobbly though
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 18:53
What was your best car / worst car ? - Lud
I've only ever driven one SD1. It was a beige V8 auto, quite a decent example. Belonged to a black photographer, a Londoner, who was a colleague in my African journalism days.

Can't remember what car I had at the time but the Rover felt very big and unwieldy, like a Mk 3 Cortina, and I drove it gingerly in the traffic. Wasn't in it long enough to even begin to get used to it. The owner though booted it about very neatly and surprisingly well (I never expect other people to be good drivers so it's always nice when they turn out to be). I bet it drank a bit round town though. 15 mpg or so probably. Mind you that was twice what my Bentley did nearly.
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 17:08
What was your best car / worst car ? - corax
I agree about the SD1 Westpig. I had a 1984 3500 auto that had so much wind noise I couldn't hear my passengers. The autobox was too undergeared for the engine so it was revving its nuts off at 70mph (3 speed). I really wanted it to be well built because I loved the shape and the engine, but I got scared and decided to sell it after 8 months. When the bloke came round to look at it , it was raining and he opened the boot and well, I should have got my swimming trunks. But he still bought it without a worry and I made a profit. At least I can say I owned one. Still have nostalgic moments if I see one now.
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 18:35
What was your best car / worst car ? - redviper
The worst car i have ever had the misfortune to own are two Mk1 (Face-lifted) Renault Laguna's

So many stupid things going wrong but both of then had constant problems with brakes, and then the second one I had constantly has ABS issues, - it got sacked off when I was told that the ABS has to be re-wired (after trying everything else in the book

they looked great (IMO) and very comfortable and lovely to drive - but terrible build quality and reliability problems

Best car ive ever had in terms of comfort and thought out design is my current face-lifted Vectra C - I love it
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 20:31
What was your best car / worst car ? - DP
they looked great (IMO)


I loved the nose of these. Still a very elegant design, I agree.

Classic Renault - brilliant, brilliant car, but built by monkeys. That was my conclusion after 2 yrs with a Grand Scenic. Even though it was distinctly troublesome towards the end of our ownership (PAS playing up, random STOP warnings on the dash, heater blower intermittently failed, clutch slave cylinder exploded (£1k worth), I can't bring myself to hate it because it was such a NICE car. Looked good, went well, gutsy, silky smooth, faultlessly reliable dCi engine, supremely comfy, effortless to drive, the best ride of any steel sprung car I've been in, every toy you could ever need, light, airy interior, excellent practicality etc etc.

If Renault could prove they'd turned a corner in quality terms, I'd be at the head of the queue for another. I liked the car itself that much.

Cheers
DP

Edited by DP on 04/10/2009 at 20:33

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Sun 4 Oct 2009 20:45
What was your best car / worst car ? - redviper
Yes I agree I had constant abs problems. I had issues with brakes that used to ooze fluid out of the back drums everytime you pressed the brakes.

Abs would fail after constantly. After Renault replaced lots of bits eventually was told that water was getting into the power feed and this was shorting the lot out. Because the main power feed ran under that car and the whole lot would have to be replaced

Lights would default to dipped when you selected sidelights, why I don't know?
One of the heated mirrors failed (the one on the pasenger side where I could not reach it

If they could prove that they made cars that where properly engineered I would reconsider a Renault but until then never again.
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 20:59
What was your best car / worst car ? - legacylad
Worst.
Fiat 128 estate. Bought to transport 4 of us around the country following the RAC Rally.Sold within days of the finish. yuk.

Best.
Audi UrQuattro 20V. G646 JNV.Simply stunning. AND..my ex got me a video from Pebble Mill of JC driving it around the northern Dales in an early edition of TG before it came into my ownership. I would have it again tomorrow. If I could afford it!!
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Sun 4 Oct 2009 21:00
What was your best car / worst car ? - Jason74
Quite a bit of competition for that title. I've been quite lucky with cars (despite knowing little about hem, and always buying cheapies), and have enjoyed most of them. A few faves were

My very first car, a Hillman Imp : Objectively you would probably call it the worst (reliability was NOT a strong point), but it remains the most outright fun to be in car I've had.

My Viva HC when I was at Uni : Quite simply the best £90 I ever spent. Ran almost on the button or two years, before the tinworm got it :-(

My Triumph 1500TC : Replaced the Viva, I loved the interior, and general caracter of the car. Only problem was that the paint started to craze, which on a Green car made it look like a crocodile. Still, I made a profit on it after two years of ownership.

Mercedes 250 : Just how much (faded!) luxury can you get for £500. Another car I enjoyed for a couple of years and sold for a profit.

My previous car, a 2.0 Mondeo : Not exciting, but just obscenely competant in every respect. Lovely to drive, and utterly reliable. Was still going strong at 195,000 miles (80,000 of them by me), when a cracked windscreen (an expensive quickclear job), meant it just wasn't worth repairing.

Less choice for the worst, really comes down to 2.

1981 Mini HL - Truly a horrible horrible horrible car. Had to take the plugs out every couple of weeks and clean them because they got drenched in oil. I really can't say anything good about this car. Even the l"egendary" mini handling was a dissappointment after two Hillman Imps (which personally I found much more fun).

N reg Renault Megane - Ironic as it was at the time by far the most valuable car I'd had regular use of (company car), but it was utter junk. Gearbox gave out completely after around 10k miles, abnd quite a few other faults. Crazy how a close to 10k car could have me missing my £200 triumph that I'd sold as I thought I no longer needed it given my shiny (nearly) new company car. It put me off anything French ever since (especially given my parentsunhappy experiences of numerous French cars).

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Mon 5 Oct 2009 10:57
What was your best car / worst car ? - Roly93
Best car :- Mk2 Cavalier SRI circa 1995. This car did everything it 'said on the tin' and gave no problems whatsoever.

Worst Car :- (By a wide margin) 18 month old Lexus IS200. This car was thirsty, slow and troublesome. The manual gearbox was awful and was rebuilt by Lexus at 50K miles. The alloy wheels corroded, the water-pump leaked.

Current Car :- Audi A4 Avant 2.0TDI - not bad but not brilliant either.

Edited by Roly93 on 05/10/2009 at 11:00

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Mon 5 Oct 2009 16:06
What was your best car / worst car ? - AshT
Best car - not sure, but one from a Mini with a 1275 engine, a Land-Rover 109 SIII, or Renault 19TD. All great cars in their own way which suited my needs at the time, and had a high enjoyment factor.

Worst car - without question a 1.3 Vauzhall Belmont. Slow, thirsty, poor handling, appalling reliability, and no redeeming features at all except a large boot - useful for all the spares and tools I needed on a regular basis. The Marina I had a number of years previously was a far better car!

The current Espace is very high on the list of favourite cars - I must be getting old as I value its reliability, comfort and practicability, although it's still a decent enough drive. Can't see myself buying another Mini now.
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Mon 5 Oct 2009 23:42
What was your best car / worst car ? - idle_chatterer
Best, my old Mondy MK3 was so competent as was the Citroen ZX I ran 15 years ago, my current 330d has to be my favourite though.

As for the worst, this was easily the 1996 Vectra CDX I had as my first company car, this had truly dreadful reliability, visited a dealer every 12 weeks on average and they rarely repaired it first time or without 'causing' another fault by breaking something. As a result I've never had another Vauxhall since (that's around 10 sales they've lost in total so far) - and never will - a customer scorned....

I'd share the earlier poster's comments on the A4, but I've expressed my disappointment in other posts so won't reiterate, don't want to sound too 'grumpy' !

Edited by idle_chatterer on 05/10/2009 at 23:44

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