Bad Buys

P

Purple

Registered User
Messages
14,298
People have a tendency to defend the car they drive but most of us mush have been screwed on price/ sold a lemon or just bought a rubbish car at some stage.
Can posters advise what pit-falls they fell into so that others may steer around them?

I'll start;
I bought a Citroen from a dealer near Dublin Airport about 12 years ago. I paid £1200 for it. It was worth about £50 and the head gasket was gone. Good lesson learned; don't buy a second hand French car from a cowboy.

My other mistake was buying a new Passat in '02. Loads of money on the most boring car I have ever owned. Within a month I missed the 8 year old Mondoe I had traded in against it.
Lesson; do better research and more than one test drive.
 
Always check the HPI. I almost bought a toyota corolla worth only 3K from a guy. Mentioned to him that I'd be running a HPI check and he said - oh yeah I owe dealer X 3.5K on an hire purchase agreement.
Hard to believe a car worth so little would be on a finance agreement.
 
Suppose I've been lucky in recent years but two come to mind:

A troublesome Fiesta (only 6 years old) had many niggling electrical/electronic faults. ECU replaced three times. My irritation was compounded by the fact that a lot of these faults were apparently well known but the garage pleaded ignorance.
The car actually left me completely stranded in very bad weather on three occasions.

As a result, I've been wary of Ford & their dealers.

Further back, a Renault 5. Well where do you start? Every day was a surprise really - if there wasn't an unusual smell, sound or reaction from the car it was a good day. Again, it wasn't an old car in it's day.

Have never even considered a French car since - not entirely unwise methinks.

As a result of experiences like this, I now only ever consider cars with an excellent reliability record - and in fact will sacrifice looks, space, comfort...almost anything so as not to compromise on this.
 
well bully for you jeff but i dont think the op is looking for self congratulatory stories. i bought a 2002 rav4 in 2005 with one year garage warranty, after 15 months the flywheel gave up almost €1800 to fix. garage wouldn't help, found out later it was a common fault and toyota changed flywheel on later models
 
Had a '78 Caddy Eldorado in Sky Blue with a moon roof and white Leather interior. It had a small block 454 cubic inch V8 that sounded like a hot tar pit at idle...blub, blub, blub, until ya put the pedal to the metal. It was sooo Bad.
 
Caveat said:
Suppose I've been lucky in recent years but two come to mind:

A troublesome Fiesta (only 6 years old) had many niggling electrical/electronic faults. ECU replaced three times. My irritation was compounded by the fact that a lot of these faults were apparently well known but the garage pleaded ignorance.
The car actually left me completely stranded in very bad weather on three occasions.

As a result, I've been wary of Ford & their dealers.

Further back, a Renault 5. Well where do you start? Every day was a surprise really - if there wasn't an unusual smell, sound or reaction from the car it was a good day. Again, it wasn't an old car in it's day.

Have never even considered a French car since - not entirely unwise methinks.

As a result of experiences like this, I now only ever consider cars with an excellent reliability record - and in fact will sacrifice looks, space, comfort...almost anything so as not to compromise on this.
Click to expand...


So what do you drive now???
 
First car was a Fiesta (northern import) 4 yrs old. Had it for 3yrs no problems until a lorry made absolute sh1* of it (nobody in car at time). Second Fiesta (Diesel) same. Started to give trouble near end of its life but there was over 200k miles on it and it only got a mates servicing every 10-15,000 miles – so can’t complain there. Sold it privately for what it was worth. Currently have and old Mazda 626 (bought for €150 – yes €150.00) cost about €450 to put back on the road and no major problems since. NCT’d for another 18 months. Am prepared to get rid of it whenever it starts to give trouble.

Wife on other hand has had a Clio which was ok, she got rid of it after 2 yrs for a Megane. Now that was a piece of rubbish. 18mths when bought. Had it for 4 years.

Problems…
1 Electric front windows broke.
2 Hand break seized.
3 Electric mirrors gave up.
4 Rear shock went after 20k miles.
5 Sunroof leaked.
6 Constant problems with lights (fuses and bulbs blowing)
7 A “switch” went somewhere and she got it fixed before I had a chance to look at it.
8 Boot catch broke.
9 Service light and Airbag light would never switch off. Even dealer couldn’t fix them.
10 Heater stopped, would not heat (only blew cold air around the cabin).

Now has a Corolla Verso fairly new and no probs yet…

BB
 
I'm right there with Cavaet.... wouldn't touch Ford again after buying a mutt of a Fiesta. Car was 2 years old, and first year went fine, after that in the space of 8 months it was in the garage 6 times! All problems that arise turned out to be known issues.
Bulbs constantly blew, in fact finally decided the end was nigh the Jan night both bulbs blew, on my way home - had to drive on full beams to get the 30 miles home.... both bulbs having been changed in previous couple of weeks! Took next day off, car went to garage to check out electrics, I went to credit union and was driving a Yaris a week later!
Having driven the Yaris for 4 years there was never any issue with it, a nice change from being on first name terms with the staff at the garage!
I'll stick with Japanese from now on!
 
Had a Yamaha RS 125 motorbike in my youth.

Often wouldn't start after it had rained. Other times it was fine. Nearly broke my heart.



Murt
 
My worst buy was a Renault 25. 3 years old, 1 previous owner- an MD's company car. Serviced to the hilt etc etc.
Incredibly high-specc'ed car and very fast for a big 2ltr.

Within weeks, probs with the elec windows. Took ages to get them fixed & the door in the cabin looked like Skeletor while the panel was off.

Remote audio controls unit fell off into my hand while driving.

Despite all lights working, computer voice constantly told me "side & rear lights not working"

Multitude of further electrical problems, some of which I've probably forgotten by now.

Renault dealer wouldn't take it as a trade-in at any price.

Finally, middle of Glencoe, I find the water pump has gone when the voice tells me " engine overheated- do not touch a hot engine"

Delighted to get £50 from a scarppy for that pile of hi-tech junk.
Replaced soon after by the unsuccessful Safrane.
I think they're all dead now. I hope so.
 
I have some commerical vehicle disaster stories, both my neighbour and a friend bought new Renault Traffic vans, one 06, one 07. The 06 gearbox packed in after a few months (wouldn't allow 2nd gear to be selected), he was told: "oh, another one with that problem", nothing but heartache thereafter. The 07 model started giving trouble after 6 months: engine problems (ECU etc), power steering failed and lots of other niggles.
 
mell61 said:
I'm right there with Cavaet.... wouldn't touch Ford again after buying a mutt of a Fiesta. Car was 2 years old, and first year went fine, after that in the space of 8 months it was in the garage 6 times! All problems that arise turned out to be known issues.
Bulbs constantly blew, in fact finally decided the end was nigh the Jan night both bulbs blew, on my way home - had to drive on full beams to get the 30 miles home.... both bulbs having been changed in previous couple of weeks! Took next day off, car went to garage to check out electrics, I went to credit union and was driving a Yaris a week later!
Having driven the Yaris for 4 years there was never any issue with it, a nice change from being on first name terms with the staff at the garage!
I'll stick with Japanese from now on!
Click to expand...

Do u not find the yaris a very light car. My first car was peugeot 106 97 model and no power steering am now looking for new car and was recommended either the fiesta or yaris. I test drove my friends yaris and thought it felt v light so am now more inclined towards the fiesta.
 
foxylady said:
Do u not find the yaris a very light car. My first car was peugeot 106 97 model and no power steering am now looking for new car and was recommended either the fiesta or yaris. I test drove my friends yaris and thought it felt v light so am now more inclined towards the fiesta.
Click to expand...

You'll probably find most Jap cars feel light in comparison to European ones. They're not usually any less safe though if that's what is worrying you. The Yaris is certainly statistically more reliable than the Fiesta - but less room and less comfortable to drive.
 
foxylady said:
Do u not find the yaris a very light car. My first car was peugeot 106 97 model and no power steering am now looking for new car and was recommended either the fiesta or yaris. I test drove my friends yaris and thought it felt v light so am now more inclined towards the fiesta.
Click to expand...

I bought a Fiesta in 1999 and it's still on the go. It's been well serviced by Ford and has had a few "issues" along the way but nothing horrific. I think it's a great car (1996 reg).

I've heard good reports about the Ford Focus. I hired one a while back and it's a lovely drive but I can't really vouch for them.

And while there's nothing helpful in my next comment I think you should take it on board - the Yaris is the most hideous car on the road. Don't do it!!!!!!! ;0)
 
LouisLaLoope said:
the Yaris is the most hideous car on the road. Don't do it!!!!!!! ;0)
Click to expand...

All a matter of opinion of course, but I think the latest one looks pretty good - like a more compact, muscular, better looking Corolla really.

Anyway, sorry - this is supposed to about "bad buys"...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top