Bad Buys

I was the "proud" owner of a Citroen AX 1.4 diesel back in 1990, bought ex-demo, 8 months old. Had a problem with overheating, blew the head gasket at least 3 times (had to replace the cylinder head twice). We were being towed after the latest overheating episode when my brakes failed, I overtook the car towing me, spun him round and came to a halt up against the concrete fencing at the side of the road....luckily no harm done to man, woman, cars or fence!
What scared me most was that before the car started to act up, we'd bought a second car....yep, another Citroen AX diesel! It behaved impeccably for the 3 years we drove it!
 
My first car was a 95 Fiat Punto (I bought it in around 2000). I bought it privately for around 3000 punts - worst buy ever!! Turned out it was crashed and after much investigation found out I was the 8th owner of the car!! I was extremely naive and had no clue about cars - not even the paperwork side. I shelled out about 1000 punts to get it throught the NCT and sold it as soon as soon as I could. It was basically a new car when I sold it. I spotted it though doing 80 miles an hour on a road near Blessington about a year ago with fancy alloys and the front all smashed in!
 

By stating the above I meant I never bought a car that didn't impress me. They have all been very reliable with the exception of a Peugeot I had who's electrics gave up the ghost and eventually the engine too. I adored the Volvo's I had and my current Audi is keeping me well satisfied...

Oh and in relation to your RAV4 I thought Toyota's were supposed to be dull, incompetent in every single area but reliable...
 

You'd be incredibly surprised! Ford's have come on in leaps and bounds in the last 15 years since the launch of the Mk1 Mondeo. They are if anything more reliable than Toyota's nowadays and are actually inspiring (with the exception of the current Focus' styling)...
 
Fiesta vs Yaris??
I'd take the Yaris any day, felt a lot safer on the roads when i didn't have to worry about the spare tyre falling off the bottom of the car on the motorway... because someone in the garage used the wrong bolt!
As for the bulbs, when you have to change them repeatedly you do use gloves and don't handle them.... the problem was with the electrics of the car not me
Personally i much preferred the styling of the Yaris to the Fiesta, and at the end of the day I'd prefer to drive a quasimodo car thats reliable than stand by the side of the road waiting for the RAC!
At the time 4 of us in the office I worked in had that same model fiesta, and we could match the issues we faced... we all had an issue of the engine cutting out when gearing down (some sort of oil filter), we all had to replace our exhausts by 25-30k miles, bulbs blowing constantly.... So it wasn't that I felt I got unlucky, I actually felt my car met the standards of all the Fiestas I knew of!
 
Where to start...

Peugeot 405 GTDT saloon bought at 1 year old from main dealer with 1 year warranty...
on a trip to France all the electrics failed (10 days after purchase)
3 head-gaskets fitted
2 fuel pumps
29 attempts to fix leaking sun-roof
engine refused to start at times
engine refused to stop at other times

Volvo 340 brakes failed and were replaced (I was told), failed again, replaced again and I sold car to a guy who claimed he could fix the problem - he's still around so he was telling the truth

Citroen AX 1.4 diesel was a little gem, apart from the lock for the rear hatch breaking constantly

Opel (various, as company cars over the years) brakes, electrics (1 fire)

Mercedes 240D had a huge crack in the floor which opened going over bumps - dealer took it back no questions asked

I have invested in Japanese cars since and have owned Daihatsu, Nissan, Toyota and Subaru, but you don't want to know about these...
 
I had a 1981 metro with an 1983 engine in it and i got it in 1995!!! i bought it for a 100 punts off a mate!!! Thats always a mistake

Car point blank refused to go back into second gear

When it rained passenger side roof leaked

Whn you went thru a puddle the water came up thru the car passenger side (obviously due to the above i could never get beyond a first date in winter)

Then driving it home one day and the steering went on it

But i did love that car!!!!
 
around 1987 I bought a Totota Starlet new. It was a piece of Sh*t. boot leaked. steering heavy as lead. Gears really stiff. put up with it for 2 years and traded it in. few years later Totota recalled every one of them and bought them back for a very poor price. Course it was TOTALLY build in Ireland. The one and only Totota ever totally assembled here.
traded in my 02 corolla (65,000 totally trouble free miles) for a 3 month old yaris 3 weeks ago. Don't need a family car any more as everyone else is driving their own. Around town its not much different on power than the corolla but on the motorway its definitely a bit down. having said that the petrol consumption is brilliant. Definitely not a dog.
 
traded in my 02 corolla (65,000 totally trouble free miles) for a 3 month old yaris 3 weeks ago. Don't need a family car any more as everyone else is driving their own. Around town its not much different on power than the corolla but on the motorway its definitely a bit down. having said that the petrol consumption is brilliant. Definitely not a dog.[/quote]



A yaris is definitely going to be down on power on the motorway when compared to a corollas especially as its only a 1 litre car
 
Best Car bought - my first. A new Ford Fiesta 1.1Lx (1991). My wife eventually ran it into the ground after 10 years but it never ever gave any bother. Buffed it up and sold for €550.00. Worst - Brand new Renault Laguna 6 speed 2.0Dsi (2003). After two and half years the gearbox went, could not source second hand one and the turbo charger went also at the same time - total could to replace €6500.00. Bought the car for €33,000 and sold car 36 months later for €3500 (did not undertake repairs as it could have been a can of worms). What a bummer -the garage staff were half wits, the car was much more reliable than them.

P.S. My wife has the Megane from 2003, what a pile of scrap. You obviously per above, have done a short list only.
 
I had a VW Bora '00 1.6, great car, never missed a beat, solid on the road and great to drive. Few faults, window regulator was the worst i had to repair.
 
Fiestas were made in England and Spain at the same time a few years back. The Spanish ones were perfect (built in state of the art factory) and never gave problems. The English ones were rubbish. They are all made in Spain now.
The Fiesta is a newer design and is made in a newer factory. The Yaris is no longer made in Japan (EU ones are now made in France) and the build quality has suffered. The Fiesta is also a bigger car. That said they are both good, reliable low-end cars.
 
My first car had 2 handles and 1 wheel and I could put anything into it. Boy I miss it sooo much. Sold it to a guy called Jeff I think????. Just one problem I had to check it's tyre pressure once a year other than that it never gave a problem!!!!!!!!!!
 
Purple said:
My other mistake was buying a new Passat in '02. Loads of money on the most boring car I have ever owned.
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Have to disagree with you there Purple. I am still driving my 02 Passat after 4 years of the most effortless and carefree driving imaginable. I suppose I would always be inclined to trade a little style for reliability and sturdiness....the main traits of the Passat. The newer Passats (the ones with the handbrake button and the push button start-up), however, do nothing for me. I am planning a change in early 2008 and am thinking an upgrade to an Audi A4. Even so, I will miss my trustworthy Passat!
 
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I don't rate the Passat, or VW in particular, as good for reliability. The Fords I have owned have been cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and more reliable. If I had the choice of a new Passat or a new Mondeo I'd go for the Ford (the rear styling not withstanding).
The Passat was the most boring car I have ever driven, by a mile. It just didn’t engage me as a driver. Big, solid, boring and not very reliable; that’s my verdict.
 
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