The worst car I ever owned

Ive had a lot of cars, some were fantastic, a few were lemons but was was the biggest disappointment of them all?
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[@ingopaul67]

I don't really know how BMW cultivate such a good reputation withe the general public when reliability of some of their cars would shame a 1970's British Leyland car, and their parts prices are shocking.

[@alfamonk]

the same reason people vote for politicians who lie to them. they don't care, and they live in blissful ignorance !

[@tca666]

Thats why theyre not used as taxis. Theyre just unreliable

[@alexanderstefanov6474]

As the car wizard says "if someone asks me which BMW to buy, I say don't, buy a Honda"

[@jonk6834]

Brand new Passat. What a piece of garbage that thing was. Endless faults, parts wearing out at ridiculously low mileages, turns out that VW are experts at hiding mediocre quality behind a veneer or soft touch plastics. Conversely, a few years ago I bought a cheap Alfa Giulietta as a second car. It’s been excellent. Knocking on ten years old now and it’s covered nearly 120,000 miles, never needs anything more than servicing and wear and tear items. Looks, drives and even sounds fantastic.

[@garethwilding2067]

B5.5 was the last good Passat with pd130

[@davidfleming2619]

Jjj Kkk we’ve had our passat for 5 years and it’s been faultless, maybe you just got a lemon

[@garypeatling7927]

Most of high powered VW Audi cars crap ordinary ones good motors older the better mileage irrelevant

[@Butlerbob]

ha ha a Volkswagen Passat, don't make me laugh, you better buy his nephew the Skoda, the same looks only some other buttons but the same engine etc. and is much cheaper than that monster called Passat, you just pay too much money for that just because of that VW logo. I drove an American Alfa Romeo Sprimt version, had once belonged to an American Air Force officer here in the Netherlands, fine car with boxer engine, never let me down after five years because of the stubborn rust sample, such a shame !!

[@simonlb24]

@@Butlerbob Yes, it is strange how Skoda take VW parts and nail them together better than VW do.

[@R08Tam]

One of the great myths is German build quality. Two friends of mine have identical BMW bikes costing £15k each. They were off the road for the best part of 6 months due to a recall because of the possibility of the gearbox failing at high speed 😱

[@blackvulcan100]

Agree we use as company cars VW boss buys them at about 50,000 miles as he thinks all the niggles have been sorted...no they have not, they all have problems.

[@danielross7221]

@@blackvulcan100 company I used to work for ran seat Leon estates and most of them had problems with the heater matrix’s failing.

[@bumfluffmcregor3730]

@@blackvulcan100 500000 on my vw taxi still going strong you can't say that's bad quality

[@SA-yb7mt]

Precisely why I prefer older cars. Other than the usual age related wear and tear items, older cars are not only, from my experience, more reliable and cheaper to put right. Easier to work work on them yourself too.

[@kurtroepke1211]

i think reliability peaked in the late especially if you get a Lexus or Acura.

[@TheWhiskeyMan-rk7qv]

Yes I agree. I love older cars. Give them a fresh paint job and tidy up the interiors and they're far better than a lot of modern cars, especially crossovers 🤮

[@CagedPaps]

"Worst car I've ever had!" - "Sold it to my dad" lol

[@furiousdriving]

`Thought it was fixed by then, he was getting a car with a new 12 grand engine!

[@funkymonk5145]

@@furiousdriving And they say French cars are bad,had an old Renault 18 American best car i had never let me down great ride until an idiot jumped a red light and rammed into me sigh.:(

[@peugeotdudeandson4485]

@@furiousdriving machine Mart is still open only not on Sunday. Thought I'd let you know as I was shocked myself 😂

[@Iain_C]

Haha, I could have only given it to my dad, sounds like a Friday afternoon made car! :D

[@TheWhiskeyMan-rk7qv]

They say Jags are unreliable cars. My 2012 XF hasn't let me down yet. Best car I've ever owned.

[@overmarsdaria3222]

A Citroen Cx 2000 Athena 1979 , suspensions problem all the time ,starter problem, electrics,etc etc....... but God did I love that car , was just beautiful.

[@julienbee3467]

You finish with a positive point ☺

[@chrissybee18]

Mine was ford focus titanium estate diesel, had from brand new - it’s was the biggest lemon ever. Electric faults with the radio, driving mode, central locking, cruise control, lights...only had it 9 months and the rear tailgate started rusting round the glass, had the most ridiculous low profile tyres, only had to drive over a pebble and you’d get a bulge or blowout. I was over the moon when a merc read-ended it and it was declared a right off.

[@trabali5168]

lucky, nice one, didnt you reject the car as it was new?

[@chrissybee18]

Trab Ali it was a company car

[@terryatkinson3182]

Bought a 2 year old escort in 1997 and the first problem was the radio used to fall out as you drove along then something happened the central locking and had to get the car craned away as it needed new locks etc then came out from work and the light switch died... no lights so drove home with a torch out the window (I live in the sticks) then coming up to traffic lights the pedal went to the floor, brake pipe busted then the rear lights acted like Christmas trees so looked under the carpet and there was 2 gallons of water in the tyre well, turned out to be the tail light rubber had a crease in it and water flowed into the boot. After 8 months I traded it in and got half what I paid for it for a Toyota starlet..... brilliant boring little car.

[@PaulinesPastimes]

I couldn't agree more. There is no denying the reputation of Toyotas. Sometimes a little boring is worth putting up with :-)

[@GTDpowah]

We have a joke here in Serbia: "Why does Opel exist? In order for Ford not to be the worst car."

[@garysimpson3900]

"People throwing rocks at the cars from the field that they lived in..." do you mean "Travellers"?

[@richardcrossley5581]

Hardly the fault of the car though.

[@richarddyasonihc]

No, quite soo, but I can’t understand why travelers are allowed to do what They like but the rest of use can’t even say, let alone do anything that might hurt their feelings

[@sawleyram7405]

@@richarddyasonihc In my honest experience, it's the immediately hostile reaction of locals which has created a barrier between 'us' and 'them'. I'm not a traveller but I've stopped and chatted to them before. While there are some very unsavoury characters amongst their community, the majority are ordinary people just trying to get by. They're so used to angry locals rushing over to them, that they don't bother trying to be polite anymore. I'm talking about Irish, Romani and - believe it or not - French travellers here.

[@imkirbo3094]

@@sawleyram7405 Depends on the family, some are great helpful people who are far too proud to ever break a law or inconvenience anyone, most of them however, are the total opposite of that.

[@MGBetts1]

I've heard of this before - when everything that could go wrong does go wrong, you spend an absolute fortune on it, then when you finally sell her (because you're fed up with forking out money) she's as right as rain for the next owner and most of the problems are fixed! Oh joy! 🥰🥰🥰

[@mixalism1318]

Uuuug I had an X Type that did that to me. Utterly furious with that car..

[@gaffnaldo1]

@@mixalism1318 what went wrong With that?

[@mixalism1318]

@@gaffnaldo1 ignition coils, electrics (plural), trim randomly falling off and pregnant pipes that liked to swell randomly then burst. Funny thing was that when I did get it was all fine (had it checked over) and then it just...started to go wrong but bit by bit- never all at once. Funny thing was I know people with X Types and they've been pretty reliable. People told me not to get Rover's but hilariously the ones I had behaved perfectly!

[@promerops]

Story of my (motoring) life.

[@jefferysmith3930]

Great story. A few years ago My uncle gave me several copies of the BMW Car Club of America magazine that had been passed on to him by a Dr. friend and BMW owner. Excellent magazine with many talented columnists. There were a few technical columnists as well that would answer member questions. A common theme would be a question about such and such repair on a given BMW that they had been given an astronomical estimate to repair by the garage or dealer and how could this be done for less money. They reply would always begin with “BMW’s are very expensive cars to own and maintain “..... this is from the car club magazine for diehard enthusiasts of the brand! I’ll never forget that.

[@thedeadstig123]

modern BMW's after about 7 years are usually expensive to keep on the road and give lots of trouble, mainly electrical

[@DjNikGnashers]

LOL really ? And I suppose French cars are super reliable NOT, plenty have electrical problems from new, let alone after 7 years. What a silly comment.

[@richardclarke376]

@@DjNikGnashers french cars make BMWs look like Toyotas

[@MrSparklespring]

@@DjNikGnashers French cars are very good but never buy a new model in the first two years of production, that's the trick!

[@andyowens5494]

Mines 14 years old, ex-demo, costs me about £300 p.a.; thats less than 1 months lease. Interior still holding up, body has no rust, mechanicals sound except for the obvious wear items (brake rotors and a couple of bearings recently). The only electrical problems have been corrosion on the engine fan connector (£5) and a flooded PDC unit due to a broken rear vent seal (the unit cost £50, plus a couple of quid sealant on the vent to prevent it happening again. Hardly expensive. In fact, I’d go as far to say its the lowest cost of ownership of any car I’ve owned.

[@TassieLorenzo]

@@DjNikGnashers French cars and BMWs use similar electronics (BOSCH, Brose, Continental etc - all German names), however the BMWs are more complicated!

[@gaffnaldo1]

Everyone ive known who had a bmw from that era (including myself) has suffered catastrophic failure of some sort. 1, 3, 5, x5 all needed surgical repairs and all were just out of warranty. Unacceptable and its why i would never ever touch one again. Remember, BMW got it so wrong with ALL models in this era, and did nothing to change it.

[@willieckaslike]

You are talking about a company, who with the connivance of the West German Government, put the maker of the better product (Carl BORGWARD) out of business !

[@FourIntoOne]

Mk5 escort. God it was dire in every way. Started rusting at 18months old, interior feel apart, ton of ongoing electrical issues (inc 2 ecu replacements) multiple breakdowns persistent water leak into the cabin, oil leaks etc etc etc etc and Ford couldn't give a sh*t. I was so fed up with it I went and bought a golf GTI and lent the escort to my then girlfriend, who unanimously decided she would keep it when we split up. Result! a definite win win.

[@bigvinny333]

I totally agree. I had a 91 Mk5 Escort Encore 1.3. It was badly designed developed and made. Here are just a few of the problems bearing in mind I bought it at 6 months old from a Ford dealer. 1 the tailgate wood not fit straight and clipped on side as the car was welded out of shape with huge door gaps one side and no gap the other side. 2 set the front wheel tracking and in a couple of months would be seriously toe out, scrubbing tyres on the inside after 5k miles, it would then spin under braking in the wet. 3 the care had so little power from the Fiesta pushrod engine it couldn't accelerate away from roundabouts or pull top gear on the motorway. 4 unpainted rusty door bottoms. 5 the adjustable steering wheel pulled out when you put the brakes on. 6 rusted solid window winder mechanisms. These are just a few of the problems I had I'm going to stop here it was plain dangerous. Never going to buy mother Ford and actually wanted my trusty old Chrysler Alpine back !

[@Driver6M]

The number of owners that complain about their BMW over the years seems endless. How hard can it be for them to build a car that works? If Lexus can do it for a similar cost, why not BMW?

[@TassieLorenzo]

Driver6M, but do BMW have any incentive to improve long-term quality, when they are only targeting the short-term lease market and demand to lease new BMWs is as strong as ever? Why decrease profits by building a higher-quality product? On the other hand Lexus (and Toyota's) reputation depends on high-quality and satisfied long-term owners (unlike BMW), so they have the incentive to maintain that.

[@hueyfinesse]

BMW has the brand name and the "sportiness" behind it. I know people who buy 316's because they are "fast"

[@maxxo5534]

for a short period (about a month) i owned a 2014 VW polo 1.2, now it was absolutely horrifically slow and dull........ but good god the problems so, where to start, the cd player failed closely followed by the entire radio, the wipers failed, the central locking failed, dash cluster went haywire, warning lights were like a christmas tree, window regulator on the drivers side failed and it ate bulbs...literally one a week, bought it at 4 years old with 24,000 miles oh and it developed rod knock....i ran from it then, so called german reliability i now own a lovely 2005 Citroen Xsara Picasso 2.0 HDi and apart from a few little issues (i restored the car pretty much) it's been faultless at 100,000 miles, i've covered 18,000 miles since i bought it in june and loved every second of it. not sure if the email went through about my offer for you to do a video on it?

[@rydermike33]

They used to call them 'Friday afternoon cars' the ones that misbehaved like that! What a vehicle! Many thanks Matt, stay safe.

[@pauldavies6037]

British Leyland favouriites

[@Stars_Falling_93]

Or monday morning

[@richardclarke376]

with BMW you get a Friday afternoon car every day of the week !

[@braveheart196]

I found BMW overrated you have to buy extras to make it decent over priced

[@phillippereira6468]

I concur

[@isthereanybodyoutthere9397]

Many in that sector are. You and others may laugh, but I have had a number Peugeots and find them to be good to drive and rugged. Yes parts can be expensive, but the ones I have owned and driven have not had to spend any unecessary time with a Dealer.

[@braveheart196]

@@isthereanybodyoutthere9397 who laughing I now drive a Citroen I love it

[@MrSparklespring]

@@isthereanybodyoutthere9397 I have a Peugeot 306 automatic 1600 outgoing model when the 307 was introduced. Never had a problem, except normal maintainance. Drives great and comfortable.

[@jimmyjt16]

Yes you are correct. My 2013 1 series doesn't even have bluetooth let alone a sat nav! For the price all should be standard..BMW are a joke.

[@RichieRouge206]

I had a £300 M-reg Rover 218SD turbo. It was awesome, rusty and tatty but started first flick of the key and ran like a champ. I sold it a year later for the same price! I had a cheap mk3 Mondeo which I ran for over a year and it was awesome. I really don’t like those 5 series at all.. BMW really have lost the genuine quality now. Great video mister! Really enjoyed it

[@sambrooks7862]

Richie t5. Yep I had a rover 218 sd turbo, it was 3 tears old when I bought it in 1996 and it never missed a beat. It was brilliant on fuel and went like hell. I put 250k on it and decided to get rid before I needed to start throwing money at it? About 5 years after I traded it in i saw it in a car park so I spoke to the owner and he told me he bought a few months previous as a cheap run around and couldn't believe how well it went, at this point it had nearly 400 on the clock and although it was looking at bit tatty apparently it was still mechanically sound. Best car I have ever owned by a mile.

[@kevinandrews4651]

mine was an m reg also excellent car i loved it , no rust at all

[@ZeroNiteLite]

Love this style of video. You have a good story telling technique! You should do more of these. Very informative and fun to watch

[@evo5dave]

Easy one: Rover 820. Valves kept coking up, gearbox failed, rear hatch had to be kept up with a stick, jumped out of 5th gear all the time, exterior door handles all fell off, CV joints failed, power steering line ruptured. There must have been loads of other stuff too that I have forgotten.

[@shroomyesc]

For comparison I have a 1999 Rover 75 1.8 with over 320k kilometres on the clock and the biggest issue I've had was a worn out gearbox cable snapping while I was in 2nd on an 8-lane junction, besides that just your typical parts replacements.

[@furiousdriving]

My dad had a 75 company car when they were new, did 200, 000 miles (about the same) and just had a radiator and wheel bearing

[@volvo-igen5875]

My worst car ever was a 1985 (7 years old at the time) 6 cylinder petrol BMW 5 series . There was always something wrong with that thing. My wife hated it too. Cost us a fortune in repairs.

[@SirOsisofLiver]

I had a 1990 Eagle Premier ES, which was the offspring of the partnership between American Motors and Renault. It was based on the Renault 25 chassis, and used a variant of the Renault 21's suspension. It was powered by a 3.0L version of the PRV engine. It was very roomy, very comfortable, and worked very well when in worked, which wasn't often. Electrical gremlins by the score, periodic mechanical issues and a few very minor assembly issues kept it in a perpetual state of disrepair. So unfortunate for what could have been a very good car.

[@SA-zoom1]

My worst car was also one of my favourite cars, it was a mk1 Golf Gti I paid £250 for and spent around £10,000 on a restoration and modifications over 5 years. It blew hoses for fun, overheated regularly, the battery used to drain for no reason and eventually the timing belt snapped! I had the engine rebuilt and bored to 1956 cc with a hot cam, used to rev to 7200 rmp and shoot flames and was incredibly fun, but it was unreliable and had serious rust on the underside, the outside looked immaculate but the dreaded tin worm got to it and it was eventually stripped and scrapped by the next owner, the welding would have cost at least £2000. Shame would be worth a lot now.

[@arthurfarrow]

A three year old Morris Marina 1700 we had reminded me of 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', as it seemed to be fitted with an 'Infinite Unreliability Drive'. The car's electrical problems were like mole hills on a lawn; as soon I thought I had sorted out one problem, another popped up. Putting in lots of additional earthing points helped to an extent. Replacing points, coil, capacitors, a fair proportion of the wiring loom, and so on affected only temporary relief. I went over the electrical system with a continuity meter, and a pen light between my teeth but i never tracked down the lair of the gremlin. Like many cars of its era, the Marina had galloping rust. A neighbour took pity on me, and showed me how to weld, to help my vain attempts to 'stop the rot'. It amazed my how a part of the car, which seemed solid enough, could become like a lace curtain, only a month later.

[@donaldasayers]

Was that the Marina with the ribbon cable wiring? The connections were made to the ribbon cable with "insulation displacement connectors" which pierced the cable to connect to the wire underneath. Of course piercing the insulation allowed moisture to wick in and corrode the connection. It was a clever idea but disasterous in reality. BL abandonned the idea for the Ital.

[@arthurfarrow]

@@donaldasayers Yes, it did have lots of those awful connections, all of which I must have laboriously replaced.

[@CharlieFlemingOriginal]

From 1995 to 2007 my Mam had a Rover Metro, only refused to start ONCE, never broke down, never failed MOT... was driven all around the country as a family car, zillions of trips to shops and to work and school, proper family car... written off by Audi going on the wrong side of the road at a T juction as the driver felt he could be bothered to wait behind two cars. Nobody in my Mams Metro hurt. Just goes to show buying a car is about luck. You can pay 6K for a Metro and have no problems for 12 years yet this video is about a supposed well built premium BMW with dodge filler cap, for lights, wiring, ENGINE! You seem so calm about its problems when I think many of us would have hit the rook at all the charges it was racking up!

[@nitrosilvia]

I have a 2009 e61 530d in black. I love it. Its massive, very fast, handles brilliant now i have got rid of the run flats and i use it for towing a car on a trailer which it handles with ease. Its a brilliant brilliant motorway car. It''ll sit at naughty speeds all day long without you even realising. I bought it 3 years ago as a 9 year old car with 84,000 miles. Its now just hit 150,000. The only parts it has had are front brake pads, an alternator, tyres, a 4 wheel alignment, oil changes, fuel filter, and it had an oil leak which was basically the result of the crank breather becoming clogged. I have had the tailgate wiring fail due to the same issue you had, but i just taped the wires up so its fine again. Sorry to hear yours was such a heap Maybe just a friday car? Theres a reason the Police used them. I think ive only ever changed 2 bulbs. One was an angel eye and i had to buy the proper bmw bulb for £25. But you dont need to, you can just break the bulb out of the housing and glue in a standard bulb for pennies.

[@robertngreen6]

Could you not have just written the thing off when it got vandalised? My worst car ever was a Peugeot 306 that had an intermittent power steering failure that even main dealer was clueless about. Eventually the stupid thing set itself on fire behind the dash so that was the end of that! As a previous many Alfa owner, I would say the majority are reliable if maintained!

[@MrSparklespring]

Strange my best car so far is a...306 1600 automatic, I never had a problem with the car. But I bought it as an outgoing model when the 307 was introduced. Then all the flaws are usually corrected. So my advice is : never buy a new car in the first two years of production at least.

[@RedsGarageUK]

My worst one was my second one - a 1981 Fiesta 1.0. Plagued with problems from the start, including a gearchange so worn that by the time you'd persuaded it to go into gear, you'd need the next one down after slowing down so much, it let me down big style when the engine simultaneously shot a rod through the block and seized solid while in the fast lane of the M1. That was exactly as terrifying as it sounds. Rather than sensibly having it scrapped, I went to the scrapyard and bought a new engine, spent two weeks fitting it (on the road outside my house!), only for the new engine to also seize up thirty seconds after firing it up. I cut my losses after that, having spent twice the purchase price of the car in the four months I owned it. I sold it for the price of a bus fare home...

[@pp37903]

Hahahaha! Next time someone takes the piss out of me for driving a Dacia Sandero, I'll show them this! Not a single issue in six years. It even has all its original light bulbs.

[@titanus49]

You think you have the record for " original light bulbs ". My 1975 Citroen DS23 Pallas, still has all the original light bulbs from 1975,that's 45 years of longevity. I was amazed that even the interior lights have the original bulbs. The car has done 145,000 kilometers.

[@pp37903]

@@titanus49 Wow, that's pretty impressive!

[@marcellosgarbini759]

😃👍

[@darrenmartin1049]

Mine was an 1982. VW Jetta, you know, the one with the plastic fuel pies of that era that managed to split and leak fuel over the engine and set fire to it while you're driving it. The even dumber thing was for me to get it repaired and resprayed. That car gave me so much financial grief after the fire, I should have just let it burn.

[@arthurfarrow]

Back in the early Eighties, a miserable decade through which to have lived, we could just about afford to keep patching up the Morris; we could not afford a replacement. As we lived out in the sticks, were we could just about afford to live, we depended on the car to get to work. We seemed to lurch from one car problem to the next, and MOT time was the most dreaded time of the year.

[@mgjohn8534]

I never dread when MoT time approaches. The checks are mainly safety related and safety is paramount. If something is unsafe, I want to know about it.

[@HowardLeVert]

It's still around, taxed and tested according to the government website. By contrast, my 04-plate petrol E60 saloon is heading towards 300,000 miles and still on the original engine and gearbox. Thanks to the current situation, it isn't doing 2,500 miles a month now. As for the tailgate wiring - right back to the E34s the fatigue failure of wiring into the boot lid was an issue and I found it was easier to get on my back in the boot with a reel of extra-flexible wire, a soldering iron and some heatshrink sleeving - on my E60 a couple of wires intermittently failed in this manner and used to set the alarm off!

[@droge192]

The last great BMW was the E39. I had a T reg 523i in 2009. The thing was carved out of titanium. Since then, it's been rust, dodgy diesel engines, failing electrics and senile sensors. How the mighty fall.

[@markrobson2611]

I've never owned a car that really let me down, but the worst car I had was a 1999 Vauxhall Vectra, the last of the original shape before the minor facelift. Bought it in 2007 with 70000 miles on it. Leaked oil all over, never got to the bottom of it despite replacing gaskets etc. Used to like to cut out whenever the clutch was pressed, taking out the power steering! Noisy as all hell at speed, too. Replaced it with a MK3 Mondeo 130 TDCi which was a bit of a money pit, needing two turbo rebuilds in as many years. Two Mk4s owned afterwards were bombproof by comparison.

[@midlifecrisis.2409]

After owning a few Saab 9000's (comfortable and seemingly indestructible) I foolishly "upgraded" to a 2004 9-5 Aero. What a horrible understeering uncomfortable thing it was! Apparently fitted with Active Head Restraints,they were active allright. Every time the front wheels went down a dip in the road the headrest would smack you on the back of the head, bloody infuriating after about ten minutes driving. The whole car had a nasty cheap feel compared to a 9000, no wonder they went bust making junk like that. Paid £5.5k for it,sold it three months later at a big loss but was glad to see the back of it.

[@DjNikGnashers]

I also had a really bad SAAB 9-3 on a 2004 plate. Everything rattled, it was like steering a boat, and it constantly went wrong. The utter bullshit spouted about BMW in this thread is just unrealistic and pathetic.

[@thejudgehasjudged]

There's some kind of media conspiracy that shouts about BMW being well built. Every other car I see broken down on the side of the motorway is a BMW. Give me a Volvo every time. Worst car I ever had was a Fiat X19. Great idea poorly executed and broke down every time I drove it, or so it seemed. Edit: but at least the Fiat was a used car...forgot to mention my KIA Sedona...starter motor would grind on it's gears and KIA said "Computer says it's fine" Door handles fell off for fun and it had 3 head gaskets in 3 years. A people carrier that spent most of it's first 3 years in the KIA garage whilst my family of 7 got a vauxhall corsa as a loan car.

[@DjNikGnashers]

There is some kind of 'old wives tales' and myth about BMW's being unreliable. Yes the last generation had a couple of engine issues, but previous generations were fabulous engines, and now the engines are once again brilliant. Volvo were Ford from 99-2010, and are now owned by the Chinese (Geely Holding Group), so their Swedish quality was gone decades ago. If you worked in the motor trade you would see the real truth.

[@jackjacko8706]

Fiat X19’s were at least fun to drive. Lol.

[@hueyfinesse]

@@DjNikGnashers bmw had great engines, but the cars was still poor. their best 3 series was probably the e46 which still feels cheap and fragile compared to a older volvo or even 190e Mercedes. They did have some fantastic 5 series though.

[@DjNikGnashers]

@@hueyfinesse Having owned both, I think the E36 was better built. The E39 5 series, is widely regarded as one of the best built cars ever made. My mate is a volvo lover, had about 6 in a row, they are crappy quality inside compared to the same age BMW, although the pre 2000 volvo's were at least reliable. If you want a comfy old armchair then yes maybe a volvo is the ideal choice, but for driving dynamics BMW absolutely stomps all over any volvo. Mercedes are decent quality yes, and on a par with BMW, but I don't like the interior styling.

[@hueyfinesse]

@@DjNikGnashers well Mercedes dissapointed allot in the late 90's and forward. But their models in the 80's is still unmatched when it comes to solid engineering and quality.

[@adriancaldwell]

My most dangerous was an '07 Discovery that had the habit of having complete electrical/ mechanical shut-down (usually at night on a motorway) and you have to somehow navigate on to a hard shoulder (thats if it's not a smart motorway) with no ability to freewheel so very rapid engine braking. Terrifying.

[@TheHorsebox2]

Yes we had two early Discoveries. The '92 was great, but the '91 was absolutely horrendous.

[@TheHorsebox2]

Yes we had two early Discoveries. The '92 was great, but the '91 was absolutely horrendous. My wife drove it, mainly, and I would dread seeing her number come up on my phone. It was usually another breakdown.

[@ollysimpson1490]

My 08 3series had me visiting my mechanic so regularly it was ridiculous! So ridiculous in fact I had to buy a Toyota the same age which I’ve had years of trouble free motoring and now see my mechanic once a year for servicing. Comment not sponsored by scotty!

[@owensteele1274]

Rev up your engines!!!

[@darkclouds5261]

Im convinced cars manufactured around 08 mark due to the financial crash suffered with slap and dash construction. Not a great time for BMW. Great upload 😊

[@notroll1279]

Well, that model was around since 2004 so the financial crisis couldn't have affected the design of the car.

[@darkclouds5261]

Indeed it was, but the car in question was built around the time of a huge crash and huge recession Companys had the heads up. It wasn't a secret! It effected everything worldwide.

[@darkclouds5261]

So much of a fan i drive a 2006 CLK 3.2 AMG 🤔

[@MrSparklespring]

@Nichen Fauster Yes 'Break My Wallets' (BMW) are generally crap.

[@StevesMachines]

I feel your frustration, I need to pick up a chassis and bits for my build, normally I would just nip in the car and do a lap of the country and collect it all, now I'm stuck paying hundreds for couriers.

[@khew1]

Great video. It's up there with my favourite ones of yours , my favourite being the. Punto MK1 video. Can't wait for more fiat videos from you

[@flemmingsorensen5470]

My worst car ever: Alfa 156..... My best car ever: the same Alfa 156 😉

[@TheHorsebox2]

Yeah, you can forgive an Alfa anything.

[@DomRivers67]

That, is EVERY Alfa

[@vwempire8459]

Hahaha alfa is garbige.

[@GTDpowah]

I absolutely love Italian cars. Currently driving a 2009 Lancia Delta TwinTurbo. There is a saying regarding Alfas though. It goes: "If there's no oil under the Alfa, there's none in it as well" :)

[@kidoctane]

l had a 156, the Selespeed even, for 13 yrs & 175,000 kms....,awesome car, very little issues....other than a few times with the Sele. Sold and it still felt strong. l still would fancy a 156 GTA Sportswagon

[@alchapman1052]

That was a tale of woe ,one thing after another. Keep up the good work in these strange days.

[@paultaylor9652]

Lovely Jubbly, made me think of all the dodgy cars I've owned, the worst was a Vauxhall Astra J - 61 plate, it was at the dealership more than in my garage.

[@colwyn9]

Those style disc and drum are common on 850/ v70's, omega's, BMW's and mercs, I stopped using the handbrake in my e46 because I just couldn't get it to adjust and hold the car, used to wrench it up for mot's the let it off when I got the car back

[@tepponieminen526]

I never would have thought it to be that common. My 1986 Volvo 240 used the drum-disc setup in the back and it allways worked beautifully, but it's a 240 afterall, not a BMW. :)

[@tonys1636]

Mine was a Renault, early 90's, forget which one, the saloon above a Megan, it was a transition model built as a dealer demonstrator, not intended to be sold but returned to Renault. Whenever ordering parts from a main dealer was always queried that the VIN did not match the year of registration as registered a year before it should have been. Had to physically show them the vehicle. It was engine and mechanical parts that were different, body stayed the same.

[@MrCarguy2]

The Laguna?

[@MTechGuy]

Great video Matt. Heard similar story many times before, having to put X amount into a car, then feeling the need to keep it to justify the cost, but the car keeps giving (taking ...£££)

[@tande3781]

Just came across this video and channel by chance. I had a second generation Mini Cooper D (58 plate) and coincidentally the turbo went on that! The warranty was well gone and the cost of repairing well out weighed the value of the car (even though it was only 6 years old at the time). I was left with no option but to cut my losses and sell the broken car to my dad, I mean on autotrader.

[@ggrahame09]

Currently driving a '99 E39 530D touring, bought it cheap, does everything you could ask of it, love the 50/50 weight distribution. Love it, feels like an old mate and you can fix it with a hammer.

[@donaldasayers]

The construction and use regulations have been changed so that manufacturers are now no longer able to put lights on tailgates or boot lids that open, because you could be driving with the tailgate open and the lights would be pointing at the sky, and also I suspect because of the problem of the wires fraying. The result is that the lights now intrude upon the tailgate, which is smaller, making the car less useful.

[@boneshaker6819]

Mine was a Mk2 Ford Escort. A 1.3 GL supposedly top of the range when we bought it. At 70mph on the motorway the doors started to lift off the seals, great when it rained, the front “sealed” quarter lights leaked water, and the heater lever wouldn’t switch off. My local Ford dealer replaced the door seals, no improvement, so suggested I put some draft excluder tape round the doors. Cars age was 4 months at this time! It had new springs front and back and a new prop shaft, all twice, to try and cure the terrible ride and vibrations, again no improvement. Then to end it all it was painted in metallic purple. I say painted, more like dusted, as trying to polish out slight scratches and you were straight down to the primer! I didn’t buy another Ford for 30 years!

[@doktoruzo]

Nice little chat Matt. enjoyed that story.

[@RichieRouge206]

We drove around Rockingham for Volvo’s 90th birthday! Quite a sight to see hundreds of Volvos round around the track end to end moving along

[@borderlands6606]

Rover 200, purchased from a relative. No redeeming features whatsoever. Handled like black ice on dry roads, blew a head gasket and consumed half my meagre salary on an almost monthly basis. The interior was attractive, which I studied intimately while waiting for numerous AA recoveries.

[@terryc8164]

Had 1 of those, perfect, never had a problem, so much better than Ford's etc of the era.

[@davidhynd4435]

Wow, I thought this kind of thing only happened to me, including tipping hot coffee in my lap. Thanks for sharing. Can't say that I feel inclined to run out and buy a BMW now. This isn't the first time I've heard horror stories about BMWs. The older I get the more I understand why some people are happy to drive an appliance like a Toyota or Hyundai. I drive a fairly elderly (13 years and 305,000 klms) B6 Passat 2.0 TDI which still drives like a new car (I'm the 2nd owner and it has been meticulously maintained it's whole life). It has had a couple of issues but nothing major, but with so many kilometres on the clock I do sometimes wonder about what kind of catastrophic event is just around the corner. And we live in rural Australia where it's very easy to be hundreds of kilometres from any help. Also, what kind of scum throws rocks onto someone else's motor vehicle? Sounds like justification for involuntary euthanasia. It's obviously the shallow end of the gene pool anyway.

[@darrenofford4696]

A Mercedes w220 3.2 diesel, I could never keep up with endless rust, it left patches of diesel on the ground and broke down on a regular basis. Shame really, it was a nice looking car .

[@hueyfinesse]

i heard they used waterbased rust protection on those models, aswell as others from that era

[@bertmeinders6758]

Incidentally, I was warned not to buy a modern BMW car. For 13 years I've relied mostly on BMW bikes (R65, R80 and R1100RT), and they are very reliable (long commute means about 1000-1300Km per week).

[@jontaylor1652]

Funnily enough, the two cars I remember as being possibly the most troublesome I've ever owned were also BMW's. I had a 320 and a 325is, they were both bloody awful, both of them had exactly the same issues as each other. Fuel injection system failed, camshafts both had to be replaced, next I had problems with the steering....and the problems just seemed to carry on. One of the cars was only four years old and I seem to remember the other one may have been around six years old, both were terrible and despite the 'iconic' status people like to bestow upon them, I would never buy another BMW.

[@ollie7117]

Really enjoyed this! Can we request more of you just talking to the camera telling stories

[@abmv92]

Mine was a 1974 VW T2 Transporter. Looked absolutely beautiful and always put a smile on my face... but my god can those things rust!

[@terrificspokesman7416]

Well most old cars rust.

[@alansimpson835]

From the picture I very much expected that to be your Mondeo. I agree though. A car can be terrible on paper but this usually means your expectation is lowered to the point where you take on a "support the underdog" mentality and you end up.instead finding things endearing rather than awful. Price also helps of you bought it dirt cheap and the appeal only grows if you have some legendary experiences with it. I had a Proton Satria in 2008, essentially a 90s Mitsubishi Colt built by Proton in the early 2000s. While the Lotus tuned GTi version gained a loyal following, mine was at the other end of the range. It was poverty spec, its 1.3 litre engine hated inclines yet was surprisingly thirsty and sat in a really high road tax band. However I'd bought a 4 year old car for £1350, you sat low like a sportscar behind a comically huge steering wheel and its back to front wipers and indicators made for some laughs. Plus they were so rare (perhaps for the on paper reasons outlined above) that you enjoyed being a bit different and I still love the shape too. Very AMC Pacer. In terms of motoring memories, hitting a pothole at 80 and jettisoning the stereo from the dashboard and into my passenger's lap and helping friends move a giant TV as I drove while they sat on the bonnet holding it will always stay with me. It was endearing to the point where i want one again. They are now even rarer but the ones out there tend to be low mileage having been owned by an older demographic yet are cheap as nobody has heard of them.

[@TACTICALTURNIP]

We had a 58 reg, 520D saloon, had it for like 6 months, and my dad said it was the worse car he’d ever owned. There was a massive electrical issue that was only while driving and it wasn’t detectable while the car was still. So that car went to auction as far as I’m aware. He bought it at 3 months old. Shows how bad those E60/61 cars are.

[@owensteele1274]

That 2006 Saab 93 convertible to the right of the photo @ 7:34 to 7:39. Now, that's a car! Just watched your recent review of a similar car as it happens.

[@nicolamiriano9150]

I've heard lots of bad experiences on the E60 BMW, from the diesel to the M5. Never tought it was such a crap (for the money that cost). On the other side, i've an Alfa 156 1.8 TwinSpark and is a very solid and reliable car, almost from when i bought 2 years ago.

[@MrSparklespring]

Alfas are much better than people think (due to a lot of problems long ago) My brother has his third Alfa (two 156 and 1 Guilietta) without any problem.

[@ellisking8542]

My dad has an E60 520d M-Sport, and I must say the thing has never missed a beat in the 5/6 years he’s owned it. It’s done a few trips between South Wales and Scotland, and was an absolute dream throughout! Sounds like you’ve had a bad experience with a lemon, but I’d still maintain that a decent-spec’d BMW 5 Series is the ideal daily driver

[@TK42138]

Worst used car I owned was a 1998 Peugeot 306 GT TD. Despite an extensive full main dealer service history it suffered brake failure, interior trim was made of biscuits, the clutch cable seized up due to rust, 42 mpg average, and the 'all or nothing' turbo boost quickly grew tiring on the daily commute. It also had the build quality of a wet cardboard box. Only car I ever wrote off when aforementioned brakes failed.

[@plym1969]

Great video. Very entertainingly told.

[@colinhicks4174]

When I saw the plate, I thought you were going to say, the timing belt snapped. The 2L diesel was notorious for that between 07&11 for that problem. I’m car hunting at the moment with 3 series high on the list. Anywhere from 2008 to 2016 depending on how much I want to spend. But I also test drove a Suzuki Vitara. Maybe I should go for that instead. I also have 02 plate 330d. The engine is great, the rest of the car has a few issues.

[@furiousdriving]

Cant fault any Suzuki!

[@WmAHughes]

Our lemon was a 2017 Ford Fiesta Titanium ecoboost, looked great and had shed loads of kit but wallowed like a boat, was slower than April, the drivers seat came off while driving it and it had the TPMS light on constantly after six months. After the dealer tried to get us to drive it to them to have the seat reattached and After 14k miles we part ex'ed it for a 2015 Mini Cooper and never looked back!

[@DjNikGnashers]

And MINI are built and owned by who ? BMW !

[@WmAHughes]

Nik Gnashers they are indeed, time will tell how good the car is but we have had it over a year without any issues so it’s already better than the fiesta.

[@DjNikGnashers]

@@WmAHughes I think it will be just fine. The early MINI's had some issues, but I think they are much better now. The new BMW M135i is basically a MINI JCW with a different dress on. I like BMW's, and had 6 now, the latest being an M140i, it's brilliant.

[@WmAHughes]

Nik Gnashers I’m considering an M1** for my next car when I can bring myself to get rid of my Saab, Sounds like a silly question but what are the running costs like? The servicing costs always scare me on the beemers

[@Bumper3D]

I've had quite a few cars, 90% of them made by PSA. They're far from faultless, but I've kind of learnt their tricks so I don't usually find them too bad to work on. And despite being dirt cheap up here they've always been reliable so I've sort of stuck with them. I've also had an Alfa 156 2.5 V6 which I absolutely loved. It was quick, amazing to drive even in snow and didn't have any reliability issues while I had it. Unfortunately it did have a serious rust issue hidden by a thick layer of underseal so I had to pass it on. My worst car ever was either a MK2 Polo or a MK1 Renault Scenic. The Polo had an amazing amount of electrical problems considering not much was operated by the means of electricity. The carb was also horrible and never seemed to work quite right. The Scenic too had it's share of electrical problems and the interior panels were so rattly that it nearly drove me insane. And I never got it to run properly unless I had the throttle position sensor unplugged - I tried several different new ones and redid the wiring but it just refused to work with one plugged on. The final nail in its coffin was the rust that pretty much spread everywhere over the course of two winters.

[@terrificspokesman7416]

That Polo must have been really badly abused. I had a mk2 Polo with 350 000 miles. I bought it when it had 94 000 miles and nothing wet wrong with it. I only had to replace the tires once because they were absolutely battered when I bought it and they were the original tyres and do an oil and coolant change every now and then. It was a very reliable car.

[@georgebamber6871]

I have also had a good experience with the mk2 polo

[@Bumper3D]

@@terrificspokesman7416 Yeah, it wasn't a pristine example but neither was it horrible. Bought it off an elderly man who'd had it since new, had around 100k miles on the clock and a more or less complete service history. Over the two months or so that I had it, I recall it melting it's light switch inside out, and even after replacing it had some weird earthing problems with the tail lights. It was a 1.3 with an auto choke which never reallly worked quite right and even when warm it had running issues. I did replace the gasket between the carb and manifold, but since that didn't change anything I just replaced it with a Peugeot 205 1.4 of the same vintage. That turned out to be a wise decision, as it was better to drive, had a superior ride and most importantly it served me with very few problems for two and a half years or so. With the carb properly serviced the Polo could've been okay but as a student back then I figured I'd just get rid of it.

[@HorizonFarming]

I have a 1995 Isuzu Campo. Never had any problems at all. But i have changed the EGR-valve in my 2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara 5 times now. So new cars are clearly garbage compared to good old cars.

[@Mgoblagulkablong]

Or you are clearly stupid for generalizing all cars based on just two, ffs shut up.

[@JA-pb7oz]

Without doubt it would have been my H reg Vauxhall Astra max van. I bought it as a temporary vehicle while I was waiting for my new car to be delivered. one the drive into work I had an almost complete and catastrophic electrical failure. On the way home in the evening after tow starting it the engine blew. Leaving parts on the road. It really was a sad end to a van that I had owned for one entire day.

[@furiousdriving]

thats pretty bad

[@enzolemmens7873]

Have heard many of these stories about the E60/E61. Thank God i have an E39. 3 years and 60k km (215k Total), Only had some minor issues which were normal wear. Only stupid thing that broke was the release for the bonnet in the interior. Repairing cost about 45 minutes total, easy diy job. For me it is the best car i have owned (Only the 4th one). Perfect daily and doing long trips. So i can use my MX-5 in the weekends 👌🏻

[@quattro4ever629]

Do you call that a big boot? I can easly fit four 19" wheels whit tiers in my Audi 100/A6 2.3Q C4 Avant.

[@alphatrion100]

Yeah but you drive a stationwagon.

[@bcfairlie1]

Once upon a time there was a car manufacturer that built great cars. It was called BMW. Then something came along called 2002. BMW released there new flagship model the 7 series and all BMW were now to follow its led. And so they did, to the letter. Trim fell off. Wiring burned out. Brakes played up. Engines went bang. Transmissions developed a life of their own. Headlining fell down. So did electric windows. Cooling systems lost the plot. Rattles and bangs developed from all manor of tucked away places. Bearings ran and suspension collapsed. In 2003 I was in position to assist in looking after 20 brand new 7series BMW for a visiting billionaire attending the Americas cup in New Zealand. Within 5 weeks of receiving 20 identical cars, nine of them had developed minor or major issues. Three others did the same around 7 weeks . Pre 2002, I was a BMW fan. Never again. After the above, I would rather walk than rely on a BMW to get me to my destination.

[@chazzcoolidge2654]

Worst one I owned was a 2001 Explorer 4door with 4.0 OHV V6 that I bought knowing I was going to flip it soon. Bought it from a friend-of a-friend's private mechanic who replaced both cylinder heads/gaskets and intake manifold+water pump at only 110k after a head gasket failed (causing the cylinder head to warp,both got replaced for sanity's sake) before he got it as a non-runner. A week after I got it,both front power window regs failed in a rainstorm and both windows fell into the door (and of course the drivers' window shattered).Next day the rear hatch handle snapped after a parts run to replace the broken window and window regs,then like clockwork the drivers' door exterior handle fell off a few days later and the interior handle stopped working. Decided to not replace the regs nor the glass,to order a set of 4 exterior and interior handles, to replace the broken handles but include the other new parts in the sale along with a quote from a local shop. Ended up making a small profit,but a great learning experience about buying Fords.

[@andrewhill400]

The company I used to work for has Golfs as Company Cars and one of the engineers had a Golf Estate. It used to idle in the yard all day with the boot open so he could get to his tools. He also used it more than once to pull a Minibus broken down on the road. He also occasionally filled it with 4 24v bus batteries or bus wheels. I wouldn’t recommend buying a company car but if you do then make sure it isn’t an estate.

[@daviddunmore8415]

My worst car was (Fanfare) a Talbot Tagora(?), more electrical faults that you could shake a wirestripper at, including a tendency for the engine to die at over about 65mph. and door mirrors that would never stay set how I wanted, they'd drop to give a lovely view of the road either side.

[@Andy-eo3mq]

I have a 2008 Fiat Grande Punto, and my best mate has a 2006 Alfa Romeo Brera: both have been good reliable cars. Neither have high mileage for their age, but they do both have lots of electricals to go wrong, yet everything still works, and they both start 1st time... I do get the impression that "german quality" is little more than a myth: people laugh and sneer at my Fiat, but after 6 years, I have no desire to part with it anytime soon, and hope to replace it with another Fiat when the sad day comes that it does have to go.

[@99domini99]

My worst car actually turned into the best car I've ever owned, and still own. A couple years back I bought a 2005 Mazda 6 wagon after my old Suzuki was trashed. Very nice, well kept, paint still good, mechanically perfect. Or for the last part, it seemed to be... After owning the car for about a month it burnt an exhaust valve. Once that got fixed, the car drove for about half a week before the PCV system failed and caused rapid unplanned disassembly of the engine. I was now at a breaking point - either put even more money in the car and have it fixed, or get rid of the car for basically scrap money. Because I didn't have money for a new car, I got it fixed. A lot of drama within the first months of owning the car.... However after that it's been dead reliable, never missed a beat. Almost 300.000km and probably many more to go!

[@tylert6573]

Really enjoyed the video mate! Think you should do more of these!!

[@furiousdriving]

Thanks, I will be soon

[@dorbellbuster2011]

What a Great Video, And I always think and I have been proven correct, More expensive badge on the front of the Bonnet dosent mean to say it's better than alot of cars. I am absolutely amazed despite all the problems you had with that car it's still around somewhere. That shocked me.

[@furiousdriving]

Me too! I was genuinely surprised - I looked to se when it was scrapped!

[@andyyoung9431]

Worse car I've owned I still own. 1973 Ford LTD pillarless 4door. I've wanted an early 70's Ford LTD since I was about 5 (now 48). Bought mine about 2 or 3 years ago. California car & only been here in the UK about 5 years now. Literally every single time I've driven that car it's broke down. I've had Yanks before but never bone stock. This is 100% un messed with & all original. But it's let me down so often I've lost confidence with it now. Fuel, electrics, engine, trans, overheating, Axle, brakes, etc.... I'm pretty sure I've now sorted it & ive even stuck £50 in the tank.........aaaaaaand now we are in lockdown 🤦‍♂️ Will I ever get to drive the car I've always wanted 🤷‍♂️ AND I've noticed that while it's sitting there idle, the headliner has come apart & is hanging down 😔

[@MrCarguy2]

Ford always had their things with quality in the 70s Also fear the rust. Very much.

[@adrianrowden8266]

Bit like a classic car, the two happiest days of owning it are the day you buy it and the day you sell it...

[@eslater5219]

Great Vid mate, my 02, 318 estate had soooo many issues, great to drive though 😆

[@martynlewis5901]

My wife and I’s first car joint purchase after marriage back in the early 90’s was a Citroen AX. We somewhat rushed into the purchase from a true “Arthur Daley” character. Flicking your finger against the door panel was just like flicking an empty biscuit tin, thankfully it died exiting the M1 at jct 25 north when the cam belt snapped (mercifully on the slip road) and that was the end of that!

[@MegaNinjaMonkeyZord]

2008 Chevrolet TrailBlazer there was always something wrong with it although to its credit it was never engine/ trans until ECM failed but not before getting me home still that was the last straw i bought Mazda 110k miles now, 0 engine issues 0 electrical issues, had to replace tie rod once, rattles here and there but it was battered by ppl who are not bothered by traffic lights, parking lanes etc

[@DeLorean4]

The worst car I ever owned wasn't bad actually. My bad experiences were with courtesy/rental vehicles; Chevrolet Lumina APV, Oldsmobile Alero, and 2010 Jeep Compass. I went in really wanting to like the Lumina and Alero and they each had * some * redeeming features, but that Compass.... I have never hated driving a car quite so much as I have with that. It had zero personality, a terrible transmission, a lack of power, and the interior was so fake and clinical. This is coming from someone who used to own Ladas and 1980s Skodas and would qualify them as great cars.

[@lewis72]

I bought a manual '03 530i back in June 2011 on 86k miles. I still have it and it's now on 193k miles ! It hasn't been without its faults but overall it's been good. It's also been to Italy, Austria (twice) and South of France (err, 3 times, I think). Needs some bits and bobs fixing but overall it's a good car and I'll keep it.

[@DjNikGnashers]

Thank you Lewis. So much hate and utter BS posted in the comments about BMW's. I have owned 6, and they have all been brilliant, reliable, and enjoyable to own & drive.

[@furiousdriving]

Im glad there are some good ones, they cant all be bad!

[@DjNikGnashers]

@@furiousdriving lol @ 'some'. I feel sorry that your's had a lemon engine, but at least BMW came good in the end and replaced it with a new one at 80k no charge to you.

[@histriamagna1014]

After I bought my Hyundai ix35 I realized how well engineered this car is. Everything is built so straight forward. Simple and easy to work on. And after two years nothing went wrong or broke. Never even change a light bulb. ( it woul'd take 30 seconds to do it ) So until now the best car I ever owned.

[@willswheels283]

Worst car I ever owned used to be a Mazda 323, was obviously a Friday afternoon/Monday morning car as Mazdas are usually good, but that was until I bought a 1997 BMW E39 525TDS auto, what a pile of cack, bought it from the seller, got half way home, popped into a shop halfway home, tried to start it, no chance, the car had immobilised itself and I only had one Key! It made it home on a recovery truck. I didn’t have any more money to investigate the issue so I moved it on for £200, and as far as I know it still hasn’t returned to the road.

[@mikemidulster]

Thanks Matt. That's the way to tell a story, and I could happily listen to you for weeks . If the police get more heavy handed enforcing the lockdown you could well end up sitting there with you cuppa, relating the histories of the other 29 cars. Who needs to watch test drives anyway? We should never let cars get in the way of a good motoring tale.

[@furiousdriving]

Thanks, I think I might have to start digging out old photos...

[@westcoast747]

A late Rover 800 Vitesse (1999), almost rebuilt the car in the four years, it’s head gasket went just after I’d put in a second hand gearbox. That was the final straw for me, loved those cars I had three of them. Not had a Rover since. First 800, gearbox failed, second an automatic that needed a reconditioned gearbox, sold it for about £700. I’ve had a MK3 Ford Mondeo, fairly reliable for a a 15 year old car.

[@markbriggs5531]

Oh dear! Reminds me of a Rover 800 Sterling Coupe I had once that dropped its gearbox oil at 800 miles. But it was a company car and under warranty anyway so I counted myself lucky and chuckled.

[@bobjohnson1587]

My '90 Volvo 740 GL is closing in on 280,000 miles and still has the original engine, transmission, rear end, etc. all running as good as ever. What am I doing wrong? Lol

[@workonesabs]

I've got a 2005 Vectra estate and it's still going as of 2021, the only thing that isn't working: Cruise Control. that's it.. Though over the years, it's had new brakes, Turbo (which hadn't gone but using oil and only £600).

[@BobM925]

Mine was a Renault Megane. The first fairly new car I'd ever bought and over my four year ownership: the head gasket went, I fixed it. It suffered numerous electrical problems. The head gasket went, I fixed it again but two days after that it was written off. Glory be! Luckily I got a decent payout by the insurance company. I went back to couple-of-hundred quid bangers for a bit. Much better.

[@grolfe3210]

I started driving in 1978 so have quite a few years of motoring to choose from. As mentioned, the cheap banger tends to be better than the low expectation, and it is the ones you think will be good that disappoint. I am torn between two. A Rover SD1 which was in its day a fantastic looking car but just kept going wrong and bits just kept dropping off it. Trim dropped off daily, a new bit each day, the windows dropped open, just everything fell apart. The day the front wheel fell off (the anti roll bar came off and the whole strut was then lose) was the point I gave up and sold it. Then there was the TR7. I just wanted one and had really decided to buy the one I went to see on the way there. It was gutless, horrid to drive and kept overheating. It handled worse and was slower than the rubbish saloon I sold to buy it. It looked so nice but was so bad. Kept it about two weeks and sold it. So disappointed. Best is either my Dolomite Sprint or my E Class merc.