For me - an original Fiat Panda we hired in Greece many moons ago. The thing was battered - rollback sunroof was held down with thick wire as the latch was missing. Totally gutless and uncomfortable.
Had a Dacia Duster on loan while a mate was on holiday, absolutely awful as modern cars go. Which is strange, as i had a commercial one, same running gear, only a year older, Last year and it wasn't bad at all.
An '81 Opel (Vauxhall) Kadett (Astra) 1.3 SR, nice to look at but man it broke my heart with failures and generally acting the maggot. Edit: I'll list some of the ballache I had with it: 1. Light switch shorted against the metal skeleton within the dash - result fused wiring and when you hit the fan switch the wipers would turn on - it took countless hours on my back in the floorwell to sort it out. 2. Had replacement Weber carburetors and they were absolute garbage - had to find a second-hand Pierburg replacement and set it up. 3. Had crap in the fuel tank that every so often would make it's way to the engine - bucking and jumping, cutting out, wouldn't idle - I lost count of how many in-line filters I went through, in the end I got another tank and made damn sure there was nothing in it before it went in. 4. Some moron installed an aftermarket sunroof and it leaked but not all the time - normally managed to do it when I was engaged in intimate activities with my then girlfriend - that was the final straw for me. Edit No. 2 5. I had completely forgotten, a bloody mouse managed to make it's way into the car, was none the wiser until I was stopped at a junction and the w@@ker came out into the passenger footwell and then back in again - if it was the driver's side I would have lost the plot. Had to leave a trap in the car overnight - the following morning Rodger the Rodent was caked in the trap - That car must have been built during a full moon on Friday the 13th..
Fiat marea weekend, bland drive, beige interior and two drive belt failures along with seizing rear brakes, even new calipers, and if you booted it, would leave a line of soot on the floor. Final nuggetpunch was on way to garage for px, airbag light came on. Possibly a chevette too.
back from my deepest memory; fiat 126 twin cylinder I fitted a gearbox to, road tested and nearly crashed due to no brakes volvo 240 estate that went straight on into roundabouts in the wet with a trailer on the back beach buggy, absolutely horrible, much worse than a beetle (like driving a motorised bathtub) toyota hiace 1 tonne pickup, 1976, day I turned 17. No handbrake (heal toe for hill starts!) column gearchange Its a wonder I'm still alive.... Jon
RS turbo series 1. After having a series 2 which I wrote off I had alwayes loved the all-white series 1. Got one in about 1998? Alarm bells should have rung straight away as it was so slow when I bought it. The turbo actuator wasn't even connected to the wategate! Once connected and chipped by Harvey Gibbs it was going well. However can't remember exactly but it seized up after the bottom hose came off when going flat out down the bypass. Cut a long story short after i had 3 engines in a year I got rid of it for £1500. Have you seen the prices of them these days???
I had one of those maybe my 3rd car NYW 57Y Bought it from a salvage place in Notts. Needed a dash and wiring loom fitting, new headlining etc as it had an interior fire.
My registration was EZB 124, not surprising it had an interior fire based on my own personal experience - I damn near set fire to it a few times myself...
Vauxhall aren't faring well, I also had an Opel manta, 3 days, no brakes, foot or handbrake, at all. But broke it and made profit. Had a citroen xantia too, absolute pants. Strangely loved all the British Leyland group stuff, and Renault from late 80s early 90s I've owned, we still have an Mgf.
cant say i had any serious bad cars - as for vauxhall had a mk1 astra gte and loved it bar the rust was beginning to take serious hold on it, worst car to date was a mk4 golf anniversary 1,8t - bought it on a whim and regretted it as soon as i drove it home - had a really poor remap and the turbo was either on or off making it undrivable especially in the rain and dripped oil from intercooler, turbo and other orifices - had it 6 weeks sold it on gumtree as spares or repairs
Lancia Ypsilon. I've owned/driven some rough cars over the years but that hire really was truly terrible!
Isnt that sold as a Chevrolet in the uk as Lancia got so much stick in the press they pulled out of selling here?
No idea tbh. This automotive turd: If you managed to get past the exterior without vomiting, you were greeted with a seatbelt that no matter where you sat/adjusted, it garrotted your neck and a pedal box that seemed to be more positioned for the passenger. Driving the length of Sardinia took about 10 years..WOEFULLY slow RJ - what a weapon that looks