1982 Astravan.
Had it for a year, in that time replaced the following parts:
Engine
Fuel tank
2xdoors
radiator
And various other parts too. On the other hand, it kept me mobile(-ish) for the year it needed to.
Bought for £400 (and it was a rip-off at that. Had nop experience of buying so cheao, and bought a shed). Sold to the scrapyard for £30, the replacement engine having blown up and shed it's oil all over the road.
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In 1996, we bought our first car for £900, a (then) 11 year old Peugeot 309. Didn't know anything about cars then, and we didn't have two bits to rub together at the time (she was a student, I had just started to work for myself, we were in debt) so this was the best we could afford - the cheapest car in the paper at the time. I remember bringing my brother-in-law with us to the sale as I thought we needed a more experienced eye - we did, but he wasn't. Car was advertised at £1000, I opened my mouth to start the haggling at £750, but BiL chipped in with "Maybe £900?" - not a great start!
We used that car to move out of Belfast by driving our possessions the 100-mile round trip to the new place every evening until we had cleared out of the flat - we didn't own any furniture apart from a couple of desks at the time, so it all fit in the boot - including the antique fireplace we'd bought for the new house! We managed to put 10000 miles on it in four months, on top of the mere 49k odometer reading (which probably wasn't accurate at all, but hey, we were innocent then).
It wasn't too bad for the first year and a half or so, then it all started in earnest. The radiator used to leak, and needed to be topped up every few weeks, then every week, then every couple of days. Source of leak untraceable despite several attempts. The seals around the boot also leaked, as did the rear lamp clusters. It was a damp car alright. Eventually, whenever we wanted to extend the bootspace by collapsing the rear seats, lifting the rear bench frequently revealed a one-inch pool of water, gently lapping at the underneath of the bench. I'm amazed that we never actually saw mould growing out of the padding, or rust on the metal underneath the rear seat
Soon, it had started to go through a gallon of oil every three to four weeks, yet no major oil-leak could be found. Oh, and the driver's door started to refuse to open, the engine would occasionally die, and one time these happened simultaneously, just after getting halfway out of a junction onto a main road. Fortunately, the road wasn't too busy and the next car waited until it was able to go around, by which stage I was seriously considering climbing out the window. The brakes also started to go - replaced the handbrake cable twice, replaced pads three times in six months (or was it the drums? can't remember now).
We gave it away in the end when we realised that for literally a few dozen more pounds a month than we were spending to keep this heap of junk on the road and insure it, we could have a brand new Punto on PCP with three years' free insurance. We weren't sorry.
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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First post-uni transport in 1998- white 1990 Escort, one of the first of the MkVs, fitted with the truly awful 1.3 HCS petrol engine - a unit which managed to sound like an old-school non-turbo diesel, and perform quite similarly, without the associated frugality.
Really every bit as dire as the contemporary slatings suggested - ride, handling, steering, brakes, refinement, equipment were all decidedly "sub-par" to put it politely. The only pluses were a decent gearbox and very good reliability. As a driving machine, it was as far removed from my current Civic Type-R as the Wright brothers were from a B-2 Stealth bomber.
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"1990 Escort, one of the first of the MkVs, fitted with the truly awful 1.3 HCS petrol engine -"
"Really every bit as dire as the contemporary slatings suggested - ride, handling, steering, brakes, refinement,"
This was actually a very good car in one respect. It was SO bad and SO dire that ford had a very very serious rethink and the Focus was fertilised by this festering dung heap.
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1976 Austin All-aggro 1300, which I bought because I thought I should drive something economical and eco-friendly. Ha! I should have known better - when I went to pick it up (it was three years old) the sales manager shouted through to the workshop 'is the aggro ready?'. I had the dreadful experience of driving it from Somerset to Essex and back - turned it in the following week for a Princess, which was an excellent piece of kit.
Incidentally, it's nice to see someone back up the line there telling the truth about older Aston Martins. Makes me smile when I see the glossy ads in the 'classic car' voyeur press from dealers who apparently believe a DB5 can be worth £150,000. Presumably they are still suckering innocent youngsters with too much investment bank bonus money to blow - and a whole new generation of burnt fingers looms.
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Not one, but two Fiesta 1.8DL 5 doors I had as company cars in 1994(previously it had been an Orion 1.8 Ghia and an oval mouth 1994 Escort 1.6LX 16v but the accountants at Ford crashed the budget for company cars).
Hideous bag of nails where the engine should be, with a total inability to pull the skin from a rice pudding. NVH considerations weren't onthe table when they penned this design.
The engine was so heavy and the tyres/wheels so woefully inadequate that you had to enter corners at about 10mph or risk terminal understeer. No need for an accelerator pedal (you would be had under trade descriptions for describing it thus), it could have been replaced with an on-off switch.
I hated those cars with a passion.
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"turned it in the following week for a Princess, which was an excellent piece of kit"
Really nice to hear. The old man had the 2200 auto and I loved it but he sold it before I learnt to drive. Did you see the Full Monty last night? Nice to see one of these old girls again, definitely the star of the film for me.
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Incidentally, it's nice to see someone back up the line there telling the truth about older Aston Martins.
I tall depends on what you're expecting to get. If you're buying a classic car - of any make - and expecting to get a car as comfortable and reliable as a modern Honda or whatever, it's perhaps your fault you're let down, not the cars.
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Privately, a Citroen ZX diesel that seemed intent on reducing itself to a kit of parts in short order.
Company, Audi A4 1.9 TDi, just plain bad to drive, poorly built, expensive and unreliable
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A close call between an Escort 1600 diesel, 12 months old (It would start, but only if the day was at least 25 deg C, the wind was in the North East and a flock of pigs were flying past) and a Peugeot 205 diesel that averaged 8000 miles between clutch cables. Not sure what is worse, a non starter or the 'do I have to resume clutchless gear changes' thought.
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without doubt renualt 25 it was comftable needed to be when sitting at side of road broken down
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