Ever bought a car you couldn’t live with?

[A.J.]

View attachment 115729This - Lexus RX400h - in and out in 8 months. Wallowy, plasticky, beige in every way. Sensible low bill kid carrier. Now I’m one week in an S 350 L 2012...lovely

They are mind mind numbingly boring to say the very least

 

[Tuercas viejas]

They are mind mind numbingly boring to say the very least

Yes all that stated BUT, but something fundamental about their product line up as Toyota Lexus, then and now.
Reliability and a quality product, with great fit and finish, all something that the British made product couldn't deliver upon then when B/L was alive and kicking .
The founders of just in time production technology, which we even try to emulate today without too much success.
Toyota Lexus today enjoys probably the best customer loyalty in the business.

When I was working for B/L I got to go to Japan with a British Trade & Industry delegation to Hamamatsu and the Yamaha works .
Industrial production of camshafts, the memory still sticks in my head.
ONE Japanese machine tool operator was making 25 camshafts at any one time on an automatic machine tool when back in the UK the same British machinist was producing ONE !
Furthermore much of what was made in the UK on production was produced in WW2 machine tools suppled FOC by the USA as lease /lend for war production.
The Capmartin Road Triumph axle plant production was all running on 1941 made American made machine tools, like Cincinnati Ohio and Hubbard to name a few !

Digressing a bit, but Ted on this forum mentioned Speke and I immediately thought of Scoucers at Lucas CAV, long time suppliers of Injector pumps to B/L Truck and Bus div, who did make a profit JUST and it subsidized the B/L Car div's
Opening a plant to produce the DPA injector pump, NOT ONE could be used on an engine, I kid you not !
Consequently all production had to be shipped to a CAV div called Condor Injection Pump manufacturing in Spain for re-working .
In short unfit to be installed on truck and bus engine production.
Talk about "Owt for Nowt ! And the Spaniards outstripping British production methods.
Eventually the problem was resolved , B/L Truck & Bus bought injector pumps from Friedman & Maier out of Gratz and Injectors from AmBac of the USA.
Astonishingly poor quality coming out of a British plant in Liverpool/Speke area . (Oh Me Gawd)
Looking and back & chuckling we really should hang our heads in shame !
Disgraceful really.
Tuercas Viejas

 

[moonloops]

Honda Civic Type R - awful thing.

 

[DesignJunkie]

Honda Civic Type R - awful thing.

More info - it’s one of Pistonheads Heroes here??

 

[Tuercas viejas]

More info - it’s one of Pistonheads Heroes here??

Well exterior is a bit busy BUT:-

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Tuercas viejas

 

[Fastcar155]

Well exterior is a bit busy BUT:-

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Tuercas viejas

Hi , agree with your comment.

 

[100%Bitch]

A Jaguar XJ270 dirty diesel thing. Every time I went to drive it it told me there was a different fault to the previous one. Oh, and the satnav always wanted to take me via Ipswich for some reason, wherever I was going.

 

[JHS]

2016 Volvo XC60. I still shudder when thinking about it.

 

[Red C220]

ML300 CDI Sport. Owned it 4 months. Awful thing.

Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo - owned 4 months, spent 3.5 of that being put right - managed 295 miles, sold it back to Porsche for more than we paid for it.

 

[ALFAitalia]

This.....

Sure it was very well screwed together and was even a manual so went as well as it could.....but it was SO gutless for the weight....and massive great staggered AMG wheels had far too much grip for the mere 163 (or whatever) horsepower so there was no ability to adjust it through the corners on the throttle unless it was raining!! Less power and way less torque than even my diesel ALFA 159!... Just no fun at all and having four peddles made it a bit tight in the footwell too. If you want one you need at least the 320! Otherwise its just no fun.....and I want my cars to be fun to drive.....being nicely built and reliable is not enough!! Was very tidy for the miles and age though. Sold about 4 years ago and I still see it around (on private plates now)....holding up the traffic!!
(No offence intended to the owners of the same model on this forum though!!)

 

[Numair Aidroos]

Honda Crv Mark 2, and Mark 4. Jeep Grand Cherokee 2006 and 1999 V8 versions. Tata Indica 2006 4cyl, Ford Escort 1997.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I couldn't live with this



Well actually, SWMBO couldn't live with it. The sports suspension was too firm for her (she suffers back pain) and because it was in such perfect condition she was constantly worrying about it being scratched or damaged when we went anywhere - so it became an "A to A" car until I sold it.

 

[l5foye]

What I could not live with was a Mk2 Mitsubishi Shogun. On the day I took delivery I was suffering a terrible flu- I should taken that as an omen. Any time I drove it for an hour or more, I got a terrible headache. At first I thought it was just me but no-anytime friends were in it, they complained of headaches. These were people who usually never has headaches. After a relatively short time I could not put with the headaches, so it was traded in against a new ML.

 

[A.J.]

The car I just couldn’t live with was a VW Eos. The concept of the car was just what I was looking for but the constant water leaks drove me crazy.

The final straw was my wife and I were on the way out for the day. It had been raining the night before quite heavily. We got to the bottom of the road and had to brake to turn right, as I braked about a half pint of water poured from the roof and drenched us.

That is it I shouted and swapped it for a C220 MB the following day

 

[Darrell]

2016 Volvo XC60. I still shudder when thinking about it.

What was wrong with it??

 

[Numair Aidroos]

I couldn't live with this

View attachment 134393

Well actually, SWMBO couldn't live with it. The sports suspension was too firm for her (she suffers back pain) and because it was in such perfect condition she was constantly worrying about it being scratched or damaged when we went anywhere - so it became an "A to A" car until I sold it.

How much did you lose?

 

[Slartibartfast]

How much did you lose?

Had it for about 8 months and "lost" £2k when I sold it. I really loved it but didn't fit in with my retirement lifestyle

 

[JHS]

What was wrong with it??

It was shite. Just shite. Misaligned gears in the balancer shaft pack located in the sump sounded like a buggered turbo. Known assembly issue that Volvo refused to deal with. Clogged DPF, melting plastic manifold. The civic diesel estate that I chopped in was far superior.
Finally px ed it for the Merc.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

I had a Vauxhall Signum 2.2 Elite petrol for a short while. It was a curious thing - the concept was great. 4 seat estate, very well equipped (air cooled and heated seats, all leather, satnav, fridge and picnic tables in the back between the seats, which reclined as well...). It actually looked quite nice as well - dark windows, really nice electric blue, big alloys etc.

The first problem was that it was a Vauxhall. Everything felt cheap - all the plastics etc. The second was the engine and gearbox. It was truly awful. No oomph, no character, and it really felt akin to persuading a stubborn horse to move. It also only achieved about 30 mpg at best. Massively frustrating to drive, and the handling was all over the place. It was almost new when i bought it. I was sold on the concept rather than the reality. Depreciation was also horrific. The only saving grace was that i sold it and bought my first GTV with the proceeds. Also to think i sold my modified Fiat Coupe 20VT when i bought it. Ouch - they're fetching quite good money these days.

 

[Wheelnut58]

I think I have only done this once, every other car has had enough redeeming qualities to make me accept it’s shortcomings until the next planned swap.

The only one that I couldn’t live with was (surprisingly) a Mercedes, a 1.6 petrol GLA premium that we bought new in July 20 and sold in March 21.

Prior to the GLA I had 3 C classes (two 204’s and a 205) and I think that was the problem. It’s not that the GLA is a bad car, lots of people like them and they do have their good points. But for me it was just a jacked up hatchback and not a particularly good one at that. Always felt like you were sat on it and not in it. Good motorway cruiser (surprisingly), not as roomy as it appears, very poorly prepared by the dealer on delivery. Creaks and crackles from the dashboard and worst of all, I couldn’t get comfortable in it, steering wheel wouldn’t extend far enough so had to have the seat too far forwards, I don’t have long legs but it always felt hunched.

So although it cost a lot to get back into a C class, the dealer did soften the blow with a generous trade in contribution and a massive discount on the new car.

I don’t suppose that one bad choice out of about thirty odd cars that I have owned so far is too bad.

I’ve done the same, swapped the Slk 55 in February for for a Gla 35, nice car, does everything well, but the seat base made my bum ache, so in July I swapped it for a Boxster, I also missed getting the top down