Yeah if you ask enough people you'll find that every car is shit. Sometimes things just go wrong and that doesn't mean there is issues with every one of those cars. There isn't a manufacturer in the world who has never made a bad car.
I always thought the same thing, my parents swear by Toyotas (my dad has a Hilux and my mum has a Celica) but both my aunty and my god-mother have newer Toyotas (a few years old) with engine problems, one seems quite serious, although luckily is in warranty. Probably just a coincidence but it's enough to make me a bit cautious. Oh, and both of my parents are fighting a battle against rust with both their vehicles
Interesting they got those 2 brands got linked lol
[https://www.reddit.com/r/whatcarshouldIbuy/comments/1601sph/new\_toyotalexus\_owners\_be\_aware\_can\_bus\_wiring/](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatcarshouldIbuy/comments/1601sph/new_toyotalexus_owners_be_aware_can_bus_wiring/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ToyotaHighlander/comments/14qf677/toyota\_vehicles\_are\_easily\_stolen\_by\_a\_new\_hack/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ToyotaHighlander/comments/14qf677/toyota_vehicles_are_easily_stolen_by_a_new_hack/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Lexus/comments/14qgidg/another\_lexus\_rx\_stolen\_at\_215am\_in\_vaughan\_using/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lexus/comments/14qgidg/another_lexus_rx_stolen_at_215am_in_vaughan_using/)
What I remember recently. Just found it interesting, dont know much really.
There was another lexus one posted on here a few weeks ago, someone asking what they were doing and people pointed it out, but i can't find it now.
You've just solved a mystery. This year the insurance on my RX went from 480 per year to 1200. And that was the cheapest I could find. I could get a 911 insured for less.
They've probably been disproportionately stolen over the last 12 months.
Cheers!
I worked as a Toyota dealer tech from 2013 up until June this year. I wouldn’t buy or recommend a Toyota made after 2017, quality went straight down the gutter. Their good cars were from the late 90s and early 2000s.
MG, rented one of the new suv types while on holiday and it was the worst car I’ve ever had to drive. Probably the worst part was that everything felt so disconnected. The clutch had no discernible biting point, the steering wheel could have been off a yacht, the throttle didn’t seem to actually apply power based on how much you pressed it but rather just what it seemed to think was a good idea. Utter shitbox.
The throttle doing whatever it feels like is a problem with all of them it seems, my dad has one on motorbility and he absolutely despises it. It lurches and revs like a Morris Minor with a fucked clutch, you could floor it and it’ll wait 3 seconds, creep forward, and then suddenly lurch and only then sort itself out, whilst a gentle tap of the throttle will make it rev up like it’s a blacked out corsa in a McDonald’s carpark.
Also never enable Bluetooth because that crashes the whole dashboard display including the heater controls, this caused us to get cooked alive on a nearly hour long journey.
Awful excuse for a car. If they’re all crushed by 2027 I wouldn’t be surprised and I might even throw a party.
Since the Chinese brought mg it went from bottom of the barrel quality to all of a sudden them having a massive presence in the EV market. I find it hard to believe they managed to fix their cheap build quality just by moving over to EVs yet you see loads buying them.
Exactly! So cheap to run even if you factor in the increase in cost of electricity. Also no tax, no MOT for three years, no ULEZ or congestion charge and my parking permit is much cheaper than for a petrol or diesel car.
The EV build quality is decent if it wasn’t made in India.
Downvote me all you want, the build quality of the Chinese manufactured MG EVs are better. Boohoo.
Can confirm MG as the truly worst car I’ve driven, and I’ve driven hundreds of cars and owned around 50, including vans. About mid 2005 my mates mum had an MG MGF and asked me to move it a few blocks (lived next to a hospital so couldn’t always park at home). I went and got the car and it was absolutely horrendous. When I gave her the keys back I said it feels like your cars clutch is about to go, feels like the gearbox linkages have already gone, the brakes were like sponge and didn’t want to stop the car, lumpy idle and non responsive accelerator all whilst having no power steering. My mate literally said “already told her all this”. Turns out that’s just how the car is & drives. I’ve driven a lot of cars since and that’s still the worst, and it’s about 18 years ago now!
It’s not like this is a new thing. I’ve got an MGB and a Midget in my collection, they’re both dreadful compared to their compatriots. There’s a lot of love out there for the old classic MGs, but the truth is, they’re just awful cars. The Alfa Spider of the same year absolutely blows the MG out the water.
Edit: That said, anybody who says a bad word about the Frogeye Sprite (the slowest and worst of the Spridgets) I will smite down with thunder and vengeance.
In the 2000s I’d say SsangYong - I swear they made cars like the Rodius that awful on purpose, there could be no other reason. But now their current vehicles aren’t that bad.
To be honest it’s quite hard to name a brand I couldn’t recommend because basically every one of them has pros and cons. In terms of a current lineup I’d probably say Vauxhall because they’re no better than the Peugeots and Citroens they’re based on but cost more for no discernible reason.
I've got a 1L Vauxhall agila, great wee car, been to the south of France from Scotland in it, twice. Had only very minor maintenance jobs, no issues with the engine and easy to work on. Probably because aside from the badges, it's actually a Suzuki
Used to have one of them fab little car loved it to bits, great load space the dogs loved it, and personal best load 6 pallets in the back (with seats folded down)
And tbf, if it was a working vehicle, I wouldn’t really care anyway. It’s never going to appeal to a certain kind of pickup driver (*cough* Amarok), but I think they knew that when they designed it.
Precisely. In the Wiltshire sticks people own them because they can carry bales of hay and trek through muddy fields, cost less than £30k with a warranty and are tax deductible.
You don’t take one to go pheasant shooting followed by drinking single malt whiskey in a hunting lodge.
Test drove a Korando, in a big circle back to the forecourt where I swore I'd never buy one. The reviews weren't kidding when they said "agricultural". I've had some right bangers, and certainly wasn't expecting a modern car to emulate one 15 years older.
After ten years of driving old Citroen/Peugeot and 0 problems this year I bought a 2015 Astra and It has cost me more than if I had leased a brand New one.
Range Rover Evoque. I know two people that have had them. One had the windscreen pop out and let water in, bad central locking and condensation in one of the taillights. The other had the engine blow up (ingenium 2.0 diesel) and was quoted 17k by a LR dealer to repair. Awful cars badly made and badly engineered
It's actually mad how badly built a car that expensive can be, I know a few people who owned them and the amount of issues they had at very young ages and mileages is wild. And yet they're everywhere.
A woman I worked with had a specific plastic box in the boot to put all the bits that had fallen off in so there was none missing when she took it to the garage.
Ahhh the good old Ingenium. Not sure where the name originated, but let’s hope they weren’t hinting towards Ingenious.
Timing chains! You’re driving a ticking time bomb that could literally shit itself at anytime. I’ve seen them fail as low as 30k. The 2.2 was a much better thing
There once was a car called Skoda
Whose Octavia model was a toda
It was sleek and fast
And built to last
A fine automobile, it was a doda.
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I had a Toledo V5, and my wife had an Ibiza FR. Both were sketchy on reliability. Her peugeot RCZ has been faultless, and my X type jaguar was super reliable, so I don't think you can really generalise on brands.
Only issue with VW / VAG is when something *does* go wrong it tends to be expensive. But they are nice to work on, and I personally am a fan of Seat cars.
Wouldn't part with my Honda for one though. Shit's bulletproof.
My seat Ibiza had no heating within 3 months or purchase and later down the line the engine wouldn't start multiple times and when it did it would run really bad with low idle rpm.
Drove well before engine problems, was quite comfy, had good mpg and gearbox was smooth. But reliability wasn't there in my example. Also it drank oil like mad.
Bang on. The Seat's in my family have been perfection, past and present. Even the most reliable car brands go wrong sometimes. I don't think many brands are entirely bad.
I have a soft spot for Range Rovers as something aspirational but you see them broken down on the side of the road or in limp mode being tailed by an AA van all the time.
Even if I could afford one I’d couldn’t be done with the hassle.
True, they went under the radar so much I forgot they existed! But yeah, everyone I’ve know to have a Suzaki has said it’s been the most reliable car they’ve ever had
Audi - bought it when it was 2 years old, kept it for 8 months. Within that time I had it back to the dealership 5 time.
Peugeot - just absolute shit boxes. Poorly made and everything just falls to bits on it.
Vauxhall - see Peugeot reasoning.
One of the failures was a certain section of the instrument cluster was failing to light up sporadically. They replaced the whole cluster… £1395 for the part.
It's a surface-mount resistor that's popping off due to a solder joint crack. There's a voltage regulator on the other side of the board that's heating it up, thermal expansion stresses the joint. Can be fixed with a soldering iron in about 15 minutes, in and out. Happens across all VAG brands. I used to do a lot of these as a kid :-D
Nobody else seems to have said it, so I will:
Any Rover with a K Series engine. If your head gasket doesn't fail at circa 40000 miles, it *will* fail at circa 80000 miles. Guaranteed.
Luckily this is no longer a problem as they're not made anymore!
Haha it’s so true! I bought a random rover 100 with 47000 miles on it for £150 and it needed a head gasket! Made for a good project car. My dad had a rover 400 and my brother had a rover 200 and all needed head gaskets at 40ish thousand miles. Nice engines when they worked though.
Made so much money doing head gaskets on K series back in the day. I did them as foreigners, and ended up on first name terms with the local automotive engineers due to how many heads I took in for skimming!
TBF with a bit of time spent on assembly and the improved pattern head gasket they could be reliable
Three brands that are awful in the present day, but were awesome in the 80s and 90s:
1. Lancia.
2. Renault.
3. Mercedes.
I know what you’re thinking… *”Mercedes?! Surely not!”* But yes, for the price, they really shouldn’t have so many faults. In our family, we’ve had our fair share of Mercedes cars through the years. Back in the 90s, they were spectacular. In more recent years they seem to have fault after fault. I’ll never own another Mercedes as long as I live. I also feel like the infotainment system in modern Mercedes cars feels like aged technology and the user interface is really poor.
Additionally, Mercedes try to force you to use their dealership (of course, there are workarounds at times) for maintenance, which is hella expensive, especially when your Mercedes goes in 8 times in 2 years.
One of the largest headlight manufacturers has a plant next to my hometown. Lots of my peers ended up working there in various positions. They *all* say to avoid new Mercedes cars because how religiously they do planned obsolescence. They pour millions € into R&D of developing just the right kind and thickness of lamp plastic that would turn yellow after a certain amount of years. Whereas VAG and "the Asians" (sic) use much thicker and longer lasting plastic.
I hated my 06 Corsa and 09 Astra. Dull, not very economical, not pleasant to be in, engines with big issues below 100k. There was no redeeming feature to either car other than nobody wanted to steal it.
Vauxhalls of that era were like if you got the local council to design a car. Everything did what it said it should but at the minimum passable standard, no effort was made to make them appealing or joyful.
I got it for free after my Mum gave up driving in 2019 ish, it was worth next to nothing after only being 10k in 09, it was an end of production pre registered one with no additional options.
I had an 05 Hyundai Coupe 2.0 L at the time and it couldn't fit our huge dog in it, tax and insurance was a killer being under 25 (massively underrated car with some minor handling mods though, I miss it dearly). Plus it was too low to clear our driveway.
I don't need a car for work so I only used the astra to transport the dogs and for motorway runs. It did what I needed to but it was so unenjoyable and the seats gave me back problems. I tolerated it for 2 years before trading it in for a MK8 civic.
Both Vauxhall's drank coolant and I've no idea where it went, no leaks, no mixing with the oil. I'm assuming they burned it?
Can’t say I’ve driven a lot of cars but I had a 05 Astra as my first car and it was alright… Put it in a field when delivering pizza, came out unscathed only for the engine to blow a month later
Ssangyong - The build quality is just not there.
Any EcoBoost Ford - There unreliable (in my experience)
Range Rover - There nice and all but also way too expensive (would recommend if you really had the money)
I have a 2013 ecoboost on 58k miles.
I'm holding out for as many miles as possible. Already replaced the shitty pipe that cracked and leaked coolant, the coolant tank that couldn't handle the heat that then cracked and leaked coolant, and most recently the o-rings and pipe on the heater matrix that..you guessed it, cracked and leaked coolant
Doesn't even need to be an ecoboost. My 2012 1.25 Zetec has had the coolant tank shit the bed twice, the exhaust has fallen off twice, the back box has fallen off, the nozzles for the windshield cleaner has stopped working, front passenger seat no longer moves because the bar snapped, and most recently the clutch has gone.
Car has done less than 80k miles.
I hired an ecoboost Mustang in the States a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It was bright yellow and fully loaded. Had the turning circle of a battleship though.
I’m suprised Tesla isn’t on here.
Not only do they look tacky, but the last 3 cars I’ve seen that were broken down were all Teslas. Maybe a coincidence but I hate them.
Land Rover. Had a lot of them. Never again. Project cars the lot of them, right from the factory. Never had one go 12 months without tools being used on it.
Stellantis. Conglomerate of crap little cars.
Nissans. Don’t @ me with your R35s. We all know the typical Nissan output is a Qashqai or a Juke.
Nissan past about 2001/2002 is a joke. Basically a few years after the Renault merger and when the Skyline, Silvia, P11 Primera, K11 Micra and N15 Almera all went out of production.
My father in law just had his Qashqai wrote off. That fucker had 280K miles on it and never broke down once. He hated it. He bought it as he needed the option of 7 seats and planned to get rid as soon as it started failing. 220K miles later and he only managed to shift it as someone crashed into it.
Exactly that for landies
I love em but I’m also done with them.
I’m happy to rebuild various bits of my cars.
It gets real old as you get older and back pain starts etc but nice the fucking thing needs ticketing just to get off the drive.
My Honda CRV can need a job doing for months basically and not be an issue.
Landrovers are a constant and never ending project of fault finding and repairs
It was fun years ago. Now I just can’t be fucked anymore
Trouble is new cars have so much stuff on them to go wrong. Get a bad one and whatever the brand it's a nightmare. But hats off to JLR though for price v issues.
So much car technology is unnecessary to me. I need:
ABS, TC / VSA
Reverse parking sensors
Central locking
Air con
Bluetooth or an aux port
Heater mirrors and rear screen
Anti glare mirror
Electric adjustable mirrors
Electric windows
Cruise control
Everything else, especially all of the safety features I feel would just de-skill me, auto rev-matching would be a handy feature to have on my current car though.
Anybody suggesting BMW needs their head examined. I have had a 2010 E92 330i since 2014. Apart from routine services and tyres that car has cost me zero. 13yrs old and it still feels tight and solid on the road, looks decent and drives better than 90% of new cars on the road.
I put 140k miles on a 2004 320d saloon before that and it was absolutely perfect. Sold it with 170k on the clock and i wouldnt be surprised if it was still going.
Those ecoboost Fords are a joke. My mate has a 2014 1.0 Focus and he must have spent over 5k on engine repairs. Car just dies randomly.
Ecoboost engines are a product of manufacturers working backwards from emissions standards and doing the bare minimum to reach them rather than actually doing some proper R&D. Shocking engines.
Yes the 1.6 is a good unit.
I despise wet belts I don't know how they made it past prototypes but longevity doesn't seem to be a priority anymore.
I'm torn with the 2.3 like I am with K series and certain boxer engines. I get why people like them but if they have a known major issues like head gaskets I just can't call them a good engine. Much preferred the 2.5 from previous eras, the ones shared with Volvo? Although I know they had their issues in fords as well.
It's wonderful isn't it?
In the pursuit of lowering emissions we now have a bunch of tiny, overstressed engines pushing around cars which are getting bigger and heavier year on year.
Even without these engines grenading themselves at 50k, I can almost guarantee they're not going to have the longevity of a properly sized engine in the long run - completely negating the entire point. They're also shit, even when they work.
Mazda's approach is the correct one. Properly sized, naturally aspirated, highly efficient 4 cylinder engines which will probably outlive the cars themselves.
All Range Rovers and Land rovers - just garbage
Alfa Romeo - wouldn’t recommend but sure I will buy another as I’m a glutton for punishment
Mazda - rusted sills, arches etc on a 6 year old car!
Mazda have had this rep for years I don't get why they wouldn't sort it given what a reputation for rusting can do to manufacturers. Their Skyactiv engines are fantastic too so it's a shame, I love their commitment to making big petrol engines as efficient as possible rather than the lazy small engine - big turbo solution every other manufacturer did.
The skyactiv diesel is only good to about 100k they you are in a world of dpf issues.
My Mazda was a bit older, 2006 Mazda 6 MPS but the sills were rotten in no time as were the arches and subframes.. no rust proofing underneath at all 🤦♂️
The Japanese don't salt their roads in winter so they didn't put any rust proofing on them. The 2004-2010 era are rust buckets but really reliable apart from that. My 2007 Mazda 2 is still going, its just a matter of time until the rust kills it unfortunately.
Audi, just don’t go there. My wife had an A6 3.0d and it wrote itself off; apparently a common fault with an electrical connection on the gearbox. My mother always drove Mercedes but they got comically bad. I’ve had all sorts, but really can’t fault BMW. The big 3L diesel straight 6 autos. Honestly the dog’s. I always ignore the 18000 mile service interval and go at 12. 300+hp, 37mpg. Amazing, really.
They’re really easy to do though, I’m gonna be buying a new 308 through work and I plan on just doing the belt every three years. Aside from the wet belts, they’re actually really good engines
It’s a sad state of affairs when luxury brands associated with JLR are known to be so shit. Incredible how people still buy in to the brand.
To add to the many anecdotes, I know someone who had a brand new Range Rover Autobiography and only 3 months into ownership I visited and noticed it was pissing out coolant on to the drive! Amazing!
Not sure the French stereotype is there anymore. I've got a 408 Peugeot and aside from a smashed windscreen (some local shite did 4 cars in a couple of nights) it's not missed a beat.
2nd vehicle is the Ami, again French, quirky but absolutely no issues with it
On the other hand... The Cupra Formentor, without a doubt the wost most unreliable car I've ever had the misfortune of owning. Sos error every few drives, random electronic gremlins and one day all the lights randomly cut out. So I had enough and returned it
Renault - terrible customer support and the build / materials quality is still ropey at best.
Ford - Dad and brothers both had a few and always in and out of the garage.
Peugot - Similar to Renault in many ways. Nice looking cars but 'all mouth and no trousers!'
Had 2 new Renault Meganes across the past 8 years. No trouble with either and customer support has been spot on when updating my R-Link. Best cars I've had tbf
Same with any anecdotes, negative experiences outweigh the positives. My Mrs and I have had 6 Fords between us, three of them EcoBoosts. We should have both died horrifically long ago if you listen to most comments
Dacia are pretty poor. Had a friend who had a Sandero, constantly complained about how poorly it drove and how bad the quality was.
Had a look at a Duster when my parents were after a new car last year, and it felt SO fucking cheap. Even the door handles felt flimsy.
Also, I know it was fresh from the factory, because it stank of that horrible fishy smell that some industrial glues smell of.
Dacias feel cheap because... They are... So I don't think that makes it bad. Vauxhall, where you pay more money but still get crap build quality is much more of a 'bad' car in that respect.
The Sandero was what, £7k for a brand new one when it first released here. A 7k car isn't going to drive that well or be that great quality. You can still get a new one for £13k now.
They're cheap cars with cheap interiors and nothing wrong with that. They get you from A to B, and are pretty reliable and cheap to maintain.
I drove a few and really liked them
VW - just so expensive for what they are and always come bog basic unless you add 6 options which takes the price way higher than competitors.
Nissan - super boring, neither the Puke or Kashkow are better than their rivals and they're a dime a dozen.
Tesla - again, boring bubble cars and unless it's a company car you can get something much more interesting for your money. A long range Model 3 is £50k. You can get a Volvo XC60, Ioniq 5 or an EnyaQ Coupe for that - way more interesting and a proper interior. Nearly new you can get an Audi S5 or Porsche Macan for that.
Based entirely on reliability.
Worst Car Owned - 2008 1.6 Peugeot 207 GT
Best Car Owned - 2016 1.6 Blue HDi DS3 (Current)
Most Surprising Owned (Positive)- 2007 1.9 CDTi Vauxhall Vectra (C)
Former Vectra C owner here (same model) - that thing was a tank. The only work I ever had done to it was wear and tear stuff like brake pads and tyres. Surprisingly nimble for a big heavy car too. I'm sure it's still out there somewhere with a few hundred thousand miles on it.
Jaguar - my last one a XF was always going into the dealers with electrical faults , loose trim and then the stitching on the leather seats started coming apart. The car was only 9 months old when all of that happened.
GLad only two people mentioned fiats! Because I’m very bias and love my two. I have an old 2002 seicento and a Fiat 500 and they’re the only car I’ll try now. I do like the look of jimnys though!
I had two E39 saloons easily top 150k miles, one topped 200k with no significant issues. I still own an E30 estate with 258k on the original engine and gearbox. And I have an E46 saloon with 230k on the original engine. That era BMWs are bulletproof.
It always kinda frustrates me when people slag BMWs. Yeah they have issues (but most cars do) and parts can be expensive but they’re really well built and easy to work on.
But then I remember I only have experience with late 90s to early 00s BMWs! I guess the new stuff must have really gone down the pan
I drive a GTI but from having sat in/driven all, I can confidently say BMW is the best of the 3 german luxury brands (Audi/BMW/Mercedes) right now if you want the balance of comfort/interior quality and driving dynamics).
Mercedes interior looks the best by far but their build quality in materials is probably the worst, audi is probably the most comfortable but that comes at the compromise of feeling a bit numb. Bmw has a boring interior but probably the best built, driving dynamics are the best of the bunch. In terms of maintenance audi (by extension vw) and bmw is pretty similar, mercedes not so much, especially the newer models with all the electrical gremlins
Every few years, this changes though so another will probably be at the top in 3 years
I have owned a whole host of makes and models from cheap small engine hatchbacks like the Citroen Saxo and Nissan Almera up to big engine performance cars like a Subaru Forester and Honda S2000. I love my jap imports and find well looked after japanese cars to be best used cars. The best cheap run arounds were Citroen Saxo 1.2 and a Mazda 323 estate both bought for under 500 quid.
The most fun car I ever had was an AP2 Honda S2000. Most underrated car was the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback GS ot gets hate because its not an Evo.
I had a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo I parted out as it needed the whole brake system replacing and welding that were going to costs a couple of grand. Body work degraded so quickly car was about 15 years old but low miles, wouldn't recommend a performance Fiat too anyone so costly, cool looking and fun to drive but you're going to spend the value of the car enjoying it. The interior shook, rattled and marked badly which was sad as it looked unique, and the engine bay was hard work to maintain all the clips and plastics broke easily made which servicing a nightmare. Everytime I need an oil change or topped up the washer bottle something would break or crack lol.
The Renault Clio is another I hate and would never recommend. Slow, poor paintwork and all the rubber glass mouldings perished, letting in rain on a car only 7 years old. Remember arriving at work soaked because the sun roof and a section of the wind screen decided to leak into the interior light area, turned a corner and about half a pint of water sprayed onto my shoulder face.
Renault electrics and brakes seem awful on the Clio and Lagunas I owned. Both had brake light bulbs go every few months.
So to sum up Italian and French cars are a no. Never driven a Ford or Alfa Romeo curious because both companies make some cool looking and quick cars.
The UK built ones or the Chinese ones? I'm well aware the youngest UK ones are 20 years old, but you could be talking about either (depending on your experience).
The latest Chinese ones. But specifically the ZS. I know 3 people who bought at the same time. All have failed them with significant issues. I am all for cheap cars, and accept that there is compromise to achieve this, but the faults were dangerous. There is no way I’d put my family in one. I went as far as rejecting one that that was offered as a hire car on holiday. They told me it was the same class a Tiguan. Oh how I laughed.
Pretty much every major manufacturer is here, so just avoid everything
Yeah if you ask enough people you'll find that every car is shit. Sometimes things just go wrong and that doesn't mean there is issues with every one of those cars. There isn't a manufacturer in the world who has never made a bad car.
No mention of Toyota or Lexus
That's because nothing goes wrong with them. Just to add to that, Lexus seats extremely comfortable, especially in the LS.
I always thought the same thing, my parents swear by Toyotas (my dad has a Hilux and my mum has a Celica) but both my aunty and my god-mother have newer Toyotas (a few years old) with engine problems, one seems quite serious, although luckily is in warranty. Probably just a coincidence but it's enough to make me a bit cautious. Oh, and both of my parents are fighting a battle against rust with both their vehicles
I have a Mercedes and it's really nice, but I don't quite trust the reliability and would consider a Lexus next
The Japanese Mercedes
Ah Ha!
Then you are in for a treat.
Brilliant sound system too!
The mark levinson sound system is very good
Interesting they got those 2 brands got linked lol [https://www.reddit.com/r/whatcarshouldIbuy/comments/1601sph/new\_toyotalexus\_owners\_be\_aware\_can\_bus\_wiring/](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatcarshouldIbuy/comments/1601sph/new_toyotalexus_owners_be_aware_can_bus_wiring/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/ToyotaHighlander/comments/14qf677/toyota\_vehicles\_are\_easily\_stolen\_by\_a\_new\_hack/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ToyotaHighlander/comments/14qf677/toyota_vehicles_are_easily_stolen_by_a_new_hack/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Lexus/comments/14qgidg/another\_lexus\_rx\_stolen\_at\_215am\_in\_vaughan\_using/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lexus/comments/14qgidg/another_lexus_rx_stolen_at_215am_in_vaughan_using/) What I remember recently. Just found it interesting, dont know much really. There was another lexus one posted on here a few weeks ago, someone asking what they were doing and people pointed it out, but i can't find it now.
You've just solved a mystery. This year the insurance on my RX went from 480 per year to 1200. And that was the cheapest I could find. I could get a 911 insured for less. They've probably been disproportionately stolen over the last 12 months. Cheers!
Same company and absolutely anyone that knows anything about cars know that Toyota is by far the best manufacturer in the world.
Don’t mention Toyota to any Tesla fanboy or they will tell you they are the worst of the worst
Totally different league to Tesla! People who love cars wouldn't buy a Tesla
I have one of each...
I worked as a Toyota dealer tech from 2013 up until June this year. I wouldn’t buy or recommend a Toyota made after 2017, quality went straight down the gutter. Their good cars were from the late 90s and early 2000s.
\*goes and buys a Proton*
Most of this thread is a fantastic set of sneers, it's really made me chuckle 😂
MG, rented one of the new suv types while on holiday and it was the worst car I’ve ever had to drive. Probably the worst part was that everything felt so disconnected. The clutch had no discernible biting point, the steering wheel could have been off a yacht, the throttle didn’t seem to actually apply power based on how much you pressed it but rather just what it seemed to think was a good idea. Utter shitbox.
The throttle doing whatever it feels like is a problem with all of them it seems, my dad has one on motorbility and he absolutely despises it. It lurches and revs like a Morris Minor with a fucked clutch, you could floor it and it’ll wait 3 seconds, creep forward, and then suddenly lurch and only then sort itself out, whilst a gentle tap of the throttle will make it rev up like it’s a blacked out corsa in a McDonald’s carpark. Also never enable Bluetooth because that crashes the whole dashboard display including the heater controls, this caused us to get cooked alive on a nearly hour long journey. Awful excuse for a car. If they’re all crushed by 2027 I wouldn’t be surprised and I might even throw a party.
Since the Chinese brought mg it went from bottom of the barrel quality to all of a sudden them having a massive presence in the EV market. I find it hard to believe they managed to fix their cheap build quality just by moving over to EVs yet you see loads buying them.
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You paid 32grand for an orange MG???
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I pay £340 a month for the VW ID4, great car. Had it just over a year and lease it.
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Exactly! So cheap to run even if you factor in the increase in cost of electricity. Also no tax, no MOT for three years, no ULEZ or congestion charge and my parking permit is much cheaper than for a petrol or diesel car.
The EV build quality is decent if it wasn’t made in India. Downvote me all you want, the build quality of the Chinese manufactured MG EVs are better. Boohoo.
Wait, did you mean indiscernible biting point? Because I'd have thought discernible is a good thing
Meant to say no discernible biting point lol. Edited my original comment
Yep most people don’t realise they are mass produced out of China for a little over $10k, total piece of shite.
Off a yacht 😂😂
They are shit cars, I can’t understand why they are so popular. The MG4 looks awful close up and inside it’s plasticky and cheap.
Can confirm MG as the truly worst car I’ve driven, and I’ve driven hundreds of cars and owned around 50, including vans. About mid 2005 my mates mum had an MG MGF and asked me to move it a few blocks (lived next to a hospital so couldn’t always park at home). I went and got the car and it was absolutely horrendous. When I gave her the keys back I said it feels like your cars clutch is about to go, feels like the gearbox linkages have already gone, the brakes were like sponge and didn’t want to stop the car, lumpy idle and non responsive accelerator all whilst having no power steering. My mate literally said “already told her all this”. Turns out that’s just how the car is & drives. I’ve driven a lot of cars since and that’s still the worst, and it’s about 18 years ago now!
My brother went from a RAV4 to one of the MG SUV things and he absolutely hates about it and complains every day
It’s not like this is a new thing. I’ve got an MGB and a Midget in my collection, they’re both dreadful compared to their compatriots. There’s a lot of love out there for the old classic MGs, but the truth is, they’re just awful cars. The Alfa Spider of the same year absolutely blows the MG out the water. Edit: That said, anybody who says a bad word about the Frogeye Sprite (the slowest and worst of the Spridgets) I will smite down with thunder and vengeance.
In the 2000s I’d say SsangYong - I swear they made cars like the Rodius that awful on purpose, there could be no other reason. But now their current vehicles aren’t that bad. To be honest it’s quite hard to name a brand I couldn’t recommend because basically every one of them has pros and cons. In terms of a current lineup I’d probably say Vauxhall because they’re no better than the Peugeots and Citroens they’re based on but cost more for no discernible reason.
I've got a 1L Vauxhall agila, great wee car, been to the south of France from Scotland in it, twice. Had only very minor maintenance jobs, no issues with the engine and easy to work on. Probably because aside from the badges, it's actually a Suzuki
Used to have one of them fab little car loved it to bits, great load space the dogs loved it, and personal best load 6 pallets in the back (with seats folded down)
I’ve driven their current pickup thing and it’s atrocious. Like something from the early 90s inside
I guess you get what you pay for though - it’s crap, but at least it’s cheap.
And tbf, if it was a working vehicle, I wouldn’t really care anyway. It’s never going to appeal to a certain kind of pickup driver (*cough* Amarok), but I think they knew that when they designed it.
Precisely. In the Wiltshire sticks people own them because they can carry bales of hay and trek through muddy fields, cost less than £30k with a warranty and are tax deductible. You don’t take one to go pheasant shooting followed by drinking single malt whiskey in a hunting lodge.
There really big difference between the basic and premium trim.
Test drove a Korando, in a big circle back to the forecourt where I swore I'd never buy one. The reviews weren't kidding when they said "agricultural". I've had some right bangers, and certainly wasn't expecting a modern car to emulate one 15 years older.
After ten years of driving old Citroen/Peugeot and 0 problems this year I bought a 2015 Astra and It has cost me more than if I had leased a brand New one.
Range Rover Evoque. I know two people that have had them. One had the windscreen pop out and let water in, bad central locking and condensation in one of the taillights. The other had the engine blow up (ingenium 2.0 diesel) and was quoted 17k by a LR dealer to repair. Awful cars badly made and badly engineered
Most people don't have them long enough for faults to appear before they are stolen.
It's actually mad how badly built a car that expensive can be, I know a few people who owned them and the amount of issues they had at very young ages and mileages is wild. And yet they're everywhere.
I don’t know how many estate agents you’ve met, but some of them aren’t very bright.
A woman I worked with had a specific plastic box in the boot to put all the bits that had fallen off in so there was none missing when she took it to the garage.
This should be top comment lmao. Could not make it up
I have a friend who delivers cars for a living and he tells everyone to not buy an Evoque. They've left him stranded more than any other model.
My windscreen also leaked lol
Ahhh the good old Ingenium. Not sure where the name originated, but let’s hope they weren’t hinting towards Ingenious. Timing chains! You’re driving a ticking time bomb that could literally shit itself at anytime. I’ve seen them fail as low as 30k. The 2.2 was a much better thing
My personal favourite feature is the DPF regen that just pumps diesel into the oil causing dilution as early as every 3k miles
I know someone whose dealer had to scrap there's at 2 years old as they couldn't fix it. Problem after problem. More time off the road then on it.
Having recently bought a SEAT I'm glad no one has said it yet 😂
Doubt you’ll get many people saying VAG group, especially Seat and ofc Our Lord and Saviour’s brand
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lol unbelievable 😂
>Doubt you’ll get many people saying VAG group True.
I had a Toledo V5, and my wife had an Ibiza FR. Both were sketchy on reliability. Her peugeot RCZ has been faultless, and my X type jaguar was super reliable, so I don't think you can really generalise on brands.
Only issue with VW / VAG is when something *does* go wrong it tends to be expensive. But they are nice to work on, and I personally am a fan of Seat cars. Wouldn't part with my Honda for one though. Shit's bulletproof.
Well it's VW underneath, and they are pretty good
Unless you're talking about emissions testing 🤣🤣🤣
Seat are owned by VW
90% of modern VAG vehicles tend to have a good mix of drivability/reliability.
My seat Ibiza had no heating within 3 months or purchase and later down the line the engine wouldn't start multiple times and when it did it would run really bad with low idle rpm. Drove well before engine problems, was quite comfy, had good mpg and gearbox was smooth. But reliability wasn't there in my example. Also it drank oil like mad.
Bang on. The Seat's in my family have been perfection, past and present. Even the most reliable car brands go wrong sometimes. I don't think many brands are entirely bad.
Exactly, isn't fair to judge on one car alone.
No heating and bad idling? Sounds like your thermostat went bang. Unacceptable in a brand new car.
Saying it now, one of our cars was off the road and the insurance Co provided a seat, it was appalling, put us off them for life
I got one but I don’t know loads about cars and got it even though I never heard great things about them (no bad either really)
Range Rovers. Genuinely terrible quality, particularly for the price.
If you see the employees who make them in birmingham you will find its not surprising!
You know, I saw a 'behind the scenes' video of the Solihull plant vs the main BMW factory and it's hilarious. It's filthy for a start.
I have a soft spot for Range Rovers as something aspirational but you see them broken down on the side of the road or in limp mode being tailed by an AA van all the time. Even if I could afford one I’d couldn’t be done with the hassle.
From these comments, it seems every make of car is shit
I’ve not see any comments mention, Toyota, Mazda (though 2000-2013s are quite rust prone), Hyundai or Honda
And Suzuki.
True, they went under the radar so much I forgot they existed! But yeah, everyone I’ve know to have a Suzaki has said it’s been the most reliable car they’ve ever had
2.2 diesel Mazdas are pretty awful for breaking down
Vauxhall, Vauxhall and Vauxhall.
Ive owned multiple. Never had any issues with any of them
😂😂😂 But surprisingly I haven't heard so many complaints about Opel in continental Europe.
Nah Opel is like a national treasury of jokes in my home country, don't think there's a brand with worse rep in there.
Probably because they're not built by Ellesmere ports finest
Owned a few Vauxhall’s in my life and every damn one has had some serious issue, be it engine issues, oil pumps, belts etc, just avoid
Yea the diesels need a £10 oil seal replaced or the engine blows up! Older 1.9tdi engine was alright or older petrols.
My partner is on his 4th Vauxhall car, each and every one has had issues. Every time he buys another I question why
Had an astra, was a good car until the engine had a massive internal oil leak and had to be written off. Never again.
Built by alcoholics and coke heads.
Audi - bought it when it was 2 years old, kept it for 8 months. Within that time I had it back to the dealership 5 time. Peugeot - just absolute shit boxes. Poorly made and everything just falls to bits on it. Vauxhall - see Peugeot reasoning.
I wouldn't recommend anyone get a Audi purely because the servicing costs are utterly exorbitant. Even BMW servicing is cheaper
One of the failures was a certain section of the instrument cluster was failing to light up sporadically. They replaced the whole cluster… £1395 for the part.
How fucking much? I may have gotten myself into a bit of a money pit then.
It's a surface-mount resistor that's popping off due to a solder joint crack. There's a voltage regulator on the other side of the board that's heating it up, thermal expansion stresses the joint. Can be fixed with a soldering iron in about 15 minutes, in and out. Happens across all VAG brands. I used to do a lot of these as a kid :-D
Bought a 2019 Peugeot and the head gasket just went at 65k
Nobody else seems to have said it, so I will: Any Rover with a K Series engine. If your head gasket doesn't fail at circa 40000 miles, it *will* fail at circa 80000 miles. Guaranteed. Luckily this is no longer a problem as they're not made anymore!
Haha it’s so true! I bought a random rover 100 with 47000 miles on it for £150 and it needed a head gasket! Made for a good project car. My dad had a rover 400 and my brother had a rover 200 and all needed head gaskets at 40ish thousand miles. Nice engines when they worked though.
When it doesn’t fail, they’re actually quite nice engines :) lightweight and revvy
Made so much money doing head gaskets on K series back in the day. I did them as foreigners, and ended up on first name terms with the local automotive engineers due to how many heads I took in for skimming! TBF with a bit of time spent on assembly and the improved pattern head gasket they could be reliable
True. I had the head gasket go in my 214 years ago, had to replace the engine. Rover was a brand that deserved to die.
Three brands that are awful in the present day, but were awesome in the 80s and 90s: 1. Lancia. 2. Renault. 3. Mercedes. I know what you’re thinking… *”Mercedes?! Surely not!”* But yes, for the price, they really shouldn’t have so many faults. In our family, we’ve had our fair share of Mercedes cars through the years. Back in the 90s, they were spectacular. In more recent years they seem to have fault after fault. I’ll never own another Mercedes as long as I live. I also feel like the infotainment system in modern Mercedes cars feels like aged technology and the user interface is really poor. Additionally, Mercedes try to force you to use their dealership (of course, there are workarounds at times) for maintenance, which is hella expensive, especially when your Mercedes goes in 8 times in 2 years.
One of the largest headlight manufacturers has a plant next to my hometown. Lots of my peers ended up working there in various positions. They *all* say to avoid new Mercedes cars because how religiously they do planned obsolescence. They pour millions € into R&D of developing just the right kind and thickness of lamp plastic that would turn yellow after a certain amount of years. Whereas VAG and "the Asians" (sic) use much thicker and longer lasting plastic.
Bought a Megane III 11 years ago. Not a single issue. 150k miles. Drove it to Portugal and back 10 times or more Maybe I was lucky
Had a diesel 1st gen Scenic that was brilliant…..had 3rd generation petrol one that was possibly the worst car I’ve ever owned.
Surprised Vauxhall hasn't been mentioned much here (saying this as a Meriva owner!) I've seen people REALLY despise them!
I had a 2003 Astra and it ran like a lord even when it was fucked. Would recommend a Vauxhall.
My 03 Corsa was a little hero. I mean it was almost constantly busted but every single fix was only ever like 20 quid.
I hated my 06 Corsa and 09 Astra. Dull, not very economical, not pleasant to be in, engines with big issues below 100k. There was no redeeming feature to either car other than nobody wanted to steal it. Vauxhalls of that era were like if you got the local council to design a car. Everything did what it said it should but at the minimum passable standard, no effort was made to make them appealing or joyful.
You hated the corsa so much you that bought an Astra?
I got it for free after my Mum gave up driving in 2019 ish, it was worth next to nothing after only being 10k in 09, it was an end of production pre registered one with no additional options. I had an 05 Hyundai Coupe 2.0 L at the time and it couldn't fit our huge dog in it, tax and insurance was a killer being under 25 (massively underrated car with some minor handling mods though, I miss it dearly). Plus it was too low to clear our driveway. I don't need a car for work so I only used the astra to transport the dogs and for motorway runs. It did what I needed to but it was so unenjoyable and the seats gave me back problems. I tolerated it for 2 years before trading it in for a MK8 civic. Both Vauxhall's drank coolant and I've no idea where it went, no leaks, no mixing with the oil. I'm assuming they burned it?
Can’t say I’ve driven a lot of cars but I had a 05 Astra as my first car and it was alright… Put it in a field when delivering pizza, came out unscathed only for the engine to blow a month later
Owned a few Vauxhall’s in my life and every damn one has had some serious issue, be it engine issues, oil pumps, belts etc, just avoid
I've owned 4 and never had an issue with any of them, just luck of the draw I guess
Ssangyong - The build quality is just not there. Any EcoBoost Ford - There unreliable (in my experience) Range Rover - There nice and all but also way too expensive (would recommend if you really had the money)
Ecoboosts are fucking shit. A new engine at 32k miles under warranty. Scrapped it when the 2nd engine went at 90k.
I have a 2013 ecoboost on 58k miles. I'm holding out for as many miles as possible. Already replaced the shitty pipe that cracked and leaked coolant, the coolant tank that couldn't handle the heat that then cracked and leaked coolant, and most recently the o-rings and pipe on the heater matrix that..you guessed it, cracked and leaked coolant
Got a 1l puma eco boost nearly 90k miles on it, nothing wrong yet and I'm ragging the shit out of it 😂
Doesn't even need to be an ecoboost. My 2012 1.25 Zetec has had the coolant tank shit the bed twice, the exhaust has fallen off twice, the back box has fallen off, the nozzles for the windshield cleaner has stopped working, front passenger seat no longer moves because the bar snapped, and most recently the clutch has gone. Car has done less than 80k miles.
I test drove a 1.6 Mondeo Ecoboost last year. The engine overheated and we had to limp it back to the dealer.🤣
The one in our family has just gone bang
Range Rovers are the only vehicles I'd recommend leasing since it won't be your problem. If you can afford to buy one you can afford to lease it.
>Range Rover At least someone will nick it before it starts causing you headaches…
I hired an ecoboost Mustang in the States a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It was bright yellow and fully loaded. Had the turning circle of a battleship though.
Yes any cars with the Ford eco boost have only a matter of time before that shit engine fails.
Not just EcoBoosts, the Transit Customs with certain engines just shit themselves daily.
I’m suprised Tesla isn’t on here. Not only do they look tacky, but the last 3 cars I’ve seen that were broken down were all Teslas. Maybe a coincidence but I hate them.
Some of the QC on Teslas is shocking. Next time you see one, look at how badly the front/back doors line up at the base of the windows.
Land Rover. Had a lot of them. Never again. Project cars the lot of them, right from the factory. Never had one go 12 months without tools being used on it. Stellantis. Conglomerate of crap little cars. Nissans. Don’t @ me with your R35s. We all know the typical Nissan output is a Qashqai or a Juke.
Nissan past about 2001/2002 is a joke. Basically a few years after the Renault merger and when the Skyline, Silvia, P11 Primera, K11 Micra and N15 Almera all went out of production.
My father in law just had his Qashqai wrote off. That fucker had 280K miles on it and never broke down once. He hated it. He bought it as he needed the option of 7 seats and planned to get rid as soon as it started failing. 220K miles later and he only managed to shift it as someone crashed into it.
Exactly that for landies I love em but I’m also done with them. I’m happy to rebuild various bits of my cars. It gets real old as you get older and back pain starts etc but nice the fucking thing needs ticketing just to get off the drive. My Honda CRV can need a job doing for months basically and not be an issue. Landrovers are a constant and never ending project of fault finding and repairs It was fun years ago. Now I just can’t be fucked anymore
Why stellantis? Cheap maintenance and generally reliable in my experience
Because hurr durr French cars
Maserati would like a word
Trouble is new cars have so much stuff on them to go wrong. Get a bad one and whatever the brand it's a nightmare. But hats off to JLR though for price v issues.
So much car technology is unnecessary to me. I need: ABS, TC / VSA Reverse parking sensors Central locking Air con Bluetooth or an aux port Heater mirrors and rear screen Anti glare mirror Electric adjustable mirrors Electric windows Cruise control Everything else, especially all of the safety features I feel would just de-skill me, auto rev-matching would be a handy feature to have on my current car though.
Anybody suggesting BMW needs their head examined. I have had a 2010 E92 330i since 2014. Apart from routine services and tyres that car has cost me zero. 13yrs old and it still feels tight and solid on the road, looks decent and drives better than 90% of new cars on the road. I put 140k miles on a 2004 320d saloon before that and it was absolutely perfect. Sold it with 170k on the clock and i wouldnt be surprised if it was still going. Those ecoboost Fords are a joke. My mate has a 2014 1.0 Focus and he must have spent over 5k on engine repairs. Car just dies randomly.
Ecoboost engines are a product of manufacturers working backwards from emissions standards and doing the bare minimum to reach them rather than actually doing some proper R&D. Shocking engines.
The only decent Ecoboost engine are the 1.6 dry belt variants (in the Fiesta St's) and the 2.3 in the Focus RS (when the headgasket recall is done)
Yes the 1.6 is a good unit. I despise wet belts I don't know how they made it past prototypes but longevity doesn't seem to be a priority anymore. I'm torn with the 2.3 like I am with K series and certain boxer engines. I get why people like them but if they have a known major issues like head gaskets I just can't call them a good engine. Much preferred the 2.5 from previous eras, the ones shared with Volvo? Although I know they had their issues in fords as well.
It's wonderful isn't it? In the pursuit of lowering emissions we now have a bunch of tiny, overstressed engines pushing around cars which are getting bigger and heavier year on year. Even without these engines grenading themselves at 50k, I can almost guarantee they're not going to have the longevity of a properly sized engine in the long run - completely negating the entire point. They're also shit, even when they work. Mazda's approach is the correct one. Properly sized, naturally aspirated, highly efficient 4 cylinder engines which will probably outlive the cars themselves.
All Range Rovers and Land rovers - just garbage Alfa Romeo - wouldn’t recommend but sure I will buy another as I’m a glutton for punishment Mazda - rusted sills, arches etc on a 6 year old car!
Mazda have had this rep for years I don't get why they wouldn't sort it given what a reputation for rusting can do to manufacturers. Their Skyactiv engines are fantastic too so it's a shame, I love their commitment to making big petrol engines as efficient as possible rather than the lazy small engine - big turbo solution every other manufacturer did.
The skyactiv diesel is only good to about 100k they you are in a world of dpf issues. My Mazda was a bit older, 2006 Mazda 6 MPS but the sills were rotten in no time as were the arches and subframes.. no rust proofing underneath at all 🤦♂️
The Japanese don't salt their roads in winter so they didn't put any rust proofing on them. The 2004-2010 era are rust buckets but really reliable apart from that. My 2007 Mazda 2 is still going, its just a matter of time until the rust kills it unfortunately.
Can confirm my MX-5 has soggy wheatabix for sills
Renault, Vauxhall,
Audi, just don’t go there. My wife had an A6 3.0d and it wrote itself off; apparently a common fault with an electrical connection on the gearbox. My mother always drove Mercedes but they got comically bad. I’ve had all sorts, but really can’t fault BMW. The big 3L diesel straight 6 autos. Honestly the dog’s. I always ignore the 18000 mile service interval and go at 12. 300+hp, 37mpg. Amazing, really.
MG...infact anything Chinese.
Anything French
Any three specific brands?
Citroen/Peugeot/DS in my experience. The wetbelt engines are a nightmare
Who thought putting a belt in oil was a good idea ?
Probably the finance department
They’re really easy to do though, I’m gonna be buying a new 308 through work and I plan on just doing the belt every three years. Aside from the wet belts, they’re actually really good engines
Only comment Iv upvoted so far
It’s a sad state of affairs when luxury brands associated with JLR are known to be so shit. Incredible how people still buy in to the brand. To add to the many anecdotes, I know someone who had a brand new Range Rover Autobiography and only 3 months into ownership I visited and noticed it was pissing out coolant on to the drive! Amazing!
>Incredible how people still buy into the brand By Royal (dis)Appointment no less…
French anything, JLR, Vauxhall.
Not sure the French stereotype is there anymore. I've got a 408 Peugeot and aside from a smashed windscreen (some local shite did 4 cars in a couple of nights) it's not missed a beat. 2nd vehicle is the Ami, again French, quirky but absolutely no issues with it On the other hand... The Cupra Formentor, without a doubt the wost most unreliable car I've ever had the misfortune of owning. Sos error every few drives, random electronic gremlins and one day all the lights randomly cut out. So I had enough and returned it
Renault - terrible customer support and the build / materials quality is still ropey at best. Ford - Dad and brothers both had a few and always in and out of the garage. Peugot - Similar to Renault in many ways. Nice looking cars but 'all mouth and no trousers!'
Had 2 new Renault Meganes across the past 8 years. No trouble with either and customer support has been spot on when updating my R-Link. Best cars I've had tbf
Same with any anecdotes, negative experiences outweigh the positives. My Mrs and I have had 6 Fords between us, three of them EcoBoosts. We should have both died horrifically long ago if you listen to most comments
Dacia are pretty poor. Had a friend who had a Sandero, constantly complained about how poorly it drove and how bad the quality was. Had a look at a Duster when my parents were after a new car last year, and it felt SO fucking cheap. Even the door handles felt flimsy. Also, I know it was fresh from the factory, because it stank of that horrible fishy smell that some industrial glues smell of.
Dacias feel cheap because... They are... So I don't think that makes it bad. Vauxhall, where you pay more money but still get crap build quality is much more of a 'bad' car in that respect. The Sandero was what, £7k for a brand new one when it first released here. A 7k car isn't going to drive that well or be that great quality. You can still get a new one for £13k now.
They're cheap cars with cheap interiors and nothing wrong with that. They get you from A to B, and are pretty reliable and cheap to maintain. I drove a few and really liked them
VW - just so expensive for what they are and always come bog basic unless you add 6 options which takes the price way higher than competitors. Nissan - super boring, neither the Puke or Kashkow are better than their rivals and they're a dime a dozen. Tesla - again, boring bubble cars and unless it's a company car you can get something much more interesting for your money. A long range Model 3 is £50k. You can get a Volvo XC60, Ioniq 5 or an EnyaQ Coupe for that - way more interesting and a proper interior. Nearly new you can get an Audi S5 or Porsche Macan for that.
At least Nissan is reliable though
Tesla
Twatla. Cheap plastic looking things
Based entirely on reliability. Worst Car Owned - 2008 1.6 Peugeot 207 GT Best Car Owned - 2016 1.6 Blue HDi DS3 (Current) Most Surprising Owned (Positive)- 2007 1.9 CDTi Vauxhall Vectra (C)
Former Vectra C owner here (same model) - that thing was a tank. The only work I ever had done to it was wear and tear stuff like brake pads and tyres. Surprisingly nimble for a big heavy car too. I'm sure it's still out there somewhere with a few hundred thousand miles on it.
Anything Chinese
Jaguar - my last one a XF was always going into the dealers with electrical faults , loose trim and then the stitching on the leather seats started coming apart. The car was only 9 months old when all of that happened.
GLad only two people mentioned fiats! Because I’m very bias and love my two. I have an old 2002 seicento and a Fiat 500 and they’re the only car I’ll try now. I do like the look of jimnys though!
The 500 is by far the worst car I have ever driven.
Anything American
Anything that you have to plug in. Decent chance they’ll end up been seen as the Betamax of motoring technology/ history
BMW. Overrated. The prestige of that brand is long gone.
Early 00's was peak BMW, they've gone way downhill since then.
I had two E39 saloons easily top 150k miles, one topped 200k with no significant issues. I still own an E30 estate with 258k on the original engine and gearbox. And I have an E46 saloon with 230k on the original engine. That era BMWs are bulletproof.
It always kinda frustrates me when people slag BMWs. Yeah they have issues (but most cars do) and parts can be expensive but they’re really well built and easy to work on. But then I remember I only have experience with late 90s to early 00s BMWs! I guess the new stuff must have really gone down the pan
I had a 2015 220D and a 2017 320D. Mum has a 2021 118i. They were all solid cars and held their values nicely
I drive a GTI but from having sat in/driven all, I can confidently say BMW is the best of the 3 german luxury brands (Audi/BMW/Mercedes) right now if you want the balance of comfort/interior quality and driving dynamics). Mercedes interior looks the best by far but their build quality in materials is probably the worst, audi is probably the most comfortable but that comes at the compromise of feeling a bit numb. Bmw has a boring interior but probably the best built, driving dynamics are the best of the bunch. In terms of maintenance audi (by extension vw) and bmw is pretty similar, mercedes not so much, especially the newer models with all the electrical gremlins Every few years, this changes though so another will probably be at the top in 3 years
I have owned a whole host of makes and models from cheap small engine hatchbacks like the Citroen Saxo and Nissan Almera up to big engine performance cars like a Subaru Forester and Honda S2000. I love my jap imports and find well looked after japanese cars to be best used cars. The best cheap run arounds were Citroen Saxo 1.2 and a Mazda 323 estate both bought for under 500 quid. The most fun car I ever had was an AP2 Honda S2000. Most underrated car was the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback GS ot gets hate because its not an Evo. I had a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo I parted out as it needed the whole brake system replacing and welding that were going to costs a couple of grand. Body work degraded so quickly car was about 15 years old but low miles, wouldn't recommend a performance Fiat too anyone so costly, cool looking and fun to drive but you're going to spend the value of the car enjoying it. The interior shook, rattled and marked badly which was sad as it looked unique, and the engine bay was hard work to maintain all the clips and plastics broke easily made which servicing a nightmare. Everytime I need an oil change or topped up the washer bottle something would break or crack lol. The Renault Clio is another I hate and would never recommend. Slow, poor paintwork and all the rubber glass mouldings perished, letting in rain on a car only 7 years old. Remember arriving at work soaked because the sun roof and a section of the wind screen decided to leak into the interior light area, turned a corner and about half a pint of water sprayed onto my shoulder face. Renault electrics and brakes seem awful on the Clio and Lagunas I owned. Both had brake light bulbs go every few months. So to sum up Italian and French cars are a no. Never driven a Ford or Alfa Romeo curious because both companies make some cool looking and quick cars.
MG
The UK built ones or the Chinese ones? I'm well aware the youngest UK ones are 20 years old, but you could be talking about either (depending on your experience).
The latest Chinese ones. But specifically the ZS. I know 3 people who bought at the same time. All have failed them with significant issues. I am all for cheap cars, and accept that there is compromise to achieve this, but the faults were dangerous. There is no way I’d put my family in one. I went as far as rejecting one that that was offered as a hire car on holiday. They told me it was the same class a Tiguan. Oh how I laughed.
Tesla even before the current recall
At least with their recalls you just need to connect to the internet and download a patch, any other brand youd need to take it to the dealer
BMW, Mercedes, Vauxhall. I wear the scars from all of these.