• Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Golf Monthly community! We hope you have a joyous holiday season!

best worst cars

Mandofred

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2020
Messages
3,141
Location
Harrogate
Visit site
Yeah, I did it.

5 best
1970's Datsun pic- up....yeah, Datsun--not Nissan. Horribly underpowered....and just kept running
1970's Mini clubman- another piece of crap.....but I loved it.
Oldsmobile Cutless Supreme- bought from my aunt/uncle.....there was no bump that could stop this beast.
Buick Skyhawk- just a really good piece of heavy metal....just kept going.
Suzuki vitara- shouldn't have sold it.

5 worst
Chevy Nova....60's....just nothing good. It didn't kill me though....even with all the smoke inside the cabin.
Mini Metro-yeah, I had one....maybe 1985? Wasn't all that bad
Ford ...well, anything.
Toyota Lite ace- wasn't that bad, but I had to put something in here..It worked fine for hauling my diving stuff when I lived in Okinawa.
Ok....a Ford Cortina....American style. Worked great....when it worked. What a total piece of crap. Left hand drive.....wipers fell off.....brake fluid leaked.....transmission fluid leaked....it was a Ford.
 

Imurg

The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
Joined
Mar 15, 2008
Messages
37,996
Location
Aylesbury Bucks
Visit site
3 best..
1. 1985 Toyota Corolla GT...a scream machine that 5000rpm at 70mph and redlined at 8500
2. 2017 Citroën Cactus..my last teaching car now my golf cart. Everything in the boot, goes round corners like it's on rails and does 60 to the gallon
3. 1978 Fiesta 1.1L..a POS but it was my first car

3 worst
1. 1975 Mk2 Escort..a bigger POS than the Fiesta but it was all we could afford at the time
2. 1984 Vauxhall Nova...see above
3.2010 Vauxhall Corsa. A replacement car while mine was in having work done. I drove it 10 miles, cancelled all my lessons until I got mine back. Uncomfortable, slow, handled like a cow, noisy....no redeeming features. A very common training car at the time and I'm convinced people bought them as their 1st car because they'd never driven anything else..hateful contraption
 

PhilTheFragger

Provider of Entertainment for the Golfing Gods 🙄
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
15,503
Location
Aylesbury Bucks
Visit site
Best
1 The Frag Jag- 2011 XF 3 litres of diesel power, lovely to drive, looks beautiful in the Golf Club Car Park :cool:
2, Citroen AX GT 1988 Lovely little car, some blind idiot pulled out in front of me and it died, but I ddnt.
3, VW Sharan 1998 ish, huge family car when we needed 3 car seats, Proper Tardis.

Worst
1, 1982 Talbot Samba, why, just why?
2, 1996, Citroen Volcane, one up from a skip on wheels
3, My partners Honda Jazz, It is just a hateful thing...and its orange :confused:
 

RichA

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2021
Messages
4,112
Location
UK
Visit site
Best
1. Jeep Cherokee XJ Orvis 4.0 '00 - the only car I still actually regret selling.
2. VW Golf R '16 - current car. Handling so good that it's almost boring, which is weird for a sub 5 sec 0-60 car. In 8 years I can't remember it ever losing any grip on a corner, however hard I've tried.
3. Saab 900 Turbo coupe '98 - yes, it was basically a 3-door Vauxhall Cavalier with a Saab bodykit but a great car with lots of happy memories.

Worst
1. Ford Mondeo estate '03 - POS. Bought brand new. Rust spots on bodywork and underside on delivery. Rejected and never driven. Took 3 months to get money back from Ford and they only caved when their own inspector noticed the bottom of the aluminium engine block was actually corroded like it had been sitting in salt water.
2. Honda CR-V '03 - underpowered, understeering, unstable, uninteresting, ridiculously uneconomical. Should never have been available as a manual.

Only 2 bad'uns. I've been pretty lucky.
 

KenL

Tour Rookie
Joined
Dec 3, 2014
Messages
7,941
Location
East Lothian
Visit site
I’ve not had that many different cars. I couldn’t care less about the size of the boot.

Best.
1. Current Fiesta ST3. Limited slip diff so it pulls you round corners. The handling is unreal, cocks a wheel in bends and rotates around its centre. Ridiculously quick for a cheap car if you want it to be.
2. 2014 f56 MINI Cooper. Great balance of interior quality and performance.
3. 2009 MINI Cooper S. My first “quick” car. Looked great in metallic black.

Worst.
None. Never had a bad car really.
 

GreiginFife

Money List Winner
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
11,152
Location
The only Kingdom in Scotland
Visit site
Best
1. 2021 BMW M340i xDrive. Upgraded the turbo and mapped to 526BHP, big orange beastie. Still got it primarily used for track days.
2. 2016 Merc C43. Was a lovely car woth a nice sounding V6 but was a 2 door coupe and son was getting too big for getting in and out of the back.
3. 2000 Astra Mk4. Was a 1.8 but engine blew out so replaced it with a 2.5 V6 rebored to 3L, lightened flywheel, enlarged and polished throttle body, ported head and polished inlets mated to a diesel gearbox Was a machine.
4. 1992 Fiesta XR2i. My first car. Looking back it was a steel box with a lump of plastic interior but damn I loved that little pocket rocket. Very slow and cumbersome by today’s standards. Hell my daily is a 5.1m long, 400HP cruiser that is more agile than that was. But I’d have it back in a heartbeat.

Worst
1. 1992 Ford Sierra Sapphire. Bloody awful. Big, sluggish and terrible on fuel.
2. 2005 Alfa Romeo GT 1.9JTDm. Beautiful styling and a stunning interior, let down by terrible mechanical design, shoddy electronics and a Fiat diesel block.
3. 1994 Ford Escort 1.6 Ghia. 20 years old and thought I was the mutts nuts with electric mirrors and windows when my mates all had basic and Fiestas. Awful car though. Wallowy drive, terrible engine with the typical Ford tappets orchestra going full overture all the time. Exhaust fell off driving up the M90 because it was rotten through the centre section.
 

Slab

Occasional Tour Caddy
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
11,957
Location
Port Louis
Visit site
Mazda 6 2.3 sport
Opel Manta 1.8 hatch
Mazda 323 (pop up lights still tickle me)

Nissan bluebird (just a slow box)
Citroen BX14 (hydraulic fluid nightmare)
Toyota Celica (oil burner at a litre a week)
 

patricks148

Global Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
24,707
Location
Highlands
Visit site
I can;t remember exactly the model but a Merc Kompressor something or other. Lucky it was a company car, was the worst. stuff wrong with it from day one, warning lights forever coming on and the Mercedes we shall we say ... hopeless would be the kindest thing i would say about them. for something that was £50 K car the service from Merc was terrible.

the best to drive i think was the Alfa GTV 3.2 2003 great spec, fantastic driving experience and a nice looking car. alas when it got to 3 years old and out of warranty thinks started to go wrong and the cost was eyewatering for parts.

But the best VFM and reliability was my Passat estate, did me 13 years, passes its MOT every time service costs were minimal and it was 2 years old when i got it.
 

Lord Tyrion

Money List Winner
Moderator
Joined
Sep 9, 2014
Messages
29,544
Location
Northumberland
Visit site
Never had a truly terrible car but a Mazda 6 and a Rover 620 were both incredibly dull and I was happy to move them both on. An ex's father had a Talbot Samba and I can concur with an earlier poster that that was an abysmal car, no wonder Talbot disappeared off the map.

Great cars, a Skoda Yeti and a Skoda Superb would both be in my top 3, really excellent at what they did. My current car, Mercedes B is really impressing and I will just have that nudge out an old E class I had for a short period. The E was wonderful but the B has similar qualities but in a more compact and practical package.
 

Voyager EMH

Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
Joined
Mar 14, 2021
Messages
6,494
Location
Leicestershire
Visit site
Just talked through the 14 cars that Mrs V and I have owned between us.

The much maligned Austin Allegro must be considered a worst car by many, but mine was a 1.5 twin carb that I found to be quite a pleasure to own.
The actual worst for us was a Fiat Strada.

Contenders for best car were a Peugeot 205 1.1 and Vauxhall Nova Saloon 1.2 which we owned at the same time for a while.
Practicality is our main criterion for rating best/worst.

Top spot is a 2005 Citroen C3 Exclusive 1.6 diesel that we bought when one year old and still own today.
£30 to tax, over 60 miles to the gallon, fairly low insurance, great seating position for driver, comfortable ride, room for 5 and fairly powerful.
 

cliveb

Head Pro
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
2,816
Visit site
Thinking back, the car I almost shed a tear over selling was a Mk1 Toyota MR2.
Fun little thing, but it had to go - wife and two kids wouldn't fit.

Before having a family, there were a couple of TVRs, which were fun but not exactly reliable.
A Celica GT4 was great - until things started going wrong with it (£££).

Worst car ever must be the Montego company car I was lumbered with.

Modern cars are dependable and boring - but now at my age that's all I need.
 

Crazyface

Tour Winner
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
7,402
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
Fiesta mk1 utter pile of s h one t. Nearly lost my first job as it would never start.
Fiat UNO, not mine but evil ex wife owned it. Gear box was just guess work.

I was very cautious buying cars after Fiesta so only had one bad one

Good
Mondeo 2.0 Mk1 (Spy Car) ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Nissan Sunny 1.3 hatchback. I'd have one tomorrrow! Perfect car.
Mazda 3 (09) current car is nippy. But it's gonna get thrashed in the next few months as I'm after a new(er) car
Looking for my final car. Skodas look promising, but am tempted with Honda CV-R at £8K
 

jim8flog

Journeyman Pro
Joined
May 20, 2017
Messages
16,232
Location
Yeovil
Visit site
Going back quite a few years

Best was a Vauxhall Cavalier MK1 auto 2l (apart from the automatic choke)
It was only sold because when I moved to where I live now it cost too much to run with all the hills we have around us (17-18 mpg)



Some of the worst
Citroen Nemo semi auto gearbox the box was a nightmare (I had a chance to but a Peugeot 3008 new with same box at a massively reduced price and gave it a pass)
Renault 18 auto massive problems with the auto gearbox - it was linked to the exhaust to control when to change gear, all gearbox oil completely sucked out twice.
Hillman Imp - constant alternator control box problems
Fiat Chroma an absolute joy to drive and run but the loss in value was horrendous
 

Voyager EMH

Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
Joined
Mar 14, 2021
Messages
6,494
Location
Leicestershire
Visit site
I asked my brother-in-law who has just acquired a Honda Civic 1.0 three years old.

He said his best ever car was a Renault 19.
It had over 160,000 miles on the clock when he parted with it. He spotted it on the road a few years later and wondered whether it had got to 200,000 miles.
 

Piece

Tour Winner
Joined
May 16, 2011
Messages
8,006
Location
South West Surrey
Visit site
Best:
1. Audi RS6 C7.5: Speaks for itself. Mile-muncher in great comfort. Load lugger. Rapid in all conditions. Four years and counting....
2. Subaru Impreza Turbo, 1998, UK: My first real fast car. Lightweight, great handling, quick. No guts after 70 mph though.
3. Mini Cooper S: Go-kart, just didn't like the run-flats though.

Worst:
1. Qashqai, first gen: No power whatsoever. Hard, harsh plastics. Wife loved it. I didn't, so I binned it for the Mini Cooper S!
2. BMW 535d, 2014: Dull, dull, drive and slow. Had it remapped and it transformed speed-wise. Didn't improve the drive though at all.
3. -
 

GB72

Money List Winner
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
14,949
Location
Rutland
Visit site
Best

Mondeo ST Just a great combination of fun and practical but the tyres popped like balloons.
Mazda MX5 The most fun you can get for that sort of money
Audi A5 S Line convertible. Just a fun, comfortable, well made soft top.

Worst

Any number of Fiestas during the 1990s.

Fiat Bravo T Jet, went quick but just to poorly made.
 

Robster59

Tour Rookie
Joined
Aug 7, 2015
Messages
5,610
Location
Jackton
www.eastrengolfclub.co.uk
I've owned a few cars over the years. All fairly mundane to be honest but here we go.

GOOD (y)
  • Triumph 2000 Mk.1. My second car with a 2000cc twin-carb straight six. I loved that car and the only one I wish I had kept. My dad loved the engine and it was sweet.
  • Citroen C6. My missus had one of these. She likes big cars. A 2.7 litre V6 diesel and she'd have another one tomorrow. Lovely engine, brilliant ride and gorgeous looking. Trouble was it drank fuel so quickly, and the tax was so high, it had to go in the end.
  • MG ZT-T. Another one of my missus car. I loved this car. A bit of a wolf in sheeps clothing. I liked the looks in metallic dark grey, handled really well and fast enough for everyday use.
  • Skoda Superb. As @Lord Tyrion I am now on my third one of these and they have everything I want in a car. Eats miles on the motorways, cavernous boot, comfortable, quiet and on the latest one, when you put it into sport mode is real fun.
  • Not a car but Honda VFR 750F. I absolutely loved that bike. Fast, easy to ride, fantastic torque, comfortable. An absolutely brilliant bike.
BAD (n)
  • Austin Metro. I used to always buy British, but this eventually cured me of that. Poor build quality, ancient engine, would rust so easily. Lots of people bought it for the same reason I did.
  • 2021 VW Golf. I had this as a rental. I like Golf's but the touch sensitive controls under the touchscreen drove me mad. It took away from the whole driving experience.
  • VW Beetle. I hate these with a passion. Slow, noisy, uncomfortable and a nightmare to work on. I really do not see the fascination.
 
Last edited:

Norrin Radd

Tour Winner
Joined
Aug 6, 2015
Messages
4,644
Location
Sunny Sussex
Visit site
Audi 80 sport ,it was the car that was used for the TV adverts for it.
Honda accord 2.0 automatic, seriously comfortable.
Hillman Avenger 13.60 cc ,it was beige with a brown vinyl roof. I loved that car so much.
XR2 , great fun car that held the road like it was on rails.
Mazda RX7 fastest I've ever driven a car
135mph and it had more in hand but I run out of road.
The worst
BMW 3 series ,just a horrible horrible drive.
MK 3 escort ,nothing but problems with it and only a year old .
VW golf diesel, no power steering.it was hell to drive and park . But it was very frugal on fuel.
 
Top