That makes two of us. Here's a list of problems I had on a brand new Audi A4.
1. On delivery drivers electric window faulty... had to have a new motor assy fitted.
2. Int illumination of ABS warning light on starting... design fault, relay dropping out under low voltage starting.
3. Major electrical fault... I ended up fixing this myself, the dealer couldn't find it !! traced to a loose earth on passenger A frame causing all weird wonderful faults.
4. Passenger electric window steel cord frayed and chewed motor gearbox up.
5. One of the twin horns "failed", told by dealer... they all do that, don't worry.
6. Disintegrating trim such as the highly tensioned damped ashtray which I never used. Had to extract and repair the gears.
7. Squeaky clutch pedal.
8. The accelerator pedal large pad "fell off" .... it has a plastic hinge (CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT)
9. Radio interference... again traced by me to the reversing light switch contacts that were arcing.
10. Recall... new oil pump required, could cause major failure.
11. Another recall... vibration damper to be fitted to camshafts.
12. Oil leaks.
13. Suspension trouble... rear shock absorber gaiters disintegrated, I fitted universal steering gaiters as replacement without needing any dismantling.
14. Creaky ball joints on anti roll bars. I injected with hypoid oil... they never creaked again... this was a common fault.
15. Oh yes... radio incorrectly wired, switch engine off with lights on and radio locked up with a Disco lights display.
16. Heated mirror element lasted a few weeks at best... design fault.
17. The evaporator for the air con developed a leak. That was the last straw, £500 for the part and 15 to 20 hours labour... no thanks.
18. The boot light switch was poorly designed... had to whack the lid to get it to activate.
19. Heated washer jets failed.
20. After the self destructing ashtray the cup holder also flew apart by themselves... a first year student would realise the materials used were under to high a stress by the "gate springs" used.
21. Thermostat failed... stuck open.
22. Burned oil too.
And being absolutely mad I had a new Audi A2 1.4 TDi. That suffered turbo failure while running it in at three weeks old.
So it was back to Toyota
The Auris I have uses a special 0/20 grade oil (thats like water) but it obviously does its job. Our 10+ years old Corolla has never even had a replacement bulb. All its had were new front brake discs and pads this year following an MOT advisary... it would still have passed without. Thats reliablity.
I am also a Toyota fan. Their cars are boring to look at and boring to drive, but they work. My first was a second-hand Starlet. Then three new Corollas. Now a second-hand Yaris. Only two problems:
- spare parts (when you need them) are eye-wateringly expensive
- the wiring loom always seems to rattle behind the dashboard
- spare parts (when you need them) are eye-wateringly expensive
- the wiring loom always seems to rattle behind the dashboard
Make my day, I'm willing to learn how to play golf and haven't hit someone with a club yet (odds look far from favorable though).
I had an E Class for 3 years. Wonderful car. Then a Beamer for 2 before going to Japan. Wonderful.
In Japan I caught the train, walked and taxi - no car. Wonderful.
Now, it's a Lexus. Wonderful.
I am lip lucky - I never has problems with my cars - but I am a sedate kind of driver.
Only problem was in Japan. Man, I went through a new pair is shoes every 4 months despite oiling them ever few days.
In Japan I caught the train, walked and taxi - no car. Wonderful.
Now, it's a Lexus. Wonderful.
I am lip lucky - I never has problems with my cars - but I am a sedate kind of driver.
Only problem was in Japan. Man, I went through a new pair is shoes every 4 months despite oiling them ever few days.
Fortunately all true , Mercedes is the pits too , as BMW, my brother switched to lexus years ago , swears by them , never looked back or owned a german car again , i drove his Lexus ....
Definitely not German, the dynamics is not the same , but having damn near zero issues is real tempting ...
Definitely not German, the dynamics is not the same , but having damn near zero issues is real tempting ...
This is why I have two cars, one German and one Japanese (made in Japan actually).
The reliability and convenience of the Japanese car makes it wonderful for the store, and even long trips.
The 'Gusto' and 'dynamics' of the Porsche 94 makes me young again for a little while, even when traveling safely on city streets. I guess its the size of the tires that makes all the difference. '-)
The reliability and convenience of the Japanese car makes it wonderful for the store, and even long trips.
The 'Gusto' and 'dynamics' of the Porsche 94 makes me young again for a little while, even when traveling safely on city streets. I guess its the size of the tires that makes all the difference. '-)
For wine tasters, cork smellers, and side-working of extremely low TCA concentrations
2,4,6-Trichloroanisole is a potent suppressor of olfactory signal transduction
George
2,4,6-Trichloroanisole is a potent suppressor of olfactory signal transduction
George
The traffic in Curacao (sorry I don't do hooks on c's) was one big circular jam IIRC, though the gas was economical. We're going to bank on global warming to keep us warm in the winter. Unfortunately if we don't have a brutal winter soon we might lose our shellfish to the green crabs.
Mean, Green Eating Machines: The invasive European green crabNew England Ocean Odyssey
Same story
My wifes Mazda 323 just doesnt go wrong. Just normal servicing etc
The man who services it and my M3 says he would go broke if he just
serviced Japanese cars.
Had a 944 S2. Drove well but was the worst car I ever had reliability wise.
Im not saying they are all like that Jon but that one was a real lemon. Had
the cylinder head rebuilt three times, the rear half of the car taken out
to replace one small brake pipe etc. It went on and on.
I think it had a warped sense of humour too ie The alarm came on when I was in the fast lane which turned off the engine. I had to crawl home at 20mph with lots of beeping and bad language from other drivers.
The door locks seized when my wife and I came out of a nice restaraunt. Had to climb in through the back window to the amusement of all the bystanders.
Glad to say my audio system doesnt behave quite the same.
My wifes Mazda 323 just doesnt go wrong. Just normal servicing etc
The man who services it and my M3 says he would go broke if he just
serviced Japanese cars.
Had a 944 S2. Drove well but was the worst car I ever had reliability wise.
Im not saying they are all like that Jon but that one was a real lemon. Had
the cylinder head rebuilt three times, the rear half of the car taken out
to replace one small brake pipe etc. It went on and on.
I think it had a warped sense of humour too ie The alarm came on when I was in the fast lane which turned off the engine. I had to crawl home at 20mph with lots of beeping and bad language from other drivers.
The door locks seized when my wife and I came out of a nice restaraunt. Had to climb in through the back window to the amusement of all the bystanders.
Glad to say my audio system doesnt behave quite the same.
Interesting, Zeta4. The VERY WORST car I ever bought for reliability was a 1960 Renault Dauphine. I learned to be my own mechanic with this car, when my friends had very good luck with their VW Beetles. I have almost 70,000 mi on my Porsche, and I suspect that once it loses something big, I will get rid of it. At this rate, it should last my lifetime.
Worst car: MG 1100 sedan. Purchased by my father for me to commute to UCLA from Northridge. It was fun to drive though, low center-of-gravity. The seller had done his own maintenance and helpfully provided a complete service manual. While returning to the valley one day, my passenger was looking through the manual and opened a foldout page showing an exploded view of the engine. At that point the engine exploded, so to speak, the flywheel breaking off of the crankshaft. We cantered to a full stop on, fortunately, a surface street.
The car went in for repair and when it wasn't being fixed fast enough my father got heavy-handed and trash-talked the mechanic. He fixed it, I suspect leaving a lot of metallic shavings in the oil. It quickly became a smoke generator of impressive volumes for its size. The thing was finally written off as a loss.
The car went in for repair and when it wasn't being fixed fast enough my father got heavy-handed and trash-talked the mechanic. He fixed it, I suspect leaving a lot of metallic shavings in the oil. It quickly became a smoke generator of impressive volumes for its size. The thing was finally written off as a loss.
I once owned a 65 Austin Healey Sprite. I loved driving that little car, but it was touchy and had problems straight from the factory. The rings wore out at about 50,000 mi, even with good oil changes, etc.
I have NEVER heard of a flywheel coming off. Of course, and like French cars are usually not sold today in the USA, the English car manufacturers, except for a select few, pretty much disappeared due to sloppy manufacturing.
I have NEVER heard of a flywheel coming off. Of course, and like French cars are usually not sold today in the USA, the English car manufacturers, except for a select few, pretty much disappeared due to sloppy manufacturing.
With the Sprite I got "It's so cuuute! Take me for a ride!"
What did they do with the dog and the white cane?
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