What's the most dissappointing car ...

[Gibbo]

... you've ever driven?

Which car really didn't live up to your expectations?

For me it was , sadly, the Countach. From the moment
I found I was too tall for it to the moment I struggled
to get out of it. What a let down

[GhostyDog]

Brera, beauty really is skin deep...

[symon]

Mitsubishi Evo 6 RSX

Not as fast as you would imagine, loads of turbo lag, unpredictable handling (No Active Yaw on my car) and the engine sounded crap. Fuel economy was also dire.

I regretted selling my 3.0 GTV to buy it.

[zulu ferret]

I don't expect much from a car now actually!

But I did have a cabby in a Buick straight eight that had been mothballed for years. I reckon the hoods had knackered it , so maybe it wasn't the cars fault really. :

[Grahameo]

Oh this one is easy... Two of them :
BMW E60 M5 2005 model I had on long lease but went back after just 8 weeks... Hard ride, windows kept opening on their own accord, often between the hours of 1am-5am and thus setting the alarm off and anoying the hell out of me and the neighbours
Failed to start on several occasions for no apparent reason the BMW could find
Not as good as everyone thinks, it was my last excursion into German cars full stop!
Great engine and poke though but..... Impossible to live with on a daily basis.

Mitsubishi Evo X FQ-360..... I so wanted to like this car and admitedly, had built it up in my mind to be the ultimate point to point car...... Alas.... I was doing a VOSA safety evaluation test for Northunbria Police on the possible acquisition of six of these models for the fast response fleet... (Yes, I know... I have a crap job)
Got to say... I was expecting so much more. 180 miles of fast road use and 15 standing starts later... clutch plate decided to literally dissolve and brakes were well and truly shot too. Then there were the tyres... I had scrubbed off 5mm of life in 180 miles! BTW it was supposed to be a none destructive test!
Just because a manufacturer CAN make a technical piece of wizardry, it doesn't mean that it is practical in the real world... F1 and rally teams are testament to that fact.
I know what you must be thinking but I did put a Volvo V60 T6 and a merc E Class W212 through the same tests exactly... They didn't drop to bits

BTW the Volvo was chosen as a damn good all rounder.

[Scudetto]

The expectation was low on this one to begin with, but quite how disappointing it was surprised me; a Vauxhall Tigra. About 100 metres was all it took to realise it wasn't going to improve. Turning straight back to the dealership, I decided this was not the car for me.

Audi 80 Sport (1992). Lovely to look at, lovely inside but really pretty poor. 'Wooden' is the best word to describe it. It had no power - none at all. I don't mean it was a wee bit tardy, I mean it was dead. The steering kept going stiff mid-bend, as if the PAS had failed. And the ride! It was somewhere between skateboard and bike.

BMW 540i E39; having really enjoyed the E39 with the 2.5 engine (I think; it was an inline 6 anyway) I was looking forward to driving back from the Lake District to the Thames Valley in the 540i. It was a huge let down. The steering was grim compared to the 2.5; tramlining, dozy responses, lazy turn...all wrong. I later learned that's because they share a different steering set up. Too right they do!

I've driven cars that have been worse, like the Nissan Stanza, but when you know that's going to be a jalopy, you're amused by how lousy it is rather than be annoyed by it. But when something has promised and fails totally to live up to even a fraction of it, it makes the disappointment all the more intense.

[cue2]

Rx8 ; too much like hard work. Like driving a high mileage car you think will stall if you don't rev a lot.

[Squadrone Rosso]

Originally Posted by GhostyDog

Brera, beauty really is skin deep...

Can't say that about mine

[Squadrone Rosso]

A new in 2007 BMW 320 D M Sport Saloon. All that hype, soooo mediocre

[Captain Slow]

A Mitsubishi FTO, but only in retrospect.

I purchased one in about 2003, not knowing the model line up. I was 19, and at the time I was taken with the shiny bodywork and the look. It looked fast. In reality it wasn't, but being naive I still went ahead. I ended up with a GS, which was the 1.8 with an auto box. A whole 125bhp.

A truly shocking car. 18 months I kept it for, and lost 3k.

[symon]

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

A new in 2007 BMW 320 D M Sport Saloon. All that hype, soooo mediocre

That is because it is a poverty spec engined BMW.

I bet if you had driven a larger petrol or Diesel variant such as the 330/335 you would have felt very different about it.

[GhostyDog]

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

A new in 2007 BMW 320 D M Sport Saloon. All that hype, soooo mediocre

I find it really strange how the sallon can be so dynamically different to the coupe, we have a fleet of 3 series saloons and estates at work and they are pretty damn dull

My coupe however, i'll be really sad to see it go on Wednesday

Originally Posted by symon

That is because it is a poverty spec engined BMW.

No it isn't I have the same engine in mine and it's fantastic, was as fast if not faster in real world terms than my GTA was.

[GhostyDog]

.....

[badgers_nadgers]

New at the time 2005 BMW 330 convertible. It was solid and looked good, but was dull inside and didn't feel as fast as the 164 QV. the auto gearbox was annoying, trying to overtake on those roads they have in oz that go from single lane, to dual lane in one direction for a couple of kms, where in a manual you would change down one gear to overtake swiftishly, but lazily, it would stay in top until you put your foot to the floor and it kicked down about three gears. Putting it in semi auto was no better, it seemed to have a mind of its own and change gear for you.

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

A new in 2007 BMW 320 D M Sport Saloon. All that hype, soooo mediocre

Mine is the touring version from 2010. Absolute bag of ****. The ride was shocking. And I mean really shocking, crashing and banging over the tiniest imperfections in the road. Sports seats that were rock hard and far too narrow. I reckon the alcantara interior would look pretty rank after a couple of years of domestic use too.

I imagine the non-M spec version with spindly little wheels would be much more pleasant.

[Rushy55]

Hmmm An Audi 80, 2.0, sluggish, slow and dull.

[Gaz]

Renault Sport Clio RS Gordini 200

Rock solid suspension, average performance, horrid seats. I like these cars but it was so horrible to drive. Nearly crippled me after only 2 miles. Crying shame as i really wanted to like it

[MalcQV]

An old SEAT (courtesy car) before being bought by VAG. Thing is I did not expect it to be good and it wasn't. Does that still count?

I owned a 1978 Opel Manta automatic (the latter being the issue I think) and whilst it looked (at the time) fabulous inside and out it was a crappy drive. There have been worse as above but with the Manta I never expected it.

[nayf]

Originally Posted by badgers_nadgers

New at the time 2005 BMW 330 convertible. It was solid and looked good, but was dull inside and didn't feel as fast as the 164 QV. the auto gearbox was annoying, trying to overtake on those roads they have in oz that go from single lane, to dual lane in one direction for a couple of kms, where in a manual you would change down one gear to overtake swiftishly, but lazily, it would stay in top until you put your foot to the floor and it kicked down about three gears. Putting it in semi auto was no better, it seemed to have a mind of its own and change gear for you.

That's down to the age between cars - even though the 164 was a luxury car at the time, you are much closer to the elements in such cars due the huge size of cars these days due to safety regs.
This came to my mind when I sat in a Giuletta - would I enjoy driving it as much as my 156? It has about 20bhp more, but hmmm...

[Dave Brand]

1979 Ford Mustang. Picking up out hire care in Miami, we were offered a Mustang, rather than the Chevy Citation we were expecting, at no extra cost. Looked good in it's bright orange paintwork, nice interior. . . in fact, everything was great until I drove it. It was powered, in the loosest sense of the word, by a 2.3 litre "Pinto" engine - not one of Ford's finest engines - developing, allegedly, 80-odd bhp, connected to an automatic transmission whose main aim in life, typically of American autos of the period, seemed to be to get into top gear as soon as possible & stay in it for as long as possible. The end result of all that was performance round about on a par with a milk float . . . it redefined "gutless". I did actually force a downchange on what passes for a hill in Florida by switching the aircon from "normal" to "high"! Pony car? More like a donkey!

Looked good parked, though, & if reputations are anything to go by it saved us the horrors of one of the worst cars GM has ever built!

Originally Posted by Dave Brand

1979 Ford Mustang. Picking up out hire care in Miami, we were offered a Mustang, rather than the Chevy Citation we were expecting, at no extra cost. Looked good in it's bright orange paintwork, nice interior. . . in fact, everything was great until I drove it. It was powered, in the loosest sense of the word, by a 2.3 litre "Pinto" engine - not one of Ford's finest engines - developing, allegedly, 80-odd bhp, connected to an automatic transmission whose main aim in life, typically of American autos of the period, seemed to be to get into top gear as soon as possible & stay in it for as long as possible. The end result of all that was performance round about on a par with a milk float . . . it redefined "gutless". I did actually force a downchange on what passes for a hill in Florida by switching the aircon from "normal" to "high"! Pony car? More like a donkey!

Looked good parked, though, & if reputations are anything to go by it saved us the horrors of one of the worst cars GM has ever built!

ah, the Mustang II. Not America's finest hour. They put V8s in them too but still strangled them down to about 100BHP.

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by keithyboy

ah, the Mustang II. Not America's finest hour. They put V8s in them too but still strangled them down to about 100BHP.

This was the third-generation Mustang - a much better car than the Mustang II, but after driving that I know why the Pinto engine earned its "boat anchor" nickname (although it can be made to work very well!).

[GT Paddy]

Mini One Auto as a garage loan car. Horrible gear box which took an eternity to change. It amazing ability to only just hold a brief case lying down in the boot. Stupid BMW indicators, why fix something that is not broke!!

[Rushy55]

Originally Posted by GT Paddy

Mini One Auto as a garage loan car. Horrible gear box which took an eternity to change. It amazing ability to only just hold a brief case lying down in the boot. Stupid BMW indicators, why fix something that is not broke!!

BMWs have indicators ????!!

[dpat]

Audi A3 What was I thinking Steering was awful - turn the corner and I didn't know where the car was going - zero feel at all. Average ride, bland interior, poor equipment levels