What Cars Are Lemons?

[echnidna]

I won't pay $25 for "Dog and Lemon Guide" to 600 cars.
Its more a matter of having an idea what cars to avoid.
I always thought the Hyundais a good car but very low resale prices indicate otherwise.

What I am looking for is an RA65 Celica or an RT142 Corona to wreck.
So if you have one pm me please.

[MICKYG]

Barry mentions Singer, Skoda, Simca which I am familliar with having owned a Singer when I was a young fella, and these really qualify as heaps of S**T.

I went to Armidale NSW, and had a run in five different Ford Ba's yesterday for Son who was in the market for a Car. He bought a November 2003 BA Xt with alloy wheels, Cruise control and ex Goverment car with 36,000 K's, really like a new vehicle 16k no trade.

It appears as if ex goverment cars are all over the market usually have only been driven around the block so to speak. The five we tested were 70k's highest 32k's lowest three were not suitable, and another would not talk turkey money wise. The three non ex goverment cars were at various stages of needing attention, and had been damaged and repaired from Hailstorms earlier in the year.

From experience I believe you can get a lemon in any brand car, no manufacturer is imune to this problem. The same applies to trucks.

Regards Mike

[Doughboy]

I think that any breed of car can have lemons.....

Look at Datsun 120Y could not kill it with a stick but the 200B is a 180B with 20 more problems.

Ford well where do I start.....

The list goes on and on and on and on

Pete

[Big Shed]

Had a Rover SD1 once, but only for a year. One of the "finest" examples of British "engineering". Anything that was electric didn't work most of the time and spare parts were so expensive I dreaded the weekly (daily?) trip to the spare parts department

I have had only Holdens for the last umpteen years and wouldn't buy an imported car again, so that leaves me with a limited choice, made even smaller because I HATE front wheel drive.

[KevM]

Any thing starting with "S"

Singer
Skoda
Simca

Half the people on this board would never have heard of them.

Nothing wrong with the Simca's (apart from the plastic window & door handles which broke, didn't seem too UV resistant). They were years ahead of their time with the amount of plastic in the interior of the vehicle.

I had two four cylinder models, one with the Flash motor and the second with the Rush. Converted the first to 4 on the floor to eliminate the slop in the column shift. Would have liked a V8 Vedette though.

These vehicles were great to sleep in if you had a bit much to drink as the front bench seat slid forward and the back of the front seats dropped in front of the back seat to make a great double bed.

Ahhh.....memories

[DIY DAN]

I think that any breed of car can have lemons.....


Pete

Ah yes, but only one car maker has made an art form out of lemons ( or is that a tart form).

The Great and Mighty VOLVO. I had 4 Volvos over a period of about 25 years ( 3 new, 1 used) and every one of them was a lemon. They never solved the problems that their 240 series had and the faults just kept coming back model after model. You may well ask why I kept buying them. Well at the time they had the reputation for being the safest car on the road, and with 2 small kids I figured it was worth the trouble.
Now I wouldn't touch em with a........( what's Swedish for barge pole)
DIY DAN

[black1]

Here we go again....

Where's black1? He'll have something to say...

im here

anything with a holden badge or holden lion is just a load of rubbish that hasnt laid down to die yet. holden-----win on race day sack 600 on monday!!!!haha haha haha
and in the same place that ya won in hahahahahaha

[abitfishy]

I think that any breed of car can have lemons.....

Look at Datsun 120Y could not kill it with a stick but the 200B is a 180B with 20 more problems.

Ford well where do I start.....

The list goes on and on and on and on

Pete

Absolutely disagree. The 200B's weren't that bad - it was a saying that stuck with them unfortunately. Mine was a gem that did me well.

As for Fords, after owning Magnas, Commodores, and Falcons, I'll stick with the Falcons every time.

The most important thing with any car is regular service. Common thoughts are also to steer clear of any new model car (VN, VR Commodore, EA, AU1 Falcon), however my 99 AU Falcon with 250000k is going strong and hasn't missed a beat in the 2 years I've owned it - why? Because its been serviced by the book regularly. (Although its just been recalled for rectifying faults about half a dozen times!!).

[Cliff Rogers]

...Look at Datsun 120Y could not kill it with a stick .....

Nope, you just swept it out of the carport when it had finished rusting.

[Harry72]

Yep your right about the 1st of the past new/redesign models... the 1st year of XD's, EA's, VB, VL, VN were mostly duds. New cars nowday's dont seem to suffer as much.
One thing most forget it doesnt matter what brand or price tag there will always be faults of some kind, designer's are not clairvoyants!

[Daddles]

Nope, you just swept it out of the carport when it had finished rusting.

I wasn't aware that was possible. Didn't the rust just start converting itself to something even more horrible?

I too suffered a Rover 3500. Rotten thing. Used to stop and have a breather for fifteen minutes every time the weather got too hot. I finally tossed the standard fuel injection and fitted an aftermarket system. Worked a treat. Solved all the problems ... until a kid ran a red light ('I didn't see it ossifer, honest' ) and wrote the old girl off for me. I replaced her with a Tarago who, though she tried valiantly to let me down, never quite managed to. Amazing what a brave vehicle can limp home with sometimes

My current drive is an AUll Falcon. Over four years and she hasn't put a foot wrong yet. Mind you, my mechanic smiles expectantly whenever I enter his office, but she's been dead reliable and never dead. **sniff, sniff** reminds me of my beloved old Charger

Richard

[snowyskiesau]

From the mid 80's until 2001 I only had Magnas as company cars.
never had trouble with any of them - except for having to replace the gearbox in most of
them (under warranty) The last model I had was a Verada and very nice to drive.

Now if I need a car, I hire one, always a Falcon.

[Bleedin Thumb]

Lemon!!!! I'm past that even ,,,,,,try owning a Range Rover! Not only are they the thirstiest car on the road (Choice Mag.) they breakdown constantly, rust to buggery (except those aluminium panels) and you can't afford to sell them as the resale value is in free fall......

But they are fantastic to drive and now that I have started doing all my own servicing and repairs it is being better behaved. Maybe its because I have replaced every original moving part.

[Bob38S]

In the main, I'll stay out of this one

suffice to say, I bought 2 Holdens [obviously a slow learner]

1970 - 6cyl, 2600cc, Torana - tragic - could only afford to keep it 3 very expensive years, warranty was only 12/12

1980 - SLE, V8 Commodore - POS - 18 months - letters to GMH etc - dealer seemed to enjoy its company more than I did.

[Neil doesn't have enough bandwidth for me to detail the woes]

Had Falcons since 1981 - XD, XF, EB, EF and currently 2005 BA Mk2 XR6T

Other than tyres, battery and regular servicing - not a problem with any of them

Some will call me lucky, smart - whatever - don't really care but I know that I'll continue as I have until I can be convinced otherwise.

[MICKYG]

Take heart bleedin thumb. I looked under a BMW X5 four wheel drive diesel wagon which I spotted on a hoist and was surprised to see all underneath has fitted abs guards to stop gravel rash. All the chassis has this on it as well and looks as if it would be a real problem rust wise eventually, but you would never see an oil leak as it would leak onto the plastic abs guards which looks as if the were designed to catch the drips.

We have two falcons here which have 600,000 k between them so they will do a good service to their owner. I have seen a few ED and EL and EB models with 900,000k on them done in the service as taxi's. There is Datsun 180 B with 400,000k in town.

Regards Mike.