1993 Geo Metro. Scared the crap out of me on the highway.
I tried to learn how to drive manual on one.
I’m tall.
It didn’t go well.
I’m 6’3" and also learned to drive a manual in one. Bonus fact: at around 50+MPH, if you stick your arm straight out the window, the drag from the wind hitting your arm will steer the car in that direction.
I don’t know how you got your legs under the steering wheel.
Had one as a rental. It broke down and had to be towed. Got a fancier Oldsmobile but it took a day off my holiday.
I’ve had 3 (the last two were actually Chevy Metros, after Chevrolet killed the Geo line). Loved 'em. All stick shifts, all base models with .8L, 3cy engines. Top speed was about 80mph with a tailwind and just the driver, 0-60 was ‘eventually’, didn’t ever get warm inside when I was commuting in the winter, the crumple zones ended at the rear bumper, there was no a/c, and all of them died at around 120,000mi. The last one died when the frame rusted through and the wheel collapsed into the wheel well.
…But they were under $12k ea. brand new (the 1st was under $8k), insurance was cheap as hell, and I got 45+ mpg when gas prices were going sky high.
I had a friend with a Suzuki Swift (pretty well the same car) I have no idea how that car lasted as long as it did carrying around nearly 1000lbs of fat asses. Although one day it gave up and dropped the engine and tranny
If he was in the midwest, probably rust killed the frame.
They weren’t good cars, but they were great cars for the money. When you couldn’t afford a Nissan Sentra, a Metro/Swift looked great.
Also, they were so easy to work on, because they were as simple as a lawnmower. One person could realistically pick up the whole engine and transmission, and there was tons of space to work inside the engine compartment. Unlike the old BMW 540i that I had, where you needed to take off the whole front end in order to get the brake master cylinder off (I think it was the master cylinder; might have been the booster or slave cylinder).
Onterrible Canada, salt in the winter lol. And like I said there was 3 people over 300lbs plus the driver.
I don’t know how it lasted as long as it did.
Had a teacher in highschool with a Metro and we would pick the car up and rotate it 90 deg in the spot or take it for a walk down the street
my uncles old moskvich-412, shortly before he bought a new toyota. was a fun experience though.
UAZ Cabriolet
It’s clearly the worst car money can buy. Before starting the engine, you need to check which liquids have leaked out and add some accordingly. Pretty much anything and everything can and will leak. Who needs a gym when just turning the wheel is a workout. If you want to listen to hardbass while driving, you need to bring your own stereo with you since this car doesn’t have one. It’s the only car that can be improved by a mechanical failure. When the engine or transmission inevitably dies, you’re finally free from this torment.
0/10, would not recommend
Nissan Versa, so many weird blind spots.
Toyota Echo
I had to rent one one year because my car was in the shop for a while.
I was being cheap and I just needed a car at the time.
There is no seat room or leg room. I’m tall but not that tall and I couldn’t get comfortable in this thing.
And who the hell thought it was a good idea to put the instrument panel in the centre of the whole dashboard and not directly in front of the driver. I had a few near accidents before I adjusted myself to where the speedometer was.
Rental car for South island NZ, MG Excite. Unfortunately we’d just had a hybrid in North island NZ, and had been spoiled by it’s good fuel economy and responsiveness, amongst other things.
This car had a label insisting on 95, not just 91. In NZ, fuel is fucking expensive, let alone premium. It also felt like we were filling up every day or at least every other day, whilst back up in North island we’d filled once every three to four days.
It also handled like a turd, wired android auto was unreliable and crashed all the time so we had to reset the head unit multiple times a day, its driver assist was way too fucking interventionist and couldn’t be disabled without being at a complete stop (said it could do it if below the speed limit but always said you were above it??)…
Just terrible.
Nah black. It was just shit wasn’t it??
Isn’t 95 the bog standard stuff? I didn’t even know they sold 91 RON!
Oh wow dunno where you are but you lot must be spoiled haha… and I already consider ourselves spoiled compared to the States, apparently bog standard there is like 87??
But yeah, Australia and NZ has E10 (didn’t quite see this in NZ), 91, 95, 98 (and diesel).
compared to the States, apparently bog standard there is like 87?
That’s not quite accurate. Octane ratings in most parts of the world are RON, which tends to be 8-12 points higher than the more difficult MON rating. In North America, the average of the two is used resulting in a lower rating for the same fuel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Measurement_methods
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I had a 92 Taurus that made a loud crack when I turned left. Mechanic said engine was about to fall out. Left it parked in front of my house and a cement mixer backed into it and crumpled the front end. Got about 2000 bucks out of a car we were going to scrap.
Chevy Malibu I got at a rental place because they didn’t have the type of car I requested months ahead of time. Neither my partner nor I could figure out how the fuck to set the cruise control, which had “get up to speed then step on the brake” as one of the instructions. We’re also not frequent drivers.
Fuck that car, driving it gave me a panic attack
Going to be a toss-up between two of my own cars.
1992 Cavalier convertible Z24 I bought for pennies as my first own car. Had 420,000km on it and grabbed it and it’s papers from some sketch dealer.
Looked good enough on the outside for it’s purpose of having fun. Roof worked. And it had a v6. But it fell apart fast (and a lot due to my own shenanigans). Stearing became so off that I had to turn left to stay straight. The heater died, I live in Canada. The seat’s support broke, so I used an old set of goalie pads propped against the back seat to keep my seat upright. The dashboard lights were blown, so I had a ducked tape flashlight on my headrest to light my dash up. More than ounce, I’d have to pull a fuse and put it back in while cruising on the highway.
Second worse was the off the lot brand new 02 Sunfire my parents forced me to buy to replace the above shitbox due to it’s safety. For fuck sakes I despised this car. Despite how bad the cavalier was, it was FUN and quirky. The Sunfire was just a poorly made shitbox with zero power, and non-stop electrical failures the day I took it off the lot.
Lexus GS300. Great car to drive. But every fucking thing that went wrong was at least £400. Door check strap? £400. Windscreen wiper? £400. Parking sensor? £400, and all eight of them need doing, and that’s £400 PER FUCKING SENSOR. Everything’s main dealer only. Merc was no better. £600 for a fucking HOSEPIPE. Also tried BMW (bike). Same problem. Had a CANBUS system. I started calling it a CAN’T BUS cos every tiny thing that went wrong shut the entire bike down. Duff indicator? Sorry, won’t start the engine until it’s fixed. Yes that means it’s got to be trailered to the dealer.
No more fancy marques for me, they can all fuck off until I’m a billionaire. I drive Volvos now.
I’m still not quite over it. Whenever the garage tells me there’s going to be a big bill on my Volvo I think OMG how many digits, but then they say something like £150. That’s a big bill? Hahahahahahahahaha.
Fuck luxury cars for this exact reason
I rented a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander in 2022 and it was amazing how unresponsive it was. It’s a small SUV with the engine of a hamster. It has a “sport mode” that really struggled to get me up some hills in Colorado.
Also, the rubber seal for the door, on 3 of the doors, was constantly feel off and could be worn as a second seatbelt.
At least you could brag to people that you drive a 'vette.
Smart car 2 seater. Drove it for work for about 6 months. You’re a target for bullies, the wind is scary, lorries sometimes can’t see you and they can get to 90, which is interesting.
I can live with all that, I’ve driven vans and lorries that were in much worse condition. I had a Morris van that was so crap it’s engine seized trying to do 50.
No, the Smart car was the worst car mainly because I’m 6 6. It was like being a sardine driving it’s can. I could do it, but it was not a pleasant experience.
Porsche measures their automatic gear changes in milliseconds. Smart measures them in geologic time scales.
I truly don’t understand why they didn’t put a CVT in those 2nd generation cars (the ones sold in North America). It’s the perfect application! Small car, not a lot of power, efficiency minded.
If the smart car was made today it probably would have a cvt. But an extremely budget car back then, cvts weren’t as common.
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We had a brace of rented Nissan cargo vans at work, the small ones. Those were truly terrible. They had CVT transmissions that just would not hook up. I’d get to the top of an SF hill at a stop sign and just sit there with my foot planted, waiting.
We replaced them with Ford Transits. The CVT in that model is only slightly more usable, but we all still fight over who gets the older model, with the torque converter.
I used to be very anti CVT. Then I bought a 3.6R Subaru Outback. I pull a 5x8 enclosed trailer with it and the biggest giveaway that you’re hauling anything is the gas mileage. So they ain’t all bad.
Pulled a 6x12 twin axle with a 2.4l turboed engine about 800 miles. Outback was totally fine, though we definitely overloaded the trailer. Got the car checked by a local mechanic and they said it was all good, though we did a fluid flush early just to be on the safe side. I don’t mind the CVT, just wish the software in the 2021’s was better.
That’s fair, and tbh the Toyota is great to drive. It’s a bit sluggish overtaking but from stopped it’s like firing a gun and it’s got a great chassis. The electric motor gives it the kick and actually does sound really cool.
It’s the petrol revving that drives me nuts, up and down all the time. I use cruise control a lot but it still does it. On a long drive it gets annoying. I listen to audio books which helps but I can’t take much more, I’m starting to think of ways to kill it.
The worst car I’ve ever driven was also the best because it lasted me until I was able to get on my own two feet and afford a new one: Nissan Sentra 97’.
- around 200,000 miles the engine literally began falling out from the bottom of the rusted frame. I took it to a mechanic and they ran a wire underneath to hold it in place. Drove it for 5 more years after that!
- Driver side window would not stay closed during Chicago winters so I glued it shut.
- Dashboard lights burnt out.
- Muffler would scrape across the pavement as I courted my girlfriend (now wife) around town.
