[ewanmac]

I remember thinking recently that manufacturers probably don't make a bad car anymore. Hyundai and Kia are up there with the mainstream and produce decent cars, skoda are obviously decent and we no longer have joke cars such as yugo, lada, daewoo etc.

However, my monthly trip to Birmingham where I hire a car from the airport to Newark changed my mind. I've had 308s, golfs, focus but this time I was given a Toyota auris. Fine I thought - dull but it will be ok.

It was horrendous. Inside, it had the most non descript dash made with brittle plastics. The nav looked like an aftermarket thing from halfords. The ventilation controls felt brittle and when the sun was out, the climate control got confused and sent freezing cold air in the cabin even when set at 22 and it was 2 degrees outside. The volume control had a 2 second delay so you ended up turning it up or down far too much and the engine was quite noisy.

What was really annoying was every time you changed the temperature or turned the radio up, the sat nav screen would change display and you lost the map you were looking at. I don't need a second display to tell me what temperature it is (there's a small lcd display just like we have to do that). I also don't care what setting the sound is at - my ears can tell me.

It even had a lad clock that looked straight out of a Datsun bluebird from 1988.

So there still are some bad cars out there. I can't think of one redeeming feature of the auris - toyotas aren't even that reliable now! A Hyundai i30 is a far better car, why anyone would purchase an auris is beyond me.

Are there any other contenders?

[JustChris]

Hmm what was released about a year ago, MG6? I think even the British press (I know it's no longer a British car) gave it 2.5/5. I think they usually add a star on to cars remotely linked with the UK industry a la XEs XFs etc winning group tests at launch.

To me that screamed poor car

[TimMcC]

Originally Posted by Chris10Bimmers

Hmm what was released about a year ago, MG6? I think even the British press (I know it's no longer a British car) gave it 2.5/5. I think they usually add a star on to cars remotely linked with the UK industry a la XEs XFs etc winning group tests at launch.

To me that screamed poor car

I had an MG6 hire car for a few days last year... simply awful. It's the only car I've driven that has no redeeming features at all. They're not even particularly cheap!

The guy from Hertz told me they spend most of their time in the garage due to mechanical failure. On mine the engine sounded ill and the steering wheel vibrated above 20mph.

[Tengocity]

One of my reps had an Auris estate for a short term lease and I do remember thinking it was quite awful. Toyota really does seem to the car for people who don't like cars but have to have one.

[WeaverBeaver]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

One of my reps had an Auris estate for a short term lease and I do remember thinking it was quite awful. Toyota really does seem to the car for people who don't like cars but have to have one.

Precisely the same goes for Lexus, as it seems to me people buy them are those who want a more premium car but have no interest in driving whatsoever (RCF / ISF excluded). Funny they're owned by Toyota, seems they've got the economy and premium demographic of driving UNenthusiasts fully covered...

[dazzapb]

Appreciate its very old hat now, but nothing prepared me for the utter shock of a 'friend' letting me look after his Chrysler crossfire v6 something crap. The utter cachophany of rattles and creaking noises was unbeilable and that was when the fecker wasn't even moving.

It reminded me of my d reg orion in terms of interior quality but worse, it also was flipping slow. Yes i need therapy