Pics and reviews of any loaner car you hated driving here.

[pixelplay]

I thought it was about time we had a thread devoted to the loaner cars we all hate driving while our loved VR4s are off the road. I feel there is nothing worse thn being relegated to some crappy car while your love of your life is off the road or like mine is busy having bypass surgery to its engine.

Pics and writes should makes this a fun process for all of us as there is nothing better than hearing about other peoples loaners experiences and being able to relate to them yourself.

Ever time i drive the loan car i feel like this:

I would encourage descriptions of all of the points you love about your loan car such as its:

• Style
• Quirks
• Power Delivery
• Handling
• Delightful interior
• Random things you love about it

The alternative could be that you rant about a car you most hated owning or driving. I have some example car here to get your creative juices flowing

 

[pixelplay]

I thought I better start this all off with my current loaner car and its quirks

Road Test and Review of the Loaner Mazda 323 Astina
After being without a car for a few weeks I was missing being able to get around. My partners sister was kind enough to lend us her old mazda 323 Astina while our VR4 was off the road.


The only condition to the loan was that the car had been in a minor frontal accident and was not sitting in her front yard with the bumper, front lights and other parts stuffed inside the passenger cabin. The other minor issue was that a teenagers who I will not mention (Her Son) had removed most of the interior along with the car stereo and steering wheel making reassembly a rather laborious task.


After many hours spent with rivets, old tin cars and builders glue I had the car back together minus the steering wheel. I was later to learn the OEM wheel had been lost and replaced with a cheap copy racing wheel and i had the pleasure of fitting that to the now almost complete car.


The resulting package was stylish for those of us who enjoy a car with dents on most panels, a horn that sticks on, a steering wheel that sits annoyingly close to light and indicators storks that your continually knocking them on, and the overall feeling of driving in a go cart minus the get up and go of one. The second thing I noticed about the mazda was that my partner loved getting in and out of the car due to the low set seating and overall state of the car.


Value
Day to day driving of this car is cheap, it can be run on budget petrol and the cost of keeping it running is very minor since as you wont feel inclined to spend any money at all on its overall service or maintenance. The interior is low maintenance and should you accidentally spill you morning coffee all over the cars interior you will be more worried about your dry cleaning bill that the interior of the car. As can be expected with a car of this caliber it comes with many rattles knocks and creaks all included for free during the loan term.


The windows don't close properly without first opening the doors and as can be expected at this price range the cars interiors has a lovely musty smell.


Design
This is where the car really shows its value and overall re-build quality. Theca seats are too low to making getting into the car comfortable for any normally size person on top of this adjusting the seats for a comfortable ride is impossible. The window never close or seal fully so exterior noise is always present in the cabin making a journey with no music less enjoyable that it otherwise could be. The rear boot fill with water with ever rain storm and the cars wipers don't have a decent interval setting making visibility of a wet day almost zero. This is made worse by the cabin having a habit of getting dam due to leaks leading to premature condensation forming on the interior windows.


Cooling of the cabin is taken care of by a simple one push air conditioning button that allows the cars vents to emit a constant steam of cold air. The down side to this is that the front seat passenger and driver are soon chilled to the bones and the vents are not adjustable enough to direct the air away to cool the rest of the car. The end result is that you will find yourself constantly turing the air conditioning on and off and if its raining it will have to be on all the time while you and your passengers freeze to death of cold.


Technology
The car is powered by a simple multi value 1.8ltr engine that coupled to a 5 speed manual and its rather peppy for a cars that done almost 220'000kms of driving. I have to give this car credit where its due and the fact that its runs with the minor upkeep its had is amazing in itself.


Safety
Unfortunately for this car safety was never a real concern during the error that it was built in. Its does not feature any airbags at all and is lacking in most other areas of safety and i certainly would not want to be in any sort of accident in this car. The wheel alignment leaves a lot to be desired and the overall handling ability of this car is severely hampered by the poor choice of tyres and overall neglect of the drive chain.


Driving
Driving this car after driving my VR4 is a far from delightful experience. First off all there is the slipping clutch that making any sort of spirited movement almost impossible and when coupled with its lack of feel makes it a tough car to drive. In the wet this car is a disaster waiting to happen and i constantly felt like the car would slide off the road at any second. Night driving is as much fun as driving in the wet because the headlights simple don't light up the road in front of the car properly. This is in part due to the fact that they are riveting together to avoid buying new ones and in part because they had been filled with water.


Acceleration is a joy due to the fact that the cars poor engine mounts are all fully shagged giving the expectation that the engine will crash tough the firewall at any second. This also aids the cars handling abilities are the engine acts like a giant pendulum while driving around country roads.


Cabin odor is added to at any time the interior ventilation is changed from recirc to fresh (or the windows are slightly opened) due to a rocker cover leak that deposits oil onto the headers creating a burnt oil stink that's unbearable and headache inspiring.


Verdict
The best part of this whole experience was the day that's the exhaust note changed from a angry burble into a GTA style note, due to the muffler springing a leak while out driving to the mall. The next day the grrr of the engine turned into a GRRR as the muffler parted way from the rest of the exhaust and left me 10klm away from home hoping that i would make it back without getting some sort of traffic violation ticket.


The experience has taught me to appreciate my Mitsi even though its costs me a small fortune to run. At the end of the day its till a great car and makes the loaner feel like a real pig


Engine: 1800 4 cylinder petrol
Transmission: 5 speed manual
Service Interval: Serviced when broken only.
Economy: Not bad when compared to a VR4
Safety: None its a old school car
Body: 5 door 5 seats. Fits 4 and a quarter people.

 

[Poita]

I rented (not loaned) a brand new 2013 VW Golf turbo diesel in April this year while in Europe.
I liked the car. Simple, everything was laid out nicely, it behaved well, went pretty good for a diesel, some really cool features (except the auto handbrake, that annoyed the hell out of me) and was awesome on fuel.

But I hated driving it. It was the most boring car I have every driven in my life. It was so perfect to drive that I couldn't wait to get home and drive a car with some character. My bumpy, loud, cold, smelly 1992 soft top Vitara was more appealing than the Golf. The Golf had no character, no real feedback from the road, no little idiosyncrasies, nothing to make me actually connect with the car and enjoy driving it.

I got home and jumped straight into my Legnum and went for a drive... noisy exhaust, in need of a wheel alignment, stiff suspension, slight tick from the engine reminding me it was due for a service... soooo much nicer! I am not ready for a new car it seems...

I did have a couple loaner cars while my various cars were getting serviced at various stages though.

A EA Falcon which I was seriously scared of driving. It's brakes were terrifying and it's gearbox was atrocious.

Also a VW Beetle. This was a fun car to drive and got heaps of stares (it was fully restored). I was too scared to turn corners though as the front wheels felt like they would fold under the car! To change gears you had to pass the gear stick to the passengers in the back seat...

 

[Akys]

I had some fun and laughter reading the post
good one bruce

 

[pixelplay]

I have a feeling this is going to be a fun thread, before i bought my VR4 I was thinking about buying a new car but working on your own car no matter how much it makes you annoyed, is kind of fun. And often new cars are just plan old boring. One of my most fun cars so far was an old Toyota Crown. My Lady hated it but all my friends loved it hahaha

 

[mills_88]

I got given a 1988 Honda Accord when I got my Civics gearbox replaced back when I first got my licence. Had no power, was an auto and stalled when idling in gear, had dents everywhere, smelt like rotting mcdonalds, and had literally no tread on the tires so once it rained you were taking your life into your own hands despite the no power part. Never driven a worse car to this day.

 

[AKKO]

VT Commodore and Lancer sedan with princess sticker on rear window, both auto and no fun at all..

 

[fieldy107]

VT Commodore with no ABS and no brake pads left that I borrowed off my parents. Going along a country road at 100km/h in the morning with the sun in my eyes, when I realise the old farmers ute up ahead of me wasn't moving and had come to a stop. Left at least 20m worth of skid marks behind me and a huge cloud of smoke, he pulled his ute off the road just in time and the commodore finally stopped right where the ute was.
I have gotten to used to ABS brakes. I mash the foot to the floor and expect the ABS to take care of the rest.

 

[pixelplay]

hahaha that's awesome. I had a friend whose car I borrowed that had a air bubble in the brake system it was really old 70s style car that had no style at all. I remember going down a hill on the way to the shops and as i approached a T intersection my foot went right to the floor as I attempted to put the brakes on. It happened twice and and then the brakes suddenly were there again. It was the most heart stopping thing I ever remember during my driving history.

VT Commodore with no ABS and no brake pads left that I borrowed off my parents. Going along a country road at 100km/h in the morning with the sun in my eyes, when I realise the old farmers ute up ahead of me wasn't moving and had come to a stop. Left at least 20m worth of skid marks behind me and a huge cloud of smoke, he pulled his ute off the road just in time and the commodore finally stopped right where the ute was.
I have gotten to used to ABS brakes. I mash the foot to the floor and expect the ABS to take care of the rest.