10 Cars That Are So Bad, They Ruin Your Whole Day

Some cars are so bad that they actually ruin the rest of your day. I had one such experience as a student a fair few years ago while working for a car hire company, when tasked with taking one of the company’s fifth-generation Vauxhall Astras to a promotional event. What a hateful car.

The 113bhp 1.6-litre four-pot under the bonnet is miserable and the interior is dominated by a nasty slab of silver plastic on the centre console. The worst thing, though, are the indicators. Rather than having the usual stalk design that rests either in the up or down position, these return to the centre, so manually cancelling a signal requires you to signal the other way. But only slightly, otherwise you’ll start indicating the opposite direction. Stupid.

I found the car so awful, that hours after I’d been driving it, I was still in a bad mood. We wanted to know if any of you guys had a similar experience, so we asked you to tell your stories of car misery on Facebook. After over 200 replies, we’ve posted the best below.

Michael Soloman - Perodua Myvi

I had a go in the Perodua Myvi and if you can find a car worse than that, you there, just broke the record for finding a car so bad, the word bad doesn’t want to describe it. The main body of that car was extremely flimsy and creaky for a three-year-old vehicle; makes you feel like driving a coffin. What ever you do, never underestimate its badness.

Andrew L Walther - Chevrolet Metro

I made the mistake of buying a Chevy Metro to drive to work. Top speed: 60mph. Before pulling onto a road I use a telescope to look for cars coming. I could be having the best day ever and an hour drive in this thing will destroy it.

Kieran Needham-Russell - 1.5 DCi Renault Clio

struggled to do what my 1.4 206 could do and it was in such bad of condition that I was generally in fear for my life. It lost power every now and it struggled to get up hills.

Yesterday’s Jam - Hyundai Elantra

The worst ever; I had to rent for a week or so. The ride was terrible (you could feel every pebble), yet it handled like a marshmallow and the steering was unresponsive to the point where it was hard to steer in a straight line. The seats were really hard and uncomfortable. Its 0-60mph time could be measured on a geological time scale.

Tyler Smeltz - Hyundai Accent

Once upon a time my Audi broke down and I was stuck with an early production Hyundai Accent for the day. Never in my life have I driven such an ugly, slow, fun-less piece of cheaply made Korean misery.

Ola Åkersten - Dodge Avenger SXT 2008

Drove from Chicago to L.A in this insult to MOPAR, had to open the hood to see if the engine was still there!

Mike Gomez - PT Cruiser

I didn’t know a four-cylinder motor could be so loud, so slow, and so bad on gas. Thank god it had tint so I could keep the windows up and hide my shame while driving it!

Matthew Hutzell - Mercury Mystique

Sister-in-law’s first car. I cannot list one good thing about it, besides it being cheap. Slow, loud, rough ride, unreliable, not fuel efficient, just all around not good.

Scott Mosley - Hyundai i10

Had a Hyundai i10 as a courtesy car. It was so bad to drive, and the interior was plastic and cheap. It had about as much power as a five-year-old girl, just made me mad every time I got in it.

Joe Henry Schupper - Kia Soul

I hated that thing. It had no power and the steering wheel felt disconnected from the wheels. It wobbled through the corners. The stereo was set up for bass and nothing else. Awful car, so happy I only had to rent it.