Renault 18i

 

i remember the renault 18i,pure junk!

 

1993 Pontiac Bonneville.

It would randomly shut off when I hit the brakes, fuel gauge would only read full/empty. And it broke every 2 weeks like clockwork. I replaced it with the SC.

 

In the mid '60's a friend in college had a Renault R8 we rallied in the Texas SCCA for a season or two. It wasn't exactly pretty, but it was presentable - among cars of the era. The things I remember about the little rear-engine 998cc coupe was its ultra-soft suspension that produced a velvety ride and a three-legged stance in corners, and the sumptuous leather interior that was far out of character for an "economy" car.



Then there was the paint. Jim purchased the car in a gorgeous red that lasted about two months before it started to chalk. The dealer repainted the car in warranty - and about three months later it started to chalk again. Zut Alors! Thankfully his dealer also handled Lincoln-Mercury, so the next time in, they sandblasted it, primed and repainted with a nice MERCURY red that was pretty close to the original. End of paint problems. Evidently French paint just couldn't handle the fresh air and sunshine of the Texas Hill Country that is so similar to the French climate that now they produce wine there. Who knew?

 

Do you remember, years ago, the issue of Mechanix Illustrated, Lil, where Tom McCahill rolled a Renault of this vintage? The soft suspension and extreme body lean, of course, didn't help, but the real culprit was the rear-engine oversteer....the early Corvair and rear-engined VW Beetle, both with rear swing-axles, to an extent had the same handling problems.

I've been to the Hill Country a number of times. (I lived in western Austin for some time, near the Balcones Fault line where the Hill Country starts). It gets HOT there on summer afternoons....100+ is quite common. French climate, even in the summer, is notably cooler....mostly from the on-shore flow off the Atlantic and cooler water.

And, as far as paint goes, remember that neither Renault or Mercury paint, back then, was clearcoat....so both lacked the protective clear-cover that helps them ward off ultraviolet rays and oxidation. Clearcoat paint was not used on a wide basis until the 1980s.

 

would guess 86 chev celeberity

 

Yeah, the R8 was known for cornering on its door handles, but it was surprisingly quick. Those swing axles didn't give much trouble, I suspect, because they were so lightly loaded. The engine was about the size of two shoe boxes, even if they did hang behind the transmission and rear end. It was too small and light to make much of a contribution to the car's handling. On a road course, the Renault could corner pretty quickly - it only looked scary. I was the navigator and I learned to keep my eyes on my watches, route notes, and calculator and NOT look out the passenger-side window during left turns.

Of course you had to carry a lot of speed into a corner because you sure weren't going to get much power out of that glorified motorcycle motor out back on the exit, now matter how furiously you rowed the gearbox. They solved that later with the Gordini version that firmed up the suspension and nearly doubled the horsepower to 89, driving through a close-ratio 5-speed. The little econobox acquitted its self very well in club racing and rallies on the Continent. French Racing Blue with white tape stripes were OEM for the Gordini.



Reliability was never a problem for Jim's Renault. We'd tape up the headlights and tape on our numbers to rally the car on weekends, then we'd peel off the tape, wash it, and his wife would use it as the family grocery-getter during the week. Other than that paint, it never missed a beat.

I remember Tom Cahill's adventures, but particularly in those days of rather primitive suspensions and high centers of gravity, you could roll just about anything if you tried. Recall the more recent debacle of the Explorer and the Izuzu Trooper . . . yes, if you sawed the wheel back and forth a couple of times at speed, you were going over. The solution was not so much in engineering, but in a performance upgrade inside the helmet.

 

I've only ever owned Toyotas so I can't add anything here altho once I leased a 2006 MINI Cooper S and it was a POS. I sold the lease off of a lease trader site and made some money.

Anyway, I own a small auto shop and I can list a few notables here from clients.

2005 Honda Accord. I don't know how Honda keeps their reputation so clean. This particular client is a lil old lady, maintains the car meticulously. I have had to change the silliest of broken parts on this car. Honda has gone WAY cheap. After 6 years, the paint falls off of them.

2003 Honda Accord. See above.

2006 Civic. Altho much better than the Accord, it has it's issues as well. Paint is also poor.

First gen Ford Focus. This car is criminally designed. I don't know how they got away with it and are still allowed to build cars after this.

Any early-mid Dodge car (Neon, Cloud Cars, etc). Wow. Embarrassing. It's infuriating how these cars are built.

2006 Ford Explorer & Expedition. 2007 Mercury Mountaineer (Explorer V8) Early failures all over but acceptable for domestic.

Most reliables I see are TMC products, which only come to me for maintenance. Mostly oil/filter/fluid changes, with the occasional 02 sensor or brake job.

TMC products are far and away the most reliable vehicles on the road. Much more solidly built than current Hondas, contrary to the accepted norm.

 

My 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan ES 3.8L. I've spent $9,438 on repairs. It's on it's 4th transmission, which is about to fail. It's lost reverse as of now. The 41TE transmission, is well a pile of crap. It usually self-destructs itself by the differential pin letting lose and entering the main part of the transmission. Not to mention, the weak planetary gear set. It's safe to say, I'm done repairing this p.o.s. It's currently sitting in my backyard, while I contemplate on what to do with it. Too many sentimental memories to just let it go to a junkyard and have it be crushed eventually.

 

Friend had a Landrover. It was tethered to the dealership. If you drove it more than 20 miles away it would break. Alternators, suspension, radio, windows that would not close, then would not open, leaking oil and diff fluid. He even had a mirror fall off.

Everytime I watch Top Gear and they pick on the Range Rover I text him and laugh. He used the dealerships loaner so much that he thought he should have insured that instead.

 

mine was a brand new 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Every time it rained we would get a stream of water coming from the A pillar. Took the dealer 4 times to get it fixed. Transmission had water in it somehow. Caused a rough grinding feeling once in a while then would work normally again. sometimes all the dash lights would light up while driving! D P R N 1 2 and the odometer would go to all zeros. Weird **** made the vehicle feel totally unreliable. I don't know how many times we brought it to the dealer to be fixed and they never got it right. We just unloaded it and got an Audi A4.

Next worst was a 93 ford probe. car lasted me 4 years and had all kinds of problems. My 99 300M was just as bad with this really annoying door locks that made this loud buzzing noise when they were activated. Air conditioner stopped working, tie rods were shot after 50k, seat leather wore out too fast etc etc.

I am glad to be driving my IS-F now. I feel that this car will last me a really long time!

 

Same here... I had a 05 G35 coupe and that was by far the most unreliable car Iv'e had...same things as you mentions abut with a lot of engine problems and stupid little things...as much as I loved it I never want to see that thing ever again...

 

For me, it would be our family's Isuzu Crosswind


It is classified as an ASIAN UTILITY VEHICLE (mostly used in developing countries here in Asia).

 

2009 BMW 335i Convertible (E93).

Too many HPFP and surrounding issues resulting in a recall in the first 2+ years, leaky roof (design issue in my opinion), Phantom window lowering, and odd iDrive (Nav/iPod integration) problems that included draining the battery if I didn't physically disconnect my iPod each time after use. Even with all that, it was the best driving vehicle I've ever owned, and I miss having a vert in my stable. I am personally of German heritage and hard-headed myself sometimes, but my reliability concerns, poor service experiences, and the BMW "that's just the way it is" attitude, resulted in me selling it last Fall. It's probably the first and last German vehicle I'll own.

 

when I first met me wife she had a hyundai santa fe, unreliable and left her on the side of the road a few times, in the dealer all the time and the dealer(s) were worse then big 3 dealers in the 90's