Hooniverse Asks: What car did you love but then hate once you drove it?

Kamil Kaluski

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Jeff and I were chatting sometime ago about his Montero. I was supposed to be in the LA area a few weeks back and offered to loan it to me for my time there. I never drove one but I always kind of, sort of, liked them. My father had a big poster of the Pajero from the Paris-Dakar Rallies on the 1980s, so the influence was there.

I asked him if the Montero could be the kind of vehicle that I think I like but then hate once I’d actually drive it. He said no, that I would like it. But then we wondered – what car did you love until you drove it?

There are certainly many cars that I hated until I drove them. But there are far fewer cars that I liked and then hated. But I thought of one – my own ’02 Subaru Impreza WRX.

I bought it new in 2002. We were just coming out of the 1990s JDM-craze and the WRX was the one vehicle everyone wanted. Then it came here and… it was sort of disappointing to me. It wasn’t that quick. There was zero power under 3200rpm and then an abundance of it from there to the redline. The five-speed transmission had weirdly space gears. Between 75-80mph it was in that on/off 3200rpm range, which made highway cruising annoying. Gas mileage sucked. And it was loud. I sold it after six months of ownership.

So, which car did you love and then hate once you drove it?

About

Kamil Kaluski

Kamil Kaluski

East Coast Editor. Races crappy cars and has an unhealthy obsession with Eastern Bloc cars. Current fleet: 4Runner, Integra, Regal, Lada

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30 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What car did you love but then hate once you drove it?”

  1. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    Pontiac Solstice. Its styling and gearbox are the only good points. The engine (non-GXP) felt weaker than the numbers suggested and sounded worse the harder you revved it, the handling positively sucked (understeer galore), and the top operated like something designed in the 50s. The Miata had nothing to fear. I have no idea why I expected something good out of GM, when I generally hated everything else they produced at the time.

    Reply
    1. caltemus Avatar
      caltemus

      The good ol’ Lutz parts bin special

      Reply
  2. Andrew Fails Avatar
    Andrew Fails

    Oddly enough, also a WRX. I had a 2011 for about a year and a half, and never really fell in love with it. It was fun if I was absolutely thrashing it, but was pretty unpleasant to drive the rest of the time.

    Reply
  3. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bee2fc414ff18c06bba4744723de660dcdab66c3109177dde1a4207763da12db.jpg

    The Tuesday answer is my 2009 Suzuki S50 Boulevard. I hated it, but I loved it, but I hated it. Even though I loved it. It’s complicated.

    I bought it as a new noncurrent in the spring of 2010, right after it had been discontinued. It was light and compact and fun and easy to ride. It looked really nice without mimicking the lines of a Harley. The ergonomics were pretty damn good for a cruiser. But it was a 25-year-old design at the time, and the EPA-strangled CV carbs, single-piston front brake, rear drum, and spartan feature set were all anachronisms. The rear suspension was tail-pounding over any sort of pavement irregularities. Build quality of the various components was wildly uneven. Even with SBS brake pads and a DynaJet carb kit, the minuses clearly outweighed the pluses within three years. I can’t say I miss it, but I still think it looked the biz.

    https://media.giphy.com/media/SCmRlVuMeFQzu/giphy.gif

    Reply
    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      Well, it was still a Harley.

      Reply
    2. rbennet27 Avatar
      rbennet27

      Still looks great though.

      Reply
  4. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    The secret to a satisfying experience is low expectations. I’m rarely ever disappointed.

    I look forward to the inverse question in a future edition of Hooniverse Asks.

    Reply
  5. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    Hate is such a strong word – I don’t know if I’ve ever “hated” driving anything.

    Now disappointed – that’s something I can work with. 2 come to mind immediately. The first Polaris RZR was definitely disappointing. Granted, the one I drove was a pre-production mule (but had the same 800) – it just seemed so slow for what it was supposed to be. That was quickly rectified, and they’ve gone the other way and are now way too damn fast for this old man. The other was a Jeep Renegade – again due to the tiny, noisy motor and the weak-ass automatic. It could hardly get out of its own way and we realized immediately it was NOT the vehicle for us.

    Reply
  6. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    I won’t say that I hated it, but driving a Vanagon will quickly cure you of any romantic notion of driving across the country in one.

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Agreeing on this one. Even though I’ve had pleasant times in Hiaces and Hyundai H1’s, especially on ice. My answer to the question could be the UAZ loaf – I have never driven one though. Just expecting it to be awful, even though I adore the looks, appreciate its history, and respect its wild offroad credentials.

      Reply
  7. danleym Avatar
    danleym

    Land Rover Discovery II. I was looking for a replacement for my K5 Bkazer, and I did and still do like the look of a well upgraded Disco. But I hated owning it. It just felt… there. Nothing exciting. And what began as mild indifference had grown to disgust by the time I sold it.

    Reply
  8. Clawbrant Avatar
    Clawbrant

    Nissan 350Z. On paper it seems great and I’ve always appreciated Nissan’s commitment to making distinctly Japanese styled cars, not just knocking of BMW and Ferrari like everyone else. But the first time I actually got inside one I wanted to get right back out. The ergonomics felt all wrong, I hated the clutch, and it generally felt like I was in a cave.

    Strangely enough, I actually had the opposite experience with the Infiniti G50. I had a pretty negative impression of them to start. In my area they’re mostly beat up and driven by mid level drug dealers. They’re definitely not built to the same standards of a Lexus but they are smooth, comfortable, and torquey

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Damn, “mid level drug dealers” is a demographic?

      Reply
      1. Smaglik Avatar
        Smaglik

        Middle management is a tough gig, regardless of the industry.

        Reply
  9. Citric Avatar
    Citric

    I wouldn’t say I loved it, but I was pretty excited about the Honda Civic hatchback and when I needed a new car (due to a bad pizza delivery boy driving into mine) it was the first thing I test drove.

    I hated it. I hated the gimmicky interior. I hated the sluggish CVT. I hated how it didn’t feel all that satisfying to drive. I hated that it felt needlessly long. I hated the stereo that didn’t seem to work very well. Went from top of the list to off of it completely.

    Surprisingly, my fiance is a fan and might get one, but that’s her money, not mine.

    Reply
  10. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    I don’t like anything about the Auris/Corolla or CVT’s but had, if not love, at least high expectations towards a Lexus CT200h before test driving it last year. The disappointment was massive, can’t stress that enough. Cheap ass interior, super noisy CVT, no power, no proper gimmicks, really bad information screen and odd ergonomics. And hard to look out of. I wanted to like it, but didn’t.

    https://l1-cms.images.lexus-europe.com/lexusone/lexnonov11/2018-lexus-ct-200h-my18-gallery-001-exterior-1920x1080_tcm-3169-1101086.jpg

    Reply
    1. Land Ark Avatar
      Land Ark

      I’ll agree with this. I test drove one thinking it would be a great replacement for my mom’s IS300 Sportcross. It was not. It felt really slow and did not feel like a luxury car at all.

      Reply
  11. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    Nothing, really.

    I can see maybe having buyer’s remorse if I overpaid for something, but for any car where someone tosses me the keys and then allows me to Ferris Bueller it, I’m happy.

    Reply
  12. MattC Avatar
    MattC

    Back in the mid nineties, I had an opportunity to buy a red Fiero 2M4. Mind you , I lusted after this car in high school in the 1980’s (never driven one though) and now I had the time/money to buy my “dream” weekend runabout. All I had to do was put the cash down and drive away, until I took it for a test drive. The shifter/clutch was awful, the engine noisy and not powerful and the build quality was laughable. It was everything right about GM (Ideas) and wrong (execution) in the 1980s. I still love the exterior and that there is a fervent fan base that had modified these with better and newer engines/trans combos.

    Fast forward to 2011 and the Dodge Dart comes out. It checks all the right boxes (platform shared with a well regarded Alfa Romeo / Turbo engines/ nice exterior design/). This would finally be a proper replacement for the original Dodge Neon ( powerful engines in its class / lively chassis) Then the test drive…. There was just something off about the whole driving experience and I left deflated (apparently so did many other potential buyers) . I think I dodged a bullet with that one ( no pun intended)

    Reply
    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      I gather one of the Dart’s main problems was too much weight. The Chevy Cruze was similar – I had a diesel version to drive for work for a little while, and it was pretty disappointing. Felt like very little torque I think mostly due to transmission/engine calibration and got disappointing fuel consumption, the same as a petrol Corolla.

      Another car I drove around the same time that really disappointed was a Ford Mondeo diesel wagon. Again it felt like it didn’t make good use of the TD torque so I manually shifted it a lot. The suspension was quite soft and seemed to have short travel so would bottom out easily. Apart from that it was good!

      Reply
    2. Smaglik Avatar
      Smaglik

      One my my neighbors has a Dart, and apparently really loves it. Personalized specialty plate, DRTFUN, always clean, and cleaning it. So, there’s a market, just not a big one.

      Reply
  13. Fuhrman16 Avatar
    Fuhrman16

    Now, I can’t say I hated it, but the one car I was really dissapointed with was the new Fiat 500. I test drove a 500 Sport when I was looking for a new car a few years ago. I loved the cheerful looks and funky interior, but the engine felt really underpowered, the clutch was far too light and lacking in feel, and the shift was incredibly vague and imprecise. I later drove a 500 Abarth, which fixed the sloppy shifter and gutless engine while adding a lovely engine note, but the the fixed headrests on the Recaro seats seemed hellbent on forcing me to look down at my feet in my desired seating position and the sport suspension was far too firm to live with on our broken roads.

    Reply
    1. Smaglik Avatar
      Smaglik

      My current rental in Italy is a Fiat 500, and I heartily agree with your assessment. With 2 people in the car, it’s punch the pedal, and wait. I also do not like the fixed sunroof that only has a transparent cover. It’s too damn hot, and the ac is too damn weak, to always have sun on my head. But, maybe that’s the American in me complaining about that…

      Reply
    2. Bryce Womeldurf Avatar
      Bryce Womeldurf

      I agree. Add to that, the regular 500 has seats that are way too high. I felt like I was sitting on a bar stool. Just, really awkward. I haven’t driven the Abarth but thought the seats had to be better. Too bad that they’re weird too, just in a different way. Also, I have a funny story about the 500. My sister in law went with her boyfriend to test drive one and it broke down on the test drive. Guess what her boyfriend’s name is… Tony. “Fix It Again, Tony.”

      Reply
      1. Fuhrman16 Avatar
        Fuhrman16

        To fair, I like my seat to be quite upright when I drive, which seems to position the headrest at an odd angle on modern cars. I have the same issue with my Mazda’s headrest as I did the Abarth, but I was able to just turn it the other way. If you sit with a more reclined position it would probably be fine.

        Reply
    3. wunno sev Avatar
      wunno sev

      with ya. in 2016 i tested a 500 Abarth for very, very cheap compared to new ones and Fiesta STs, hoping to score a bargain performance compact. left with no interest in the car at all despite it being way cooler than the FiST. it rattled and squeaked with under 20k miles, the shifter was garbage, only five speeds, handling not that great. i bought a brand new Fiesta a few months later, drove it 30,000 miles, and sold it for more money and in much better condition than the Abarth.

      they had the right idea – it looks great and sounds amazing – but they fell flat on their faces at go time.

      Reply
  14. Lokki Avatar
    Lokki

    For me the disappointer was a 1997 Acura Integra. I’d owned a first year 86, and loved it, so I bought the wife an 88 and loved that one too. Traded the 86 for an 93 (with running-mouse belts) and enjoyed it although it seemed a more mature choice and less ‘wild-thing-I-think-I-love-you’. Then got transferred out of the country and didn’t get back till the winter of 97. Literally had to fly into the country and buy a car – it made no sense to me to rent a car for a month and use time I didn’t have trying to save more than the cost of the rental car. So… off to the Acura dealer for a fourth Integra. Got a decent deal on the price and had no complaints there, but damn I came to hate that car. It was, at 9 months, my shortest car ownership, ever.

    Unbeknownst to me, the value of the ¥ had gone through the roof, and Acura had de-contented the Integra to keep the price down. Where the previous Integras have been “entry-level-luxury” wannabes, the 97 was no-pretense economy car. The more I drove it the more cheap-outs I found. The lack of soundproofing became apparent pretty quickly. The stereo was still Alpine but wouldn’t hold a signal in a place where the old car had no problem. The digital clock lost a minute a week. The door panels and rear interior panels were one-piece unadorned slabs of plastic. Foam in the seats was park-bench hard. When I visited a Honda dealer with a friend, I was annoyed to see that the interior on the Civic was much nicer.

    When I noticed that the Integra’s upholstery on the driver’s seat was showing signs of wear at 10,000 miles and the driver’s side headlight had water in it for the second time , I dumped the car to CarMax where I am sure it made someone very happy… It still had Honda quality bones….but they were very, very bare bones…

    Reply
  15. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    Not hate, but I haven’t been as impressed by the new Giulia yet as much as I was hoping. It’s cramped with a sunroof (and I’m only 5’8), the 2.0T is typically dieselly and quick but not thrilling, and it felt sort of big and heavy. It’s nice enough, but I don’t know if it’s any more exciting than a Q50 or something.

    Reply
  16. Eric Rucker Avatar
    Eric Rucker

    Gen 2 Volt is the one that sticks in my mind the most.

    On paper, it was perfect for me – do almost a week of commuting on a charge, get decent efficiency when the gas engine had to fire up, and reviewers raved about how it was the enthusiast’s hybrid, with great torque for what it was and decent handling.

    And then I test drove one.

    The claims about great torque, those were true. It felt like a tuned TDI. Not bad. The rest, though…

    Interior ergonomics were such that almost every control was almost exactly 3 inches away from what felt natural.

    Outward visibility was nonexistent, to the point that I, at 6’1″, can see better out of a Miata. GM A-pillars are extremely thick nowadays, such that a car in the opposing left turn lane was completely obscured by the pillar. The sills were absurdly high. And then there’s rear visibility, where I literally had a brodozer behind me at a light, and couldn’t see it out the rear window, I had to either adjust the side mirrors inward, or use the rear view camera, to see it. There’s supercars with better rear visibility!

    But the worst part was the suspension tuning. OK, it may have not terrible handling on smooth roads, by virtue of having a decent amount of tire. But on uneven roads, the damn thing was massively underdamped, and wallowed like a ship at sea. It’s almost like they added 500 pounds to a Cruze… oh, wait, that’s exactly what they did.

    I went from thinking that car would be my next car, to absolutely despising it in the span of 5 minutes.

    Another example, although not hate, was the Fiesta EcoBoost I test drove. I went in having read all of the reviews saying that it was a fun, cheap, efficient car that was rewarding to drive fast. What I got into was a sensory deprivation chamber. Acceleration felt slower than it was, because of the high seating position and good noise insulation. The noise insulation also meant that if the engine was under 4000 RPM, you couldn’t really tell what gear you were in without looking at the tach. And, steering feedback was non-existent, so I couldn’t even tell how close I was getting to the limits, although everything I threw at it on the test drive, it handled without complaint.

    To put it another way: after test driving the Volt, I ended up actually buying a Prius (and being shocked that I actually liked it). That Prius is significantly more engaging to drive than the Fiesta EcoBoost was.

    Reply
  17. onrails Avatar
    onrails

    Miata Is Always The Answer.

    Not a popular opinion around here but the latest one wallows like a beached whale, even at low g levels. When I’m in a small, light, roadster, I want it to act like it! Hate is a strong word – I don’t hate it. I’m hugely glad they still build it and it still gets bought. But massive disappointment in the driving experience.

    Reply