Author Topic: This may be a very short thread!  (Read 4677 times)

davejazz

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 147
  • Country: england
  • My Honda: jazz EX 1.5 May 22 in boring black!
This may be a very short thread!
« on: April 20, 2023, 08:06:01 AM »
It was in the Daily Mail the other day, (so it must be true), that the Austin Allegro, was the most unreliable, and perhaps ugly car, of the last 60 years or so.

At the other end of the scale, I’m not pretending that you bought your Jazz on looks alone; but perhaps on brand loyalty, or reliability.

So, have we had any breakdowns out there, that caused you to cease rolling along?

Perhaps we could exclude tyres and batteries, (or not, if it’s worthy)!

Safe driving.

TnTkr

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 650
  • Country: fi
  • My Honda: 2019 GK5 Jazz 1.5 Dynamic 6MT
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2023, 08:28:16 AM »
Oh, was Allegro really worse than Leyland Princess? Sorry, off-topic.  :)

Lord Voltermore

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1928
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2021 Jazz EX
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2023, 09:20:05 AM »
And I've been reading articles that say the Allegro was better than its given credit for.  Probably written by journalists too young to have ever owned one.  As in so many things you can get a completely different view point depending on which publication/propaganda  you read.  And too many of us only read then ones  that consistently say what we want to hear.

With no offence to anyone who worked in the  British motor industry   it went through a period where it was  dominated by  influences that were not primarily  interested in its long term success.  . Car design became outdated and they were assembled very badly  , when they could be bothered to make any at all.
At least thats what it says in the publications I usually read.

I have had 'enough is enough' moments with  a particular car,  but not a particular make. Usually just general dissatisfaction.  I have been very lucky regarding breakdowns or major repairs  .Or rust. Maybe because I was more hands with maintenance  than some owners.   Ive just tended to drift towards  cars from countries where they are better made. 
  Trust a dog to guard your house  , but not your sandwich

Karoq

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 466
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Was HR-V e:HEV. 7 Hondas owned in the past. Currently CR-V SR. 2022 E:HEV
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2023, 09:47:56 AM »
The 'All-Agro' was a current model when I worked for Shell dealing with the retail motor trade. including a few BMC dealers.
I don't think the car was any more unreliable  than any other BMC car of the time.
The only joke was that in the hand book it warned you not to jack up the car with the supplied jack with any doors open. They didn't say why, but the reason was because the monocoque was so flimsy, that there was a risk of twisting it to the degree that the doors would not shut.
good job the NCAP safety rating scheme did not exist then!
Dip Mech Eng (automotive)

nowster

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 944
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2021 GR3 Jazz EX i-MMD in Midnight Blue
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2023, 10:17:12 AM »
The only failures that have halted the Mk2 Jazzes we had were radiator leaks. Herself's went when the car was about 8 years old and mine when it was 12 (a couple of months after I'd sold it).

I grew up with my father continuously having to fix the J suffix reg Triumph 1300TC we had.

Then he switched to a Datsun Cherry and stuck with Japanese cars ever since.

madasafish

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1953
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 1.4 ES CVT -2012
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2023, 10:44:50 AM »
Had two Allegros as company cars.
First. Collected Friday new: drove slowly to Scotland. 10 miles outside Montrose, oil warning light started flashing on bends. Stopped.. oil everywhere. Oil drain plug at last thread - not tightened. Tightened by hand (!HOT).. and drove slowly to nearest garage, 3 liters of oil to fill it.

Steering wheel (quartic) peeled, washer motor failed, hydrospastic suspension failed  , paint on roof bubbled.  All in Year 1.

After two years another..(no choice).  100% reliable.

davejazz

  • Topic Starter
  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 147
  • Country: england
  • My Honda: jazz EX 1.5 May 22 in boring black!
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2023, 10:45:10 AM »
The only failures that have halted the Mk2 Jazzes we had were radiator leaks. Herself's went when the car was about 8 years old and mine when it was 12 (a couple of months after I'd sold it).


Ah, those indispensable tins of Radweld. Happy days!

nowster

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 944
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2021 GR3 Jazz EX i-MMD in Midnight Blue
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2023, 12:27:50 PM »
The only failures that have halted the Mk2 Jazzes we had were radiator leaks. Herself's went when the car was about 8 years old and mine when it was 12 (a couple of months after I'd sold it).
Ah, those indispensable tins of Radweld. Happy days!

The smell of Plastic Padding, too.

5thcivic

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 351
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Jazz EX e:HEV and E
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2023, 12:31:26 PM »
The hydragas suspension on Allegros (and other BLs) was famously unreliable, and became a running joke at the time. A friend at work had an Allegro and was constantly having to fix things to a lot of ribbing from others.

I had my 5th generation Civic for around 8 years until someone came out of a T junction and took the rear end off and it was written off. I don't remember spending any time or money on repairs in all that time. Then had four 8th and 9th gen Civics in a row till their first MOTs and similar. The only problem I ever had was the first 8th gen had a bug in the fusebox microprocessor where it occasionally would not shut down and the battery went flat overnight, it was changed under a recall when Honda found out, no problems after. Jazz and E have been brillaint so far.

5thcivic

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 351
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: Jazz EX e:HEV and E
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #9 on: April 20, 2023, 12:50:26 PM »
Then he switched to a Datsun Cherry and stuck with Japanese cars ever since.

Yes, I remember the jokes about Japanese cars at the time, the styling, thin metal and abundance of chrome etc etc. Then as time went on the jokes weren't so funny anymore as we seemed not able to build any reliable cars anymore and the foreign cars became obviously better. I worked on some of the first digital chip electronic fuel injection controllers and was seconded to Rover and Jaguar sometimes on quailty issues, and the mangement solution to almost every problem was to stick another box under the bonnet, the opposite to a "total systems" design approach. The more complex. the more unreliable. Some car unions were led by unashamed communists, and the BL management probably the most ignorant and unqualified  in the world as far as I could see. When I went to Bosch in Germany the managers were all professional engineers and professors. When fellow workers looked in the bonnet of that 8th gen Civic they were amazed at how tidy and elegant the design and production engineering was.

Marco1979

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 260
  • Country: nl
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Honda Jazz Crosstar 2021 Crystal Red
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2023, 01:28:28 PM »
I only broke down once with a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. It was 1 week old, had not even 500 miles on the clock and the complete dash went dark, all gauges on 0. I could drive on, but only slowly (also you had no idea of how fast you were actually going, but it felt very slow). Of course I was on a holiday in France when it happened; they had never seen a hybrid Honda before and had to call an expert to come over. It turned out there was an error in the instrument cluster. The car got a new instrument cluster and the ODO showed 000000 when I picked it up a few days later :D.

Kremmen

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4574
  • Country: england
  • Civinfo interloper
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: MY22 Jazz EX
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2023, 02:29:10 PM »
Wasn't the All aggro more aerodynamic going backwards ?

That and the Morris Marina weren't the best of British.
Let's be careful out there !

TnTkr

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 650
  • Country: fi
  • My Honda: 2019 GK5 Jazz 1.5 Dynamic 6MT
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2023, 03:07:09 PM »
Here Leyland Princess had the worst reputation regarding the quality of design and manufacturing. But yes, Morris Marina was close to that as well.

olduser1

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1749
  • Country: 00
  • My Honda: Jazz EX 2015 CVT Elite Pack
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2023, 07:08:12 PM »
1750 Allegro in the wet what a test drive, I went back to my SAAB 96 thankfully.

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: This may be a very short thread!
« Reply #14 on: April 20, 2023, 07:33:02 PM »
We had a 1968 Austin 1800 for many years and it was a reliable, comfortable car. It had Hydrolastic suspension, the forerunner, and way more reliable, than Hydrogas suspension. it was the family car, and then when my dad passed, my mum gave it to me. Easy car to work on and to get spares.
Going back to the original thread, my Jazz never let me down in the six years and 62,500 miles I owned it except for a duff battery a few weeks after buying it. The nearest I came to a breakdown was the rear silencer parting from the middlebox and bouncing along the road. I had to stop on the hard shoulder of the M90 and pull it out of the mounting rubbers.

Tags:
 

anything
Back to top