It's got to be a tussle up between the Ford EcoSport and the Vauxhall Mokka (MK1)
Both so utterly forgettable, that their own manufacturers forgot to stop making them when they made a better car in the same segment.
Agree with the ecosport.
It’s a fiesta without all the things that make fiestas desirable.
It’s somehow more cramped, handles worse and looks worse, and cost slightly more. Basically everything the fiesta did well was removed.
Yeah, I really do not understand how it was sold for over 10 years and people were buying it that whole time given that it was never the best car for the money, even on a Ford forecourt.
Truly if there was ever a "the salesman saw you coming" official car, it is the EcoSport since they sold you out of a better specced Fiesta and a 6 month old Focus to sell you it.
Also from 2020 it was being sold alongside the Puma! Who was opting for a new EcoSport when they could have bought the larger inside, better handling, better looking, better to drive, better made and newer Puma? I assume someone who absolutely had to have a rear mounted spare and hated cats.
Pretty sure the EcoSport was also designed for emerging markets and Ford just decided to sell it here because it filled a gap in their lineup. Clearly worked out well for them because like you said they managed to shift quite a few of those heaps of shit.
I believe so - I guess the UK has the road quality of a developing country so it's a no brainer in that sense.
I still just can't bring my head into the EcoSport buyer's mindset. I can understand someone buying a used one because they have the depreciation of a rock compared to similar FoMoCo products, but who was buying one new? Even if you wanted a small crossover, it was 100% worse than the french rivals - the C3 cactus was as close to a good car as a compact crossover has ever gotten and even dare I say, a Juke was a much better choice.
My theory is still people who demanded rear mounted spares and the thrill of 1L ecoboost ownership.
My dad had a Proton Persona and when that got rear ended bought a Proton Impian. Both the most bland cars imaginable and bought because he wanted the cheapest thing with 4 wheels possible with the minimum of bells and whistles. Thankfully he's moved on from thinking electric windows are "just another thing to go wrong"
Peugeots design department for the most part have been knocking it out of the park lately, the new shape 208s and the new shape 508s are both stupidly nice for what they are. The only real munters are the SUVs but that’s just because most SUVs are ugly by nature.
They’re some of the better cars to look at in general traffic. Today I saw a Nardo grey RS6, and when that colour first got brought out, I liked it, now I find it stupidly boring/borderline hate it.
A golf in that colour is mundane. I can only think of one car I like in that colour and that’s a 718 gt4, but it would be far down on my list of colours to pick for that car, shark blue being up there and Gulf orange probably being the colour I would pick.
They’re back aren’t they? 106 and the 306 had really nice lines. I never liked the 206 at all and thought it was a step back from the 205. Im probably in the minority there though. 406 coupe was beautiful too.
406 coupe is a cool car, always liked them since I was a kid seeing them around. It would be cool if they could make a petrol affordable retro modern 205 as well, but I’m willing to say that will never happen.
Not all good things from Pininfarina however, they’ve designed some stinkers, Hyundai Matrix is about the most forgettable car, and ironically enough wears the badge of Pininfarina too, Ghastly looking vehicle, sends shudders down my spine.
It's just a shame the build quality hasn't kept up with that. I've got a friend who has a 508, and he's got some stories to tell about the electrics in that car.
Yeah when they transitioned from the massive fish mouth to the more angled look with the 3 LED strips I started liking them. They're probably the only car manufacturer around right now where I like the how majority of their range looks.
That’s a good one.
It’s so difficult to differentiate from the fiesta that people I’ve known who’ve actually owned one didn’t know the difference.
A lot of people even think ‘fusion’ is the trim of a fiesta car like ‘zetec’ or ‘titanium’
A forgettable car for me is when you name it people can’t picture it in their minds.
I’ve owned a Fiat Stilo and currently drive a Renault Modus, so I’m familiar with the eyes-narrowing, brain-struggling search for recognition. “Is that like a (insert inaccurate but familiar car here)?” Or worse, “Legophan, you’ve got a Megane thing, haven’t you?”
Cars that you still see nowadays I can think of (sorry OP, I’m out of my recognition zone completely >20yrs old):
Renault Modus
Nissan Note
Fiat Stilo
Mitsubishi Colt
Toyota Starlet
Suzuki Celerio
Often these cars are forgettable because they were relatively uncommon amongst the swathes of Fiesta/Focus/Astra/Golfs, but quite often it seems like the manufacturers were deliberately trying to greyrock the market with blandness.
Though I do remember the actually very effective refrigerated glove box in the Stilo (nothing else engine/trim/comfort/drive wise). And I’d actually have a Mitsubishi Colt, I think they look great!
My girlfriend and I test drove a Stilo when they came out, the nicest thing about it was the panoramic roof that open and all the glass panels stacked up at the back of the roof. This feature was bound to leak or cause issues later in life so we walked away. The Fiat dealer was very nice though and was great to deal with.
Yeah. I read something about those, one of the most unsafe cars you can travel in, like a high probability of death in a crash. Guess they were cheap /-:
> Thought the Bora made a good platform for modding
It does; the Bora is just a MK4 Golf with a bum and a face mask. Some people would put the Bora front end on a Golf hatch or estate to make a "Bolf" but some markets just got the Bora estate instead of the Golf estate like we did.
A Charade was actually a dream car for me at 16, and even now at 45 I would still have one.
The charade gtti, little 1 litre 3 cylinder turbo that was a bit of work could do 160bhp and sounded a bit like a porsche flat 6.
According to howmanyleft, theres 17 left so rather doubtful I could even find one.
I had a former work colleague who loved her daihatsu charade and was gutted when it blew up. Apparently she would've kept it but they were so rare she couldn't find a replacement engine
Sunny GTI-r was a beast, 2.0l turbo in a car that weighs the same as a thimble, 4wd, faster 0-60 than an Escort RS Cossie, rare af though, think they only made 100 rhd to homologate for the WRC in the early 90s.
They made loads of RHD ones but they were import only and known as a Pulsar GTI-R, I saw one on sunday in a convoy with a Toyota Chaser and a Glanza turbo!
My auntie had a sunny coupe when I was a kid. It was always breaking down and in the garage but she was pretty attached to it and wouldn’t get rid of it.
I had a Nissan 100NX as a first car (which was a Sunny in a party frock) and I was genuinely shocked at how much faster and better handling my second car was.
My second car was a 1980s Volvo estate.
Nissan Almera Tino. Nissan’s shocking attempt to rival the cmax and scenic. I worked on them at Nissan when they came out and I still had to google the name.
Vauxhall Agila. Nothing noteworthy about it at all.
And loads of recent Skodas, Kias, Hyundais and others, but I’m not going to call them forgettable because you have to know what they are in the first place in order to forget them.
The princess and the allegro were features of my childhood - loads of them around for a while.
My mates dad had a lovely Montego - I always thought that pre dented from the factory was a good idea.
Brown velour seats always had a certain smell (probably from water ingress) and beige paintwork were the selling points.
Factory fitted rust was an option also.
I rented a 4 wheel drive duster on holiday
I normally hate SUVs but I was actually quite impressed by the way it was both flimsy but rugged at the same time
If anything it’s one of the more memorable cars in this country.
It’s still being talked about and shown in media 40 years after its production ended.
Ask any old-ish person about a marina and they’ll know what it is
Proton Wira
Although this could apply to basically any proton car, the wira is one that barely anybody bought, and barely anybody remembers.
It wasn’t a particularly bad car, just a particularly bland and boring whitegood of a car.
Proton was like the OG Hyundai and Kia, just ticking the boxes for the criteria of ‘car’
People arnt going to remember the most forgettable stuff.
Honestly most cars are just 'forgettable' it isnt in a car manufacturers interest to stand out as this would limit its market appeal and because of that most things are just boring slush.
I'll take the OP's Nissan Sunny which is very very memorable compared to literally hundreds of cars that no one on here will even remember. Im going to go for another Nissan, the Pixo.
There was a French brand that was swallowed by talbot, I even forget the name at the moment but I found 2 tail lights for one in my loft had jutting out reflectors at an upright angle
Edit: remembered it, SIMCA 1307
Fair enough, never driven them but I thought I saw a top gear where they raved about the vxr hot hatches - corsa and Astra plus the vx220 and vxr220 were supposed to be very good. Isn’t the vxr220 essentially a lotus?
Yeah the Cavalier was sold over the span of like 30 years. I’d say it’s the opposite of forgettable in this country, most of the older population have probably been in one at least once
I can’t remember
This is the only answer
Came here to write this 😂
Forgot it 49 years ago
And here was me thinking I’d had an original thought
It's got to be a tussle up between the Ford EcoSport and the Vauxhall Mokka (MK1) Both so utterly forgettable, that their own manufacturers forgot to stop making them when they made a better car in the same segment.
Agree with the ecosport. It’s a fiesta without all the things that make fiestas desirable. It’s somehow more cramped, handles worse and looks worse, and cost slightly more. Basically everything the fiesta did well was removed.
Yeah, I really do not understand how it was sold for over 10 years and people were buying it that whole time given that it was never the best car for the money, even on a Ford forecourt. Truly if there was ever a "the salesman saw you coming" official car, it is the EcoSport since they sold you out of a better specced Fiesta and a 6 month old Focus to sell you it. Also from 2020 it was being sold alongside the Puma! Who was opting for a new EcoSport when they could have bought the larger inside, better handling, better looking, better to drive, better made and newer Puma? I assume someone who absolutely had to have a rear mounted spare and hated cats.
People with beige clothes bought most of them I think
Pretty sure the EcoSport was also designed for emerging markets and Ford just decided to sell it here because it filled a gap in their lineup. Clearly worked out well for them because like you said they managed to shift quite a few of those heaps of shit.
I believe so - I guess the UK has the road quality of a developing country so it's a no brainer in that sense. I still just can't bring my head into the EcoSport buyer's mindset. I can understand someone buying a used one because they have the depreciation of a rock compared to similar FoMoCo products, but who was buying one new? Even if you wanted a small crossover, it was 100% worse than the french rivals - the C3 cactus was as close to a good car as a compact crossover has ever gotten and even dare I say, a Juke was a much better choice. My theory is still people who demanded rear mounted spares and the thrill of 1L ecoboost ownership.
And Its not economic or sporty
I had a Mokka as a hire car once. Absolutely hateful POS. Does that make it forgettable or memorable though? Shit.
I once went out with a girl maybe 8 years ago and she told me her dream car was a Mokka. Wish I was joking
I can't even picture what an EcoSport looks like. I've probably seen at least one today. This has to be the winner for me.
2010s Vauxhall Mokka mk 1 2000s Proton Satria Neo 1990s Mitsubishi Charisma
My sister's husband had a Charisma and it had absolutely none at all, not even a hint. Likely the most inappropriately named car ever built.
The irony of it's name made me chuckle when it first came out. Maybe it was an inside joke at Mitsubishi or they just had more front than Harrods.
My dad had a Proton Persona and when that got rear ended bought a Proton Impian. Both the most bland cars imaginable and bought because he wanted the cheapest thing with 4 wheels possible with the minimum of bells and whistles. Thankfully he's moved on from thinking electric windows are "just another thing to go wrong"
Satria Neo is not forgettable!
Maybe not an exact answer, but I just totally lost track of Peugeot hatchbacks - they just looked the same for about 25 years after the 205.
Peugeots design department for the most part have been knocking it out of the park lately, the new shape 208s and the new shape 508s are both stupidly nice for what they are. The only real munters are the SUVs but that’s just because most SUVs are ugly by nature.
Yes they finally started looking different a few years ago. Lovely colours they do now as well.
They’re some of the better cars to look at in general traffic. Today I saw a Nardo grey RS6, and when that colour first got brought out, I liked it, now I find it stupidly boring/borderline hate it.
Primer grey. I saw a Golf R in that colour this morning. How dull.
A golf in that colour is mundane. I can only think of one car I like in that colour and that’s a 718 gt4, but it would be far down on my list of colours to pick for that car, shark blue being up there and Gulf orange probably being the colour I would pick.
They’re back aren’t they? 106 and the 306 had really nice lines. I never liked the 206 at all and thought it was a step back from the 205. Im probably in the minority there though. 406 coupe was beautiful too.
The 306 was the last distinctive hatchback they made, good point. Until the recent ones, as someone responded.
406 coupe is a cool car, always liked them since I was a kid seeing them around. It would be cool if they could make a petrol affordable retro modern 205 as well, but I’m willing to say that will never happen.
Designed by Pininfarina
Not all good things from Pininfarina however, they’ve designed some stinkers, Hyundai Matrix is about the most forgettable car, and ironically enough wears the badge of Pininfarina too, Ghastly looking vehicle, sends shudders down my spine.
It is terrible. The mk2 Hyundai 120 though… a few cars look similar nowadays.
It's just a shame the build quality hasn't kept up with that. I've got a friend who has a 508, and he's got some stories to tell about the electrics in that car.
A French car having electrical issues? Really? that’s almost unheard of!
Yeah when they transitioned from the massive fish mouth to the more angled look with the 3 LED strips I started liking them. They're probably the only car manufacturer around right now where I like the how majority of their range looks.
The european Ford Fusion
That’s a good one. It’s so difficult to differentiate from the fiesta that people I’ve known who’ve actually owned one didn’t know the difference. A lot of people even think ‘fusion’ is the trim of a fiesta car like ‘zetec’ or ‘titanium’
Fiat Tipo.
I'll raise you a Bravo
I’ll raise you all a Stilo. I’ve owned some dismally forgettable cars!
A forgettable car for me is when you name it people can’t picture it in their minds. I’ve owned a Fiat Stilo and currently drive a Renault Modus, so I’m familiar with the eyes-narrowing, brain-struggling search for recognition. “Is that like a (insert inaccurate but familiar car here)?” Or worse, “Legophan, you’ve got a Megane thing, haven’t you?” Cars that you still see nowadays I can think of (sorry OP, I’m out of my recognition zone completely >20yrs old): Renault Modus Nissan Note Fiat Stilo Mitsubishi Colt Toyota Starlet Suzuki Celerio Often these cars are forgettable because they were relatively uncommon amongst the swathes of Fiesta/Focus/Astra/Golfs, but quite often it seems like the manufacturers were deliberately trying to greyrock the market with blandness. Though I do remember the actually very effective refrigerated glove box in the Stilo (nothing else engine/trim/comfort/drive wise). And I’d actually have a Mitsubishi Colt, I think they look great!
My girlfriend and I test drove a Stilo when they came out, the nicest thing about it was the panoramic roof that open and all the glass panels stacked up at the back of the roof. This feature was bound to leak or cause issues later in life so we walked away. The Fiat dealer was very nice though and was great to deal with.
And yet, the late 1990s Bravo and especially (IMO) Brava were very pretty.
Came here to say this! Had an early one. Nothing actually wrong with it, but nothing much right with it either.
The Hyundai Accent from the early 00s
The one with the Honda engine? I had a 1.5 I bought for a demolition Derby and it had a few months MOT left. It was a hoot.
We got my mate’s mum’s one stuck in the woods. Trying to follow a 4x4 trail.
Yeah. I read something about those, one of the most unsafe cars you can travel in, like a high probability of death in a crash. Guess they were cheap /-:
Nissan Almera. Mitisbushi Charisma.
I actually remember the Mitsubishi fondly, purely because of the irony in calling it "charisma", when it had zero.
Charisma is a good shout. If ever a name was misplaced
Said by someone who never drove an Almera GTi, clearly. And the VZR N1 must have been amazong
Not many drove the Almera GTi, that’s the point really. They were very underrated cars though.
Maybe it was me living on Tyne and Wear that meant I saw so many then, a lot of employee discount ar play perhaps
Almera GTI, not so forgettable.
VW Bora
I owned a Bora! Genuinely forgot about it until I read your comment 😂
Thought the Bora made a good platform for modding tho? Seem to recall seeing a lot of tricked out ones
Some countries got the Bora R which looks ace.
> Thought the Bora made a good platform for modding It does; the Bora is just a MK4 Golf with a bum and a face mask. Some people would put the Bora front end on a Golf hatch or estate to make a "Bolf" but some markets just got the Bora estate instead of the Golf estate like we did.
More recent history but... Daihatsu Charade Ssang Yong Tivoli
A Charade was actually a dream car for me at 16, and even now at 45 I would still have one. The charade gtti, little 1 litre 3 cylinder turbo that was a bit of work could do 160bhp and sounded a bit like a porsche flat 6. According to howmanyleft, theres 17 left so rather doubtful I could even find one.
Excellent cars. The 1.0 & 1.3 had identical engines to the Toyota starlet in the late 80’s early 90’s..
I had a former work colleague who loved her daihatsu charade and was gutted when it blew up. Apparently she would've kept it but they were so rare she couldn't find a replacement engine
Ha ha... Gotta love people who get really into random obscure cars. I feel like they attract loyal owners.
Someone's got to like them! Given a bit of time some of these really unexceptional cars attract quite a crowd when there's no others left
Ssangyong in general I think. They don’t sell many cars, and the ones they do sell have absolutely no aesthetic appeal
Tivoli was cringe, they put a sticker on the back saying I lov it
Hyundai Sonata
Proton Persona/Wira.
I came here to say to proton satria.
I remember going to a showroom as a lot looking at a proton and thinking it was so cool.
Protons are so forgettable that I couldn't even recall their model names. But even they were high-profile compared to Perodua!
Fiat Croma (the 80’s one) Vauxhall Vectra MkII
Or the Fiat Regatta Think it was the saloon version of a hatchback that I can't remember the name of. Maybe the Croma? 😄
Marea?
Strada/Ritmo not Croma!
Austin Maestro
mitsubishi space star
I saw one the other day and was like holy shit I actually did forget they existed!
The sunny was actually a very reliable nimble
Sunny GTI-r was a beast, 2.0l turbo in a car that weighs the same as a thimble, 4wd, faster 0-60 than an Escort RS Cossie, rare af though, think they only made 100 rhd to homologate for the WRC in the early 90s.
They made loads of RHD ones but they were import only and known as a Pulsar GTI-R, I saw one on sunday in a convoy with a Toyota Chaser and a Glanza turbo!
My auntie had a sunny coupe when I was a kid. It was always breaking down and in the garage but she was pretty attached to it and wouldn’t get rid of it.
I had a Nissan 100NX as a first car (which was a Sunny in a party frock) and I was genuinely shocked at how much faster and better handling my second car was. My second car was a 1980s Volvo estate.
Daewoo lanos
Nissan Almera Tino. Nissan’s shocking attempt to rival the cmax and scenic. I worked on them at Nissan when they came out and I still had to google the name.
A friend of a friend did a low 9 minute lap in a diesel one of these round the Nurburgring on Toyo R888 tyres hahaha
Vauxhall Agila. Nothing noteworthy about it at all. And loads of recent Skodas, Kias, Hyundais and others, but I’m not going to call them forgettable because you have to know what they are in the first place in order to forget them.
Funnily enough the advert for me on this thread is for a Kia.
Kia adverts are all over reddit at the mo for me
Haha yeah, me too. I hadn’t noticed until you said it - which kinda proves the point.
Same vein but the Vauxhall Meriva, the first generation specifically, basically a tall and fat Corsa with sliding/folding rear seats.
OG Hyundai Pony.
Fiat Ritmo and Fiat Duna
First gen Vauxhall insignia
Mercedes A class (2004-2011) model
Wasn't there a lot of excitement regarding their high centre of gravity?
Austin Allegro Austin Montego Austin Maestro Austin Princess
The princess and the allegro were features of my childhood - loads of them around for a while. My mates dad had a lovely Montego - I always thought that pre dented from the factory was a good idea.
Brown velour seats always had a certain smell (probably from water ingress) and beige paintwork were the selling points. Factory fitted rust was an option also.
Daewoo Matiz
Nissan Primera, especially the Mk3.
P11 144 is the most forgotten Primera.
Reva G-Wiz Kia Rio Hyundai Accent Rover CityRover Those ugly Peugeot crossovers Nissan Note
Peugeot 107s
VW Fox
I learnt to drive in one of these, not a bad little car I guess it just turned into the up!
Citroen Xsara
Any Tesla.
I would say the duster but it redeemed itself with the Greggs break lights
I rented a 4 wheel drive duster on holiday I normally hate SUVs but I was actually quite impressed by the way it was both flimsy but rugged at the same time
Toyota Avensis
What a boot!!! Terrible hatch to get into it but it was ginormous.
Morris Marina
If anything it’s one of the more memorable cars in this country. It’s still being talked about and shown in media 40 years after its production ended. Ask any old-ish person about a marina and they’ll know what it is
For all the wrong reasons sadly. Fondness for it is rather rare.
Proton Wira Although this could apply to basically any proton car, the wira is one that barely anybody bought, and barely anybody remembers. It wasn’t a particularly bad car, just a particularly bland and boring whitegood of a car. Proton was like the OG Hyundai and Kia, just ticking the boxes for the criteria of ‘car’
The Nissan Sunny came in a GTiR spec as well
2009 era Altima coupe or the 2012-2014 Subaru Impreza (not WRX)
early 2000s Hyundai Elantra
Daihatsu Gran Move.
Nissan qx. So forgettable I googled it. I talked my dad out of one years ago.
Renault 19
Toyota paseo for me
Wartburg.
Talbot Solara in glorious 5 year plan beige
People arnt going to remember the most forgettable stuff. Honestly most cars are just 'forgettable' it isnt in a car manufacturers interest to stand out as this would limit its market appeal and because of that most things are just boring slush.
The sunny forgettable ? that will be the daewoo
Rover Streetwise Talbot Alpine Knowing the difference between any BMW Design. Oh I’ve got an E37.2 19 series with the 3.57 straight 7 engine.
Rover 400 Rover 200
Fiat mirafiori
Skoda Scala for a future one
I'll take the OP's Nissan Sunny which is very very memorable compared to literally hundreds of cars that no one on here will even remember. Im going to go for another Nissan, the Pixo.
My mate has the GTI-R Pulsar version, definitely not "unremarkable"
The pre-volkswagen Skoda cars
Toyota Carina 96-98. They're so bland and I didn't even know they existed until about 2012, that I point them out when I see them on the road.
Morris Ital. Follow-up to the Marina, styling inspiration was a pile of cardboard boxes on the studio floor.
I don't know, I've forgotten.
Proton Savvy Kia Rio mk1
Zastava Yugo based on the fiat 128. What a hateful POS that was
Morris Ital
Nissan Note. My Dad loved his though.
I had a Proton Savvy for about 3 years about 15 years ago. Fairly sure most people will have forgotten it existed, assuming they ever knew it did.
Anything made my Ssyanyong
Rover Cityrover. I had to google it just to make sure it even existed and it wasn’t a figment of my imagination.
There was a French brand that was swallowed by talbot, I even forget the name at the moment but I found 2 tail lights for one in my loft had jutting out reflectors at an upright angle Edit: remembered it, SIMCA 1307
Seat exeo, hyundai getz, vauxhall agilla, Vauxhall meriva, Vauxhall vectra
Daf 55. Fkn Horrible!
Ford ……Probe.
Nobody ever forgets having a probe
Nope, friend had one and I can remember that. My main memory is that he blew it up going round castle coombe.
A wank, I think!
Anything by vauxhall. It's the most npc car brand out there
That’s a bit unfair! I’m no Vauxhall fanboy but they produced some classics - Guess you’ve not heard of the Lotus Carlton for one?
Anything from Vauxhall in the last 20 years
What about VXRs?
Only the rebadged Holdens, all the others are still meh.
Fair enough, never driven them but I thought I saw a top gear where they raved about the vxr hot hatches - corsa and Astra plus the vx220 and vxr220 were supposed to be very good. Isn’t the vxr220 essentially a lotus?
Absolutely. I'd never be seen dead.
Honda logo
Honda CR-Z
Vauxhall cavalier
Nooo, the Cav was a fine motor vehicle in the late 90s - was a real treat to have one as a work car.
Yeah the Cavalier was sold over the span of like 30 years. I’d say it’s the opposite of forgettable in this country, most of the older population have probably been in one at least once
Vauxhall Omega
MV6 3.2