so what is it? the worst bit of our cars?

i think its gotta be the non-gavanising of the steel and the non-split-folding of the rear seats.

Tailgate struts and parcel shelf mountings!

the wieght of the blooming thing

boot struts can go in any car. parcel shelf - yeah you have a point.

they weigh less than nearly all new cars do

Never known the boot struts to actually go weak so quickly as they do in 300s though, the tailgate on both of my skodas were just as heavy and the struts were still powerful enough to hold the hatch up, and literally take the hatch up with them. The struts have been weak on all of the three 300s we've had! Even my Dads 345 old which only had 50k on the clock.

Sunroofs - although theyre Golde (if i read right!) and not Volvo!

Steve

the boot struts on nessy push the hatch upwards..

the glass sunroofs are good

Alright for some

I agree with Steve, the Golde sunroof mechanism, no end of problems! The plastic inner door handle surrounds, which snap, or the lugs break off. The tops of the doors under the window, where the seam is which rusts and the strips which go brittle below the windows! The heater control slider which disconnects itself. Other than those minor things, a fantastic car!

Pete

I'll go with the front valance not having drain holes in the right place and rusting so quickly

I like my sunroof

I think the worst bit of 340 design is the bloody door and boot catch mechanisms (but that might just be me. I'm on the 3rd replacement boot catch mechanism now!)

My vote goes to the leaf spring suspension..I like coilsprings better.

Leaf springs are solid and reliable... Even better than modern methods for harsh driving and heavy loads in a lot of circumstances. The main problems are that when it goes, it really goes and I guess it makes lowering your car a little awkward... Granted, they don't offer the most comfortable ride but what do you expect from a car designed in the 70s that has it's origins long before that?

in all fairness there are plenty of modern cars with leafsprings. the new '05 corvette for instance - thats a bloody sports car, and the mitsu l200.

Leafsprings give an awesome ride....but crappy anti-roll characteristics. Lets not forget that the 300 was never set up for good handling!

Azurael - the early 300s (like yours) had a different boot catch - might be worth investigating.

Worst things...hmm...
# Aerodynamics - wind noise is terrible above 60mph
# (340) Renault engines
# Rear door design (already touched upon) - including trapping water in CL motors!
#Sunroof panels rust, mechanisms break (but true of most cars)
#Door handles snap

That'll do for now...

cheers

James

Argh I forgot about the wind noise! Dear me, I couldn't remember that from the 345s we had. Although I suspect that alot of it is due to the sunroof! My Favorit was quieter on the motorway!

I think the ride quality is actually very good, no idea of the condition of my shocks, but it's still quite smooth.

Steve