Bizarrely, even taking into account my parents' cars as well as mine and She Who Must Be Obeyed's we haven't really had a bad one. Here follows a fairly extensive list.
1959-Isetta bubble car. Only one memory, (I was only 2 at the time) going up a single track road on the moors above Bury. Found out the road was closed due to lambing when we got to the closed gate. Parents got out of the front of the car, and I do mean the front, picked it up bodily and turned it through 180 degrees, got back in and drove off. Makes even a Panda seem unwieldy. After minor lower body damage, the repaired section was painted a contrasting darker blue, so was born the first custom Bubble Car in Manchester. My Dad a trendsetter Woo Hoo!
1960-Austin A30. Can't remember anything about that. According to the Old Man there weren't any problems with it.
1962-Austin A40. Certainly remember the backs of my legs when wearing short trousers sticking to the seat in summer. Please can I have long trousers Mum? It needed a clutch after about 27,000 miles which according to Dad was a good mileage. He hired a Ford Consul for the day while it was being repaired. This had "interesting" vacuum operated wipers. They went so fast at high speed it looked like they would fly off, but at slow speed they almost stopped.
1966-Austin 1100. Again, fairly unremarkable, except that it had as much room inside as the Consul, a much bigger car. Never broke down.
1969-Vauxhall Cresta. (2 years old) I think he had a touch of brain fade here as this was a bit of a monster. Even able (in an emergency) to carry two 13 year olds in the boot (stupid, I know but this was the 60's man.)
1969-Vauxhall Viva. We became a 2 car family. Middle classes here we come.
Again, no problems but batteries, tyres, clutches and brake linings were doing well if they lasted much more than 25K. The first car I ever drove in '74.
1971-Vauxhall VX 4/90 replaced the Cresta. First car with a rev counter, also had Rostyle wheels and 4 "bucket seats" and, best of all, overdrive on 3rd and 4th gear, making it a 6 speed box.
1972-Vauxhall Ventora replaced the VX 4/90. I think he was going power mad as it had the same 3.3 litre 6 engine but in a smaller body.
1974-Vauxhall Viva replaced the previous HB
1975-Austin 1800. A return to family sanity with a more economical car.
1978-Vauxhall Chevette replaced the Viva. Luckily, my Mother didn't like it so I bought it for a song.
1979-Mini 1000. This replaced the Chevette I "stole" from her. When she got it on the drive, my Dad checked it over & found a spare wheel well full of water with a mouldy bacon (possibly) sandwich floating in it. Good start eh?
1980-Renault 18. Replaced the 1800. He was never that happy with the car as it had a number of rattles and electrical niggles.
1981-Vauxhall Chevette 2300HS. Twin Weber 45's with inlet manifold, big valve conversion, fast road cams, free flow exhaust manifold and big bore exhaust. Never RR tested but estimated 190 bhp. Had the same main fault as the earlier 1.3; a rust trap behind the headlights. Eventually written off by a reversing truck in a car park. The insurance company valued it as a standard car.
1985-Series of company cars.
1987-Metro 1000/1300s Instructor for BSM. Gutless, heavy steering, binding brakes, heavy or slipping clutches, sensitive tracking, windows that stuck half way up and so on ad nauseum.
1989-Renault replaced by a Nissan Sunny. Predictably faultless. This car was stolen during a burglary and was driven around the local area for 2 years before one of those Coppers who has nothing better to do with their time than persecute innocent motorists, stopped the driver and found his finger prints matched those found at the house.
1989-Uno 60DS. Threw my dummy out of the pram and left BSM to go on my own. They bribed me to come back so I ended up using the revised Rover 100which I found surprisingly good. Good K class engines, gearboxes from VW and Honda. Handled better and was reliable.
1991-Nissan Sunny 1.6 to replace the stolen one.
1991-Dummy out again. Carried on with the Uno working on my own. 130,000 miles with only one clutch change and 2 brake re-lines. Only fault was a rebuilt diesel pump needed because I let it run out of fuel 3 times.
1994-Rover 214 SLi. This car gave pretty much reliable service although to be fair, it has only done 19K at the time of writing and is about to be P/Xd.
1996-Vauxhall Astra 1.6. Used for Instructor training. Reliable but sluggish with a geanerally low rent feel.
1997-Rover 200 diesel. Replaced the Astra. This too was reliable but small for its price. Not really much bigger that the Uno. Dreadful turbo lag.
1998-Rover 114. AA Driving School. Much better, in fact, even today it's probably the most fun for the money I've ever had in a car (with my clothes on)
1998-Punto 60S Bought by my Mother.
1999-Fiesta Ghia. Handlling not quite as good as the 100, but otherwise a cracking little car.
2001-Focus 1.6 Ghia. These replaced the Fiestas. I had 6 of these cars and although we only kept them for 18K, none of them needed any oil or anything but regular servicing.
2002-Punto 60S bought by She Who Must Be Obeyed. 4 years old with 9K on the clock. This car blew it's head gasket in 2006.
2002-Punto 60SX bought buy my Mum to replace the one above that came into our hands.
2005-Panda MJT. 30K so far. Needed pads and discs when pads wore out without warning. Otherwise, no faults.
2006-Stilo Active. '05 reg. 1K on the clock. Replaced Punto 60S with blown head gasket. Now just coming up on 20K.
2008-Very few of the cars that have passed through our family have cause any real problems. The Metros were very badly put together without a doubt. The Renault never really inspired confidence and, almost forgot, there was a VW Jetta in there somewhere that was so badly finished that (although reliable) had a hole where the glove box lid should have been, had brittle black plastic all over the dash which creaked over every bump and an engine that always sounded as if the tappets needed adjusting. The Head Gasket problem on the Punto 60S was a known quantity, although not to us and the 60SX Mk II that replaced didn't have that problem. Most of these cars didn't give anywhere near the problems so many seem to have had.
Handbrake failed and had to drop the fuel tank to replace the cables, interior that would break on contact (perhaps made from reconstituted paella) 
