by Al Shield

Created on: June 09, 2009

Oh it looked so 'almost' shiny sitting there on the lot. The rust well hidden by bog, most of the decals still intact and as the dealer pointed out, it still had a working aerial and un-ripped passenger seat! What more could you ask for? (aside from lower mileage and possibly a decent warranty that would cover more than just the five meters drive out of the lot? And more than 75% of the electrics to work?)

Yet you squashed your heart into your wallet leaving little room for logic or caution and you forked over more of your hard earned than you originally budgeted for. All for the 'dream', the car you've always wanted gleaming proudly in your drivewaywhile secretly letting forth its engine contents in the form of oil, petrol, coolant and god knows what else right onto your once gleaming driveway.

Congratulations, in no time at all you'll soon discover what you bought would suit a shot of a tequila and a line of salt. You've bought yourself a lemon.

Of course we're quick to label anything that falls to bits as soon as you close the door as a 'lemon' but it doesn't have to have spent most of its life changing hands in dodgy dealerships to be branded a popular citrus fruit. There's plenty of choices from fine automobile companies that should have been turned into meringue before they even considered stepping out brand new on the showroom floor. Engines that caught on fire, rattles that could never be located, grinding noises on the clutch that not even the designers could identify if it went back to the dealership time and time again for the same inherit problem as last time, after countless promises from tired mechanics that this was indeed the last time, it should have been squeezed into a drink.

But whether it was destined to be lemonade from its creation or from its life of abuse between owners one thing remains constant. You will pay until you can pay no more and then be expected to pay even more for things that you swore were fixed the last time you took out a loan for repairs. Rusty lemons are always a popular choice as they never rust in any handy place, oh no. The corrosion starts in the least likely places, quickly spreading to the more expensive places and by the time you do find the reddish crust of death, it's ventured into hideously expensive repair time.

Cleaning bills rack up quite quickly with lemons too and we don't mean detailing. If a lemon buy has fluid in it, expect in no time flat to have most of that fluid in places in shouldn't

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