Don't think any of mine have been that bad. They've all served me well and stood up to the abuse admirably.
Yes, when I had the Morris Ital I was forever chasing round it with a tin of rust eater and a rattle can, and that oil leak onto the exhaust made a bit of a smell sometimes but it did 50k with nothing other than regular servicing and a recond alternator IIRC. Oh, and the "occasional" (at every fuel stop!) top up of oil. Gearbox whined a bit but TADTS.
The Rover 214 was a bit bland and uninspiring but did 80k in my hands without much bother and had the decency to wait until 2 weeks after I sold it before doing the "K series head gasket thing".
The Laguna I had, again uninspiring but a good mile muncher - until the valve clearances all closed up and, when I went to re-shim it I found it had mullered a cam bearing in the head. Changed the head and got it all tip-top again then promptly chopped it in for an Omega.
I've been lucky, really, I suppose.
My mate always had the knack of buying liabilities - like an all-aggro - one of the pokier ones. It was a 1500 or 1750 IIRC. A bit more grunt comes in handy when only 2 gears work - 3rd and 5th IIRC (no reverse, then!).
Then there was the Chevette that had been serviced so regularly that the breathers had almost filled the air filter box up with crud. Went to adjust the rockers and had to find them first! Just a big chunk of margarine under the rocker cover.
Remarkably, that ran as sweet as a nut after a couple of oil changes and a good service.
.. and speaking of Chevettes, another mate had one with a dodgy gearbox. Replaced that, then the prop shaft let go and took the back end of the gearbox casing out. So, we made one good gearbox out of the bits, and tried again.. etc.. I think the gearbox came out 5 or 6 times before it was fixed.

Kevin