What was the most UNRELIABLE car you've ever owned?

[Walt34]

Chevy Citation. Left me stranded several times, once in the middle of an intersection.

DW had one of those at the time we got married and it had the same issue, in addition to randomly deciding it would not shift into reverse (manual transmission). She always made a point to park in a position where she would not need reverse.

On the engine quitting issue, several shops couldn't find anything wrong with it so we ended up selling it to a BIL who bought it despite being warned.

Oh, and it had a sun roof that leaked. No one could figure out that one either. When we bought the Honda Accord last year, I had thought about getting a six-cylinder but those only came with a sunroof, an automatic deal-killer for us. Been there, done that, got the wet t-shirt.

 

[RAE]

2004 Chevy Silverado pickup was a major disappointment. Ran okay with few problems the first couple years, then it was one thing after another.......both front wheel bearings went out (at 30K miles!), power steering pump failed (while driving the truck....that was not fun!), brake calipers rusted out way too frequently (cheap Mexican steel, I was told by the mechanic), intermediate shaft had to be replaced, tailgate latch cable rusted out, and more. Then the real fun began, at about 60K miles - dashboard electronics started randomly going out, so you never knew if you were going to have any dashboard electronics (gas guage, etc) when you started the truck. Took it back to the dealer and he said he couldn't really find the cause of that problem (gee, thanks!). So, when the electronics came back on, I traded the damn thing in with only about 65K miles on it. Bought a Toyota Tundra after that, and so far it has been a much better truck for me. I will not be buying anymore GM trucks.

 

[Chuckanut]

Pontiac 6000. 1985. First and last GM car I ever bought.


4

 

[Beldar]

What great war stories!

Mine was a 1973 Chevy Vega wagon. It looked neat as heck (like a miniature Camaro), but the head gasket would blow every 12 months or so. It had a factory rebuilt engine with the steel cylinder sleeves, but the aluminum block would warp ever so slightly and the coolant would eventually find it way past the gasket. At least the head was easy to remove. If I checked the oil periodically I could tell when it was ready to blow as the oil would turn a milky grey when it was contaminated by the coolant.

It finally developed a rod knock, so I gave it to my brother. The engine locked up one day on the highway and he gave the title to the gas station owner to where it was towed.

 

[Palmtree]

Mine as a used 1970 Renault R10. Water cooled engine....in the rear. It was my first car. The color was burnt orange, it had a push button automatic transmission that used the engine oil as coolant and it cost $300 in 1976. That was the first clue something was amiss. There was always something breaking. Just try to find on the shelf parts for a French car in east Tennessee in the 70's! It was a "well....we can order one" type of thing.

The only plus was it was the only one in town. If I was broken down at the side of the road, they knew it was me.

 

[Texas Proud]

Since people are beating up on Fords, I will throw in mine....

1985 Mercury Cougar..... had it for 10 years and 120K miles...

After 3 months the fuel pump stopped working, under warranty....

I know I had 3 or 4 other warranty things done, but can not remember what they were....

This care ATE batteries... the first one lasted 18 months... no other one lasted more than 12... in the 10 years I had the car had between 20 and 30 batteries.... almost all under warranty (I was surprised that when they replaced a battery they started the warranty over again.... until I was up to about 15 and they said they would not replace this one)....

The car also started to stall... there were times that I had to keep my foot on the gas when stopped to prevent it from just shutting off... it went into the shop 10 to 20 times for this... paid lots of money to fix 'this and that'.... but it always came back... Ford eventually admitted it was a problem but never told their dealers.... IIRC, I could have gotten a $500 off voucher for another Ford product....


I remember the day the shuttle blew up that my car was in the shop... went to pick it up and they said they did service on it.... replaced 8 spark plugs... WHAT>>> I have a 6 cylinder!!! OPPS....


The alternator was replaced.... the tranny went out at about 100K miles... OHHH, almost forgot that the power steering pump sprang a leak and I just did not fix it... just kept putting in more fluid... so the fluid went onto the suspension parts and over time ruined the front suspension on the right side... did not fix that either.... sold it to a friend who knew all the problems as they had a T-Bird, but theirs was worse than mine!!!

So between the batteries and stalling, I would say I had to do something with this car every 2 or 3 months.... during some stretches every month...

Said I would never buy another Ford, but when BIL died I did buy his Ford Explorer from sis.... cost me big time with bearings etc.... I will not go into all its problems, but it cost me over $10K to fix things that was not maintenance....

Sooooo, now I will not buy a Ford ever again... nor will I accept one as a gift unless I can sell it right away....

 

[Birchwood]

Getting nervous with my 5 yrs old Ford F150 truck..... Anybody with a Ford truck with a good experience?

 

[Texas Proud]

Getting nervous with my 5 yrs old Ford F150 truck..... Anybody with a Ford truck with a good experience?

When I was looking to see any reference on my Cougar stalling.... I saw a few lawsuits against Ford for eco-boost stalling on the 150...

It seems Ford has been having stalling problems for many years... not just my car...

 

[Ronstar]

Getting nervous with my 5 yrs old Ford F150 truck..... Anybody with a Ford truck with a good experience?

You should make it until its at least 6 years old. Mine is 6 years old with only a couple of minor problems

 

[6miths]

Have owned mostly Hondas so never had occasion to complain about anything. Only went outside the brand and one of those was a Toyota Sienna which was a complete lemon. Fought with the dealer over several failures that should have been warrantied but dealer said no only to cough up the money a year and two after I was rid of the damn thing and the items were subject to recalls. Back to Hondas after that adventure and not disappointed!

 

[Midpack]

Getting nervous with my 5 yrs old Ford F150 truck..... Anybody with a Ford truck with a good experience?

Most of the vehicles cited, including Fords, have been decades ago. Hopefully all newer production cars are more reliable these days?

 

[FIYes]

Plymouth Horizon from the mid eighties. Don't remember the exact model year. It was not reliable.


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[yakers]

Can't believe no one has mentioned one yet.....my 1985 VW Westfalia.Wonderful when it worked. Younger sons first vehicle for a while. Still in the family, gave it to older son after I put a Subaru engine in it. What went wrong? There is not enough time & electrons to list. On the way back from Burning Man in 2007 DW actually comtemplated leaving me with it on the side of the road near Bishop CA and taking a (real) bus home.
An 'adventure in moving'.

 

[Car-Guy]

Most of the vehicles cited, including Fords, have been decades ago. Hopefully all newer production cars are more reliable these days?

I think that's generally true "however", I could easily fix most problems on older cars (particularly those from the 50's, 60's and even into the 70's) The newer cars "with all the electronic components" can be harder for the ShadeTree mechanic like me to work on when the need does arise. Mechanical components on new vehicles are still serviceable for the most part. For the electronics , I've found a OBD reader/scanner (which can be bought for less than $100) is very helpful when trying to figure out out what's going on when your start see things like the engine warning light come on. Often the warning codes just need to be cleared and nothing is really wrong.

Back in the day (50's and 60's) I couldn't drive a car/truck for100k miles without having major problems with the engine/transmission etc. These day's (since the late 90's) driving a vehicle 100K+ miles has been easy for me to do without problems with little more service than regular oil and filter changes and maybe a brake job. YMMV

 

[Midpack]

No argument there. I used to work on my cars long ago (carb rebuild, starter repl, brake pads, plugs, timing, etc.), not any more. I put air in the tires, fill the WW fluid reservoir, replace tires & batteries, that's about it now...

Kinda normal for technology. Admittedly stretching to make a point but I can still work on desktop/laptop PC's, OTOH mobile devices - not a chance.

 

[Palmtree]

I wouldn't worry about the F-150. When we were building our house in 2005 I bought a used 1998 F-150 to haul things around. It was not pampered or even ever washed. Kept it for around 18 months and never did a thing to it except add gas and change the oil. When we were done, I washed it and sold it for more than I paid for it.

 

[ERD50]

I think that's generally true "however", I could easily fix most problems on older cars (particularly those from the 50's, 60's and even into the 70's) The newer cars "with all the electronic components" can be harder for the ShadeTree mechanic like me to work on when the need does arise. Mechanical components on new vehicles are still serviceable for the most part. For the electronics , I've found a OBD reader/scanner (which can be bought for less than $100) is very helpful when trying to figure out out what's going on when your start see things like the engine warning light come on. Often the warning codes just need to be cleared and nothing is really wrong. ...

First, you don't need a $100 scanner anymore. You can get an OBDII module that has BlueTooth and plugs into the port ( < $15). Then load a FREE program on your phone, or tablet (I assume laptop as well, have not checked). It does far more than my $60 scanner.

The one I bought (may be better prices out there now):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051CAE1C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage


Second, as far as repairing cars with modern electronics, it's not always a problem for the 'shade tree mechanic'. They are modules, you replace them, and they aren't always expensive.

And the overall reliability improvements mean fewer of these issues to begin with. I'm sure the money I spent (inflation adjusted) for points, plugs, belts, carb kits, and 'tune ups', etc on my 60's era cars would more than pay for any repairs on my modern cars. Not even counting the repairs on those 60's cars.

-ERD50

 

[Car-Guy]

Second, as far as repairing cars with modern electronics, it's not always a problem for the 'shade tree mechanic'. They are modules, you replace them, and they aren't always expensive.

-ERD50

Really, I didn't know that! Now, if I could just figure out how to open the hood.

 

[Birchwood]

Modern electronics made vehicles more reliable, and I like the fact that in most cases, the early warning lights, will give a signal, and at times, the truck(Ford) in this case, will go to a "limp mode", that allows me to drive it to the dealer before it actually breaks down.

Ford parts are actually cheaper. The cost of a TPS sensor is $109. What hurts me is the $99 electronic diagnostics, which I presume connecting my truck to a computer to determine codes, and the $100/ hour repair bill. It rounds up to $400. There is no way for me to know that a little $109 sensor is causing the problem, thus I feel we are captive to this. Funny, my Hondas, Toyotas, Nissan, and Subarus had many more miles than this truck and never had any electronic problems. Coincidence?

 

[ERD50]

... There is no way for me to know that a little $109 sensor is causing the problem, thus I feel we are captive to this. ...

If you get the $15 OBDII device I listed and a FREE diagnostic program for phone/tablet, you can read the codes. Then search the internet for that code and your make/model/year.

Often (not always), there is a common cause (or maybe a couple common causes), and it is often something you can DIY. If not, at least you are armed with the knowledge when you take it in (and I'd recc an independent mechanic with a good reputation, rather than a dealer).

Youtube is sometimes almost scary helpful for this. They have absolutely nailed a few things I searched for, with complete video on the repair, links to parts sources, etc. It's like having your own personal assistant (except for the repair itself!).

-ERD50

 

[Midpack]

Really, I didn't know that! Now, if I could just figure out how to open the hood.

If you do figure out how to open the hood, more and more likely this is what you'll find (as you know). Good luck!

Ya think automakers are trying to tell us something?

 

[Car-Guy]

If you do figure out how to open the hood, more and more likely this is what you'll find (as you know). Good luck!

Ya think automakers are trying to tell us something?

Yes, things sure have changed. Some of my older cars I can still climb in (sometimes need a ladder these days) and sit in the engine bay and work on things. Yes this can be dangerous and it's best to do with the engine off and cold.

 

[mystang52]

Well, I found one thing I could do on my Lexus: I easily changed the cabin and engine air filters! Other than adding air to a tire, that's about the limit of my car DIY maintenance.

 

[HFWR]

If you do figure out how to open the hood, more and more likely this is what you'll find (as you know). Good luck!

Ya think automakers are trying to tell us something?

Is that a nucular reactor?

 

[ejman]

Is that a nucular reactor?

Being unfamiliar with that word, I had to look it up. Here is the definition I found
Adjective

nucular ‎(comparative more nucular, superlative most nucular)
(botany) Nut-shaped; of or relating to a nucule — a section of a compound (usually hard) fruit

Clear as mud.