What was your worse car you ever had?

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflower Hey, my first car was a Chevy Vega around 1974...let's see you top that one for bad! Lasted maybe 60,000 miles or even less. Another was a Toyota Corolla, but it wasn't the car so much as I hated how low it sat. I couldn't even see muhc over the steering wheel to see past the hood, and I'm only 5' 4-1/2" which is pretty average for a woman since 5'5" is average here in America. And it was a baby poop brownish taupe...barf.

Sorry, my 75 Gremlin has you beat!!

[Janet H]

It's a toss up!

• VW 411 that burned on the side of the road (PA Turnpike) with everything I owned inside
• Renault Le Car that stalled every time you stepped on the brakes hard (turned out they neglected to install the bolts that hold the engine in place). Wipers only worked in second gear, speedo was intermittent and very wrong (would read 110 kph in first gear), rubber roof blew off one day covering the windshield of the semi following, etc

[Andre1969]

I've tended to get my cars old...very old. Sometimes older than me! So while I've had some POS'es, I can't fully blame the manufacturer. But, for the worst car I've ever owned, I'd have to say it was a tie between a 1988 Chrysler LeBaron turbo coupe and a 1982 Cutlass Supreme coupe.

The Cutlass Supreme was only $800, purchased in 1993, with 61,000 miles on it. Transmission went out soon after, but was only around $675 to rebuild. The transmission shop said they could probably get it running more or less right for around $150, but that the problem would probably come back. I thought I'd keep that car forever, so I paid for a rebuild. It was fairly good after that for a little while. Needed new front brakes and tires, which are really just maintenance items. And valve cover gaskets, which were minor. But, around the 71 or so thousand mile mark, the 231 V-6 engine lost all oil pressure. A friend of mine replaced the gears in the pump, and got it to run again, but it wasn't long for this earth. I sold it, still running, with around 73,000 miles, for $400.

The Chrysler LeBaron was bought used by my uncle, for around $10,000, in 1990. He sold it to me when I got married, 5 years later, for $2,000. I think it had around 75,000 miles on it by that time. He'd had some work done on it, but nothing too major. It had occasional computer/electrical problems.

When we had it, it was also fairly reliable, up to around 90,000 miles. We had the timing belt replaced (should've been done at 60K, but we let it lapse), and it also needed a camshaft and crankshaft seal (no big deal), but it also needed some major suspension work.

When I got divorced, I let the ex wife have it. In that timeframe, the air conditioner compressor seized up, it needed a new radiator, burned up a couple of sensors, one that caused the engine to idle at 2000 rpm or so. Power antenna broke. Transmission started leaking. The turbocharger stopped working. The last straw was when it blew the head gasket around 118,000 miles or so. She took it someplace and had a new gasket and used head put on, but it still wasn't running right. I told her to let me borrow it and take it to my mechanic. He was able to get it to kinda run, for about $75...said a lot of the vacuum hoses and wires weren't hooked up right. But he also did a compression check on the engine, said it was shot, and to NOT put another dime into it!

[calmloki]

Hey - I had a Vega, and for all the bad press it served me well - did have to drop the tank in a neighboring town to change the fuel pump once but had pretty good luck with it. Had it floored going up a hill one afternoon and a cop crested the hill - I was busted. He asked what I was doing and I told him honestly that I was seeing how fast it would go. Let me go with a warning, so I feel pretty good about that bright red Vega.

All I've ever bought car-wise was another man's junk. They have all been adventures - including my current 2000 BMW 528 sport wagon. Bought with just under 250,000 miles but it is loaded with gee-gaws and doodads. Had body work done, replaced the transmission that went away, the rear subframe bushings, the water pump and various cooling bits. The navigation system went out, taking with it the onboard computer display and CD player and making the radio function in 2 minute bursts. only. Dual climate control has a sense of humor regarding providing heat here in the desert. Drivers window quit, so now when I go to McDonald's to spend my $2 on lunch I have to open the door and pass the money over the top. Should just open the sunroof so they can toss the food in. I look good in it though, and it's one of my better car experiences!

Was a VW mechanic for some years and had Ghias and bugs and busses and notchbacks and rabbits of both gas and diesel persuasion - think that gives one lowered expectations of what a car should be. Push or pull starting a car? Squeegee as a defroster for the interior windows? Normal. Functional heater? Luxury!

Worst car experience? A $100 urine yellow AMC hornet. It even worked, but what an anemic loathsome numb driving experience. Car had no soul, and was all of a Pablum-ized mediocrity. It didn't even have any bright bad points to make driving an adventure.

[MasterBlaster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude 1975 Gremlin...........

Believe it or not those old Gremlins are now collector cars.

[devans0]

I've owned a Chevy Vega, a Ford Pinto, but the worst two cars were a Ford English Cortina, (my first car) and a Yugo. The Cortina broke down and would take months to get parts shipped.
The Yugo was a bright orange lemon. The timing belt broke on the highway, trashing the engine. I had a new engine put in and it threw the timing belt within a hundred miles. My favorite car is my current one. A Scion Xb. As my wife would say, I'm not a slave to fashion.

[Sue J]

For my 21st birthday my dad bought me a 5 year old 1971 VW Beetle. I loved that car! No major problems, so when we needed a 2nd car for DH we bought another Beetle, this one a 1973. I don't remember how many miles it had on it but it had more features (radio and a fan on the defroster) than the 1971 so we thought it was a great car. It very quickly developed a bad glitch in the steering that made left turns difficult. You'd start the turn and then go past a certain point and you had to force the steering wheel so hard that you could pull a shoulder muscle or wrench an elbow. It got so bad that we learned to avoid left turns and make do with multiple right turns. It's amazing what you'll put up with when you are young and foolish.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EllisWyatt Kinda hard to pick one...... as a starving college student, I had a whole fleet of short-lived >$500 cars. A '61 VW bug whose brakes went out on Wisconsin Ave in Georgetown and endedup in the Potomac River...

These stories are all funny but this one is flat out hilarious.

[Midpack]

I've been lucky. Mostly I've had Honda's (Celica, Camry) and Toyota's (Civic, CRX, Prelude, Element) and they've served us very, very well. We've owned a BMW 325 and an Audi TT that were (too) expensive to maintain, but they were reasonably reliable. We had a Nissan Maxima that was just OK.

I did have a Volvo 850 wagon that had to have the entire AC system replaced at my cost of $1300 (in year 2000 dollars) because Volvo did not properly engineer the system post freon. I had problems with it the last year of warranty, took it in twice (first time recharged, second time they said a hose was too short - after 2 years) and it was "fixed" and went out again. The third time it went out, now about 5K miles of warranty, they tell me the whole system is rotten from the inside out. I appealed with Volvo every way I could, but they never provided any relief whatsoever. I will never buy a POS Volvo again.

Even had a 1973 Chevy Vega in college that was using a quart of oil with each tank of gas at 50K miles because the aluminum block/aluminum cylinder walls didn't hold up. But Chevy re-sleeved the cylinder walls beyond warranty and only charged me $9 for a valve job, so that's more than fair.

[M Paquette]

Well, there was the 1972 AMC Hornet, bought used, of course. If you looked at it funny it would overheat and warp the head. I got really good at pulling the engine head and replacing the gasket. I thought about having a second head so I could drive the car while the warped head was in the machine shop. Naturally, I'd never start a trip without a couple of spare water pumps on board.

I thought about listing my old 1962 MG Midget. I rebuilt and resynched the twin SU carburetors weekly, along with refilling the oil and checking the gas level, but that was really just scheduled maintenance. Quarterly maintenance included pulling the engine and transmission, replacing the clutch and throwout bearing, and cleaning the oil off the flywheel and housing. I never had an unexpected breakdown. They were all expected and routine...

[unclemick]

1958 VW bug bought out of college in 1965. Seattle. Those hills are not the place combined with youth. Rebuilt the engine four times in two years. Bought a new 1968 Datsun two seat roadster. Start of my sports car period.

1993 Dodge Shadow bought used from Enterprise - with an extended warrantee. Spent a lot of time at the dealer over the next 3 years.

Bought a new 1999 Chevy pickup which ran 'good'.

heh heh heh - have an old fogey 2006 Chevy Equinox now - so so. Take 4-6 cross country trips a year 2-3k miles each.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rescueme You may want to consider. Ford does not own them anymore...

Right, they are now owned by Geely - Chinese.

[ls99]

Since I only buy used cars, cheap, except for the only new 1972 super beetle, they are other men's junk, my treasure.

None were really horrid, the biggest headache was a mid seventies Ford van. But not much to expect for $300.

Last 8 years been Jaguars, on my second one, just sold my 88 with 220000 miles, to a guy who flagged me down and wanted to know if I want to sell it. Latest is a 95 XJ6. Next to my old Merceds 450, the Jags are the most complicated ones, with the 88 winning the electrician's nightmare award.

But nothing beats the Jag's handling or the ride. I'm looking to buy an XJR which is the suprecharged version of my current one.

None of my car's or pickups or suburban has ever stranded me. In final analysis it would have to be the old Ford van as the worst.

[freebird5825]

Best and worst was the same car...my Mom's 1969 Mustang convertible. She bought it new, and then in 1974 bought another Mustang convertible.

Remember I am a woman as you read my story...

She let my older brothers drive the 1969 to w*rk until they could get their own cars. It had a 302 cubic inch, 8 cylinder engine that would get you from zero to 60 mph PDQ, so I can imagine what my brothers did to it.

Little by little the car began to deteriorate...rusting out rear quarter panels, really LOUD tappet noise from engine, floors behind the bucket seats rotting through. By the time I needed a car for living off campus at college, this car was a real beater. The passenger bucket seat bracket broke, so I used a log to prop the seat into an upright position. If you rolled down the windows, they would not come back up. I had those door panels open a lot, getting the windows back on the up/down mechanism. The rear window in the convertible top cracked, so I got a piece of plexiglas cut and installed it myself. The muffler and exhaust pipe was held up by a very artfully arranged metal coat hanger wire system.
I used fiberglas screen, glossy magazine paper and Bondo to repair the rust holes in the front quarter panels. I changed the belts as needed.

This car looked and sounded like hell. But it was a MUSTANG!
It faithfully carried me between my off campus apartment and campus, in the deep snow and bitter cold of Oneonta NY in 1977-8. Something shorted, and I had to replace the starter, solenoid, alternator and the battery. I paid my roommate's father (owned a repair garage) to do the brakes. I did the shocks myself.

The car held up after I gave it back to Mom. She continued to drive it as a spare car for several more years after I bought my own 67 Dodge Dart.

My Mom towed it with a UHaul truck and front wheel tow device to my house upstate in the mid 1980s, thinking I would want to have it restored. No way was that possible or even any sort of good ROI. The body looked like Swiss cheese at this point. The frame was solid.
I stored it for 1 year in a local old cannery building and finally sold it for parts to a local guy here in East Nowhere. He needed interior parts for his Mustang. He could not believe his good luck to get a "parts queen" for only $600.

It still started, stopped and steered just fine and had valid inspection and registration stickers. What a tough guy that car was!

It was the best car for me because I learned how to be an auto mechanic out of necessity. I had no money to have proper repairs done, so the DIY plan kicked in. I had lots of guy friends to help me diagnose problems, but I bought the parts and turned the wrenches myself under their directions.

I am now the proud owner a 2005 black convertible Mustang. She never gets a speck of road salt on her. It is indeed a great memory sparking car when I drive it.

[easysurfer]

An old/used Chey Nova that didn't need a key to start. After a tune up, attempting to take it to college, the car konked out along the way. After that, sold car.

[Ally]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover 1970's era VW Rabbit with manual transmission. It had a body water leak that followed the wiring into the fuse box, which was in a continual process of self destruction. I had to make sure to leave it in neutral because sometimes when I came out to start it, it was already running. The engine valves also burned out way early and I had to replace them as well as the clutch. What a contrast to the beetles I had previously owned and loved.

I wonder if that has anything to do with why my most hated car, an early 80's Rabbit, caught fire several times. This sometimes happened when I was driving and once, the neighbor woke me up in the morning, because smoke was coming out of the engine. It had gotten so hot that it melted the paint on the hood.

[kcowan]

1983 Chrysler E-Class. I had a 75 Buick estate wagon that gave up the ghost in 1984 (unexpectedly - the tranny after pulling a travel trailer all over the US and Canada) and I had no money for a replacement so shopped around for cheap family car. And it was cheap and unreliable. It had one of those computers that kept telling me that a door was a jar. Definitely a POS.

Replaced it with a Magic Wagon in 1988 and that was a great car (last of the great Magic Wagons).

Best car was a toss up between a 94 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI and a 95 BMW 318i Convertible. Although our 1993 Explorer is still going strong with 90,000 miles on the clock. One day it might make the list (except for brakes). It is cheap to repair here in Mexico because there are so many of them that used parts are plentiful and cheap. I fully expect that we will be driving it 10 years from now!

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan 1983 Chrysler E-Class. I had a 75 Buick estate wagon that gave up the ghost in 1984 (unexpectedly - the tranny after pulling a travel trailer all over the US and Canada) and I had no money for a replacement so shopped around for cheap family car. And it was cheap and unreliable. It had one of those computers that kept telling me that a door was a jar. Definitely a POS. Replaced it with a Magic Wagon in 1988 and that was a great car (last of the great Magic Wagons). Best car was a toss up between a 94 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI and a 95 BMW 318i Convertible. Although our 1993 Explorer is still going strong with 90,000 miles on the clock. One day it might make the list (except for brakes). It is cheap to repair here in Mexico because there are so many of them that used parts are plentiful and cheap. I fully expect that we will be driving it 10 years from now!

1994 Bonneville SSEi, I had one was a demo way back then............that car was FAST!!!

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 ...Last 8 years been Jaguars, on my second one, just sold my 88 with 220000 miles, to a guy who flagged me down and wanted to know if I want to sell it. Latest is a 95 XJ6. Next to my old Merceds 450, the Jags are the most complicated ones, with the 88 winning the electrician's nightmare award...

My neighbor in the 90s had a Jaguar. He said that really the mechanic had it more than he did!

It is tough to love such a car!

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover Right, they are now owned by Geely - Chinese.

Soon to be sold at Wally-World ...

Actually, the 850 was designed by a Swede and was manufactured while under the Ford banner. However it was replaced by the S80 during their decade of ownership.