What was your worst car?

[BikeWriter]

I'd have to say a little Pinto. I didn't keep it long enough to recall the year.

[Scarlett17]

1. 1984 Ford Escort

Complete piece of crap. Even with regular oil changes, it died with less that 50,000 miles on it. Aluminum heads that year. Brilliant. :sarcasm:

[BikeWriter]

2. Oh, shit. I heard about those. Total bummer.

[Scarlett17]

58. You're not kidding

That car was one frustration after another. :banghead:

[mcscajun]

49. GRRRRRR. Ford Escort. What a piece of crap.

My ex (before we split) got me one...USED sometime in '88 or '89. Might have been an '84, I don't recall.

It started pouring brown gunk out of the radiator.(I'm leaving out unrecalled details here.) Shortly thereafter, it unceremoniously died on I-80 outside of Totowa, NJ on Labor Day weekend, 1989. A friend and I had credit cards, a total of $200 cash, and we still had the worst time trying to get out of town and get the car towed. First and Only Time I ever wound up on a street corner drinking beer out of a paper sack and cursing out my soon-to-be ex. I don't even LIKE Beer.

I had it towed away as garbage after the holiday weekend. Got myself a Mazda 323. Great car, that.

[Scarlett17]

60. That is too funny

My next car was a Mercury Tracer Sport Coupe--the American cousin of the 323. It was a fantastic car. It was the first car that I researched and chose for myself. The Escort was "inherited" (I'm trying to be nice here--a more appropriate word would be coerced) from my mom and stepdad. They had bought it on a whim, didn't look into the financing, and tired of it shortly after they got it. I was 18 and needed a car (and a co-signer). Strangely, it was the only car they were interested in co-signing for, hmm. Strange.

Anyway, the bank wouldn't transfer the loan to my name. I had to buy it on a new loan, absorbing their high interest rate and adding it to one of my own (first-time buyer and all). It was one nightmare after another and when it died and year and a half later I still owed too much on it to get anything else.

I went to the dealer that sold it to my parents, had a conniption and got them to drop the price on the one year old Tracer that I wanted low enough to absorb the remaining balance on the Escort. (I remember saying something about having 50 years of car buying ahead of me and it they ever wanted another dime from me, my family, my future children, anyone ever met, etc. they would WORK THIS OUT.) My payments were still pretty high, but I drove that car for four or five years before my then-husband drove it for several more. In fact, he totaled it and still got another year or so out it. It wasn't pretty by then, but it still ran. He ended up selling it for like $400 in 1998. What a car. That thing just wouldn't quit.

[EnviroBat]

74. Yes, dammit. Ford Escort = Garbage with a motor...

That and a Chevy Citation I blew to shit once. Chevy should have been issued a Citation for even putting that crap on the road...

[Danmel]

88. An 89 Ford Taurus

Built with pride in Atlanta the day after Billy Bob's bachelor party

I had an "intermittent non-start problem"

The starter went a few times, the alternator went a few times, the regulator went, the fuel pump went. Once it broke down in 92 degree heat about 2 weeks before I gave birth to my son. I was on my way to the obstetrician for a check up and the car died on the Long Island Expressway Service Road.

A kind soul drove me to my doctor and then pushed my car to the parking lot.

The transmission died at 56,000 miles.

That car really sucked.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. All my cars were great...

Toward the end of their lives, they became too expensive to maintain, of course; but I feel I got my money's worth and more out of each of them.

[BikeWriter]

6. LOL! Tell me if you ever make a large wager then. You're lucky!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

9. I am lucky...

I hope I continue to be!

[BikeWriter]

10. I do too, Sweety. :-)

[Jagrett1]

4. My worst car was...

A 1979 Chevy Chevette. The doors never did close properly.

[BikeWriter]

7. Whooo, Chevettes! I remember those, too. The name looks familiar...

:-)

[Extend a Hand]

12. Oh yes! a chevette was my worst car too

Every time I closed the doors the back vent windows fell out. It was a 70's model but I can't remember the year now.

[JCMach1]

20. MY favorite part was the pool of water that would come in

as you drove in the heavy rains we have in Florida...

[Archae]

5. A 1965 Ford station wagon.

Bought it in 1978, had it less than a month before I sold it.
Something was ALWAYS going wrong with it.

[BikeWriter]

8. When they were good, they were very very good...

When they were bad, they were terrible!

[Archae]

69. Here's my Found On the Road Dead POS station wagon.

Only it was black in color.

[puerco-bellies]

11. 76 Triumph TR-7

Kick ass fun the 4 days out of the month it ran trouble free. !?@#$^ Lucas electrical systems, and general English engineering!

[Dean Martin]

13. 1986 Chevy Cavalier

12,000 bought brand new, only 12 miles on it. Woke up next day, pool of oil in the street. Real oil seal broke. Took it to be fixed, got it back, transmission broken, crushed when engine was put back in. Finally got that fixed. Traded it in a year later and it already had depreciated from 12 grand down to 4,500. ugh.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

14. .

Traded it in a year later and it already had depreciated from 12 grand down to 4,500. ugh

Damn

[Heidi]

15. 1975 Ford LTD. Yellow-green.

Ugliest tank to ever hit the road. x(

[Robeson]

16. An AMC Gremlin...

...it was sheer luck if it actually started when I turned the key.

[Archae]

18. That's odd...

My best car was a 1971 Gremlin, straight 6.

No backseat legroom, but how often did I ever have anyone in the back seat?

[Sisaruus]

22. AMC Hornet....

Wouldn't run whenever it rained.

[Patiod]

52. My best friend had a Gremlin, with no "reverse"

We always had to drive around for a really long time looking for parking because she had to park directly in front of a driveway or in the first parking space on a block.

That, and her father convinced her that only suckers paid for that fancy "air conditioning" stuff, so the poor girl used to schlep her medical samples in and out of doctors' offices all summer with no a/c in her crappy car...

Worst. Car. Ever.

[unsavedtrash]

17. Buick Opel. The damn thing ran for three days and never started again.

Sold it for scrap metal. piece of crap.

[Lowell]

53. Wow! My worse was a buick opel too

It broke down on the way home from the car lot. It was brand new and never ran right.

[JCMach1]

19. 1981 Chevy Chevette

total POS...

[conscious evolution]

24. I agree

I had one too and it was the biggest piece of shit.
Did yours have any of these problems:
1.Timing belt lasted only 25k miles before breaking.
2.Starter dieing on a regular basis.
3.Ashtray would just up and fall out.
4.T-handle on shifter would come off
5.Window crank nob on passenger side would fall off when trying to roll up window.
6.A blob of white goo oozing out from dash board on passenger side side wall.
7.Check engine light would always come on and not be resettable.It would instead turn off on its own without prompting.
8.Floor boards rusting out.

I ask cause these seem to be problems that every shitvette owner that i encountered had also.I also had a friend who worked for a car rental company and he said their vettes had same type of problems.He also said that when they picked up new ones from the dealership they had a 50-50 chance that the check engine light would come on before they made it out of the dealer lot.

It is because of this car that I will never ever buy another GM product in my life.

[JCMach1]

63. Swimming pool when it rained in FL through the floorboards

Window handles broke
Starter would die several times a year.
Engine burnt oil like a mad drunk
Ignition switch died, we b\put in a starter button!

[conscious evolution]

66. LOL

I forgot about the engine switch!

I saw someone in an earlier reply mentioned windows falling out.That happened to me too.

[JCMach1]

96. Oh, I almost for got the fuses and electrics!!!

It burnt out fuses constantly...

[july302001]

21. worst cars

A 1981 VW Rabbit wagon. Almost as bad - a 1996 Mercury Sable.

[Crazy Dave]

23. '99 Ford Ranger bought brand new.....

....but before it even had 38,000 miles on it (and conveniently out of warranty) I'd put over $3000 in it for repairs for problems caused by cheap quality and poor engineering. What pisses me off was I bought it because it was about $2000 less than the Nissan or Toyota pickups so all I really did was spend a dollar to save a dime.
All my other cars in my lifetime combined still don't total up to $3000 in repairs. With them it was normal maintenance and wear and tear stuff.

[Lumily]

25. 1979 Blue Pinto.

I bought it for $900 in 1990, and sold it for $400 in 1992. I think I replaced every part on it, while I owned it.

Last time I went home to NC, I saw it at a gas station in town. It still had my college parking stickers in the back window.

[Jokerman]

26. '72 Maverick with the bicentennial paint scheme.

It really wasn't that bad of a car but I got it after my dad put about 100K miles on it and it was in pretty bad shape.

These aren't mine, just pictures I found on-line:

[raccoon]

27. 1974 Chevrolet Nova.

This was the old style Nova, not the one that looks like a Corolla.

Leaked like a sieve everytime it rained. Took it back five or six times before they got it fixed.

Oh, and the valves chirped like a flock of sparrows.

I've never had a GM since.

[av8rdave]

28. 1979 Trans Am and 1984 Fiero

Bought it new (took delivery at the factory in Pontiac, in fact). It was a blast to drive, but what a piece of crap! Every time I got into it, something else would break.

The Fiero was a tie with the Trans Am. Same thing...it was so poorly made that stuff was breaking on it constantly. That was my last GM product.

[Blue Diadem]

29. 1984 lynx and topaz

We'd leased them both. I think the dealership had the cars more than we did. We were just lucky we'd decided to get the extended coverage on both, because it was well used during those 4 yrs of hell.

I did like driving that Topaz, it handled well and was very comfortable to drive...too bad the POS didn't run all the time.

[JCMach1]

64. I had an Awesome '85 Topaz!

That was a great car.

[Maine-ah]

30. 1999 Jeep Grand

nothing but problems with that vehicle. Had the front brakes done a couple of times. Jeep (chrysler) kept saying "it's beause you live in a wet area" or "because you live in a salty area" Last Jeep I'll ever own.

btw, my parents had a Pinto. Also the VW Bus. No heat, we would (yes I'm serious)use a kerosene heater. I have no idea how we survived....

[Tracer]

31. Bad cars? I've had a ton of them:

- Ancient VW bus with no brakes.

- Chevette with no heat (in New England!)

- 70s Saab with dead transmission

There's more, but I'll leave it at that.

[JackBeck]

32. My 1976 Buick LeSabre.

It cost almost $30 to fill the tank. In 1993. I looked ridiculous driving it, but it got me where I needed to go when I was in college.

It died on me while driving on the NJ Turnpike. I can't even begin to tell you how much of a drama that caused.

The best thing about it was that it had an 8-track player with tapes in the glove compartment.

[NMDemDist2]

33. VW wagon circa 1971

[AngryAmish]

34. 98 Grand Prix

That car sucked balls.

[Left Is Write]

35. 1975 two-tone green Buick Century. Oddly enough, the same answer....

I gave to the "first car" question.

[QMPMom]

36. I thought my 1977 Mercury Cougar was the worst until I replaced

it with a 1981 AMC Spirit.

Both of those cars, which were bought new, stranded me in so many places it was pathetic.

My husband and I bought a Hyundai Pony once. It ran okay but, don't ever try to put 2 baby seats in the back seat of a Pony. We had to trade it in because the kids couldn't sit with their little legs down. They had to prop them up on the back of the front seats. After the last longer trip with their legs propped up, we traded for a Nissan.

[azmouse]

37. I haven't had a really bad one yet.

But then I haven't owned that many cars.
My first was a 1980 Chev Monza. I owned that car for 14 yrs. Had to get rid of it because I moved to AZ and it didn't have A/C. Then I had a 1991 Cougar. Ran well for 8 yrs then traded it in for a 2000 Camaro SS that I still own.
My husband has only had a few cars and they have all been pretty good too. He currently drives a 1995 Impala SS and a 2002 Corvette Z06.

[MissMillie]

38. 1989 Mercury Tracer

before 100,000 miles it was looking for it's 3rd engine.

[RebelOne]

39. An English Ford Cortina. Don't remember the year.

But everytime it rained, it would stall out.

[Digit]

77. I had one of those...lost the wipers in the rain and the breaks going downhill

Fun
Oh, and when I say I "lost the wipers", I mean they came OFF!

[Zavulon]

40. A 1999 Malibu.

Everything that could go wrong with a car went wrong with that one. God, what a piece of shit.

[ileus]

41. 2001 Ols Alero

Pure GM junk, because of that HOS I can never buy an American car again...

[Richardo]

42. GOPIsEvil will disagree, but

my 1993 Inifiniti G20 was a POS from the get-go - mainly because the parts were so outrageously expensive (and in some cases unobtainable).

[GOPisEvil]

75. Dude...my G20 is AWESOME!

It runs like a top at 135k miles.

I will agree that parts are fookin' expensive though. x(

[flvegan]

43. Jaguar XJ6

Model year 1986, and it was 4 years old.

That car had more issues than National Geographic.

[skygazer]

44. I don't remember the year

I had it in the early 80's and it was a Cadillac Cimarron. Nice looking car but had no guts at all. The little Chevy I've got now that has all of about 100 horsepower has more get up and go than that thing did.

One of the best cars I ever had was a '66 Ford Falcon Wagon. Indestructable, rolled along in any kind of weather and had about 6 movable parts in the engine. Easy to work on and cool looking too.

[speedoo]

45. Tie... two Chrysler products:

The first was the infamous "K-car" it was a station wagon and a 77 or 78.

The K-car did not last very long, and I believe a lot of my problems were that it was a new model.

But I did not learn my lesson and instead bought a 1984 Jeep Cherokee. This was when Chrysler came out with the smaller Jeeps for the first time.

Both were real pieces of shit, and I have bought nothing but Japanese cars ever since. I have had great luck with Nissans... over 300,000 trouble free miles on them. Still driving a 1988 Pathfinder with nearly 230,000 miles on it.

[reyd reid reed]

46. I had a 72 Ford Maverick

God, I hated that car.

x(

[kwassa]

47. 1941 Nash

bought on a whim for $235 from a little old lady who was the original owner. Blew a piston driving it to New York. Before that, much fun.

looked pretty much like this:

[smtpgirl]

48. I had a 1971 Pinto, terrible car

called it my Otnip

[grace0418]

50. My husband researches car purchases FOREVER so I've never had any bad ones.

Two Hondas (an Accord and a Civic) and a Subaru Outback. Of the three the Subaru is the worst one, but it's still pretty great.

[LeftyMom]

56. Research helps so much.

I spent months reading reviews, making lists of features I wanted, looking at listings and figuring out my budget before I sought the saturn.

[noonwitch]

51. 1978 Plymouth Horizon

it had a VW engine, which was actually the best thing about the car. Everything else about it, especially the axel/drive shaft, was crap.

The 76 Bobcat (Mercury Pinto) was almost as bad.

[momophile]

54. 1974 Buick Opel Station Wagon

but god I loved that thing. We were on the same wave with each other. Whenever I got sick, he got sick and vice versa. He nickel and dimed me until I killed it - oops.

[Solon]

55. 1984 Chevy Celebrity...

Also my first car, I got it when it was already 12 years old, and let me tell you, I put a lot of money in this car to keep it going. Cost 800 bucks to buy, spent, easily, 1200 bucks to keep it going. Finally, on my way back home from KC, the drive shaft broke, sold it for 50 bucks at a scrap heap.

[Lerkfish]

57. an olive-green 1971 (I think) gremlin with all black interior and no ac

on a hot summer day you left skin on the black metal steering wheel. To this day, I have no fingerprints.

:)

it was a chick magnet car -- It automatically repelled women.

[NewWaveChick1981]

59. My parents had a 1972 Chevy Vega.

Bought it new and had nothing but problems from it. The worst problem was when we were driving back to Atlanta from the SC coast, and we heard an awful noise coming from the bottom of the car. It was a Sunday afternoon in Florence, SC, and no car repair shops were open because of antiquated Blue Laws. A very nice mechanic (off duty) overheard my parents talking to a gas station attendant, and he offered to help us even though it was technically illegal on a Sunday afternoon. Turns out the ball bearings in one of the wheels had melted because of a factory defect in the wheel, and he got a new wheel for us. His fees were extremely reasonable, and we were really grateful ('cause he could have taken a bunch of out-of-towners for a ride and didn't).

Mom and Dad got rid of the POS Vega in 1979. :woohoo:

[Throd]

61. 1976 Peugeot 504 wagon

It was engineered by demented baboons. What would have been a simple task on most cars was an all day event with this nightmare.

[sakabatou]

62. I've only had one car, so I can't say

[JCMach1]

65. Old VW Beatle

Father was a mechanic which meant we changed cars like underwear. God, I hated his VW phase which lasted about 6 years. Our poor family owned numerous Beatles during that time.

Some hated features:

1. The heater that worked after about 15 miles on ALL Beatles.
2. Air Conditioning... HA! and we lived in FL
3. Trunk... yeah right.
4. Upholstery? Was that burlap??
5. Brakes... these were crappy and went out on a number of horrific occasion... lucky to survive one experience.
6. Oh yeah, the breakdowns... probably should mention those.

Anyone who feels nostalgia for those little POS should be shot!

[dysfunctional press]

67. Renault LeCar...i don't even remember the year.

what a complete POS...it was also the smallest goddamn car i ever owned(i'm 6'2").

[Burma Jones]

68. This is so easy - I give you the Fiat 850

when it ran, it was loads of fun, but it ran so seldom........

[madrchsod]

70. 87 subaru-junk

[malta blue]

71. 1997 Honda Civic

Perhaps not really the car....we just didn't get along well. I had 4 accidents in one year - not a single one was my fault. I just HAD to get rid of it.

[grace0418]

73. Okay, that makes sense. At first I was surprised to see a Civic on this list

because they are such good cars, but now I understand. My friend had a cursed car like that.

[belladonna]

72. 1979 Plymouth Horizon

The clutch cable came off daily, so much that I finally had someone teach me to fix it. It was a real piece of crap, but it did what I needed it to do at the time.

[femmocrat]

76. VW Rabbit, c. 1976

Very cute; very unreliable.

[Digit]

78. I found out that Fiats quit on you when it begins to rain

I remember when someone asked me if it ran in the rain, and I asked them how THEY knew.

Now I do it to others. :+

[erinlough]

89. 1973 Fiat Spider

So many electrical problems the foreign car repairman and I became good friends. The heating system hoses would break inside the car and spray antifreeze all over. The retractable headlights would freeze open, or closed or one would open and the other would close. I couldn't stand the car!!!! I got a crummy deal when I traded it in because I drove it onto the lot and announced I would drive off with any of their cars but I wouldn't get in the FIAT again. It was cute though, bubble top and it was orange.

edited for spelling

[Digit]

90. Part of me wants to laugh, the other part wants to say SORRY!

Not laughing AT you, okay?
Just those d*mned electrical problems are legendary!

Now, it is only Hondas for me!

[LanternWaste]

79. Honest to God on this one...

Honest to God on this one...

My sophomore year in High School (81-82), I bough a used LeCar for $150. Although it ran and put me in the unique position of being one of the only underclassmen with a car, the style points I lost far outweighed any advantages it may have had.

Imagine pulling into a parking lot full of Camaro's, Trans Am's, Chevelles and Mustangs playing Lynrd Synrd really, really loud and then... SILENCE as me and my Le Car come pulling in.

I'll never live it down.

[joneschick]

80. 73(?) Volvo 164E

loved driving it, but it stopped regularly. Cost a fortune attempting to repair. Sometimes it sat for months refusing to run and then would start up and be fine (for a few months) The leather interior was lovely and it was my first car with lumbar support and a huge trunk. I think I sold it for $200 went we left Madison.

[LiberalEsto]

81. 1993 Dodge Caravan

I forgot how many transmissions that thing blew -- 4 or 5. It was a money pit on wheels.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

82. This is easy!

A FIAT! Fix it again Tony! :) To make matters worse, I sold my VW beetle to buy it. It was a total disaster of a car........

[Taverner]

83. Ford Pinto

No year what vintage it was - just that the thing had no brakes - you had to pump the brake pedal quickly to give it enough pressure to stop.

Yes, it was truly insane. It also had no seat belts.

[trackfan]

84. It was a Mustang, about a '79 or '80

from the years when the Mustang was not very good. It went from 0 to 60 in about, oh, 78 seconds.

[uppityperson]

85. 1986 Ford Tempo, the Pyro-car

First the brake pad thingies on front wheel locked up and started smoking and melting the plastic wheelcover while I was in the middle lane on a 6 lane road in the city at a stoplight. Asked the woman in the car next to me to yell if she saw flames. Light changed, she let me pull over. We got it towed and fixed.

Driving along several months longer, started smelling that electrical smell, thought it might be outside until I saw the little flame in the heating vent by the door. By the time I stopped and walked away from the car the whole dash was burning. I dumped a gallon on milk on the dash, didn't do much, shut the door and walked away to think about what to do next. Someone with a cell phone called 911 (out in the country), got the battery disconnected once we figured the fire was inside the car, not in the engine compartment. The fire dept came and hosed out the inside, but it was a mess. Turns out that the 2 previous yrs had been recalled for headlight switch that shorted out and caused dashboard fires. Mine hadn't been recalled yet.

Plastic smoke is really nasty. Opened the car door once to get out stuff inside and it was like looking into solid black. Flashlight penetrated not at all. Nasty.

[DemoTex]

86. Tossup: 1965 (or so) Simca and 1973 (or so) Chevy Vega.

On the good side, though, the Simca cost me $500 in 1973. I drove it almost 50,000 miles before a 90-y/o side-swiped me. Her insurance company cut me a check for $500, and I drove the bashed Simca another 10,000 miles before selling it for $500!

The Vega was free. It was the only car my dad ever gave me, and only because my nere-do-well younger brother (not the MD) got a third DUI and lost his license.

[CatholicEdHead]

87. 1990 Dodge Dakota

That thing had something break down as soon as you fixed something else.

[Catshrink]

91. The Alliance

or as my BIL called it, the Appliance. What a crappy car!

[doc03]

92. 1977 Chevy Blazer "my last GM vehicle"

I had it 3 years and only put about 35000 miles on it. I had it rust proofed, in less than a year the drivers side rear quarter panel rusted through. The rust proofing company replaced it at a cost of around $700. At about 15 months the other side rusted through, the rust proofing company refused to fix it. Their contract stated that they would either fix the damage or refund your money which was around $180 so since the first job cost $700 they said they could no longer cover the piece of crap. In the time I owned it I replaced the battery, universal joints on both front and rear drive shafts, radiator, alternator, brakes pads 2 times, the master cylinder, wheel cylinders,
thermostat and the left front CV joint went out while going to the dealer to trade it in.

[recoveringdittohed]

93. 1983 AMC Concord DL

Little did I know that the "DL" evidently was short for disabled list.

[Broken_Hero]

94. a 1995 Ford Windstar,

I wanted to tear the thing apart, with my barehands...it was a headache from the get go. But, we traded it in...I couldn't believe the guy took it as a trade in...I almost couldn't keep my snicker, under control....

[enigmatic]

95. My only car

1971 Ford Torino; had it 3 weeks when I was 16 and the tranny died. I took it as a sign not to drive anymore, and I haven't..

[Strawman]

97. 1980 Chevette

Passenger side floorboard totally rusted out. Puddles were fun. So were the manual steering and brakes.