Worst Car Challenge

[quatsino]

Pick the standout worst car you've ever owned and let's get 'er posted.

In my case I've owned 30 vehicles but the one that takes the prize for worst would have to be "Kate". Yes my only car that ever had a name - as in "Kate, Kate the Delta 88". I bought this 76 very used because I wanted one of the biggest cars ever built and I couldn't find a Continental. I was poor at the time - mid 80's - but gas was cheap so the 455 optional engine was OK.

Worst thing about this car was the quality of the body components - the dreaded chromed plastic everywhere. The ride was...shall we say - cushy. If there was power somewhere I couldn't find it.

The instrument panel switches, seat switches and door controls were purely awful. Space utilization was not good. (one year before the big GM downsizing). Note that the Delta (and Regency?) lines were downsized for '77 and again for '78 - different cars.

Out of the showroom this monsters were fairly comfy and looked fine for the time - they just didn't age all that well. I spent a lot of time in the local Pick-Your-Part junkyard to keep this POS going. It provided me with plenty to do.

Silver lining: Kind of cool with all the windows down and no "B" pillar in the summer.

[Rat44]

Don't have a pic.But no car ever p*ssed me off more than a 83 Ford Tiempo.Worst waste of steel ever.

[vinyldavid]

1996 Ford Escort.....

6'0 frame (me) trying to ride in that.....NOT fun.......

The hatchback was nice, tho....

[mpd8488]

My first car was an 84 Ford Ranger that I bought for 400 bucks. It was originally some sort of beige/brown, but had somehow faded to a shade of pink. It also purple window tint. I bought it with plans of doing a 302 V8 conversion as the body was rust free and in good shape other than the ugly paint. I bought it knowing that the engine was on its last leg. I quickly realized that it burned a lot of oil. About a quart every 20 miles (and there were no leaks). That isn't a typo, and I have never heard of another vehicle that burned so much oil. After a few months of reliably burning almost as much oil as gasoline she decided she had enough and just gave up on me. I donated it to purple heart because I needed some form of transportation and my folks didn't want a broken truck in the driveway for the next several months. The V8 conversion never happened, but the other day I was glancing around the D.C. area craigslist and I saw it for sale. Somebody dropped a new engine in and was asking three times as much as I paid. I knew it was mine because there was no other truck of that color and I recognized the an odd dent on the front bumper.

[clydeselsor]

'79 Chevy Chevette. What a POS!! The rear end went out after 50k and then the motor shortly after that.

[mpd8488]

hehe, three fords in a row

[Scuzzer]

1975 Ford Granada, you know, the ones they compared to a Mercedes in the commercials.

Dad bought it for $250 for me to drive back and forth to college in 1984. Nine year old car for $250 and he got ripped off. Bought it, drove it 500 miles, cracked head. Stocked up on carb spray and oil and drove it another 500 miles. Replaced head. Drove 500 miles, cracked head, repeat. The nice thing was that these cars littered the junk yards at that time so a new head was about $50. The final head replacement was Christmas '88 just before I moved to Colorado. I figured I could make it 1000 miles on a fresh one, I was mostly right. I rolled into Golden doing my best impression of a mid 70's DDT sprayer. Drove it to the crusher in Jan '89 and they paid me $55 for the steel. Didn't know rust qualified as steel.

Speaking of rust, it had strategically placed holes the size of softballs on top of the fenders next to the hood. When you went through water the wheel spray would come out and hit the windshield. Nice touch since the windshield sprayer didn't work. Another benefit was that the brownish rust kinda matched the ultimate turd brown paint. Also adding to the Mercedes illusion, the tan vinyl top had morphed to a tannish green. I never knew what to call that color until I changed my daughters first diaper. My girlfriend at the time was mortified to be seen in it. Real chick magnet that car...

[Njord Noatun]

1995 Range Rover Vogue SE. Bought it new. If was rusting and falling apart before I had 8,000 miles on it. Sold it at 10,000 miles and never regretted it. Truly a wildly overpriced POS.

[stuwee]

Scuzzer, your Granada story rocked!:lmao::lmao: "doing it's best impression of a mid-70's DDT sprayer"! (That was vivid wasn't it children) You win in my book so far, I'm sure someone will have a worse car but, that was an excellent story:thmbsp:

I on the other hand never had a crappy car, loved all of 12 of them.If I had to pick one, 1975 Datsun B210, that spent most of it's life in Iowa, someone took the time to strip it down to bare metal, then put that datsun brown/gold paint right on it no primer by the time it got to TX saying it was rusty is being nice but hey, $150 in '85 and it ran good. the shop put it on the lift to change the tires cuz the jack kept disapearing into the car, lifted it up and boing! front fenders popped out about a foot, the floor held though. Busted a hose on a 100 deg. day in Dallas B to B traffic in rush hour, saying come on baby just get Daddy home. She did. Next day put the hose in the radiator, just ran onto the ground through the block:tears: when the yard towed her away, true till the very end.

[VinylHanger]

86 tempo. I would be driving down the road and the interior trim would fall off in my lap. Fun going down the freeway. Then the horn got stuck while I was in downtown traffic. I kept cussing the dumbass who had the stuck horn..... only to realize it was me.

Next worse was the '88 Chevy PU I just dumped. I bought it and at 130,000 the ball joints broke, it sat and after a year or so I fixed it.... then the rear axle bearings went out, then a funky fuel thing, then a shifty trans, then it is labeled a 1 ton, but it is actually a heavy frame on a 3/4 ton chassis that isn't rated to pull a trailer.... nice. Happy ending, it today morphed into a sweet '96 1-ton crew cab. I was sweating getting it to the dealer before it boned up completely... then it dumped oil all over the dealers parking lot. :D Somehow, that makes me smile.:yes:

[AnalogDigit]

The worst car I ever drove was a 1978 mustang. It was my older brother's car. Underpowered, I had to really put the foot to the floor to get it moving. Air conditioner never worked, then the radio broke down. Put in a cheap Radio Shack radio with 8 track since it was on sale. Decided also to put in a power booster, to overcome the road noise which was terrible, did not know I had to have a common ground for the speakers, so I blew a fuse knocking out the dashboard lights. :wtf: My brother did not like that too much, :gigglemad at least I was able to listen to some tunes. :rockon:

[Scuzzer]

Oops, I was wrong. It was the '78 Granada that was compared to the Mercedes 280SE. Same difference though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIRyE10ABQg

Funny thing is my Dad has a '77 280SE that looks just like the one in the commercial. It's sitting in his garage looking almost as pristine as the day it rolled off the assembly line. My Granada is rebar...

[poohsan]

72 vega - aluminum block with no sleeves, wtf were they thinking???

my 77 granda was actually not a bad car (6-cyl) - and I'm an avid anti-ford man. Not defending it, just saying it was surprising

[Mattwizz3]

I've only had 2 cars, because your not allowed to drive till 18 in Australia. I cant decide which car is worse though. My first car was a 1988 Ford Falcon which I bought off a friends dad for $500, he had bought it in 1994 as an ex-taxi and did quite a bit of driving (and bumping into things) in it. By the time I got it it had done 1,220,000 Kilometers. As it was an ex-taxi almost everything important to the functioning of the car was broken. Spent over $2000 keeping it going, steering rack, LPG system, radiator etc. It had about the same power in its 3.9 litre 6cyl engine as my current 1.6 4cyl. I drove 30,000 K's in it and sold it with a dud transmission for $800 :D. It was my first car, so I loved it. It brought me some really good times.

The Falcon:
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r223/mattwizz3/IMG00001.jpg

My current car is a 1987 Holden Astra (Actually a re-badged Nissan Pulsar with slightly different trim) I paid $1100 for this puppy, and its no speedster. The only thing that bugs me other than the lack of power is the lack of space! Its just hit its next due service and is gonna cost a bundle, needs new tires, hoses, muffler and cat converter, somethings up with the breaks and ball joins, interior head lining is falling down etc. Probably more is wrong.

The "Astra" :
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r223/mattwizz3/IMG00002.jpg

Both cars are nice to drive though! The old one was a much better cruiser though.

[Rat44]

:thumbsdn:Fords are still ahead.:thumbsdn:

[Sandy G]

My POS was an '82 Chevy K20 Suburban w/the 6.2 liter diesel. GM claimed it was a "clean slate" design, it was really a dieselised big-block V-8. Main problem was that it had a mandatory 4.11 rear-end in it, which drove the poor Weasel about 2X faster than it wanted to go. 45 was about as fast as it wanted to go, at 60 it was starting to get grumpy, & at 70 it was in PAIN. We put 3 motors in it, & finally in '88 I had had enuff, & got a Jeep Cherokee. The best thing about the Urbaniser was that you could roll both the front windows down, & the tailgate window down, & unless it was just miserable, you really didn't need the A/C that much. I sold the Urbanizer in '88 for $5K, I think it blew up on the guy as he was driving it home...Seriously. But he said he was gonna yank the diesel & drop a 350 in it, & go on w/life...

[soundmotor]

We owned one of these bought new -

http://www.gmphotostore.com/images/53218820_pr.jpg

305 V8, TH350 transmission, 10-bolt rear w/ 2.29 gears, 13.5.5" wheels & 78 series tires. Now, it was fast above 75MPH I will say that for it and could show the tailights to the other "muscle" cars of the day but the car would bottom out on anything beyond flat road and get hopelessly stuck on flat road if there was any snow or ice on it. The car would crab sideways and more than once we had to get help in pushing it back over & away from the car we had slid up against. And then there was the whole spark plug deal. The (2) rearmost could not be removed without hoisting the engine up! Eventually most of the lettering came off and it was forever known as "The Mighty Fir".

[Earlsays]

1989 FORD MUSTANG CONVERTABLE

I bought this thing in August of 2007...didn't tell anyone about it, for shame, ya know...

I paid a grand for it...had just sold my nightmare caprice for 700 bucks...I needed a car real, real bad...

So, this car had a 302 V8, a T5 manual transmission, an 8.8 rear end, BBK long tube headers, off road H pipe, Flowmasters.

The car had horrible white paint, which was a rattlecan job at best. The bottom half of the car, from the door molding down, was black, also badly done. The hood had a black stripe, also a total abortion...

The car had the 80s ford 4 lug ten hole wheels, painted black with unpainted centercaps...the paint was flaking, the wheels had curb rash throughout (all of them did) and one had a dent so bad in it, that it was unknown to me as to how it would hold air...also, they where bald to the point that if the tread pattern could have been inverted, it would've been...instead, they where slicks. The front passenger and rear passenger wheels where the only ones held on by four lgunuts....the front drivers side had one busted stud, and three nuts, on cross-threaded and the rear drivers side was missing one lugnut due to stripped threads on one stud. Also, the lugnuts that where present, wheren't even finger tight.

The passenger side fender was badly dented, and the drivers side door was "tacoed" Somebody slid into a pole, I'm thinking...The rear bumper had a chunk missing, the front bumper had cracks and missing pieces as well. The headlights where beyond yellowed. The convertable top was black. It was torn, ripped and mangled. The rear plastic window was laying in the car, yellowed and cracked and not attached to the top in any way. The top could not be put up any way except manually, and could not be clamped into place. When we put a "new" fender on the car, we realized that the whole unibody was bent, so, the fender didn't line up correctly, and this was the reason the top wouldn't latch closed.

The car had black interior. Originally, it was blue. Somebody had dyed it. Badly. Blue scratches showed through everywhere. The car had a Grant steering wheel and poor condition. There was no radio, just a hole and a cut up wire harness. The car had a "Sunpro" tach, which was wired into the fuse panel, badly...probably a fire hazard. The car had Mustang GT seats of the same vintage as the car. They where black leather. They used to be blue. The drivers seat had a wheelbarrow wheel behind it. Why? Because the seatback would fall backwards a bit. Why? Because the seat frame was only held in by two bolts. One of the bolt holes on the rear of the seat frame was gone, it had busted off due to rust, and was MIA...the other side was just missing a bolt or a stud, I don't remember. The passenger seat was held in by all four bolts. The seats wheren't bad except they needed new leather and new foam and new seat tracks, so, basically, they where bad. The dash lights didn't work, and the oil preassure guage wasn't hooked up/didn't work

The car ran funny. Reason? It was a former 4CYL car which somebody started a V8 conversion on, they left the 4cyl computer so the car was uhh...confused. The car wouldn't idle for shit, it wouldn't run right until about 50MPH and you had to be dead into the loud pedal to get it to run even somewhat steady, otherwise, it "surged" The V8 however, had nothing really wrong with it, appeared to be low milage and in good condition, and would have run good if not for the computer issue. It ran very, very, very, very rich.

The valve covers where held on by a variety of different bolt sizes, both US and metric!

The transmission was hard to shift. Reason? The clutch was badly out of adjustment, and was literally on it's last legs....it's amazing it held out as long as it did for me. Synchros where going and/or bad in the trans as well.

What else? Oh! The limited slip rear end was pretty much shot.

The four bolts where the driveshaft/rear end sort of meet, I can't think clearly right now, they wheren't finger tight. Not even.

One of the pipes on one of the headers had been pounded flat to accomodate fit issues. I guess they'd never heard of cutting a bit on the car, or, I don't know, ANY other solution but that.

Interestingly enough, the car had a very nice set of MB Quart speakers in the doors. They had rotted surrounds, however.

I can't think of anything else that was (or wasn't) wrong with this car...and no, I DON'T know what I was thinking.

I gave the car to a friend, to salvage the engine, trans, driveshaft, rear end out of, for his 1970 Ford Maverick. These four parts where the only parts that where OK on the car, and they even had issues, but where at least extremely salvagable.

The car was donated to charity. I wanted to have a Hunter S. Thompson party and do the car in as such, however, I never could put this together. Also wanted to just bury it somewhere....didn't end up doig that either.

Oh, the windshield of the car was perfect, until we took blowtorches to it, "just to see what would happen" Also, the taillights where OK, however, we broke them with sledgehammers.

Unfortunately, I probably will not get to see the engine, trans, rear of this car in anything decent, since my friend just sold the maverick (no time/money to complete, oh well)







By the way....


I win :D

[botrytis]

Worst - POS - 1992 Honda (you heard right) Civic VX. I put more door locks in the POS than any other car - why? - they were plastic and would freeze at the drop of a hat and break. Since the dealers never carried them in stock - they would have to be ordered out of Japan and take 3 weeks to get. I averaged 4 a winter in upstate NY.

The heat shields on the exhaust -35 pcs from front to back of car would let go and since the exhaust was so close to bottom of car -you had to replace them. I did theis 4 times.

Cheap crappy paint job. We moved form upstate NY to the south (paint was fine at that time) and after being one year in the south showed fading and showed lines where if was coming off the car.

Honda - POS!!

[RayW]

The least liked car I've ever owned was an '81 AMC Spirit. It was the successor to the Gremlin. I never really had trouble with it, it was just the embodiment of the econobox. No options, unless you count the color matched seatbelts. Plain old AM radio which I replaced with a bitchin' Kraco with built-in 5 band eq (:rockon:). I traded it in on a Jeep CJ-7 that the guy wanted $1250 for...I gave him the car and $1000.

The worst vehicle for maintanence was a '96 Suburban (350, 4wd, K1500). Bought it with a little under 100,000 miles and drove it to 220,000. Put 2 transmissions in it, 3 fuel pumps, 1 water pump, 1 alternator, and had to replace tie rod ends and some other steering part when a suspension piece came undone and the front wheels were suddenly pointing at each other. In its defense, it drove great in snow and mud and we used it to pull horses and hay trailers. My wife hit a deer with it in December and it was totalled.

The worst car I've ever driven was my brother's '74 Mustang II. It was turd brown with a tan vinyl top. He paid about $400 for it in '86. The speedo was off so that when it said 80 you were actually doing 60. It would randomly turn left then start to shimmy horribly. You would have to slow down below 35 for it to stabilize and then speed back up. The gas gauge didn't work. It had a Phico radio attached to a Radio Shack eq/booster that went to 2 RS 5" "acoustic suspension" woofers that were stuck to the roof (no headliner) by their magnets. I can't believe one of us didn't die in that car.

Ray

[Sandy G]

My roomate in college had a mid '70s Pinto 4 cyl w/an automatic. I honestly think I could have got out & RUN faster than that trap could go...He also had a Seventies Beetle w/that "not-quite manual, not quite automatic" stickshift. I had to follow him down to Virginia Beach in it once. It was a windy day, & that damn car was ALL OVER the road. He was in my car, a '76 Cutlass, & of course he ran off & left me...I HAD to drive the Beetle, I never had driven one B4, & thought it would be fun...Shit, I never was as scared in my life as in that thing. Fergit all that horseshit about Bugs being "Aerodynamic"-they ain't. I thought the wind was gonna pick me, Bug, & all up & dump us in the Great Dismal Swamp alongside of I-64...

[Celt]

The worst I owned was a '82 Ford EXP, which was a two-seat "sport" version of the lowly Escort. The car was kind of fun and came with honest-to-god Recaro leather seats and a factory installed Pioneer stereo. But @ 28k miles, it blew it's biscuits all over I-30 in North Little Rock and on a late Sunday afternoon to boot! Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper. Luckily a friend happened to be driving by and saw us stranded. With her help, we got the POS towed to the Ford dealership and rented a little RWD Corolla to get us back. Ford replaced the trannie and engine for free, but I immediately got rid of it afterwards. :thumbsdn:

[whoaru99]

Probably this one...

http://webpages.charter.net/whoaru/Vision_03_edit.jpg

Too bad really, because it was fun to drive and a nice-looking (IMO) car, had decent power, and got good gas mileage considering the 24v 3.5L engine.

Just too many front end problems and miscellaneous electrical ghosts. Glad I was only a block from home and going slow when it broke.

[whoaru99]

My POS was an '82 Chevy K20 Suburban w/the 6.2 liter diesel. GM claimed it was a "clean slate" design, it was really a dieselised big-block V-8. Main problem was that it had a mandatory 4.11 rear-end in it, which drove the poor Weasel about 2X faster than it wanted to go. 45 was about as fast as it wanted to go, at 60 it was starting to get grumpy, & at 70 it was in PAIN.


Had something similar for my first company work truck, except it was just a standard cab 4wd pickup and had the HD option that was essentially 1 ton suspension and brakes on a 3/4 ton chassis.

This one had the 4-speed manual transmission with the L-1-2-3 shift pattern and the same 4:11 rear end.

That bad boy would really sing on the Interstate about 70-75 mph. Probably glad it didn't have a tach in it.

Lasted surprisingly long, but one day coming back through Wisconsin, I headed out early while it was still dark. Was driving along normally on I-94 with the sun just starting to rise, looked back to check the lane before I pulled out to pass and I could hardly see anything behind me. Something gave way and she was smoking real bad out of both exhaust pipes.

Called the boss on the cell phone (remember those old bag phones?) and he told me to keep driving cause he wanted it dead just as bad as I did.

Well, wasn't about 5 minutes later the temp gauge maxed out and the oil pressure dropped like a rock. Limped to the next exit and that was all she wrote. Good by and good riddance!!

[similost]

It's a toss-up for me.. I can't remember what year, but I had a Z24 Cavalier, ALWAYS some kind of messed up electrical problem with it, and crappy rusting metal....

OR, I had a Olds Achieva, I'm thinking about a 98 or so? can't remember, but it also had lots of electrical problems, and a lot of coolant system problems..

[tboat4]

In 1977 I bought a used '76 Ford Pinto. Yes, it had Firestone 500 tires on it. Bought this as a 2nd car, for my wife. It had about 8,000 miles on it. By '78, the rear end went out, by '79 the tranny went, later in '79 the brake lines went and the side view mirror on the driver's door fell off. Biggest rust bucket one could imagine. Ford did do a recall due to the exploding gas tank, but they wouldn't do anything about anything else. Finally junked it in '80 with 33,000 miles. It was made in Canada, and everything was metric.

[Rodzilla]

had a 82 mercury LN7 for a few weeks..two seater like the ford EXP,loved the sunroof and sporty look...the car just could not get out of it's own way even with the "high output" motor's massive 85 hp...quickly traded it on a 78 celica gt.which was probably the toughest,most fun car i ever owned...score another winner for ford

[quatsino]

Well guys, it's obvious that Ford had some problems in the past - sure hope to heck they've picked up their game since.

Score so far:

Ford: 12
GM: 8
Mopar: 1
Import: 4 plus 1 Aussie
Dishonorable Mention: AMC: 1

[KentTeffeteller]

Hi,

My ultimate POS was a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera S. The S stood for S***! It was a maintenance nightmare. Constant fuel injection, electrical, and driveability woes. It stalled worse than any other car. If I was rich at that time, I would have driven this car to the Oldsmobile factory in Lansing and when the workers were outside on lunch break, I would have set this GM pile of crap on fire and taken a video and sent it to the president of GM.

[Andyman]

As the owner of many Fords, the biggest POS I've bought was the 1988 Dodge Caravan LE with the notorious Mitsubishi 3.0 L and the sloppy valve guides.

Had the tranny done twice, struts, half shafts, water pump, and assorted little PITA like power window gear strips, radio , A/C, door hardware, etc,. I didn't do the valve guides because it was cheaper to dump oil into it than a $1200 valve job.

[MontreuxBlue]

123456789

[dr*audio]

Starting in my last year of college I had a 1971 Austin America. Where do I start? It would run for about 6 months at a time with no major problems and then a colossal failure would occur. I learned a lot about repairing cars working on it. I rebuilt the engine, brakes, constant velocity joints, did body work on it, and finally rebuilt the transmission. The only thing I never had problems with was the electrical system, which was famous for being troublesome.This car had a transverse mounted engine and front wheel drive, before the Honda Civic. Built by British Leyland, the same folks who brought us the MG and the Austin Mini. The transmission was located directly under the engine and it used the engine oil to lubricate the transmission. The picture is not my car but the same year, I think.

http://members.tripod.com/austin_america/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/1971blueaatest.jpg

[rickr15]

We owned one of these bought new -

http://www.gmphotostore.com/images/53218820_pr.jpg

And then there was the whole spark plug deal. The (2) rearmost could not be removed without hoisting the engine up! Eventually most of the lettering came off and it was forever known as "The Mighty Fir".

We just cut holes in the inner fenders to stick a ratchet through made the plug changes pretty easy. Not like you were hurting the value any.
The Monza I owned had a transplanted 327 and headers pretty much mandating the cut hole plug changes.

[Scuzzer]

Just for you!

Thanks! I have to email that one to my Dad. He took a lot of grief from our neighbors/relatives in the late 70's for buying the 280SE instead of a Ford.

[Goodwill_HiFi]

1981 Chevy LUV .....actually a made in Japan Isuzu. It rusted in half while I was driving it. I got it welded up, and it broke again, so I junked it.

[e2e4c7c5]

Add another Ford to the countdown, my worst vehicle by far was a 1981 Ford Mustang 4cyl always overheating, absolute POS with no power. :puke:

I absolutely regret selling my '77 Monte Carlo for that POS Mustang!! :tears:

[mwr885]

2001 hyundai elantra. Damn thing wore through the crank-seal and puked it's oil out on the side of the road... then seized, after a very costly engine swap, the damn airbag computer went haywire and the mechanics all told me to expect a random airbag deployment. Grr... sold the car after that I still wake up screaming thinking about that POS

[GordonW]

I've never had a truly terrible car... but the worst of the bunch (out of about 14 I've owned) was an '86 Camaro... 2.8V6/automatic.

Not to say it was THAT bad... but it had all the standard GM problems- interior and door latches fall apart, paint peeling, oil leaks, etc.

Wound up actually making money on it though... I had bought it from a fellow Georgia Tech student (a Korean guy, who had apparently just got tired of having to do little stuff to it... when I bought it, I IMMEDIATELY had to buy a new battery and fix the door latches on both the drivers door AND the rear hatch) for $400... a friend of mine helped me fix all the minor stuff, and once it was running OK, he actually offered to meet me half-way between what I paid and Blue Book value for it (which was $2400!)... so I actually cleared probably around $700 profit on it!

He had it for a while... several years, and it finally gave up the ghost with an overheating/head gasket problem... think he junked it at that point...

I could also, TECHNICALLY, say that a Chevy Luv pickup was the worst vehicle... but really, I bought it without an engine and sold it the same way... never got around to fixing it. So, I guess it really didn't count. Guys who bought it put a 350/TH350 automatic in it, and proceeded to crash it spectacularly in a high-speed running-off-the-road-and-jumping-an-embankment accident... gotta love redneck engineering (hey, guys... it would have been nice if you'd have put in as much BRAKES as you put in ENGINE, wouldn't it? :D )...

Regards,
Gordon.


Regards,
Gordon.

[Big Dave]

I could give you a few answers.

1. Chevy Chevettes. These things that passed as cars were a disgrace to the American auto industry. For some reason, my father swore by them. He bought a 76 and ran it until 85, as it was falling apart. The floorboards rusted out. IIRC, it spent a lot of time in the garages at the ARCO and Sunoco, mostly for the same shit. Fortunately, he got rid of it before I learned how to drive. He replaced it with an 85 model. This POS didn't see the garages like the 76 did, but that thing had no power, and that's just with a driver and no load. The only thing Chevettes were good for was the hatchback. That's how I transported TV sets before I discovered trucks. I also learned how to drive in this POS. It had power nothing. One of the nicest days of my life was the day we traded it.

My grandmother also had shitvettes. Her first was a Sandpiper (1977?). I don't recall her having trouble, but she never exceeded 20 MPH, so strain on the powertrain was never an issue. She traded that for either an 85 or 86. The shifter had a tendency to come out in her hand.

I rank the shitvette as the worst car ever made by anyone.

2. 1981 Chevy Malibu with 229 V6. I don't totally blame the car. I know these engines had inferior metal used with critical engine parts and regular oil changes were absolutely necessary. I also blame my parents. I will admit this car had a nice feel and when it worked, it did so nicely. My parent's mentality did it in. This was before I learned to drive. At the time, the ARCO and Sunoco had thesed things called service bays. One could have oil changed and other routine maintenance performed. They thought oil changes were only necessary when the car needed to be serviced. By the time I learned to drive, if I so much as thought of applying brakes, the damn thing would stall. This was not easy to maintain. The owner of the Sohio where we had it serviced (the ARCO and Sunoco had closed by this time) told me the front wheels had to be removed to get to the plugs. This car as a 50/50. GM is partially to blame, so were my parents.

As far as vehicles under my own ownership, I can't say I had a piece of junk. My 97 Dodge truck has been very reliable. Would I buy another Dodge, you bet I would.

[Nikko75]

Oops, I was wrong. It was the '78 Granada that was compared to the Mercedes 280SE. Same difference though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIRyE10ABQg

Funny thing is my Dad has a '77 280SE that looks just like the one in the commercial. It's sitting in his garage looking almost as pristine as the day it rolled off the assembly line. My Granada is rebar...

Those Mercedes were a real work of art. Still see the W bodied 300D, E190, etc going and the chrome still like new on some of them. Hate how Mercedes went crappy around 1993-94, not even worth buying the new ones with their electrical issues etc. BMW 3 series is a whole 'nother racket with the company not honoring their GMC transmission warranty, using GMC base model parts and subframe. After my car had it's accident I went looking at a white Mercedes SEC 500 but it only got 8 mpg in the city and if gas was cheap it would be worth it.

[jstout66]

It would be a toss up for me. Now granted, these were well used when I got them, but number 1 would be a 1978 Mercury Bobcat.(Pinto clone) My dad got it for me from a coworker, and I actually wondered what I did to piss him off so bad to get me this car. 2nd worst was a 1967 Ford LTD. That one actually started on fire, and for some reason always smelled like cat pee when it got humid.. I don't even want to know what the previous owner (an old grandma) did in it. Maybe she sold it to me in order to buy Depends.

My best car was my first. A 1972 Pontiac Bonneville. Man, that thing took abuse and NEVER left me stranded.

[soundmotor]

I rank the shitvette as the worst car ever made by anyone.

I've known a few people who've owned them and they liked them as your dad did. Only once have I driven one, a late version Pontiac variant, the T1000. I don't recall it being horrible, just rather bland. I did note that as long as I had road and no stop signs I could pretty much leave it floored and not get into any trouble.

:D

Here's a quiz question for all you 40-something hotrodders, what was the name of the company that made performance parts for the Chevette?

[Bob]

1972 Vega. Engine used more oil than gas. Stopped daily to check the gas and fill the oil. About 200 miles best case per quart. Then it had a loose exhaust pipe bracket under the driver's seat. Hit a bump, it loosened and everything time you revved the engine the exhaust pipe rubbed against the bottom of the chassis. But that wasn't the best part. Every time it rained the water never made it past the passenger compartment, it dumped into the driver's side. Mildew!

Then there was my LAST GM car, the wonderful 1993 Saab 900. My second Saab that I had hoped to crack 90K miles. Didn't. Transmission stopped cooperating: no second gear (lucky to have first and final), and had to rev it up for reverse to work. Then one day, here in Sunny northern California, on my way to work on 280 south, I noticed the temperature gauge starting to rise and I had this premonition that this was the VERY END. So I tried to go as far as I could, taking 85 south and finally dying on the end of the off ramp. Seems that the transmission died, the engine died, the fuel injection system died, the starter died. There was steam coming off the top of the hood, and multiple different color fluids out the bottom. That's like a brain, heart, lung, liver, and bladder failure at the same time.

I salute you General Motors, I started out as a chevy fan, and had 6 of your best. At the end, I was completely broken.

I will not buy, rent, or sit in any GM car. I will not follow behind one, nor will I drive next to one. I will not even park next to one.

I now have a Japanese car that will eventually have as much mileage as all SIX GM cars.

[Goodwill_HiFi]

Then there was my LAST GM car, the wonderful 1993 Saab 900. ........

GM didn't own all of Saab in 93..... only $51% as of 90, They didn't buy the rest of it until about 10 years later. I wouldn't mind the Saab 93, as it's based on the Epsilon platform just like my 2004 Malibu was, and I though the Malibu was a great car. I'd still have it if I didn't have a little incident with a deer just before 5 am :thumbsdn:

[Twenty20Man]

a 1974 Duster..my NCR company car...what a pos

[soundmotor]

Then there was my LAST GM car, the wonderful 1993 Saab 900.

I don't think GM had much to do with your 900 as it was in production for at least a decade before they bought SAAB.

[Rodzilla]

a 1974 Duster..my NCR company car...what a pos


dad owned a 74 duster when i was a kid,bought it new...and i remember that it was troublesome,i also remember it rusting clear through the top of the front fenders and the holes needing to be repaired...now that car was traded in 1980 at only 6 years old,and it NEEDED to be replaced,it was beat...now i know those were maybe not the best example from that era,but car's really have gotten a lot better since then,there's been major progress...you'd expect even the cheapest KIA,hyundai or yes even chrysler to go 6 years without major problems these days...heck most are still under warranty for five!

[CChase]

We had a 1993 Chevy Lumina 3.4 that was a complete lemon. From what I remember, the regular Luminas were not, but the 3.4 version was.

We had $22,000 in under warranty work done to it by the time we got rid of it...

it had issues where you would turn the key in the ignition and it would just click, the paint repeatedly failed... it had to be towed many times from the ignition issue which was apparently a problem on all the 3.4's.

[ShaneC]

I'd venture to say virtually any car my ex-wife or wife has owned.

Ex-wife: had an '89 Ford Thunderbird. Ran fine for a while, aside from a (VERY) soft suspension. Then the "gauge cluster" (full LCD display deal) started crapping out. Then it magically started to idel at around 4k RPMs, so you had to ride the brakes to stay at 55mph. $500 into the shop later, its finally diagnosed to be a fried ECU. Replaced, drove for a while...then she finally got tired of it. Never mind the other "normal" repairs that were required for a 10yr old car that hadn't been properly maintained.

Wife: Bought a Olds Cutlass Calais off her uncle for like $800. BIG POS. Radio had been stolen, dash was cracked, power windows sometimes worked, no A/C, bad brakes, etc. Eventually the brake lines blew - got those fixed, and somehow kept the thing running. Oh, it also liked to overheat for no good reason. Then eventually the radiator fans stopped working...ack! Oh, and the strange yet unfound oil leaks and coolant leaks.

Wife: 2000 Dodge Stratus, V6. Bought from same uncle as above for only $900. Then he had an "emergency" and needed another $300 for some strange reason that still hasn't been repaid.

Aside from having been sitting for like 2 years before she bought it - it seemed decent mechanically, but something just seemed "wrong" to me. Tried telling her not to get it. After charging the A/C, that worked, but the resistor for the fan is shot, so the fan only works on HIGH. Oh well.

2mos & $1200 later, we had the transmission rebuilt. Then it starts overheating - change the T-stat and Pressure cap. Next there's this weird "clanking" sound and the alignment seems off. Ohh...she's been driving it for 3 months with only 2 lug nuts and 3 out of 5 wheel studs on the front passenger tire.... Alignments crap, brakes are shite, everything sucks about this car.

Driving back from PA - after everything seems to be ok...we break down in Northern MD. Car won't start. Bad fuel pump.

$1200 for the car, $1200 for the tranny, $500 for the fuel pump*, $75 in special tools for me to fix the wheel studs (damn inverted torx lookin' bolts on the brake calipers - and odd sized bolts for other misc parts, and a butane torch to get the hub off) plus the regular routine maint....oh, and more random oil leaks, and transmission leaks.

I've replaced the rear suspension, all 4 disc brakes (including the bleeding), an oil change, and transmission fluid change, (I stay away from engine bays though) on a Toyota MR2 in less than 3hrs before, but her wheel studs on that Stratus took me 2.5 days for ONE wheel. :(


*$500 for the fuel pump in N. MD was a great deal, as the guy towed us in, diagnosed it, got the part, and did the labor all in about 4hrs - same day service, and was nice enough to bump some other cars he had to let us get back on the road. Very professional and yet just some random guys shop next to his house. If anyone needs a mechanic there near I70, I'll get you his info.

[70salesguy]

My candidate for the "worst car challenge" isn't one I owned, but drove for awhile as a "company car". A Ford Fairmont, probably a 78 or 79. It was underpowered, uncomfortable, rode poorly, handled worse and felt like it was built of cardboard. I was literally scared to drive it on the freeway.

As an interesting side note, I (or my ex-wife) have owned 3 of the cars mentioned previously with good results.

1974 Vega GT. Bought it from a friend who needed a station wagon for his growing family and couldn't get a decent trade-in on it. Pretty car with AC, PS and a 4-speed. It ran and drove well and I bought it to drive to work (30 miles each way) because my 66 GTO was a tad bit expensive on gas. I got great service out of the Vega and had no problems with it until I sold it (to the 1st person who looked at it and paid the asking price with no haggling).

1977 Pinto. My ex-wife had this car in college. It had a 2.8 litre V6 in it and ran very well, surprising many with how quick it was. Only complaint was the car had no AC and later the silver paint started fading really badly. She kept it after the divorce and finally traded it in on an Escort. :rolleyes:

1982 Chevette. I bought this for my ex to drive around town and to go visit her mother while I was driving the Pinto to work. A bit under powered but the 4-speed helped out. Provided very good service until I sold it after I bought a Cadillac Eldorado. That was a serious change, but my personal economic situation improved dramatically!

But back to the Fairmont. That whole period from 76 to about 81 was a bad time for domestics. The increasing damands for emission controls against inflation and other pressures didn't make for nice cars.

Things finally started looking up in 81 with cars like the Cutlass and in 82 with the new body style for the Camaro.

[jpdylon]

1984 Ford LTD. Biggest POS I've ever had the displeasure of owning. I spent more time and money just keeping it running daily then I ever really got to drive it. It constantly would overheat. If you tried to pull it up a hill it would knock, ping, overheat. I tried flushing the block. Replaced the radiator, water pump, etc.

The lame TBFI never worked right, it was powerless for a 3.8L and it would never pass smog. I had to bribe the manager to have it pass and he was sick of seeing me.

Sold it for 2k and never looked back. It looked nice, but mechanically was nothing more than a bet between engineers to see if they could design a drivetrain composed of plastic, rust and recycled parts.

Good riddance.

[arrow 68]

'79 Chevy Chevette. What a POS!! The rear end went out after 50k and then the motor shortly after that.

The only American car I have ever owned. And yes, garbage.

[arrow 68]

Scuzzer, your Granada story rocked!:lmao::lmao: "doing it's best impression of a mid-70's DDT sprayer"! (That was vivid wasn't it children) You win in my book so far, I'm sure someone will have a worse car but, that was an excellent story:thmbsp:

I on the other hand never had a crappy car, loved all of 12 of them.If I had to pick one, 1975 Datsun B210, that spent most of it's life in Iowa, someone took the time to strip it down to bare metal, then put that datsun brown/gold paint right on it no primer by the time it got to TX saying it was rusty is being nice but hey, $150 in '85 and it ran good. the shop put it on the lift to change the tires cuz the jack kept disapearing into the car, lifted it up and boing! front fenders popped out about a foot, the floor held though. Busted a hose on a 100 deg. day in Dallas B to B traffic in rush hour, saying come on baby just get Daddy home. She did. Next day put the hose in the radiator, just ran onto the ground through the block:tears: when the yard towed her away, true till the very end.

As a small kid I used to get rides to school in one of these. It was a friends Mother's car. It was tough, and reliable, and had over 200,000 on it when it was donated.

[arrow 68]

My candidate for the "worst car challenge" isn't one I owned, but drove for awhile as a "company car". A Ford Fairmont, probably a 78 or 79. It was underpowered, uncomfortable, rode poorly, handled worse and felt like it was built of cardboard. I was literally scared to drive it on the freeway.

As an interesting side note, I (or my ex-wife) have owned 3 of the cars mentioned previously with good results.

1974 Vega GT. Bought it from a friend who needed a station wagon for his growing family and couldn't get a decent trade-in on it. Pretty car with AC, PS and a 4-speed. It ran and drove well and I bought it to drive to work (30 miles each way) because my 66 GTO was a tad bit expensive on gas. I got great service out of the Vega and had no problems with it until I sold it (to the 1st person who looked at it and paid the asking price with no haggling).

1977 Pinto. My ex-wife had this car in college. It had a 2.8 litre V6 in it and ran very well, surprising many with how quick it was. Only complaint was the car had no AC and later the silver paint started fading really badly. She kept it after the divorce and finally traded it in on an Escort. :rolleyes:

1982 Chevette. I bought this for my ex to drive around town and to go visit her mother while I was driving the Pinto to work. A bit under powered but the 4-speed helped out. Provided very good service until I sold it after I bought a Cadillac Eldorado. That was a serious change, but my personal economic situation improved dramatically!

But back to the Fairmont. That whole period from 76 to about 81 was a bad time for domestics. The increasing damands for emission controls against inflation and other pressures didn't make for nice cars.

Things finally started looking up in 81 with cars like the Cutlass and in 82 with the new body style for the Camaro.

My Father had a 74 Pinto that ran great, was reliable, and had 129,000 miles on it when he for no reason traded it in. I think he believed Nader.

[Deuce]

After reading ALL the posts ... the main consistant comments I see in this thread is

1) low purchase price
2) Fords or " cheap " economy vehicles

I have owned lots of vehicles over my 40 plus years of driving. I never had a " BAD " vehicle. The lowest price car I ever bought was a $150 55 Chevrolet 2 door post car ( 1 prior owner ) that was great. I had 4 VW's. I have owned Camaros, Novas, El Caminos and Silverados, F-1's and F-100's. Add in Cadillacs, Toyotas and Blazers for the wife. For toys ... I have owned a few 1932 Fords, a 1940 Ford and a couple of Harley Davidsons.

I usually sell or get rid of a vehicle because I am tired of it. My last 5 vehicles each had over 125 thousand miles put on them by me ... when I sold them ... with NO MAJOR issues. :yes:

I did sell this Camaro ... because I needed the money to buy a House. I do regret selling it but I still have the house and the wife who wanted the house.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/DeuceRoadster/chev083.jpg

But I have this ... to drive and play with ... so everything is GOOD. :thmbsp:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/DeuceRoadster/DSC02137.jpg

[carolinabirdman]

1982 Toronado Diesel. Bought new ($16,800) and had to have it re-assembled by the dealer every tuesday. When you put your foot to the floor all you got was alot of smoke, stink, noise and no power at all.

[ferguson3930]

1989 Volvo 740 GLE.

The car is built like a tank, like a castle, but mine was apparently the absolutely worst unit that ever left the assembly line, the worst Volvo built since 1928!!! :thumbsdn:

This car was for repair in the garage some ten times in three years. In addition to that it was a lame duck. And a vino.:thumbsdn:

A nightmare!

:yes:

Chris

[vintage-yungin]

Was that picture of the camaro sitting at the Pomona Car sweap meet in california?? lookis extremely familiar with those stadium stands in the back ground I was there when a 69 just like yours sold i watched the guys talk it out.

Shawn

After reading ALL the posts ... the main consistant comments I see in this thread is

1) low purchase price
2) Fords or " cheap " economy vehicles

I have owned lots of vehicles over my 40 plus years of driving. I never had a " BAD " vehicle. The lowest price car I ever bought was a $150 55 Chevrolet 2 door post car ( 1 prior owner ) that was great. I had 4 VW's. I have owned Camaros, Novas, El Caminos and Silverados, F-1's and F-100's. Add in Cadillacs, Toyotas and Blazers for the wife. For toys ... I have owned a few 1932 Fords, a 1940 Ford and a couple of Harley Davidsons.

I usually sell or get rid of a vehicle because I am tired of it. My last 5 vehicles each had over 125 thousand miles put on them by me ... when I sold them ... with NO MAJOR issues. :yes:

I did sell this Camaro ... because I needed the money to buy a House. I do regret selling it but I still have the house and the wife who wanted the house.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/DeuceRoadster/chev083.jpg

But I have this ... to drive and play with ... so everything is GOOD. :thmbsp:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/DeuceRoadster/DSC02137.jpg

[mr_fixer]

I have 2 worst cars, the first was a 1978 Chevy Chevette, not much broke on it but it kept getting slower and slower.When Dad got it for me it had a top speed of 65 miles an hour on flat land with the AC, radio and headlights turned off. it took about 3 minutes to get to that speed. right before i sold it, it's top speed was about 50 mph. I saw it on the road several months later being driven by a young lady with a long string of cars behind it doing about 40 mph in a 55 zone.
The Worst car i owned for reliability was a 1984 Dodge 400, I replaced the Carb 4 times before the mechanic realized that the fuel line was decomposing and clogging up the jets.This was due to gasohol that everyone was selling to reduce pollution, and the fact that the kind of fuel line Chrysler was using at that time.
The next thing that happened was the car rusted from the inside out, the exterior looked fine except it was heavily rusting on the inside of the hood and engine bay and fire wall. when the rust broke thru the hood to the surface, I got rid of it. I was barely able to keep it running to get to the dealer to trade it in. Logan

[Goodwill_HiFi]

The Worst car i owned for reliability was a 1984 Dodge 400, I replaced the Carb 4 times before the mechanic realized that the fuel line was decomposing and clogging up the jets.

Was that a 2.2L with a Holley built Weber feedback carb? If so, it wasn't the fuel line, it was charcoal from the vapor canister getting sucked into the carb.

[Deuce]

Was that picture of the camaro sitting at the Pomona Car sweap meet in california??

Shawn

No :D ... but this photo was taken at the So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona, California at their open house in June of 2007 ( held in conjunction with the LA Roadster's Father's Day Show ... which I had the roadster in ). I live on the East Coast in the Carolinas.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/DeuceRoadster/XP6150167_JPG-1.jpg

[that70sguy]

It's a tossup.

1974 Mercury Capri - half the body was bondo, burned oil like no tomorrow. was happy to unload it for $500 in 1980.

1978 Saab 99 Turbo - real bad front end shimmy when the turbo kicked in at 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears. Had some sort of vapor lock problem - problem starting when engine was fully warmed up. after a half hour or so, it would finally start. what a POS!

[mr_fixer]

Goodwill HiFi, i think it was. I opened up the third carb after it behaved the same way and saw tons of little black chunks in the float bowl, and my mechanic friend told me it was bits of the fuel line. After the 4 carb i gave up and traded it in.

[SPL db]

No :D ... but this photo was taken at the So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona, California at their open house in June of 2007 ( held in conjunction with the LA Roadster's Father's Day Show ... which I had the roadster in ). I live on the East Coast in the Carolinas.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/DeuceRoadster/XP6150167_JPG-1.jpg


Your Deuce reminds me of another one...

http://images.streetrodderweb.com/milestones/0309sr_baskrvl_01_z.jpg

It was Gray Baskerville that said, "We never own our Hot Rods, but are merely caretakers of them."

Very nice ride, I will own one someday...

Scott

[70salesguy]

Wait until you see the 3-window that Deuce is working on! :yes:

Both it and the roadster are ZZ430s! :thmbsp:

[Goodwill_HiFi]

Goodwill HiFi, i think it was. I opened up the third carb after it behaved the same way and saw tons of little black chunks in the float bowl, and my mechanic friend told me it was bits of the fuel line. After the 4 carb i gave up and traded it in.

That sounds like the charcoal in the vapor canister to me. I don't mean to be insulting, but I think your mechanic is/was a better friend than he is a mechanic! Throwing identical part after identical part at a problem and getting the same result each time is insane!

[doodledog]

Worst car? The 1990 Jeep Wrangler my wife bought new a few months before we met. Within 6 months it nearly killed her -- short wheelbase + high center of gravity + abrupt braking to avoid car turning left in front of her = rollover. Thank God for seatbelts.

Unfortunately the damn thing wasn't totalled, so we were stuck with it for three more years. The four-cylinder sounded like a tractor motor, couldn't get out of its own way, and managed only 13 mpg. The plastic windows and canvas top meant the air inside got stale real fast when the top was up, while the a/c gave your knees frostbite. The handling was downright scary above 45 mph. Highway speeds required shouting to be heard. The outside rearview mirrors vibrated so badly that they were useless any time the engine was running -- dealer said that was normal.

Three days after a clueless driver in a Buick cut me off in traffic and nearly forced me to choose between slamming into her or risking a rollover off the side of an overpass (see first paragraph above) we traded it for a VW Fox -- and marveled at how much more civilized that was. We probably lost $4K on the trade, but it was worth every cent to be rid of that nightmare.

[Deuce]

Your Deuce reminds me of another one...

http://images.streetrodderweb.com/milestones/0309sr_baskrvl_01_z.jpg

Scott

THANKS ...
I consider that a real compliment ...
Gray Baskerville told me the same thing ... :yes: that my roadster remined him of his.

He took photos of my 32 at the Pigeon Forge TN rod run some years back and put them in the magazine he worked for ( Rod and Custom ). The very next year I had the 32 in LA for the Roadster show ( in the 90's ) and he walked up and called me by my name and remembered the 32 and myself :thmbsp:

His car was a inspiration for my roadster and it had a style they I tried to emulate ...

This is my current 32 project ... a original Henry steel 3W coupe ... with my HOT ROD upgrades ... :D

http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos/00003880/11935418821.jpg

[john_ven24]

Well think I am the first European to post my worst car I ever owned here.

Tadaa:
http://home.versatel.nl/john_ven24/mijnauto.JPG

An '86 Renault 5 GT turbo :tresbon:. Owned for a few months. During these few months fuses blew, dashboard switches broke, I had to switch the dynamo and the starting engine. It ran 25 miles a galon and needed expensive 98 octane leaded fuel. However the fun I had with it was worth all the costs since it did 0 - 60 Mph in under 8 seconds :thmbsp: with just a 4 cylinder 1.4 l turbo engine.

However I sold it, now I am driving a peugeot 107 (that probably nobody has ever seen in the US of A, Canada or Australia) which has a Toyota 3 cylinder 1.0 l engine and runs 55 miles a galon and hasn't let me down (yet).

http://www.wintonsworld.com/cars/a-cars-2005/2005-carpics/peugeot-107.jpg

[pmsummer]

2004 Toyota Prius. Had the lovely habit of not engaging the gasoline engine in hot weather if the A/C was on without alerting you. You'd be driving along on battery power alone... and in city traffic, which was usually good for about 20 minutes before the batteries died and the car rolled to a stop. Even when running properly, taking it on the freeway was like driving on roller skates.

1999 Chevrolet Caprice. Had the delightful habit of locking up the rear wheels when coming off an exit ramp at speed. Ever do a donut on an exit ramp? Gets lots of attention.

1980 Honda Accord. Great car for 60K miles, then all hell broke loose (including the radiator housing... woo hoo! THAT was fun!). Heads, half-shafts, and clutch all gone by 65K. I've always thanked God that my ex-wife got the car as part of the divorce settlement.

1976 Chevrolet Malibu. Just. Simply. The. Biggest. Piece. Of. Shit. I've. Ever. Owned.

1977 Datsun B-210. Simply no excuse for that vehicle to have been imported. A Trabant couldn't have been much worse, and it would have looked better.

[Goodwill_HiFi]

1999 Chevrolet Caprice. Had the delightful habit of locking up the rear wheels when coming off an exit ramp at speed. Ever do a donut on an exit ramp? Gets lots of attention.


I would think that would be a simple rear axle fix. Solid axles have been around forever, and there isn't really any mystery to them.


1976 Chevrolet Malibu.[/B] Just. Simply. The. Biggest. Piece. Of. Shit. I've. Ever. Owned.


How so?


1977 Datsun B-210.[/B] Simply no excuse for that vehicle to have been imported. A Trabant couldn't have been much worse, and it would have looked better.

My parents had one when I was little. It was the only new car they've ever purchased. It was yellow!

[pmsummer]

I would think that would be a simple rear axle fix. Solid axles have been around forever, and there isn't really any mystery to them.



How so?



My parents had one when I was little. It was the only new car they've ever purchased. It was yellow!

Fred Flintstone ABS.

Not enough bandwidth to enumerate.

So was my wife's. At least it warned you it was coming.

[Freedom]

I have the pleasure of owning an auto repair shop. We all feel that "Ford" lacks in every asspect. :thumbsdn:

Have you heard there new ad. "Ford, now as good as Toyota" :no:

Jonathan :music:

[KentTeffeteller]

Hi,

Ford= Fix Or Repair Daily, Found On Road Dead, Funny Old Recycled Dodge
GMC= Gotta Mechanic Coming, General Mess Of Crap, Great Maintenance Cost
Dodge= Damned Old Dieseling Gear Eater
FIAT= Fix It Again Tony
BMW= Born Moderately Wealthy, Break My Windows, Bubba Makes Wheels
Toyota= Too Often Yankees Overrate This Automobile
MG= Mostly in Garages

[Fast_Eddie]

I've had pretty good luck car wise. But my dad bought one of the first 1980 Chevy Citations. That was a crap car. Transmission went out. They found a celophane wrapper from a pack of cigarettes in it. At least that was fixed under warrenty. Then a head bolt broke and popped a big dent in the hood. Yeah. Not much of a car.

[Goodwill_HiFi]

Then a head bolt broke and popped a big dent in the hood. Yeah. Not much of a car.

How did that happen.......that doesn't even make sense.

[M Jarve]

I've owned a few cars in my short time driving. The worst must be Ol' Tippy, a 1991 Ford Exploder Tip-over Edition with all the optional rust.

When in 4WD, the front end would do it's best to fly apart. The brakes failed without warning when I pulled into a gas station- nearly went through the wall. The floor was so rusted out that the only thing between my feet and the road was a bit of ply-wood and a floor mat. The engine had equal oil and gas mileage; anti-freeze use was a little better. The windshield wipers only worked when it quit raining. The low-range would cause the transfer case to make a sound not unlike a pencil sharpener whittling away at a screw driver. The tailgate would fly open without warning going down the road, but usually would not open for my life if I used the lever. The rear seatbelt anchor came through the body the first time it was used. Eventually I made the all to common mistake of putting it into "Drive" and apparently that was too much for the tranny.

A dishonorable mention can be made to my erstwhile Hyundai Sonata, which had the rear springs go when I was on a trip to Duluth. One day it stalled out in front of my shop and would not restart - I simply left a note in the window that said "Tow-Me!" The city was only too obliged to do so.

[Goodwill_HiFi]

........... I simply left a note in the window that said "Tow-Me!" The city was only too obliged to do so.

And you didn't get in trouble for abandoning a vehicle?

[avionic]

Worst car challenge...Has got to be every stinking episode of the shows "Pinks".... Almost as bad as OCC..

[RussinOhio]

1997 Ford Probe.

A money pit. Nothing but problems. I liked its sleek looks but I do not miss that POS!


Russ

[M Jarve]

And you didn't get in trouble for abandoning a vehicle?

No. The nice thing about a small town- especially when my mother was the high-school sweetheart of the Chief of Police.

[dnewma04]

The worst for me was the second Omni I owned (I should have learned after the first). I bought it with fairly low mileage for it's age in 2000 (350.00 for a car with 94k miles). It ran really well for about 4 days and then the heater stopped working and this was in midwinter. I'd drive to work bundled up with snow boots, and a blanket over my legs, winter hat/gloves, etc. Shortly after, the voltage would start to peg and the regulator would need to be replaced ever few days. This was shortly after totalling out my prior daily driver and I wasn't about to drive my old chevy in the winter. I became pretty proficient in swapping out VRs and found a source locally that was very cheap. I had a case of them in my trunk. The case gave me just enough VRs to last me until the summer when my old '66 chevy became my daily driver for a summer.

The other car that I had that was a POS was an 83 Chevy LUV with an Isuzu diesel. It got great gas mileage and always ran like a champ, but there wasn't much left of the original frame by 200k miles. Almost every bit of it had been replaced by patch panels. At some point, my brother and I had welded the bed and cab together with some angle iron to make it more rigid. The engine was tremendous, but easily the slowest vehicle I have ever heard of with it's paltry 40 something HP in a near S10 sized truck.

[dnewma04]

Not enough bandwidth to enumerate.



Not really. I'll do it for you.

1976. Can't think of anything else that can top that. The 70s were probably the worst era in american automotive history. The only thing saving them might be 70-72. The 80s were bad as well, but I don't know if they were quite as low.

[e2e4c7c5]

1997 Ford Probe.

A money pit. Nothing but problems. I liked its sleek looks but I do not miss that POS!


Russ

That's a surprise, I has a '89 Probe and it was a good car.

[dread31]

Interesting, the number of Japanese cars that are listed in this thread as shit.
Considering the reputation they have. I've always thought they are shit. A friend of mine, (Who constantly made fun of my '72 Skylark.), went out and bought a 1984 Subaru something or another--brand new. We were driving up a hill in San Diego when the clutch suddenly ceased to function and we began rolling backwards. POS had less than 20,000 miles on it at that point. (My Buick had over 150,000.) I asked him "Want me to go get the Skylark and tow it back to the Subaru dealer for ya?", and cracked up laughing. He was not happy.

Some years later I was driving my '97 Dakota, (Which I still have, and it runs great @ 168,000 miles.) behind a brand new Lexus whateveritis, when red, oily specks began accumulating on my windshield. I got the guy to pull over, and told him he had a problem, to which he replied, "Bullshit, that's coming from YOUR engine." And drove away. 1/2 mile down the road he had to pull over again, and I politely showed him the transmission fluid running out of his transmission pan. POS still had the sticker in the window.

My ears hear all about the rep they have. My eyes see something a tad different.

Dave

[Goodwill_HiFi]

The other car that I had that was a POS was an 83 Chevy LUV with an Isuzu diesel. It got great gas mileage and always ran like a champ, but there wasn't much left of the original frame by 200k miles......

Number two for the Isuzu built Chevy LUV......... it was a Made in Japan by Isuzu, through and through. I posted mine a few pages back. Mine had the gas engine. The truck did have a good 4wd system, and the engine always started very well...... but like your's it had no power, and the frame disintegrated. I would get big flakes of rust off the frame every time I washed the thing. To me it looked at though the frame wasn't draining effectively....... it was fully boxed, if I recall correctly.

I painted it with spray cans, and used electrical tape for a pin stripe, the front bumper got replaced with a double layer of 2by10, and the box was replaced with a wooden flat bed. I had a Sparcomatic tape deck with 10" woofers pulled out of a console stereo...... mounted in cardboard boxes :-)

[timofred]

Leyland Marina.
I Win.............:D

[1980'slover]

i think old fashion american muscle cars can setp up to the competiton, and they last forever if you take care of them

[cfranz]

My luck with Fords has not been good.

Had a 74 Mustang II - cute car, built like a tank. I took out a Chevy Impala with it once, pulled out in front of me. Pushed the whole front quarter panel into the engine. Zero damage to the Mustang. Stupid 4 cylinder engine which I completely rebuild. Twice. Still didn't work to spec. I suspect it never did.

96 Ford Torus station wagon. 4, count them, 4 transmissions in the space of 30,000 miles. Drove great, comfortable on long trips (Chicago to Lincoln a lot). But just too stupid to keep.

[scubaguy10]

I have owned 2 cars that were just gawdawful. One was a 1975 Saab 99EMS that I owned in law school (late 70s). The car was only 4 years old and had under 50,000 miles, but acted like it was on its last legs. The shifter broke, the engine mounts broke, the fuse block corroded, the paint pealed off and finally the transmission went, at about 60,000 miles. Wierd stuff just kept happening. I was on my way to a law school final exam one morning, at a stop light, and got rear ended- by a guy on a bicycle! I felt the bump and looked up just in time to see this guy flying across my trunk lid. Another time the engine started leaking coolant, so I pulled over and opened the hood. Peering through the antifreeze steam, suddenly the upper radiator hose, which had a pinhole in it, opened up and sprayed hot antifreeze right into my mouth. That car was possessed. When it was running, it was fairly fast and fun to drive, but too many problems. Besides, it was uglier than Rush Limbaugh's drug induced nightmares.

The other turd on my list was a 1985 Dodge 600 ES Turbo convertible. White with tan leather and a white top. Pretty, fun to drive, and a total POS. I bought it with less than 30,000 miles at a dealer auction, and drove it about 15,000 mile in total. In that time I had to replace 1 set of tires, 1 set of brakes, the entire dashboard, the turbo, a head gasket, the alternator, and had to repair the fuel injection twice. I traded it, and started driving an old Series II Jag XJ12 that had a Chevy motor in it for a daily driver. I was at a party one day and a Chrysler rep and I were talking, when she found out that I recently had owned one. She asked me how I liked it, so I told her it was so unreliable that I traded it for a 15 year old Jag. I thought she was gonna shit. :)

[AUdubon5425]

The most troublesome cars I've owned:

1981 Honda Civic 1500 wagon - I'm the only person I know who had bad luck with a Honda. 3rd gear disappeared, she wouldn't stay running without feathering the gas (an interesting skill in traffic - working the gas with your toe and the brake with your heel.) Power booster dead too. All this happened in a 3 month timeframe. Gave it to my stepbrother, who is a mechanic; he abandoned the car a few months later - I think a couple more gears went missing by then. I do remember the serial number was 00011 - the eleventh car built that year.

1983 Chrylser LeBaron - 2.6 Mitsubishi engine - this would have been a great car if not for the 2.6 motor. I had to disassemble everything from the left side of the motor (front of car) to change a 3-inch emissions hose buried under the intake against the block. The Mikuni carburetor wouldn't function properly no matter how much money was thrown at it. Thought about swapping a 2.5 into it, as I really liked the car, but the floors were rusting and I couldn't get the seats unbolted to repair them, so I sold it for $300.

[kx250rider]

My worst was a brand-new '87 Ford F150 4x4... I bought it new on the lot, drove it up the street to the Jack-In-The-Box for a taco, and when I put the dome light on to get change out of my pocket, the whole body feed went dead.... Next day, I found a pinched wire hanging out near the visor, fixed that, and when I closed the drivers door, the door panel popped off. Couldn't put it back because it had been forced on at the factory due to mis-drilled holes. I had the dealer fix that (crookedly, though). After I had been driving it for about a month, a neighbor came pounding on the door to tell me there was black smoke coming from the hood! It was on fire... I put it out with the hose, had it towed to the dealer, who told me to call my insurance... I did, and they paid. Then a month later, I got a letter from the Ford Motor Company telling me that I should take the truck to the dealer because they forgot to put clips on the fuel injection hoses at the factory.

Is that a bad enough vehicle for this thread?

Charles

[leadlike]

My dad gave me a '95 grand am to get through college. I had it for about three months. The front end was ruined when I ran it off the road into a mud puddle and it sank up to its headlights. To my credit, I cleaned it up as best I could and drove it to a mechanic a mile away. I remember standing there when he pulled the front wheels off and saw all of the impacted mud in the cooling vents on the rotors. I didn't know anything about cars, but I did ask him if that would be a problem. He assured me it would not be.

Well, two weeks later, I go to brake suddenly on the highway to avoid a collision and the steering wheel flies out of my hand! Regain control and find that the car violently shakes at the touch of a brake peddle. Warped rotors, ruined brakes, calipers, alignment, etc.

But this was actually a relief as the transmission sucked! My dad had it replaced and the rebuild was pitiful. It was constantly in the shop while it was under warranty. Basically, the only way I could drive it was to stomp wildly on the peddle, like I was keeping time to music. Any smooth acceleration and the tranny would nearly fall out. Constant pressure on the gas and the car oscillated violently.

I traded it in for a 800 bucks and got a very nice '01 malibu. I explained all the problems to the dealer, who said they would probably junk it. Next week the dealer has my car in their ad listed at $6000! I called as an interested customer and found out that it was indeed my car! I really wondered how it would sell with such obvious problems. I had a buddy test drive it, and while the rotors were replaced, the alignment was still off and the transmission was in especially wretched shape. The salesman that rode along must not have had any idea what he was in for; as his face visibly turned varying deeper shades of red as he tried to keep it on the road.

[tshoejohn]

As far as dependability my ‘86 thunderbird turbo coup was a raging POS, I nicknamed it “The Thunderjunk”. The only worse car I have ever seen was any 1980’s escort, Iv’e seen many but never seen one without a stupid problem.

The best piece of junk was a 1980 Chevy LUV Truck. It was the family beater, one of my brothers crashed it into stuff, the other brother would go “Trash Canning” with it, I had it airborne a few times, and you could get it to backfire at will. In short we beat the hell out of that truck and it just wouldn’t die. Sold it for $400 still running great.

[Bstable]

[QUOTE=dread31;1862557]Interesting, the number of Japanese cars that are listed in this thread as shit.
Considering the reputation they have. I've always thought they are shit.

huh,..... I am on page 7 and I have only seen a mention of 1 Honda and 1 Toyota. btw Hyundai is Korean. Yes Japanese are crap.... care to go through and add it up again.

[boyon00]

'96 dodge caravan... about 2 k after the warranty expired the tranny went,and 2 weeks later the a/c cacked. The "new" rebuilt tranny was $1800.00,and I did'nt bother with the a/c. I:thumbsdn: only then started to notice how many chrysler owners were driving around on hot summer days with the windows down.

[grateful]

Volkswagen Rabbit with auto transmission and AC. Paid $1.00 for it. Not even worth that.

[mfhale]

My freshman year at A&M, I had a 1977 AMC Gremlin, black with white vinyl bucket seats.

Had to have the radiator boiled out, A/C quit the first summer I owned it, replaced the ball joints, power steering pump sh!t the bed on the way back from Galveston, had the tranny rebuilt, replaced a motor mount and a second torque converter (destroyed by the broken motor mount), bent a pushrod by changing the oil and I don't think I got laid the entire time I owned the car.

[CUlater]

I'm still laughing. Thanks.

1975 Ford Granada, you know, the ones they compared to a Mercedes in the commercials.

Dad bought it for $250 for me to drive back and forth to college in 1984. Nine year old car for $250 and he got ripped off. Bought it, drove it 500 miles, cracked head. Stocked up on carb spray and oil and drove it another 500 miles. Replaced head. Drove 500 miles, cracked head, repeat. The nice thing was that these cars littered the junk yards at that time so a new head was about $50. The final head replacement was Christmas '88 just before I moved to Colorado. I figured I could make it 1000 miles on a fresh one, I was mostly right. I rolled into Golden doing my best impression of a mid 70's DDT sprayer. Drove it to the crusher in Jan '89 and they paid me $55 for the steel. Didn't know rust qualified as steel.

Speaking of rust, it had strategically placed holes the size of softballs on top of the fenders next to the hood. When you went through water the wheel spray would come out and hit the windshield. Nice touch since the windshield sprayer didn't work. Another benefit was that the brownish rust kinda matched the ultimate turd brown paint. Also adding to the Mercedes illusion, the tan vinyl top had morphed to a tannish green. I never knew what to call that color until I changed my daughters first diaper. My girlfriend at the time was mortified to be seen in it. Real chick magnet that car...

[ProAc_Fan]

Hmm where to start?

1976 Mercury Capri with the 6 cyl engine and built in Germany for Ford. Actually the motor was the only functioning part of that car. The shift linkage was a joke. Many a time, I'd find myself under the car at a stoplight untangling the linkage.

1993 Ford Tempo...purchased brand spanking new. Although the engine actually ran quite well, this car had an affinity for harmonic balancers. Over the life of the car, I can recall replacing this item at least 6 times. Faulty design? Not according to Ford.:scratch2: Brakes were a joke too. I do a lot of stop and go city driving but every 6 months meant new pads and rotors. In fact, it got to the point that I'd just keep driving til I heard the grinding of the pad against the rotor and then replace the whole enchilada. By comparison, it's been a year plus for front pads on my 93 Tercel and the pads still have plenty left to go.

I've had a couple of other Fords ( don't ask me why or how) and the only one I have fond memories of is the 1993 Probe GT. Of course this car is really a rebadged Mazda MX-6 which probably explains it. If Ford was smarter, they wouldn't build anything. Just rebadge the Mazda's and improve their quality immediately.

Mike

[mfhale]

If Ford was smarter, they wouldn't build anything. Just rebadge the Mazda's and improve their quality immediately.

Mike

Isn't that what they're doing with the Edge, Fusion, Zephyr, Milan, MKZ, MKX, etc.?

[CUlater]

Honorable mention - also still laughing!

I've owned a few cars in my short time driving. The worst must be Ol' Tippy, a 1991 Ford Exploder Tip-over Edition with all the optional rust.

When in 4WD, the front end would do it's best to fly apart. The brakes failed without warning when I pulled into a gas station- nearly went through the wall. The floor was so rusted out that the only thing between my feet and the road was a bit of ply-wood and a floor mat. The engine had equal oil and gas mileage; anti-freeze use was a little better. The windshield wipers only worked when it quit raining. The low-range would cause the transfer case to make a sound not unlike a pencil sharpener whittling away at a screw driver. The tailgate would fly open without warning going down the road, but usually would not open for my life if I used the lever. The rear seatbelt anchor came through the body the first time it was used. Eventually I made the all to common mistake of putting it into "Drive" and apparently that was too much for the tranny.

A dishonorable mention can be made to my erstwhile Hyundai Sonata, which had the rear springs go when I was on a trip to Duluth. One day it stalled out in front of my shop and would not restart - I simply left a note in the window that said "Tow-Me!" The city was only too obliged to do so.

[shellshock]

Hmmm, I've had nothing but amazing luck from all of my cars (Volvos)


The problem is all you people are messing with that American rubbish. :nono:

[jerrymrc]

For new cars it is a toss up. the 85 GTI I only kept 18 months after it spent damn near half that at the dealership being repaired again and again. when I realized that in 6 months I was going to foot the $1500 bill every other month I sold it.

The other was not as bad (never left me stranded 4 times like the GTI did) was the 89 IROC the wife just had to have. It went through 2 sets of heads, a set of rotors, a seat, steering wheel, speedometer, and the AC compressor in 12 months.

The all-time so sad to make ya laugh was my Fiat 600 that every so often would just spit a brake puck out on the street. It was a fun car in a riding lawnmower kind of way. Just put your foot to the floor and shift, never went fast enough to hurt anyone.:thmbsp:

[danj]

My worst car: a 1981 Mazda GLC FWD automatic. Purchased new, I kept it for three years and about 35K miles. It went through 5 distributors at $600 a pop! It blew two head gaskets and had to have the exhaust header replaced twice. Three CV joints replaced. The transmission vacuum modulator would crap out about every six months. There was body rust and the interior carpeting started falling apart after six months. A lot of this was fixed under warranty but too much wasn't covered. On top of that it was recalled several times. My previous car had been a Mazda RX-4 and it was a great car.

We've had five new Toyotas since '84 and never had a problem with any of them. The only! repair any of them have needed was a starter on the minivan. Current car is a Highlander and it's as stone reliable.

My other car is a 96 Grand Marquis LS with with the 4.6L OHC V8 and 158K miles. It had that damned plastic intake plenum problem - replaced under recall - but it's otherwise completely reliable.

[Sansui Louie]

I think I may have a winner... 1971 Plymouth Cricket, which was a rebadged Hillman Avenger. Awful car. Always something wrong with it. Rusted instantly. Unreliable. Horrid.

[stereodctr]

'83 Chevy Chevette. Had to replace front brakes every 20K miles and I am not a hard driver. At 83K miles it just died and I still owed more than $1,300 on it. Replaced it with a '85 Chevy Nova that I drove more than 100K miles without spending any money except for routine maintenance.

[Bstable]

'83 Chevy Chevette. Had to replace front brakes every 20K miles and I am not a hard driver. At 83K miles it just died and I still owed more than $1,300 on it. Replaced it with a '85 Chevy Nova that I drove more than 100K miles without spending any money except for routine maintenance.

The 85 Chevy Nova was no Chevy....It was a Toyota Corolla...I'm not saying you did not know that. I've known many ignorant people who hate foreign cars (any of them) and then say something like " Yeah I had a buddy with a Chevy GEO Prism....Damn good car....That story actually happened.

[kangatoy]

I've only owned 4 cars in my lifetime, all of the Chevys. Three of them were bought used and only the last one new. Guess I moved up in the world financially. I really liked my 68 Camaro, bought it for $400 in '78 drove it six years and sold it for $900 (it needed bodywork when I got it and needed it when I sold it). My 68 Chevelle Malibu was the best all around, drove it 10 years and only had to replace the waterpump. It started rusting around the back windo and 2 attempts to stop it failed. otherwise i would still have the car. Replaced it with a 98 Tahoe, which I still drive. I thought I needed a safer car once I had a kid that i needed to protect.

I miss both the '68s. But i do not miss the POS first car. Bought for $350 in 1974, it was a '64 Chevy Impala supersport. Only thing about it that was good was the purchase price. Stylewise it was out of the norm in my neighborhood when I was a teenager, friends made fun of it. It had a great 4 on the floor and a built engine, could move for a heavy car. Worst occurance was that the carburator over flooded when I came off a freeway causing an engine fire. Glad too see that one go.

[Cleve]

1980 Renault LeCar that I bought new in 1980 beats everything mentioned so far. Abysmally unreliable - especially brakes and cooling system. Within 2 to 2 -1/2 years, and say 35k miles serious rust and body rot had set in, and I had even purchased an undercoating and paint protection package with it. By the time it was 3 years old, I had applied my first bondo, and crude cans of spray paint to the body rocker panels, and tin to the floorboards underneath the front carpets.

Worst car ever to do an oil change or spark plug change on (which I had to do 3 times in 60,000 miles!). I had to take an oil filter wrench, and grind it down to half the original width in order to fit between the oil filter and the fender - and then the oil filter could NOT be removed from the bottom of the car - one had to work it out of the top of the engine, and oil in the filter would always spill everywhere - there was no avoiding it. And I needed to buy multiple u-joints and extensions to even have a hope of reaching the plugs which were wedged down in an unbelievably tightly packed engine compartment.

Truly a throw away car - I gladly gave it away for a song at 60,000 miles to a VW dealer as trade for my 84 VW Rabbit which was an awesome car.

[kretinus]

worst car I ever had was a Buick Regal SC, turbo charged V6, within 3 months the dealer was forced to give us our money back by the red headed devil who was our AG at the time after the turbo fried and a head gasket blew.

Never had a problem with the Fords I've owned that I can't blame on myself though. I've had three trucks, the current one has over 200K and aside from rust, it starts no problem in -15 winters.