What is the worst car you ever owned?

[billspit]

I'm not surprised the first car mentioned is a Vega. I had one and agree.

But a close runner up was a 91 Lincoln Continental. An extremely comfortable car that got decent gas mileage, but it was constantly needing repairs that cost in increments of $500. The stupid air struts on the corners were the source of the good ride and a huge repair bill. The service writer constantly blamed all the problems on the car being built on the Taurus body.

 

[Brooklands]

My '73 Vega Kammback kept losing oil pan valves due to being low with no protection. Once a pipe fell off a truck in front of me and knocked it off, and the other time it was a manhole cover on a street awaiting the last layer of asphalt. But it gave me 60,000 miles of hauling in two years. My '75 Scirocco had an oil leak that VW denied, causing it to blow the engine on one trip, and then the damage from that weakend the clutch to the point that it failed too. And one time when UPS was on strike, I had to use it to deliver products to an account, and the rear shocks just collapsed while driving, so it probably was my worst car, but such a blast to drive when it was running (which was most of the time).

 

[martx-5]

Late '60's Simca 1000. Bought it for $35, so I guess I shouldn't have expected it to run well. Plenty of coolant leaks, shaky electrics and awful brakes. Finding the correct gear was an adventure. The car was only about six years old when I got it, but the interior was wiped out and the paint was all chalky. I sold it after owning it for two months...got $40 for it, and it wasn't worth that much.

 

[Roger]

1955 Standard 10. Rust, big-end knock, oil consumption, coolant leaks, holes in the floor - you name it, it had it. Bought for 40 pounds in 1964, kept it 4 months, traded it in for 50 pounds on a 1959 Hillman Minx that I kept for 5 years, and still remember fondly.

 

[MikeP]

Drove a 73 bug for awhile, can't say it was mine as it was bought by my dad for my younger brothers. Car was so light it danced in the wind going down the road. Heater ducts in the pan were rusted out and it's the only car I've driven that when it was really humid the condensation would make it rain inside the car. Ended up having to drill a bunch of holes in the floor to let the water out, otherwise it could accumulate up to a couple inches before hitting the rust holes.

 

[Deleted member 8987]

Fiatsco 600. Worst POS in the freaking world...followed closely by a 1960 Chebby Biscayne, with NO floors (fixed with 3/4 ply top and bottom and carriage bolts to hold the freaking seat in), rusted to the window sills, 235 with a noPowerGlide. At 50 MPH it would shift to second.
Plymouth Dusters had just come out, so I got a little bottle of white Pactra model paint and a brush, hand-lettered "Ruster" on the fenders and rear between taillights. Bought it as I could NOT find a used Ford to buy.
NEVER own a Fiatsco or a General Misunderstanding again. Ever. End of story. Full stop.
Dave

 

[Bayless]

Funny, I had a '87 Aerostar and its engine was great. Not so much the tranny though. At 150,000 miles the engine was near perfect but I opted to no do the third tranny rebuild. As for those Fiat 124s, I have owned two coupes and one spyder. They were all great cars and great fun to drive. I would still have the spyder if not for Fiat leaving and no source for decent parts at the time.

 

[Banjo]

Probably the Chevy Celebrity

Learned to drive in a Celebrity wagon, with the automatic and 4-cylinder engine. Safe car for a kid, as it had no power. Bench seats were handy sometimes though...

My mom's was the Pontiac Sunbird. I remember practicing parallel parking and K-turns for my road test in it. Same car, with a front end that looked a little like a '78 Firebird. also the 4-banger auto, Baby poop gold, very uninspiring, but a good reliable car.

 

[RomanH]

"Dammed Dodge", '77 K-car.

Sorry Doc, Chrysler made those things from '81 through '95. I had an '81 Dodge Aries K mine was a pretty good car. Not much on looks but solid transportation. The only trouble I had with it was that the foam fuel float in the Holley carb would absorb gas and would sink. The only remedy was to replace it periodically because they never fixed that part.

 

[Guest]

"Dammed Dodge", '77 K-car.

Sorry Doc, Chrysler made those things from '81 through '95. I had an '81 Dodge Aries K mine was a pretty good car. Not much on looks but solid transportation. The only trouble I had with it was that the foam fuel float in the Holley carb would absorb gas and would sink. The only remedy was to replace it periodically because they never fixed that part.

I had one with, get this; a bench seat and four on the floor. Wasn't a bad car either.

 

[JPSmit]

"Dammed Dodge", '77 K-car.

Sorry Doc, Chrysler made those things from '81 through '95. I had an '81 Dodge Aries K mine was a pretty good car. Not much on looks but solid transportation. The only trouble I had with it was that the foam fuel float in the Holley carb would absorb gas and would sink. The only remedy was to replace it periodically because they never fixed that part.

I had one with, get this; a bench seat and four on the floor. Wasn't a bad car either.

Biggest problem we had was that the battery would not re-charge below 9 volts. More than once I had to take the car to the shop only because the fan belt had come loose and the battery had dropped below the magic number. Finally realized what the issue was and would change batteries with my '62 Meteor (one of the most reliable cars I ever owned) and go for a drive.

 

[Shinsen774]

1979 Datsun 310 GX. I had to replace the brakes more often than the oil.

 

[judow]

1976 Fiat X1/9. Lemon yellow and black. Parked it in front of the dealershio with a sign that read "This car is a lemon and colored to match." dealership decided to correct some problems but I was so disgusted, I traded it for a '76 Oldsmobile Toronado, the biggest American car I could find. Toronado was one of the most reliable car I ever owned. Enough said on this Fix It Again Tony disaster.

 

[judow]

Mine was a Renault (NOT A PEUGEOT!!!) Fuego. Nothing but trouble from the day I bought it!

Mine had a turbo charger. Cost me a fortune. Dropped it off a junk yard, got a new Mercury Cougar, husband was not happy, he retrieved it from the junk yard and ran it for another three years. It sure had nice styling. Should mention that local aircraft mechanic showed husband how to fix the turbo charger.

 

[DrEntropy]

Oops. '87. feh.

I know Uncle Lee pulled Chrysler outta th' dungheap with that lump but the one She had was absolutely the most contrary machine I've ever encountered.

 

[Guest]

Oops. '87. feh.

I know Uncle Lee pulled Chrysler outta th' dungheap with that lump but the one She had was absolutely the most contrary machine I've ever encountered.

Ahhh yes, but it was a very smart car. It knew better than to break on her. :wink: We have a standing death sentence to anything that leaves my wife. The trans in the Windstar went out and that's all she wrote. I fixed it and sold it to a friend but never again. When things around here go "click" when they shold go "bang" they need a new home.

 

[sparkydave]

I didn't own it, but learned to drive on it, lived with it, and had to repair our '88 Pontiac 6000. Self-adjusting rear brakes would often stop self adjusting, and the front discs would warp easily even when the rear brakes were working. Went through accessory belt idler pulley assemblies regularly about every 30,000 miles. Alternators were about every 50,000. I got stranded by the fantastic plastic camshaft gear when it shed several teeth on the highway one fine day. The steering rack was having the infamous "morning sickness" problem when that happened, so with the motor out we swapped the steering rack while we were at it.

 

[coldplugs]

Circa 1982 Jeep CJ-7. Started rusting on day 2 and never stopped. It shed parts just sitting in the garage. It lost 2nd gear a week after the warranty ran out. (Those T5 transmissions are <span style="font-style: italic">heavy</span> with an iron-cased transfer case attached).

I <span style="font-style: italic">loved</span> that Jeep.

My current truck, an '05 Tacoma 4WD, is generally competent.

But I dislike it.

Strange.

 

[sd80mac7204]

1993 Plymouth Voyager with the 3.0 V6. Finally gave up on it at 150,000 miles. Ready for tranny number 4. Left huge puddles of oil everywhere partially thanks to McGreagors in Indiana PA botching one of the tranny changes. 20mpg if it was in a good mood. Refused to run in the rain. Trim pads kept falling off of it. Bought a 2004 Chevy Impala and never looked back!

 

[DrEntropy]

Circa 1982 Jeep CJ-7. Started rusting on day 2 and never stopped. It shed parts just sitting in the garage. It lost 2nd gear a week after the warranty ran out. (Those T5 transmissions are <span style="font-style: italic">heavy</span> with an iron-cased transfer case attached).

I <span style="font-style: italic">loved</span> that Jeep.

My current truck, an '05 Tacoma 4WD, is generally competent.

But I dislike it.

Strange.

Not a "User Serviceable" unit!!!

...STILL NOT MET YOUR NEIGHBOR!!!

I'm keepin' track.