Worst car I’ve ever driven.

[Bret]

Ok maybe not the worst but dang close.

The rental vehicle in question is a brand new Mitsubishi Galant. On first glance it’s not a bad looking car, well appointed and seemingly has plenty of room.

But once you turn the key – I found its shortcomings numerous. One complaint is that it is horribly uncomfortable – thanks to its buck board seating, rough ride quality & it’s annoying seating position. Thanks to that it is an extremely difficult to get comfortable on long drives.

Performance is pretty much none-existent thanks to it’s little 4-banger. While it revs freely to its red line, the springy metallic whining emanating from under the hood is a bit unnerving akin to fingernails on a chalkboard. Heck I think I’ve heard more potent sounding lawnmower & go-cart engines. But given the fact that it is after all just a rental car - I won’t ding it too hard on that on that, except to say that I’m just glad they offer V6 version. That said I have to really come down hard on the vehicles awful handling. The simplest of street maneuvers & basic parking lot movements, revile that the vehicle’s turning radius is only slightly better than that of a tandem rear axle bobtail delivery truck.

It’s a shame really because I drove a few of the earlier generation Galants and thought the handling and performance was akin to some BMWs I’ve driven. I am confused why a company would take such a step backwards but one things for sure I will be happy when I turn this rental in this afternoon.

So the question is what is what’s the worst car you’ve ever driven?

 

[GB1]

A 1978 Porsche 928, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif just kidding, I couldn't resist /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Steve]

1971 Hillman Avenger......it was dire!

 

[Nunyas]

boy... I bet a 91 or 92 Galant VR4 would have been near nervana compared to that experience; especially since it's got 4wheel steering... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

=============================

hmmm... worst car ever driven?

Would have to be my mom's kit car that she swore up and down was an authentic pre-war Mercedes roadster (but it looks suspiciously a lot like a MG T series roadster). All fiberglass, Chevette running gear, a top that was near impossible to put up in an emergency (found out the hard way during one of NW FL's flash thunderstorms). The thing was so poorly put together I knew it was a kit car the moment I laid eyes on it. She had me drive it 70 miles from one of her houses to the other, and on the highway around 75MPH the front fenders caught so much air that the whole front end would begin to lift alternately (left, right, left, right, left, right). A bit unnerving, IMO. Not that I did 75MPH for very long anyways. There was so much air turbulence at 75MPH that I could not handle it physically, the wind was buffeting my head and my ears were ringing after 20minutes at 60.

All I can say is, I'm glad I finally made it clear to my mom that she did not have an 'authentic' car on her hands and ought to get rid of it. I was even happier to hear that she finally did get rid of it a year later. I think pointing out the nice plaque that said "replica" to her finally convinced her of the non-authenticity of the car.

 

[Roger]

1955 Standard 10 that I bought for 40 pounds and kept 3 months. Holes in the floor, rattling big ends, 45 mph, no brakes, dire!

 

[aeronca65t]

The VW bus I drove to college in 1969.

But it was good for "other things". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

 

[Steve]

Groovy man!

 

[kennypinkerton]

I can't really say I've ever had a horrible driving car... But.... The 1986 ford LTD Brougham totally Sucks!!!!!! egad - now I know why my dad told me never to buy a 4-door car. Granted my first car ever was a 4 door, but basically being a 1973 chevy nova (it was a buick Apollo) with a 350 buick engine... I was able to have more fun driving it than my mother would have wanted me to. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

The last Pontiac LeMans - Jerri bought one...I hated it...couldn't get the thing to shift easily...she loved it!

 

[swift6]

I had friend that had one of those front wheel drive LeMans from the 1989/90 era. He bragged that his insurance could list it as a sports car. Then I spanked him with a Daihatsu Charade three cylinder. He didn't brag much after that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

 

[Nunyas]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif

 

[kennypinkerton]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif

 

[R6MGS]

My in-laws live about 5 hours north of the city, all gravel roads...So I refuse to drive my own car there, so every year I rent a car for the trip.....Can't remember which cars I had now...But I remember complaining alot about a late model Malibu. Also my mechanic has a Hyundai Accent that he loans out to customers....It's a 2005, and hardly any miles on it...But man, what a P.O.S....Vibrates like nobodys business at anything over 55mph, barely keeps up with highway traffic.
My last rental was a Mitsubishi Endevor...Not bad, no power, bad gas mileage....Still probably the most fun rental I've had...To kill time during our visit me and the kids took it 'wheelin'(it was the 4x4 version) and had a riot. I think we broke something because when we returned it, it was making a metal-to-metal sound over bumps.

 

[vagt6]

No doubt about it:

1980 Plymouth Horizon. Biggest piece of junk ever. Broke down about every 10 miles. UGH!

 

[sammyb]

I suppose "worst" as in comparison to contemporary vehicle average had to be the 1998 Ford Expedition we had. That thing was slow (even with the highest HP engine,) loud, uncomfortable, unreliable, took forever to stop, sucked gas like cheap beer in Boston on St. Patty's Day, and would nearly trip over itself should one ever need to do so much as change lanes at over 20mph.

The '89 Ford Bronco (full sized Bronco) was probably even worse, though. All the same issues, but less powerful, and more numb controls.

My '77 Buick LeSabre and '77 LeBaron I had in high school were pretty lousy too, but almost all '77s were just as underpowered, under-handling, underwhelming, poorly put together pieces of junk.

 

[Super 7]

Renault Dauphine. My first second and third car another car being cheaper than a part. I have held a grudge against the French ever since.

I recently rented a Nissan Centra which shifted constantly going over the mountains to and from my house. Very annoying.

 

[R6MGS]

I had a renatal Sentra too....Luckily it had O/D becasue I had to use every bit of it to keep up with freeway traffic. Even then, on the way up north Every "Budda" in his pickup blew right past me(with my foot to the floor)

 

[sideache]

Chevy Citation & Chevy Monza - both late 70's models

 

[kennypinkerton]

Oh... I almost forgot about my old 1981 Ford Econoline E-100 van... used to belong to the phone company - musta had a million miles on it. No power anything, and if anything needed at least power steering this was it. Your left knee would be completely sore just sitting for a minute at the stoplight holding the clutch in - or in any odd speed of traffic that the three speed on the column didn't like.

 

[78Z]

Hmmm ... probably the Plymouth Turismo I learned to drive on. Mostly because it was in really poor shape - had to refill the radiator after ever drive. Most disapointing was a 1998 Honda Civic hatch we owned back in 2000 - spend most of its six months with us in the shop. Junk, junk, junk.