Worst car you ever owned?
- Thread starter Nitt1300
- Start date
the TDi emissions scandal is long gone from the rear-view mirror.... that ordeal did wonders to humble VW and their pricing is such that they are serious about wooing customers back....VW has some of the nicest product out there right now... I pretty much stole my loaded Golf SportWagen 18mos ago, superior product compared to the stuff Honda puts on their showroom floor these days
It was a 1990 Bronco II, until I made the mistake of buying a Hyundai Sonata a few years ago. Lost my ass trading it in after a year or so, but enough was enough.
I prefer Trabants...they were a fixture on the side of the road between Berlin and Hamburg...before The Wall came down of course.
1990 Buick LeSabre. Handled like a whale, paint job stunk, power seats broke, gas consumed in huge amounts
2005 Nissan Pathfinder. Belt tensioner that needed to be replaced every 30,000 miles, horribly soft rear suspension that would bottom out way too often and for no good reason, liftgate that would sag after opening causing me to whack my head off of it more than once. I dumped it around 70,000 miles when a drivetrain vibration began fearing it was the onset of major issues. Nissan had issues with the coolant entering the transmission causing major repairs. I get attached to cars but that was one I couldn't have been happier getting rid of.
I felt the same for a long time but their unwillingness to add hp to their fleet, almost as a f you to the industry in the name of horse rider bullshit, has left them in the dust. Recently they added a 310hp turbo to their cx5, I drove it and Mazda detuned the fun out of it. “You don’t need hp to have a good driving experience” they preach, meantime Hyundai gives us this for $30k. They are doomed.
Oh **** yeah I’d dd thatA used '94 Mercury Sable station wagon. To make matters worse it was green. A friend of my FIL was selling it and we needed a bigger vehicle with child #2 and something that could pull a tent trailer we planned on getting (and eventually did). Had more problems with that car then all others combined. Couldn't even do my own maintenance on the car since they made everything inaccessible (oil filter) and/or require special tools (brakes). I was so happy when we sold that car!
1974 Ford Mustang 2......a disaster. And even worse, was the Ford dealer had trouble getting parts and the car would be at the dealership for a week at a time, and no loaners then. A year after I purchased I was camping in Nova Scotia and developed a small crack in the water pump. I recall finding road side streams to keep filling the radiator......horrible car!
Those Aluminum heads were a bad idea. My friend had one and you could tell his was near before you saw him due to the large blue cloud it generated out of the tail pipe.
I think your impression is mostly correct. In 16 years of ownership of two Audi’s, each one left me stuck once. My 2004 S4 had the dual mass flywheel lock up which created a hell of a vibration. Had I been around town I would have limped it home. My 2010 S4 (which I still have an really enjoy) had a cooling issue due to a clogged tube. Again I was out of town or I could have limped it home.
A friend and I did the clutch and flywheel in the first one for $1200 in parts. Dealer would have taken $3k for the job. The cooling tube cost me $250 through Geico MBI but would have been about $600 without it at the dealer.
The 2004 was a maintenance issue waiting to happen. Audi used plastic tensioners on the timing chain so they could shoehorn that V8 into that little car. It is an engine out service and pretty freaking involved.
My 2010 could someday have a big issue with the DSG transmission but I’ve maintained that meticulously and while it has some quirks its doing just fine. The car has 125k miles on it and nothing leaks at all - just had the belly pan off for an oil change. I’m incredibly happy with it and find it to be a very reliable car.
I just traded my 06 Pathfinder for an Acura MDX. Got a new transmission at 50,000 miles on the Pathfinder due to the issue you mentioned, coolant into the transmission and I had to show the dealer the TSB to get them to fix it for free. They also wanted to replace the timing belt at 50,000 miles since it made noise and I told then it made that noise the day I drove it off the lot so never had it replaces and I traded it at 150,000 miles when again as you mentioned I started to get a vibration in the drivetrain on top of the strearing wheel vibration I have had for a year. and of course replaced the gas struts on both the glass and full tailgate a few times. Did get my use out of it and would go go through a foot or more of snow but always road like crap since it was built on a truck frame.
True story. I was in German on an exchange program in 1973. One of the things arranged for us was a trip to the factory in Wolfsburg (we were only about 40 miles from the factory). Near the end of the tour, we saw the lot where the finished author were parked. Those included "The Thing" (which pretty much was a German army jeep). We had no idea what it was, as it had not been introduced ot the US yet--everyone kept saying "what is that thing"--so it was appropriately named.
Its inaccurate to use one vehicle as indicative of German cars (or cars from 10 and 15 years ago as representative of today), and 04 S4s are among the worst in terms of maintenance. Clutches on Acura NSXs (the old ones you could get with a manual) are around 5-6 grand to replace if you go to a dealer I believe, but you'd never say, Japanese cars are expensive to maintain because parts on my NSX are high. Replacing the clutch with an upgraded one on my 16 golf r cost about 1500 at an independent shop that specializes in German cars. Would have been closer to a grand if it had been replaced using stock/oem parts.
The fact that an Impala is (presumably) cheap to maintain doesn't mean Escalades are even though both are American (and GM products).
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When I first met my wife she was driving an 85 Crapalier (as we called it). Let's just say I learned a lot about car maintenance on that one!
When I got married the wife came with 3 garbage bags full of shoes and a Renault Fuego it was the * BIGGEST POS * ever made.
Tie between two Fords:
1) A Ford Escort that had a plastic fuel tank that ruptured in the middle of summer and leaked gallons of gasoline all over the driveway and into the street (fortunately no fire);
2) Ford Windstar van that needed a new head gasket at 20k miles and had an antilock braking system that was so bad, if you hit the brake pedal hard, the car actually surged forward.
After that, it was back to Toyotas and Hondas for the rest of my days.
1) A Ford Escort that had a plastic fuel tank that ruptured in the middle of summer and leaked gallons of gasoline all over the driveway and into the street (fortunately no fire);
2) Ford Windstar van that needed a new head gasket at 20k miles and had an antilock braking system that was so bad, if you hit the brake pedal hard, the car actually surged forward.
After that, it was back to Toyotas and Hondas for the rest of my days.
I remember my parents bringing the new second car home - an American Rambler. When my Father got it home
it had no oil in it - none! Nothing but problems after that.
I had a manual Jetta back in 1993 and that things was fun to drive. The GTI and Golf are great cars. Coworker has a GTI and I make him drive everytime we go out to lunch or the airport. The rest of the lineup is “meh”. Especially the VW suvs.
Post_ShockTherapy_MackDaddy
Well-Known Member
My first car: Chevrolet Chevette (Scooter). As if the Chevette didn't suck enough, I bought the stripped-down version.
Was my first car, 1983 $4995 brand spanking new. Bought it when I was 17 (under my mom's name). Paid it off in 2 years.
Put a blaupunk (sp) cassette radio in her with pioneer speakers. Sold her for $1750 to a kid that loved the sound system.
Oh, that back seat saw its share of some great cum stains, too!
Were you still breast feeding at the time of sale? I'm sorry Michael, I couldn't help myself after having several Knob Creek neats. I'm sorry, seriuosly, .....
1980 amc spirit my first car bought two one wrecked in front other back . Front was white back brown cut in half with saw zall and welded back together
Returned after a Med deployment and bought a 1985 VW Rabbit GTI. All the auto magazines described it as a pocket rocket. It drove like a bat out of hell and handled magnificently. I named it The Wonder Car. I always wondered what would fail next. Passenger seat back weld broke, came out one morning and rear view mirror was on the floor, both doors could not be opened from both inside and outside (drivers side inside, passengers side outside inop). Radio only worked on 3rd Thursday of odd numbered months. Loved to drive but hated to get in
Any sports car with a slushbox, especially a Miata, is the worst. Manual transmission, or get lost.
Something makes me think you are full of po-po.A good point. While Jenna, my lovely driver, transports me about in the Bentley, there are times when I must take to the open road on my own, to ponder the problems of the world. Since those problems are many, I have accumulated more miles than you might expect.
1970 Plymouth Fury 3, instead filling it up with gas, I had to filler-up with oil about a quart every month. Mechanics could never find the cause. However, it was also a good car; why you ask -- PA State Police were running 1970 Plymouth Fury III for their unmarked patrol cars. On more than one occasion, got a wave from a Trooper on the highway.
A 1977 Triumph TR7. Put in 3 electronic ignition systems, Alternator, tachometer and gas gauge. Final straw, I had to replace the rear end differential. When it was running it was a blast to drive; however, that was not often. I got to know the British Leyland dealer real well in Boalsburg as I had this vehicle my last year and a half in college. Apparently when they decided to build the car, the company went against common sense and didn’t build it at the Triumph factory that built the TR6. In order to placate the labor union, they had it built at the auto plant that had the most labor unrest in all of Britain. The workers on the line intentionally sabotaged the cars and helped to make British Leyland a page in the history books.
I ended trading this in on a new Plymouth Reliant almost even Steven. No AC or radio, but the car could go just about anywhere with great gas mileage including in 8 inches of snow to a ski area when they called off school for a snow emergency. Only problems were a heater that didn’t work after driving a few miles and a ticking noise from the engine.
The heater problem couldn’t be diagnosed for some “reason” until the car was out of warranty and then the dealer mechanics found that the air intake door to the heater was stuck open, so driving in cold weather the cold air would eventually overwhelm the hot air being produced by the heating elements. I also complained several times to the original dealership about the ticking noise and about 40 miles after the warranty was over, the mechanics at another dealer asked me if I knew about the camshaft ticking noise and how long it was going on. I told them since I purchased the vehicle and reported it many times. They then told me it was a known warranty issue due to a defective camshaft that some of the early Reliants had. The engine had to be pulled in order to fix the problem by replacing the original camshaft and there was nothing they could do with respect to the warranty because the number of miles for a drivetrain warranty repair had just been surpassed. Also the heater issue was a very expensive repair out of warranty due to having to remove a lot of parts in the firewall area to access the heater assembly.
I never ever will buy another Chrysler product. I believe the original dealer knew what the causes of the problems were, but didn’t want take the time or effort to effect both expensive repairs, so I was always handed a load of BS when inquiring about their diagnosis of the problems.
I ended trading this in on a new Plymouth Reliant almost even Steven. No AC or radio, but the car could go just about anywhere with great gas mileage including in 8 inches of snow to a ski area when they called off school for a snow emergency. Only problems were a heater that didn’t work after driving a few miles and a ticking noise from the engine.
The heater problem couldn’t be diagnosed for some “reason” until the car was out of warranty and then the dealer mechanics found that the air intake door to the heater was stuck open, so driving in cold weather the cold air would eventually overwhelm the hot air being produced by the heating elements. I also complained several times to the original dealership about the ticking noise and about 40 miles after the warranty was over, the mechanics at another dealer asked me if I knew about the camshaft ticking noise and how long it was going on. I told them since I purchased the vehicle and reported it many times. They then told me it was a known warranty issue due to a defective camshaft that some of the early Reliants had. The engine had to be pulled in order to fix the problem by replacing the original camshaft and there was nothing they could do with respect to the warranty because the number of miles for a drivetrain warranty repair had just been surpassed. Also the heater issue was a very expensive repair out of warranty due to having to remove a lot of parts in the firewall area to access the heater assembly.
I never ever will buy another Chrysler product. I believe the original dealer knew what the causes of the problems were, but didn’t want take the time or effort to effect both expensive repairs, so I was always handed a load of BS when inquiring about their diagnosis of the problems.
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As I read through this once again I get the impression that the domestic cars lead for lemons.
What I wonder about is how Mazda compares with VW if one is not interested in a diesel. I own two 3's, 6 and 7 years old, and have had to do nothing but change oil and batteries. Incredibly good reliability so far, and very good performance relative to fuel consumption with the S-version.
The car I really miss that I owned was a Mini-Cooper, but I just could not justify nearly a grand to replace a failed chip within the dash. Great cars when under warranty though.
What I wonder about is how Mazda compares with VW if one is not interested in a diesel. I own two 3's, 6 and 7 years old, and have had to do nothing but change oil and batteries. Incredibly good reliability so far, and very good performance relative to fuel consumption with the S-version.
The car I really miss that I owned was a Mini-Cooper, but I just could not justify nearly a grand to replace a failed chip within the dash. Great cars when under warranty though.
I forgot to say I sold my Reliant soon after I found out about the camshaft problem. I ended up buying the favorite car I ever owned, a 1986 Mazda RX-7. I had this car nearly 10 years and only gave it up because I needed a vehicle for my family. A 2 seater didn’t fit the plan at that time. The only problem - the power antenna didn’t work anymore after 9 and a half years, but it was stuck in the up position.
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