Worst car you ever owned?

[slykens]

Any sports car with a slushbox, especially a Miata, is the worst. Manual transmission, or get lost.

I enjoy rowing my own at times but the DSG box in my current S4 is really hard to beat performance wise.

 

[KCLion]

My first car, a 1969 VW fastback. I bought it used in 1975 for $100 and drove it to HS everyday. I loved that vehicle, but the rust ate up the floor boards and the fenders, I had to steal the coiled tube off of my mother’s old school hair dryer to use to run heat and defrost from the rear engine to the front. It had a hole in the gas tank so that you could only fill it about 3/4 full. It was a piece of junk but would go anywhere even in NW PA snowfalls and 3 buddies were waiting at my door every morning to avoid riding the bus. Advertised it for $400 my senior year and had two adults nearly in a fistfight arguing over who offered first. The “winner” took off In it and you couldn’t see the car from the smoke.

 

[Nittanygrad93]

Early 80’s version of Renault LeCar that I had my freshman year of college. When I got a flat tire, I realized the tires are held on by a total of three lug nuts. Thought that would be the worst thing about the car, until I had to drive 5 hours home for winter break without heat!

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

My first car, a 1969 VW fastback. I bought it used in 1975 for $100 and drove it to HS everyday. I loved that vehicle, but the rust ate up the floor boards and the fenders, I had to steal the coiled tube off of my mother’s old school hair dryer to use to run heat and defrost from the rear engine to the front. It had a hole in the gas tank so that you could only fill it about 3/4 full. It was a piece of junk but would go anywhere even in NW PA snowfalls and 3 buddies were waiting at my door every morning to avoid riding the bus. Advertised it for $400 my senior year and had two adults nearly in a fistfight arguing over who offered first. The “winner” took off In it and you couldn’t see the car from the smoke.

My hs bro had a beige fastback, we used to hide the weed in a tennis ball container.

 

[Still in State College]

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.

The shape of things to come...

 

[Nitwit]

I had a 1976 Peugeot 505. It was a cool car which ran and handled great, but it was too exotic to keep on the road. The French designed everything from scratch and I traded it in for a boring American car when I discovered that not even Sears carried a battery for the Peugeot. It was too difficult to maintain. Since then all my cars have been ok to excellent starting with Ford, Oldsmobile, Toyotas, Acura SUV, and 2 Mercedes.

 

[MattTX]

learned to drive on my parents old 77 Chevy Impala. Green with white top and vinyl bench seats. Might have been OK if the air conditioning worked (one of the window cranks went to opposite direction of all the others) and the 2 bbl carb didn't stall all the time. Master brake cylinder failed once too, and I actually had to use the emergency brake (on the floor) to stop.

 

[massimoManca II]

I had a 1976 Peugeot 505. It was a cool car which ran and handled great, but it was too exotic to keep on the road. The French designed everything from scratch and I traded it in for a boring American car when I discovered that not even Sears carried a battery for the Peugeot. It was too difficult to maintain. Since then all my cars have been ok to excellent starting with Ford, Oldsmobile, Toyotas, Acura SUV, and 2 Mercedes.

504’s and 505’s were tremendous highway cruisers.... lonnnnggggg suspension-travel... these motherfvckers ate up highway miles.... I will agree though - pop open the hood and it looks like these things were engineered on Planet Mars ...

great cars... great seats.... awesome Frenchy feelin’

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Family had a Yugo at one point. My dad used it as a work car to commute to/from Pittsburgh.

My worst and simultaneously most fun car I've ever owned was an early 90s model Saab 900 turbo. It didn't go in reverse and the driver's side window wouldn't roll up. Made driving an adventure!

 

[Nitwit]

504’s and 505’s were tremendous highway cruisers.... lonnnnggggg suspension-travel... these motherfvckers ate up highway miles.... I will agree though - pop open the hood and it looks like these things were engineered on Planet Mars ...

great cars... great seats.... awesome Frenchy feelin’

The French do food, not cars.

The saying:
Eat French
Dress Italian
Drink Scotch
Drive German

 

[Virginia Joe]

1968 Austin America. It burned oil, was prone to overheating and seemed to be made of aluminum foil.

 

[Diego Badman]

I had an early 60s Rambler in college- burned oil at a frightful rate and there were hills I had to take in first gear

1977 Chevy Chevette that my sister had. Parents took over the payments.

I had to duct tape the back windows in place because there were clips that no one could find.

 

[Overthereguy]

1987 Ford Festiva

Eventually, I handed it down to my younger brother. He is 6' 5", possibly/likely our mail man is his father. Nobody in my family is over 5' 11" and none of us have blonde hair.

He could have driven the car from the back seat. ahaha Could hit 70mph going down the mountain from Philipsburg to Port Matilda.