What's the WORST car/truck you've owned?

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Without a doubt it was a 77 Olds Cutlass...this was my first brand new car, I didnt buy it off the lot, I ordered it from the factory it was the first new 77 to arrival at the dealer. Some of you will remember the big stink around that time of putting Chevy engines in Olds when the were advertised as "Rocket Egines" Well that was my car and to top it off it had a bad electronic module that caused the car to shut off whenever it felt like it, no rythm or reason. I could drive the corner gas station and it would die or I could drive 500 miles and nothing happen, constantly in and out of the service dept. After it left me stranded on the PA Turnpike in a snow storm that was it, traded it for a 2 year old Cadillac. Loved that Caddy, drove it everywhere for years. Found later they new the cause of the shut downs but were to cheap to correct the part. Cant stand the sight of a Olds to this day:angry7:
 
85 volvo gle-- I think-- anyhow it had the aluminum v6 & was nothing but problems--- sold it for scrap before ebay came along------ not a good experience with the brand-- found out later the 4 cylinder model was the everlasting gobstopper--- live & learn-- Lawrence
 
VDART said:
85 volvo gle-- I think-- anyhow it had the aluminum v6 & was nothing but problems--- sold it for scrap before ebay came along------ not a good experience with the brand-- found out later the 4 cylinder model was the everlasting gobstopper--- live & learn-- Lawrence
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Yeah, the "PRV" six.. P and R stand for Peugeot and Renault respectively, so that tells you something. Same engine that was in the DeLorean, parethetically. They had a problem (later corrected, I understand) with oil starvation in the top end. As you say, the ol' slant 4 was essentially unstoppable. I had an '84 Volvo DL that I junked (tranny trouble) with 285,000 on the engine, still as tight as ever.
 
This is probably going to piss off a lot of people, but my worst car was easily a dodge dart.

My 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger lasted for a whopping six months. Leaked oil everywhere from every place imaginable. Steering column disentegrated, to the point where if you turned the wheel the column shifter went with it. Had to pull to column and have a brass sleeve machined to replace a plastic one that was gone. Worked for a while but the problem reappeared before the slant six exploded. Rust everywhere, front bench seat back broke and leaned WAY back. Taking corners sometimes the driver door would fly open. All of the interior plastic broke if you touched it. I think the only car I've owned with a worse interior was a 1976 AMC pacer, on that one even the metal broke if you touched it. At least that thing ran and ran...that's a bulletproof drivetrain. Those old 4.2 AMC motors. The dart is ironically the coolest car I've ever owned. I had some great times driving that dart around, I just wish time was nicer to it.
 
WOW! Lots of **** boxes here ! Guess I've been lucky ...

... my parents , on the other hand :

1982 S-10 : Bought in Sept '85 . Powerhouse 2.8 litre , bullet-proof TH200 trans , and , what seemed to be , a 2.21 final drive .
Paint faded on the sides before fading on the hood and roof ; got 8-10 mpg ; ate EGR valves ; that **** *** TH200 trans with its aluminum drums (!?!) took a huge **** .
The factory AM-FM-Cassette didn't like FM stations ; the **** *** plastic "pop-on" hub caps ( had Rally II wheels ) popped-off more than on .
It was sold less than a year later . Good riddance !

1976 Mercury Monarch : Bought new by my folks in March 1976 . 351 Windsor ( good , except for that **** *** Variable Venturi 2 bbl piece of vapour-locking **** ) , C5 trans ( pile of **** ) and ~3.00 geared 8" diff .
Was a very nice silver metallic with cranberry red "leather" interior ; was the Ghia model ; a 2 door .

The steering-coupler ( a HUGE safety item !!! ) broke in 1985 ...
... for the 2nd time . Ford's resolve ? " The part's obsolete . Find one in a junk yard . It's out-of-warranty "
REALLY ???? The part was obsoleted in less than 10 years ????

1994 Dodge Shadow : The only problem with this mother was its lack of power and its horrid fuel mileage . It was a 2.5 litre / 3-speed auto . It was a really nice car ; really clean .
My folks bought it used in April 1995 .
The paint was typical 90's American car quality ; comes-off in sheets and strips . I went to wet sand on of the areas where the paint was chipping on the left-front fender . The chip was ~1" long , .25" wide .
As I started sanding ( 1200 grit , wet ) , the chip kept growing !
I stopped ; grabbed a bottle of clear nail polish from my mom's bedroom , and dabbed a build-up coat of it where the chip-turned-strip stopped .
After 1 day of drying in the Summer sun , I started sanding again .
The nail polish worked like a charm !
Bought a spray can of touch-up white and a can of gloss-clear .
Sprayed the ***** ; and after a few days , I again wet sanded , then hand-polished .
Turned out great .

My dad detested that car ! I rather enjoyed it . I used to break-rev it against the converter , and take-off in 2nd gear ( our friend , the Sprag , probably thanked me ! ) .
I managed to squeeze 30 mpg from that Shadow . My dad never understood how I was able to do that :mrgreen:
 
a 1986 acura legend was the worst car i ever owned put 2 motor in this car and after that i took it to the junk yard as fast as i could and never looked back..everyone i saw smoked or was knocking...what a waste of good money..let my freind drive the car 1 night he called and told me he man this thing is locked up i jump in my other car a go check it out and sure was couldnt turn the motor with a bar so i left the car to the next day go back with the trailer to pull it home get there and said let me see what it will do put the key in the car damn thing cranks right up and i drive it home it was knocking but made it about 30 miles home and then to the junk yard lol :mrgreen:
 
1969 Ford Galaxie 500. The speedometer didn't work the day it left the dealer and that should have been a sign..... This car had everything that could break succesfully do so. Several of the items mutliple times! All of the wheels broke. Even the spare. They cracked down the center and slowly leaked air. There was a pin in the distributor that worked out and cut the top of the thing off like a lathe. Both heads went bad at 12000 plus miles. Tranny failed twice. Once under warranty. Both exhaust manifolds cracked. One at under 1000 miles the other several years later. The gas tank cracked at the seam. Heater cores were a yearly event until I cut the heater box and put one from a Barracuda in with a bit of fiberglass. All of the usual alternator, fuel pump, carburetor, battery etc. several times. I was always going to ditch it but after so many pieces had been replaced so early in it's life I got stubborn and just needed to see what the hunk of junk was going to pull next. It actually had well over 100,000 miles on it when I gave up. By that time I had quit changing oil as it changed it's own through the exhaust pie. I just added the used oil from my Barracudas or Dodge pickup. More odd stuff went wrong on this car than I can type!
 
Robbie2734 said:
The worst car I've ever owned was a 72 Fiat Spyder. That car was built in retaliation for WW2! The brakes worked ok, thats the best I can say for it. I've never owned a bad Plymouth and I've had a few. I once had a 69 Pontiac Firebird, no brakes, paint peeling off it, front end headaches from day one! I bought it new and the dealer wouldn't fix a thing till I got the area rep on his case! My 2002 pontiac is almost as bad, Rack and pinion, brakes,master cyl, fuel pump, repaired intake twice! It seems the 3.4 motor has a intake from a 1942 John Deere and they don't really match up too well so they leak like a sieve.I know why they collapsed! I had a 1980 pinto and loved it, in 70,000 miles I replaced the timing belt and a rear wheel bearing. My son totaled it! My wife had a 88 Beretta that really ran but ate alternators. The computer finally quit in it and I replaced it with a junkyard piece...no more alternator problems. My wifes 84 Ford LTD wagon had a 3.8 V-6, what a POS! The first motor wiped a cam at 24,100 miles! I bought a junkyard low mileage motor and swapped it out. That lasted about 18 months and started making strange noises. We gave it to our son..LOL He eventually traded it for a set of mags.
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my mom had new 85 ltd wagon,3.8,3 times the head gaskets had be rplaced,one compleat head,4th time head gasket blew,motor was knocking@ 90k
 
91 Suburu 4x4 wagon. Oil leaks, electrical problems, like the headlights would turn off just when you needed them, 1.8L flat 4 with no power, and that was before you turned the a/c on. What a piece of crap. I got so disgusted one Friday night working on it I drove it down to the Ford dealer and bought a 96 Ranger, which I am still driving.
 
The worst car I ever owned was a 1985 Hyundai Excel. Biggest POS I ever had the misfortune to own, and I swore I would never, ever own another Hyundai as long as I lived. I hate to admit it, but the new Genesis is making me re-think that.....
 
My company leased 25 Chevy Astro Panel vans in 2008. Of the 25 3 of them needed rear axle replacements at 2K miles, 4 of them the sliding side door came off their tracks and landed in the parking lot(one of them hit an employee's 2004 BMW M3) and half of them the engine lights kept coming on after they went in for service. They all received the same recall and when they returned there was a burning smell accompanied by a buzzing sound from within the cab. Other than that they were great work trucks. And did good burnouts. The V6s in those things were good power wise.
 
SoulSurvivor said:
My company leased 25 Chevy Astro Panel vans in 2008. Of the 25 3 of them needed rear axle replacements at 2K miles
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One sister had a late 80's Chevy Astro Van. The whole front suspension needed a rebuild every 20K miles. They found GM used the same ball joints as their compact cars. They replaced it with a new Suburban which soon stranded them for week with a failed tranny on a road trip. They are still loyal GM customers.
 
I've got to be the luckiest SOB on the planet, every vehicle I've ever owned (new or used) treated me fairly well. Just the "normal" stuff, belts, hoses, brakes, and stuff like that. I had 3 cars that I drove to the cows came home and had not one problem from start to finish, a 71 Slant 6 Duster, 88 Mustang 5.0 and a 93 Intrepid. I had a 91 S-10 pickup (brand new) that lunched the blower motor the 1st week, needed a new tranny due to a misaligned bell housing about 4 months in and A/C repair a year later but all was under warranty and I drove that truck for 5 more years with no problems....
 
Our 04 f-150 needed a tranny and rear end at 25xxxmi, (out of warranty of course but we were able to have a limited slip rear put in) and has some of the weakest sheet metal I have ever seen, it seems that if you touch it you will dent it. Other then that it has been a fantastic truck that drives very nicely.
 
Early '66 VW bug meaning last 6 volt/bubble headlight car.
Bought in Florida while in the Navy. No inspections back then in FL. 40 hp 1200cc that would be lucky to reach 60mph. No emergency brakes (More on that later). Changed the battery to a 12v along with the generator and bulbs but kept the 6v starter. NEVER had a problem turning it over.
Left the Navy in late Nov and started north to Mass.
Didn't even reach the Georgia border from Jacksonville and car is losing what little power it had......points were closing. Had to reset them every hr. Thats what happens when you run this thing flat out i guess.
Upon reaching New York lost my brakes coming down from the GW bridge (remember the lack of emergency brakes?) Ever try to get a non-syncro car to stop with no brakes? LOTS of wheel hop....wound up being a wheel cylinder. was up and running in an hour. Had to,I was in the bronx and scared silly. And did I mention the car had no heat exchangers and it being the Northeast, it starts to sleet, i was able to continue by reaching thru the vent win dow holding a cassette and scraping the windshield.
Hit a pothole while reaching RI and blew out one headlight....5 minutes later was stopped by thier finest. I think the guy felt bad for me and let me off.
What did the car in eventually was the salt and crank endplay......you had to start the engine with the clutch engaged......if you held the clutch pedal down....starter couldn't reach the flywheel......

Close second....77 pinto
Third...71 Autostick Super beetle
 
65 ford falcon 2dr post 6cyl/3on the tree had for 2 weeks traded my old dart for it cause i wanted something different stupid me, one day i was going to show it off to a mopar buddy was in route to his house came to a 4 way stop got ready to go and let up off of the clutch and poof!!!! smoke everywhere up threw the column out from under the hood you name it did manage to make it to my buddys house but he wasnt there 4 quarts of oil was though had to use them so i could get home parked it in the driveway called the scrap yard about an hr later 1 less falcon and 200 dollars towards another car i was feeling alittle better another one was a 90 ford taurus nice looking car bought it for 1800 for my wife changed the water pump drove it for a day and that was it took it to a mechanic friend he said he dont understand it it gets fuel,spark , everything but wont start so ended up getting rid of that turd toa diesel mechanic friend of mine he tried messing around with it for another 2 months and nothing i dont have any luck with fords it seems as soon as i get a ford into my name they turn into big ole piles of crap so i dont get them anymore
 
A Ford Tempo, can't remember the year and don't want to. That Car SUCKED!
 
It has to be the 83 Camaro I got from my brother,..2.8 V6, slush pump,...Piss yellow. No traction, No power,...Poor gas mileage, Exhaust stunk like a ...well like a typical GM (rotten eggs), Doors leaked, Dash and interior rattled like a 50,000 mile Vette, and every time I got in or out I felt like rolling onto an old worn out couch,...Traded It str8t across for a 74 Charger,...Best trade Ever,...
 
The first and last ford i ever owned, a 86 mustang lx 5.0

The tops leaked like crazy, drove like crap and wouldn't pass emissions.
 
1992 Ford F-150, that frigin thing tried to bankrupt me in repair cost and it was slow.
 
86 Cutlass Ciera. Bought it cheaply from my neighbor after I helped him get it started one Saturday ( should have been my first red flag!). Used it as a daily driver to work to keep miles off my Grand National. The Ciera always smelled like puke ( probably the neighbor kid lost his lunch in there once) - flag # 2.

It had mysterious shifting issues ( no rhyme or reason behind their occurrences), the AC was awesome...saved the car from being ditched more than once.

Finally, it died on me in the middle of rush hour traffic in downtown Atlanta - appeared to be the computer...that was it. Sold it to a mechanic to fix up for his daughter for college.

Interesting note, it was the one millionth car built, had a plaque in glove box.
 
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