The worst car I ever owned...

My worst was a Dodge Omni.
Bought new(can't remember year). Kept throwing belts. Everything else just slowly but surely came
apart!

 

Worst car I ever had? Believe it or not, a Toyota Corolla. Of course, by the time I got it, it was about 10 years old, and it had already been owned, at one time or another, by my mom, my dad, and my brother (the latter is what did it; in his youth he basically treated cars the same way a baby treats a diaper).

 

sterling 825 sl

great engine and trans (honda built)
plaugued with electrical problems

 

My 1984 VW Vanagon was the worst car I owned, and it wasn't so bad. I think it must have been when copper was expensive, because it seemed to have aluminum contacts, connecting to the ECU. It used to stall randomly, until I found the problem. The VW dealer couldn't figure it out, and charged me a bunch of money for diagnostics (I think they at least found another problem). Once I greased the contacts, I go for a few months with no problems. I think mid 80's VW are notorious for having poor electrical systems. An ex GF had an
'85 Jetta, and it was even worse. I still loved that van, it was so practical for camping trips.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius Maximus @ Oct 8 2005, 11:14 AM) [snapback]138252[/snapback]</div>

A friend of mine had a Dodge Aspen. When it was only a few years old, he was driving down the highway and the wheels fell off. I can't believe that Chrysler brought back the Aspen name for their new SUV. I guess they figure people have short memories.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mhs @ May 8 2007, 08:20 PM) [snapback]437901[/snapback]</div>

'81 Dodge Omni owner (bought it to replace a Fiat 128 that was a lot of fun to drive the one day a week it wasn't in the shop) checks in:

Yep, pretty much everything in my Omnus fell apart, but I still have fond memories of it because I was sanding rust off the front bumper (a whole nine months after I'd bought the thing new) and this woman stopped to talk to me about that and one thing led to another and we eventually got married. .

 

Worst Car I ever owned? That's easy my 98 Kia Sephia it replaced my 90 Corolla with 140,000 miles on it. It didn't even last a year before I realised leaving Toyota was a huge mistake.

Biggest problem? It had a recurring issue with starting that they could not fix...basically you had to slam the gearshift forward (while in park) to get the relays to kick in and the car would start. Other quality issues..glove box fell off, moldings on all doors started to peel away after only a few months...passenger side door stopped opening from the outside after a month.

What a nightmare...I'm sure they are of better quality now with Hundai ownership, but I wouldn't touch any of those Korean vehicles ever again!

 

It's interesting how threads from long ago -- and that many (namely, me) have never seen -- suddenly pop back up.

My worst by far, bought from a dealer when I was young and dumb: a Triumph (first mistake) TR7, bought used (second mistake). I owned it for three months, and actually had it in my possession nine days. Several things broke, including the clutch -- twice!

 

1976 Chevy Monza

There was very little that didn't suck about that car. It went through 3 clutches and the last one was so burned out when I traded it in I was barely able to get it to the car dealership.

Of course back in my college days I could seldom be troubled to get oil changes and things like that done.

 

In 1979 I bought the 72 Coupe Z honda (600cc air cooled roller skate, pretty much). Engine blew up when the O.D. hit 30K miles. Took a $1,300 rebuild (quite a bit of scratch 28 years ago). Honda has come a long way, but our $$$ sure sponsered their improvements.

Yep. That sucka was right down there w/ the Yugo and the Chevy vega (which was another POS I took a giant hit on ... close 2nd)

 

1961 Ford Falcon. My first car. 144 cu in. six. Block made of putty. Wore so fast, six months after each rebuild (two total) the pistons could be heard slapping in the cylinders. Had it for two years while I attended school.

Then I purchased an FJ40 Toyota Landcruiser and never looked back. Next was an FJ55 (station wagon) Landcruiser, then Subaru wagon, Toyota 4Runner, a 93 Mazda RX-7 (toy), the anti-Prius (see below) and next will be Prius!

All but the Falcon lasted 7 to over 10 years before I tired of them. I've always done my own service as well.

Would I go back to any of them? NO WAY! All but the Falcon were good vehicles, but they are all ancient technology now. Well, the anti-Prius maybe not, but it's being obsoleted by its' fuel use.

 

I've had about 21 cars in my lifetime, seven of them Hondas. The worst was a 1988 Ford Taurus stationwagon. Had it for less than a year; was unreliable on trips and had twice as many recalls as 20+ years of Hondas. The best car, so far, was a 1994 Honda Accord; ask me again in a year about the Prius.

 

I've had a '63 Ford van, a '68 Ford wagon 390 3spd., '66 Porsche 912, '78 Dodge van, Datsun 510 wagon, '84 Ford Van, '67 Mustang Convertible, '86 Chevy Cavailer, '93 Explorer Sport 5 spd, '94 Explorer Limited, and now an '02 Prius.
The worst was the '78 Dodge van, a total piece of junk.

 

Sitting on the kitchen floor after midnight with a carburetor rebuild kit for our Rabbit, we decided we would get a new car with no problems.
We bought one we could afford and certainly got what we paid for: A Renault Alliance. It had the thinnest sheet metal on the body I have ever seen. It's transmission locked into first gear in the first year we had it. We loved Renaults before, but when they paired up with AMC for the Alliance, what a disaster.

 

'93 Buick Regal

Drank more gas than a RAM w/ a HEMI. Multiple mechanical & electrical failures. Now 4 out of the 5 cars in this house are Toyota.

Surprisingly most reliable car: '95 Dodge RAM B1500 Van now at 230,000 miles with og engine and tranny. Only replaced radiator once.

 

My car in high school, a 1976 Datsun King Cab. It was blue with the rust striped bed. Had about 200K miles on it when we sold it. I swear it would have run without oil if I would have tried. If I ever would have wrecked though, I think it would have disintegrated into a pile of rust shavings.

 

The worst car I ever owned? It was a 1978 Honda Civic. This thing was a POS on wheels!! From the day I bought it to the day I traded it off (on a Ford!!) I had nothing but trouble. Replaced the mechanism for rolling up the driver side window at least 5 or 6 times. I'd be driving down the road, and the window would fall down. The muffler burst open at the seam, the ignition switch burned up one day when I was getting ready to change the oil. Smoke came pouring out of the ignition as I went to start it. This was just some of the nightmares that car held.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DeadPhish @ Oct 27 2005, 11:39 PM) [snapback]146513[/snapback]</div>

It's really funny that you are describing my experience Except mine was '75 Dodge Dart. Slant 6 cyl. When it rained, engine would die. Or engine would be flooded for no reasons, I thought. Now I know that it was the moisture. My experience was in the Bronx. You know how it is when your car stalls in the middle of intersection. In the morning commute. I used pencil to prop open the butterfly and crank until the engine would be dry again. Or the battery would die. Ah those good old days.

Ben

 

2000 Volvo S40 that I traded in for my Prius. Started burning oil at under 30K miles (and just out of warranty.) Huge billowing plumes of blue smoke every time I stepped on the gas. Fixed it enough to trade it in, but good thing they didn't test drive it. I couldn't have sold it in good conscience to an individual, but the dealer was lowballing me anyway--this was the old days of waiting lists. I had sworn off of Fords in the 80's when my friend's Taurus(?) bled to death on the freeway in downtown Houston when I had borrowed it for a quick errand. Don't know how my ex convinced me to buy the Volvo/Ford.

 

These old threads come back because of us newbie Prius owners joining up!

1) 1960 Comet Station Wagon, red on top, white below roof. Was very low miles when I obtained it in 1975, it had been garaged all that time and just needed new tires. Had an extremely small engine, I think 6 cyl, if I got it into sand, it would just grunt without spinning the rear wheels. Also when going up a high elevation steep hill would just slow down until stopped, then growl.