The worst car you ever owned?

I can proudly say I've never been the owner of a POS vehicle. I guess I maybe just got lucky? The Prius is the 4th car ever in my possession. #1 was a 1996 Corolla. #2 was a 2005 Civic. #3 was a 2007 Jeep Patriot. And #4 is my beloved 2012 Prius (three). They have all been wonderful and reliable. The Corolla was maybe the most underwhelming (maybe because it was a hand me down from my mother when I got my license at 16), but it was still a great car!

 

Yeah looking at the list (sans the Jeep) you were lucky to have cars that all rate high in the reliability indexes!

 

Almost forgot an 1989 Jeep Cherokee I had. The thing ate alternators like no one's business... lots of brake issues and when I got rid of it, it was a happy day. Compared to the Aspen and the parents' Vega, I needed a mind jolt to take me back when I was married...

 

I am going to nominate our '94 Mazda 626.
We were also proud owners of a '74 Chevy Vega that got totaled so that is close 2nd.
The Madza 626 was our demolition derby car that the kids learmed to drive in and had accidents.
But the accidents were not so bad to cause the engine death, so we gave it to charity (they had to tow it away).
This car Mazda 626 was a competitior to Camry but one sees almost none on the road guess they all died.

 

She was beautiful, sleek, sexy and had a body I wanted to touch and caress. She was a 1976 Jaguar XJ12C coupe. And I fell in love with her the first time the model was introduced in 1972. Despite all the cautions and warnings of owning a British car and Lucas electrical components it was too late for me as I was deeply in love and in the early nineties, I purchased one from an owner who probably cashed my check immediately upon receipt. She was British racing green and her interior was swathed in Biscuit Connolly leather and Wilton wool carpeting with burled walnut instrument panel. She had a silky smooth V12 engine and she turned heads wherever I drove her. That is when I got to drive her. She became the worst nightmare of a car I ever owned. During the 4 years I owned it I drove about 1000 miles and she cost me more than $1000 per 100 miles.

The car had the worst combination of Lucas electrical system and Lucas fuel injection with a mishmash of sensors and actuators to comply with the emission requirements this side of the pond. This resulted in an impossible setup for all the components to work together on a car that was never designed to incorporate the extra stuff. The engine compartment looked like it was designed by Rube Goldberg . The car needed constant tune up to keep it running. There were many problems and one of those was a switch that was in the glove box that decided to shut the vehicle off completely without any warning. If the Lucas brain sensed something that wasn't normal it decides to shut the whole thing off. This would happen in the middle of the intersection and of course I didn't know what happened the first time, resulting in having the car towed to the mechanic. Needless to say during my ownership, my mechanic and tow truck service loved me.They would always say "See you soon" with a smile when we parted.

The air conditioning system would stop working especially in the height of summer heat. Instead of turning off, the system is designed so that if the a/c isn't working, you can have heat and set at high temp. Only turning the car off would stop the insanity. To fix this problem an actuator switch that cost $39 needed to be replaced. However, this was located behind the beautiful instrument panel and getting to it required disassembling and removal of said panel at a cost of about $1000. Aside from the normal power window switches, clock, lights, radio, wipers not working the last straw came when I was stopped at a no right turn on red intersection waiting for the light to turn green. The driver of the car behind me was madly honking the horn and I almost flipped him the bird when I noticed in the rear view mirror that fuel was gushing out of the passenger side fuel filler like a geyser. So I turned the corner, parked the car and shut the engine off in fear of causing a fire. Jaguars had two gas tanks on either side of the rear wings (that's rear fenders in American). A switch in the instrument panel would open a valve that would allow the fuel to flow from one tank or the other when one gets empty. Well this actuator sensor switch and fuel pump went berserk and instead of sending the fuel to the engine decided to send it to the other tank which was already full resulting in forcing the fuel filler door open gushing the fuel out 6 feet high. Stranded again, I called the tow truck driver and took a cab home. To add insult to injury, I received a parking ticket because I left the car in the red zone.

If you ever watched the 1985 British movie Brazil, you will understand why the British auto industry got the way it was. I tried to sell it but no one wanted it and I ended up donating it to a charity. Would I own another Jaguar again? Probably not but the early E-Type looks beautiful, sleek and sexy.

 

The Jeep may not be a high rater, but I loved that thing. I know I didn't get the opportunity to drive it to its full potential since someone decided to crash into me a week ago and totaled it at age 5 1/2 with 94,000 miles. That car cost me nothing more than standard maintenance. The part that hurts the most is that I had JUST put brand new brakes in (at 94,000 miles this was the first time the brakes even needed to be replaced!). Oh well. The silver lining is my new Prius, obviously

 

Wow, what a beauty! I guess looks can be deceiving...

 

And unfortunately the same could be said of many women I met

 

Early Jags like the XKE were pieces of art. That car in british green with the tan interior has not been surpassed in sexiness. Just sitting in that car makes your blood pressure rise. But total pieces of mechanical crap. IMHO.

 

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I'd have to say the worse car I ever owned was a Morris Marina too. A 1980 1300cc version with a 4 speed manual. It was slow, noisy, dreadful to drive....infact I don't think there was any good thing about it.​

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Second worst car was a 1981 Datsun Violet. Good things about it were the seats. The bad things were everything else. ​

 

Datsun Violet. You guys saw some whacky variations of the theme. Pretty cool.

 

According to Wikipedia, AKA Datsun 710 in the US. Pretty sad cars.

 

1973 VEGA GT wagon, my GOD what a rolling piece of crap.
1974 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2003 Buick Rendezvous

See a common thread here? Never will another GM vehicle ever grace my driveway again, most reliable? 1997 F150, 277,000 miles and still looking and running good.

 

The worst vehicle I ever owned was probably a late 80's early 90's Ford Taurus. Can't remember the exact year now. And in Fords defense? I was young and bought it used and cheap. Somebody had rebuilt it, and they weren't the best of mechanics, so the vehicle while incredibly comfortable, was wrought with many Gremlin like quirks, but to be honest, I don't know how much was Fords fault, or The Taurus, and how much was just a bad mechanic had tried to do too much above his head.

The worst "quirk" was that for no apparent reason, if you made a very extreme right hand turn...not a "normal" radius, but a sharp one...the vehicle would stall out. Then worse? The only way to start it back up, was to pop the hood, get out of the vehicle, and go hit the battery.

I took it to several mechanics, none of which could figure out the connection between the two acts, or how to fix it.

What led me to finally sell it, was one day on a twisting narrow mountain road, I decided to try and make a U-turn. Knowing the vehicles Gremlin like quirk, this was a bad decision. As I was 1/2 through my u-turn, the vehicle stalled out....as I should of known it was likely to do. This left me broadside in the middle of a mountain road, around a corner with very little reaction time for any vehicle that might be following me.

I rolled down my window as I desperately tried to restart the vehicle, with every passing second knowing it was very hopeless, that I would have to pop the hood and go bang on the battery. It was during these seconds that I heard the sound of a high reving engine coming up the mountain and approaching quickly.

I never moved as quick since. Somehow I was just barely able to pop the hood, grab a wrench from the trunk, bang on the battery, close the hood, get back in the vehicle, and get it restarted and carefully finish the U-turn, before the approaching vehicle turned the corner.

If any accident would of occurred it would of been entirely my own youthful stupidity. It was a cascade of bad decisions made rapidly. Had I died? I would of earnestly accepted my Darwin Award in the afterlife.

So in anycase, that was the worst vehicle I ever owned, but again, I don't know if it was as much Fords fault as it was simply being young, and not yet knowing that a used vehicle being sold much cheaper than it's apparent value is NOT a good sign, and something rebuilt by someone you don't know is also a bad idea.

 

My F250 has been the most expensive to drive. In 3 years I've done over $6k in repairs and maintenance. Knock on wood, has been trouble free for 9 months. I much prefer the $27 fill ups in my Prius...but dang is it tiny. Thank you Extend My Seat!

 

I actually stumbled up on this tonight reading about the Prius and trying to decide if I should let it go back to Toyota (end of my Lease) or not...

The worst car I've EVER owned, I just sold... It was a 2000 Acura 3.2 TL with 180K.. I did my best to love it, obught it used in 2002 with 38K and I kept it under warranty as long as I could.. But it loved the Honda Mechanic.. 4 transmissions and many $$$ on sensors, electrical parts and every other diddly bit, I had enough... My 1st Mercedes had blown by this thing and my second was fast encroching on the 140K mark...

No, My 2010 Prius gets put on the list... What? He must be some troll! Hes posting bad things on a Prius Chat Site... NOOO.. I think there good, if you don't get all the crapola on them... I leased one of the first 2010's out there in San Diego (only way I could afford it) and I chalk it up to that.. But thats not my only issue.. Its how I sit and drive and visability....

My Story:
So I had a wonderful, 2006 Prius with no options, except the air bags... I loved it.. Great Mileage, Easy to See Out of.. Just a good car.. Was dark tan with light tan interior and I had a sun roof and dark tan leather put in it.. Fast Foward to when the 2010 Prius came out.. Just got out of a nasty divorce and the Prius was the only vehicle the ex took... Was so stinking mad.... Would have happily handed over the Acura or the Expedition... My Mercedes was the other "No, you can't have that, other wise I will have to skin you.." But I digress...

So in a new city, with a new significant other, I needed something with less miles and good for commuting back and forth to Los Angles.. I decieded it was time for a NEW Prius.. I called 38 dealers and couldn't find a BASE prius...AT ALL... I hunted through 6 states and had a friend on the east coast (where I bought my 06) looking for said Base Prius.. All we could find where Prius 5s or 4s... A few other odd ball ones here or there, but no base prius's....

Well, after 6 weeks, I finally decieded a Honda Civic hybrid or Insight would be fine and was heading to go look when I spotted a Lease deal on a Toyota dealers sign (from the freeway).. I swung back around and after 2 hours, I had a 2010, loaded out the gills Prius for a good payment with a good buy out in the end...The nightmare had begun...

My prius has everything, including the laser cruise control option.. Driving home that night, not used to the car, i couldn't make it work... At all! The next day, I whent back to said dealer and they showed me how to work it... Ok fine... That night same story... WTH... SO I took it back... After fiddling with it a bit, they sent me to Lexus to have them look at it, and the Lexus dealer did something and said "Oh its not unusal for that to happen, its too dark out".. HUH??? Ok what ever...

From then on its been down hill... It has had SO MANY electrical issues, its un real.. My 1988 Audi 90 was a blessing..So where my 72 and 90 Volvos... The electric sun roof still doesn't always open, the navigation voice croked and 2 navigation units later it works now FINALLY.. The rear windows don't work.. I could go on and on and on.. Toyota has replaced and repaired my keyless start set up so many times... It has been a night mare... The has been fine... So has the CVT... The brakes have been questionable since new and my ABS light is always on... The laser cruise still doesn't work right... I am soo dissapointed with this car.. My 50K Mercedes has less issues, but then it has less options and crap to break...

But thats minor... My chief issues ARE:
I can't see out of it AT ALL.. My 06 was no trouble to get comfie behind the wheel of... Not this... I am 5'6" and kinda round, shaped like an Oompa Loompa... Nothing I can do to change that (i have major health issues is why, its not because im fat).... I can't see over the hood and my arms have to reach to far for the wheel... I just don't fit in it... Over the course of 30K miles, the seats have gotten slightly worse..,,, I am so sad too, because my 06 was sooo comfie....

Its too quite... People can not hear me comming or it comming.. Even with the semi functional back up camera, its still too quite.. Needs a beeper in reverse or something...

It doesn't start every time.. There is some gremalin in the keyless go system that, every once in a while will rear its head and the car won't start... Toyota has replaced the entire electrical system in it and still is an issue

It drives nice.. Thats my only positive... I miss my 06 Prius so much... Toyota has stood by me 1000% and has been awesome... I just got the Prius back this week after a 4 month stent at the dealership and it seems to be running better than ever... But I am leery... Almost at the 42 month mark and I do not know if I could keep it... Its a nice car and many people have no issues.. Mine is rare... But im afraid of it...

So thats my worst car story... My poor 2010 Prius that is that one screwball car that will never be right and has soured me on many things, like getting options on cars and hybrids in general..

 

First year of a new generation can be tough.

 

2003 Ford Focus ZTS. It SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED! I mean, just the amount of repairs the car needed before I traded it was ridiculous. Ate through tires every 20K. It was always in the shop. I couldn't go a month without having to take my car in for something or another. Car actual cost was like 40K after all the repairs, purchase, and depreciation in value. It also got horrible MPG. I'm talking for a 4 cylinder it was getting like 19-23 city.