Worst car you ever owned?

[Jack]

I'm sure this is a topic most people can relate to lol.

I was just thinking of my old '82 Camaro.  Red, with T-tops.  Man did it ever look nice.  Let's see:  cracked a piston, which required the replacement of the entire engine (I was driving it to work in the morning, not drag racing.  Luckily it happened in the middle of a busy intersection at rush hour so I had traffic backed up for miles).  On at least two or three occasions the transmission got stuck in first gear, which cost around $250 to fix each time.  Every sensor on the car went out multiple times, and three times out of four that would take out the computer as well - I can't begin to remember how many ECU's that thing went through.  For a while there, just before Christmas each year, it would start belching out black smoke.  That was the oxygen sensor dying.  My little Christmas present.  The brakes fell apart - there were bits and pieces of the brake mechanism rattling around inside the brake drum.  Windshield wipers didn't work - that required the replacement of all the wiring harnesses in the steering column. 

Then I got it repainted and from then on the windshield leaked like a sieve.  Same with the T-tops - it would soak the sun visor and the rain would come down in a rectangular pattern on my lap.  If it rained the night before, I'd take a garbage bag out to the car in the morning to put over the seat.

So what fun with automobiles have you folks had?

[Raffine]

I had a '87 Nissan Stanza Wagon that went through alternators like they were as cheap and replaceable as wiper blades. There was also a "bad spot on the solenoid switch" (according to the mechanic) which meant about every 10th time or so attempting to crank it the thing wouldn't start. The transmission went out a couple of times, and the AC refused to cool in weather over 80 degrees.

To make it even more fun: the front of the car was ridiculously short so the engine was installed literally sideways. Many, many people - including my self - did a lot of cussing when trying to do the simplest of things like checking the oil.

[retrorussell]

My first: A P.O.S. Chevy Citation.  Don't even drive these days at all, nor do I need to.

[lester1/2jr]

http://lesterhalfjr.blogspot.com/2012/05/more-work-shenanigans.html

current car, 04 taurus.  transmission has already gone out at 70,000 miles. out 1700 for a new one. I drive for a living and know nothing about cars.

[ghouck]

87 Toyota Corolla, a car my wife had before we got married.

[Mr. DS]

2004 (or somewhere around there) Volkswagen Jetta.  The POS was great up until the 40 to 50k mark and then things systematically went wrong with it.  It was a blessing to take the 15 minute drive to work without seeing an engine light go on.  After spending 6 months and many thousand dollars on several coils, sparkplugs, a catalytic converter, radiator, sensors, blah blah blah I got rid of it for about a 2k trade in on my new care that I really do love. 

I honestly hope the dealership junked it for the stressed it caused me. 

[Jim H]

A 1997 Taurus.  Drove OK for the first maybe 90,000 miles of ownership (I wasn't driving it then).  But in the time I had it, off the top of my head, it needed:

-A transmission rebuild
-All 4 calipers replaced, twice.
-Brake pads went bad way sooner than they should have
-BOTH brake lines snapped at the same time.  While I was driving it.  At least the emergency brake worked.
-Power windows repeatedly went off the tracks, and the motor broke.
-Electrical issues.
-Complete exhaust system replacement
-New muffler
-Power steering kept breaking.
-Tons of little bits of trim all over it kept breaking.
-Repeated tire alignment issues.
-Seat belt broke.
-O2 sensors went out.
-Air bag went bad.
-Power locks broke.
-Cooling issues.
-AC kept breaking and leaking.
-The trunk latch was wonky.
-A door handle broke.

This was over like a three year period.  Insane.  I don't know why we didn't replace the damn thing sooner.  The only good thing on it was the engine, which never gave me a moments trouble in the years I owned it.

[Jack]

-Power windows repeatedly went off the tracks, and the motor broke.

My Camaro used to do that too.  I remember going to the drive-thru at the bank and opening the door instead of the window because I had the thing jammed into the up position and didn't want it to fall apart again.

[indianasmith]

I had a 1980 Ford Mustang that was just awful!

[The Burgomaster]

I can't really blame the car for this, but . . .

I bought a brand-new Dodge Charger back in the 1980s.  After a few years, it just started stalling on me . . . I would be driving down the highway or anywhere and suddenly the tachometer and other gauges would instantly drop to zero and I would need to glide the car into the breakdown line.  Sometimes, it would take 10 or 15 minutes for me to get it started again.  It might drive fine for a few hours or even a day or two . . . then the same thing would happen.  I brought it to a local mechanic who kept telling me he fixed it.  But I would drive it for a day or so and the problem would start again.  In fact, one time I drove it about 2 blocks from the mechanic and it died.  This went on for a few weeks.  Finally, I woke up and brought it to a Dodge dealer.  The mechanic said, "Oh, it sound like you just need a [whatever it was]."  Within about a day the car was fixed and I never had that problem again.  This is probably the most frustrating experience I ever had with a car because it was in and out of the shop with the first mechanic several times and the same problem kept happening.

[lester1/2jr]

surprised to see a couple non american cars in there.

[Jim H]

-Power windows repeatedly went off the tracks, and the motor broke.

My Camaro used to do that too.  I remember going to the drive-thru at the bank and opening the door instead of the window because I had the thing jammed into the up position and didn't want it to fall apart again.

Yep.  I remember that, not wanting to roll the window down for fear it'd never go back up.  We basically gave the car away with one window stuck down, and the guy who bought it from us (he owned a crap shop, so he could repair the issues very cheaply) walked up and whacked the door really hard.  Jarred the window back into the track.  Seemed a lot smarter than paying the $250 the shop wanted to fix it.   

[ghouck]

surprised to see a couple non american cars in there.

Really? I've had horrible experience with foreign cars. My ex FIL LOVES his toyotas, even the one he had for less than six months of his first year owning it due to being in the shop so much. Same problems over and over and he just smiled and loved every minute of it. It even had some lights on the running boards that never did work and the dealer refused to look at them a second time, saying they weren't a necessary part of driving it.

I had a 93 Lumina that lasted as long as any two of his toyotas for less than the price of either of them, yet he still swears by them.

Anyone that thinks non-american cars don't have serious problems from time to time is just plainly lying to themselves.

[JoeTheDestroyer]

It's a toss up between a 1983 Pontiac Firebird and a 1991 Ford Taurus sedan.  Both broke down about every other month, without fail.

[Jim H]

surprised to see a couple non american cars in there.

Really? I've had horrible experience with foreign cars. My ex FIL LOVES his toyotas, even the one he had for less than six months of his first year owning it due to being in the shop so much. Same problems over and over and he just smiled and loved every minute of it. It even had some lights on the running boards that never did work and the dealer refused to look at them a second time, saying they weren't a necessary part of driving it.

I had a 93 Lumina that lasted as long as any two of his toyotas for less than the price of either of them, yet he still swears by them.

Anyone that thinks non-american cars don't have serious problems from time to time is just plainly lying to themselves.

It's also worth noting that the better American cars being made today are actually very solid.  The beating Detroit took from Japan and Korea in the 80s and 90s has paid off - they've made HUGE improvements in the past 10 years.