What was the worst car you ever owned and why
Dec 10, 2014 17:16:09 #
The worst car I ever owned was a 1984 Chrysler Laser. It was a little sport hatchback and it was a mess. I purchased it new (Sticker was 14K) and from the very first day it was a disaster. The crowning jewel of disappoint was when the windshield popped out and shattered on the wiper arms when I shut the door with the windows up on day four while picking it up from having the power steering pump replaced because it had exploded on day two.
Dec 10, 2014 17:45:33 #
bookman
Loc: Southeast Michigan
Ha! This is hands-down easy. A Dodge Intrepid, 2.4L piece of you-know-what. I bought it used from a (supposedly) reputable Chevy dealer in 2007 when I was out of work and needed some reliable transportation to get to a job. No warranty, of course and it took the last of my savings at that time.
A foreign Dodge, you ask? The motor and transaxle were Mitsubishi. Sounds foreign to me.
Put a few hundred miles on that piece of junk and the trans broke; left me stranded on the highway on the way to a new job. Repairs were over $2,400 on the credit card.
Got the car back...drove it for some months and boom, trans broke. Of course, the repair warranty had run out by this time. Another $2k on the card. Couldn't afford to buy anything else at the time.
Drove the car for some more months...and guess what? There I was along side the expressway again with a broken trans. This time under warranty from the last repair. The shop put in a new (read that 'different') cluster gear set instead of rebuilding the old one and I felt better about that.
Now, lest you think that I'm hard on cars, I can assure you that I am not and I do keep them serviced. Like having a new exhaust system put on the junker because it was just starting to get a little loud.
I picked up the car and paid the $400 bill to replace the exhaust system, drove the car for 40 miles and gosh, guess what happened? Yep, there I was on the expressway with a broken trans.
I will never again own a Chrysler product. Their slogan, 'Detroit's Import'? They need to export them. :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:
A foreign Dodge, you ask? The motor and transaxle were Mitsubishi. Sounds foreign to me.
Put a few hundred miles on that piece of junk and the trans broke; left me stranded on the highway on the way to a new job. Repairs were over $2,400 on the credit card.
Got the car back...drove it for some months and boom, trans broke. Of course, the repair warranty had run out by this time. Another $2k on the card. Couldn't afford to buy anything else at the time.
Drove the car for some more months...and guess what? There I was along side the expressway again with a broken trans. This time under warranty from the last repair. The shop put in a new (read that 'different') cluster gear set instead of rebuilding the old one and I felt better about that.
Now, lest you think that I'm hard on cars, I can assure you that I am not and I do keep them serviced. Like having a new exhaust system put on the junker because it was just starting to get a little loud.
I picked up the car and paid the $400 bill to replace the exhaust system, drove the car for 40 miles and gosh, guess what happened? Yep, there I was on the expressway with a broken trans.
I will never again own a Chrysler product. Their slogan, 'Detroit's Import'? They need to export them. :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:
Dec 10, 2014 18:08:42 #
1976 Plymouth Volare. Every 300 miles or so the ignition module would burn out!
Dec 10, 2014 18:30:09 #
Dec 10, 2014 22:11:47 #
Had a Chrysler Cordova. It was a wonderful exercise program. It would always get you half way to where we were going. Car was beautiful to look at especially along the highway waiting for the next wrecker.
Dec 10, 2014 22:19:43 #
My present car a 2004 Dodge Neon. It breaks down more than a drunk at an Irish wake.
Dec 10, 2014 22:33:27 #
This is a piece of cake: a Chevy Vega! What a piece of trash! There was NOTHING good about that car. I swear it was designed to wear out in 1000 miles. And, it did. Seen any on the road lately?
Dec 10, 2014 22:54:54 #
MT Shooter wrote:
1976 Plymouth Volare. Every 300 miles or so the ignition module would burn out!
They were terrible, I had one of those also.
Dec 10, 2014 23:17:41 #
I've been lucky but to be honest, I'd have to say the one with the most problems was also the most fun. That was my TR-3. It was a fun summer car but in the winter, forget it...it had no heater to speak of. I think I had a tape deck installed because there was no radio or a poor one. In the summer, couldn't have been a better car.
Dec 10, 2014 23:23:57 #
dljen wrote:
I've been lucky but to be honest, I'd have to say the one with the most problems was also the most fun. That was my TR-3. It was a fun summer car but in the winter, forget it...it had no heater to speak of. I think I had a tape deck installed because there was no radio or a poor one. In the summer, couldn't have been a better car.
That TR-3 was a ball. I would rank it right up there with my old '53 MG-TD. Also no heater, no radio, and didn't even have a gas gauge. I had to stick a yard stick down in the gas tank to know how much I had. But, the windshield folded down flat to put your burgers, fries and Cokes on down at the Bob's Bigboy. And, while it only had 53 hp, it was a babe magnet! I had to spend half my time keeping it running, but I loved that car, and wish I still had it.
Dec 10, 2014 23:31:10 #
DavidPhares wrote:
That TR-3 was a ball. I would rank it right up there with my old '53 MG-TD. Also no heater, no radio, and didn't even have a gas gauge. I had to stick a yard stick down in the gas tank to know how much I had. But, the windshield folded down flat to put your burgers, fries and Cokes on down at the Bob's Bigboy. And, while it only had 53 hp, it was a babe magnet! I had to spend half my time keeping it running, but I loved that car, and wish I still had it.
It was a guy magnet too! :)
Dec 11, 2014 05:34:15 #
dljen wrote:
, I'd have to say the one with the most problems was also the most fun. That was my TR-3
As well for me,a Triumph". A GT6 +. Every second day something either broke, fell off or stopped working!
Super neat "tilt the whole front end foreward" style hood allowed you to see (and work on) the neat six cylinder engine. Real wood dash and lovely leather seating. Tight interior, flashy exterior and when I traded it to my mechanic friend for his ex racing 750 Honda motorcycle plus his Nikon rangefinder camera (my first "real" camera), it became a worthwhile deal!
Dec 11, 2014 05:39:40 #
WoW!!...I must have been lucky. I have never had what I would call a "bad" car...I have owned mostly Fords, except for a Dodge van and a Chevy chassis on an RV. I even had TWO Vegas. I drove one for 60,000 miles until it was totaled in a crash. Then I bought another one with a blown engine and combined the two to make one...I drove that one another 50,000 before selling it. I DID have a Subaru once for a short while that sounded like a beer can hitting concrete when you closed a door...But it drove good.
Now motorcycles are a whole 'nother matter...I had a couple of terrible "rice burners"...One was a Honda and the other a Kawasaki (We called it a Kowalski = Polish bike)
Now motorcycles are a whole 'nother matter...I had a couple of terrible "rice burners"...One was a Honda and the other a Kawasaki (We called it a Kowalski = Polish bike)
Dec 11, 2014 05:46:54 #
I can't for the life of me remember the name,but it was a 4 cylinder, wouldn't make 70 mph, and struggled on a low hill. I traded it in after 3 months.
Dec 11, 2014 05:50:13 #
It just goes to show you, my first brand new car was a Vega (72) when I was in the service. I even pulled a U-Haul with it from Florida to Indiana then to California. Only reason I got rid of it was because a wife, dog and two kids wouldn't fit. Worst one wa a Buick Century.
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