Fat toothless tattooed girl braless in a wife beater T-shirt asking how quick I can fix it and how much will it cost. Livin the Life! Dang - I just saw her in line at WAWA in Central FL this morning, yelling at her kid that "she wasn't made of F'n Money", I told her she was todays mother of the year candidate, she just glared at me and waddled off.
The worst car I ever owned was a 80 VW Rabbit. replaced one of the best cars I ever owned a 68 VW Beetle. On the way from SD to Michigan. the Alt went out. Of course it was a special one so couldn't by one off the shelf. Died in Ceder Rapids, IA. Tow strapped it in the dark to Iowa City. Still no luck with an alt. My wife stayed with the car I drove back to Detroit. Returned with a borrowed trailer and drug it home. No sooner did i Fix the Alt. The Clutch went out. Cost almost a grand to do the clutch. (this was 1992) only for it to go out less than a month later. Don't know why I ever got it. Should have left it in Sioux Falls, SD and canceled the check. Tim
I see these candidates often at our store. Always wanting a deal on parts. and/or someone to do the work for free. Tim
The worst that I had was my '57 Oldsmobile two-door. It was gorgeous, and it ran well and was fast for it's day, but it's heater was vacuum-operated and it had miles of very small diameter vacuum hose - all of which had hardened over the years and broke one at a time, and all were extremely difficult to follow and replace. In terms of money, I think the total bill was about three bucks; in terms of time and blood it was about $1,000 worth. I have never, ever, spent as much time under a dash as I did with that car.
1976 Datsun 200sx 5sp a whole lot of ugly. First car, "Dad had a buddy" talked me into it. Broke down more than it ran. Carb went bad, first rebuilt carburetor in a bucket of gasoline. lost the muffler on dirt road, held the rest up with a neckless i was wearing (yeah it was the 80s) to get it home. Soup can and coat hanger off i went. shortly after drove it to the local junk yard back firing shooting flames from the straight pipe $75.
96 Chevy Blazer it wasn't really a bad rig but we had some bad luck with it. The dealer we bought it from that serviced it regularly, topped of the coolant with the wrong anti freeze and the next thing we knew the radiator looked like it was full of coffee grounds. They flushed it out and gave it back to us. A couple months later the heater core started leaking, a friend who was a tech at a Cadillac dealership told us about a sealer that Caddy used on some models because their aluminum block was so porous they would seal. That worked for a couple years, as soon as I saw a little drip from under the dash we traded for a 99 Regal. Great car! Bob H.
Had a budy who had a similar experiende as your friend's with his Pony... I read somewhere that several manufacturers were involved in the Stellar's build, which may explain the 180 re reliability versus the Pony tanks.
My '78 Cutlass with the 260 until I swapped it for an Olds 350. Got 11 MPG on the highway and was the slowest thing I ever owned, even my 2.3L '92 Ranger would absolutely blow it's doors off. I'll give the 260 credit for one thing, though. It ran with the worst rod knock I've ever heard for 2 years with 80w90 for engine oil...I always said it didn't have enough power to blow itself up (I tried before the swap). After the swap it was a great car, and I love G-bodies in general. Thing that has broken and breaks the most is my daily pile F100, but that's mostly self inflicted and totally worth the hassle.
1986 Chevrolet Sprint. RF wheel bearing had no grease from day 1. Wheel almost fell off on a trip up to Mackinac Island. Dealer in Gaylord luckily fixed it, while waiting at my parents place in Gaylord to continue the Mackinac trip. Heater core went out past warranty, pita to get to that one. Rotors fell apart prematurely. Hey what do you expect from a 3cyl, kickstart with handlebars. What more could you ask for?
My first was my worst.....a 1962 Chevrolet Corvair Van. Bought it in the late 1960's, probably 1968, in Houston, Texas. Was so underpowered that when driving it to the beach to go surfing on the weekends, would have to floor it miles before I hit the bridge at Quintana, over the Intercoastal Canal, to get up to about 60 mph. By the time I got to the top of the bridge I was in second gear doing about 15! Then on the way down, couldn't stop! So I'd have to stay in third, screaming RPM's all the way down. Had it for a couple of months then that big box caught fire when a fuel line broke and sprayed gas all over the red hot air-cooled engine. I didn't know I was on fire until I saw a huge black smoke trail in my outside mirror. I pulled over on Westheimer, jumped out and just watched it burn. Walked home, never saw it again.
The worst one was a 2008 Buick Allure (Lacrosse) that I bought new. Within 2 years it needed brakes, front hubs and a steering rack and it just went downhill from there to the point where it was tossing a coil pack every 2 weeks. The last year we owned it, it pretty much had a reserved stall at the dealership. Cost me a fortune and we never figured it out. Luckily got that car shot out from underneath us in a T-bone accident, the insurance settlement (in our favour) allowed us to get something a little more reliable than your garden variety Jag, - which is where that Buick was at. Never buy a new Buick again as a result. The next worst one was a 1961 Mercedes 220 SEb, it never ran more than 2 weeks at a time before something sidelined it. The rear axle finally let go and the car had to be scrapped because it couldn't be picked up to take the axle out. Lost my shorts on that one because it sure looked pretty. Lesson learned; - never look at a Mercedes without extensively groping it's underside first. Better yet, get it on a hoist. Those things rot from the inside of the underside out. And lastly, my 66 Electra; - I unknowingly bought it with a cracked block, the rebuild didn't go as planned and so I almost grenaded the rebuilt engine on a trip back from the coast, and it still ends up going home on a tow truck at least once per year, about every time I figure I finally have all the bugs worked out.
The father of my bride's college roommate bought a full-sized Oldsmobile with the 350 Diesel. He loved the car; the only trouble he ever had with it was that it ate alternator belts. It needed double belts for the high-output alternator that had to charge the two batteries and it didn't have them. The dealer finally gave him a spare belt to carry just in case. The 350 Diesel ran beautifully for more then 100,000 miles and got great fuel economy. I also knew a guy who bought a Chevy pickup with the same engine. He didn't make it home from the dealer.
The worst overall? I'd say my 2000 S-10. Was in shop for warranty work more than oil changes (Which I had done every 3,000 miles) O2 sensors less than 1,ooo miles, Windshield wiper arm first time used, Seat belt retractors, Third door actuator, BOTH seat recliner mechanisms, All under warranty. Nothing for quite some time when warranty expired. Then intake manifold seals, radiator twice, water pump twice, fan clutch twice, front wheel bearings twice, fuel pump twice, heater core, A/C leaked out and never would hold charge and couldn't find why. Other than that not much!!! Least powerful? 1975 Chevy Monza Town Coupe with Vega 140 1 barrel three speed . Couldn't pass anything. Only had it less than a year, Flipped it and destroyed everything on the body. How I survived I don't know; It put the steering column into the driver's seat.
1984 Dodge RAM Van (cargo version of the Caravan). I bought it used for Cable Splicing to replace a great Datsun pickup. The first morning I was driving it 400 Km to join the crew and at 2 AM, all the lights went out. I slapped on the beacon I had installed and pulled over. I took it back to the dealer and they fixed the fusible link. The next morning, going to work again, same thing at about the same time. This time when I took it back to the dealer, I watched them fix it. It had a divider and bins so was set up perfectly for work, but wouldn't run worth beans if there was any snow on the road. It was hard on fuel and at one point, the transmission wouldn't go into reverse. A whole new problem with a 3rd party warranty service I had purchased. I was not unhappy to see the end of that vehicle.
With all the talk of the worst vehicle you have ever owned I have to say I have never had a vehicle that was bad . From everything I have owned from Studebakers to Buicks to Chevys everyone has delivered what was expected from them . I have only bought 3 new vehicles in my driving life which is now past 50 years . A 2000 VW Golf , A 2000 Silverado 2500 and a 2004 Blazer and I still drive the Chevys every day . The VW was totaled in an accident .
