Very cute stories about vehicles that didn't love their owners....

[Shop Rat]

...... as much as the owners loved their vehicles.

Cars We Loved That Haven't Loved Us Back - MSN Autos

[Guest Kingoftheroad]

I've owned alot of used cars and have been fortunate to have owned alot of good cars. However, this thread does remind me of one vehicle I had which was a money pit, it was an interesting vehicle though....

[Dave@Moon]

Here's mine:

In 1992 at Fall Carlisle I bought a 1970 Slant 6 Plymouth Duster. The car looked and ran great, with correct Rally Wheels, AM/FM radio, nice (looking) base model interior, and a solid body (with new metal welded {nicely} in in several places). The car was metallic brown with a black vinyl roof and a unique, period tape stripe that was an upside-down (thin stripe to the top instead of the bottom) duplicate of the 340 Duster stripe, minus the "340". From 50' away it looked like a nice 340 Duster.

A month after I bought it my Slant 6 Club of America membership decal arrived. I crawled into the back seat to put it in the window. I put my knee on the back seat cushion, and leaned against the seat back with my hand to reach the back window. My knee tore the fabric of the seat, and my hand went right through the seat back. The fabric backing the vinyl was thoroughly dry-rotted. I ordered a new interior kit for it from Legendary. It turned out I didn't keep the car long enough to install it.

Storing the car over the winter, I got in it in the spring for a first drive. I got about 15 miles when there came the sound of an obvious exhaust leak from the engine. No big deal, except it was the exhaust manifold that had just cracked in 1/2. Using Mopar's newly installed computer system for locating parts, I found one of the 8 manifolds left in stock in the U.S. in upstate NY, had it shipped to me in Pittsburgh, and installed it (along with a new bi-metal choke control that I couldn't save off of the old manifold).

I got the manifold installed, and took the car out for a test drive. After getting the engine up to temperature, I started down a long hill in a busy, 4 lane business district. Yep, you guessed it! The master cylinder failed 10 minutes into that drive. I saved the car by coasting with the parking brake on into an uphill parking lot access.

At least the master cylinder I could buy at NAPA.

At this point I'd spent about $800.00 in parts on the car, and driven it less than 100 miles. I got another 300 miles out of it that summer with only minor issues (a light bulb here, a wheel cylinder there), but it was never the reliable fun driver I wanted. By the end (less than a year) it had literally broken down (in one form or another) most of the times I had driven it.

That fall (1993) I traded the Duster in on a very low mileage 1986 Chevy Celebrity (at a reliable and conscientious Chevy dealer) in which someone had disguised bad tranny. They'd traded it in with fresh fluid, that I burnt brown in 200 miles. The tranny was replaced under the 90 day warranty.

That Duster cost me over $2.00/mile in parts.

Edited October 9, 2011 by Dave@Moon (see edit history)

[Guest Kingoftheroad]

Here's mine:

In 1992 at Fall Carlisle I bought a 1970 Slant 6 Plymouth Duster. The car looked and ran great, with correct Rally Wheels, AM/FM radio, nice (looking) base model interior, and a solid body (with new metal welded {nicely} in in several places). The car was metallic brown with a black vinyl roof and a unique, period tape stripe that was an upside-down (thin stripe to the top instead of the bottom) duplicate of the 340 Duster stripe, minus the "340". From 50' away it looked like a nice 340 Duster.

A month after I bought it my Slant 6 Club of America membership decal arrived. I crawled into the back seat to put it in the window. I put my knee on the back seat cushion, and leaned against the seat back with my hand to reach the back window. My knee tore the fabric of the seat, and my hand went right through the seat back. The fabric backing the vinyl was thoroughly dry-rotted. I ordered a new interior kit for it from Legendary. It turned out I didn't keep the car long enough to install it.

Storing the car over the winter, I got in it in the spring for a first drive. I got about 15 miles when there came the sound of an obvious exhaust leak from the engine. No big deal, except it was the exhaust manifold that had just cracked in 1/2. Using Mopar's newly installed computer system for locating parts, I found one of the 8 manifolds left in stock in the U.S. in upstate NY, had it shipped to me in Pittsburgh, and installed it (along with a new bi-metal choke control that I couldn't save off of the old manifold).

I got the manifold installed, and took the car out for a test drive. After getting the engine up to temperature, I started down a long hill in a busy, 4 lane business district. Yep, you guessed it! The master cylinder failed 10 minutes into that drive. I saved the car by coasting with the parking brake on into an uphill parking lot access.

At least the master cylinder I could buy at NAPA.

At this point I'd spent about $800.00 in parts on the car, and driven it less than 100 miles. I got another 300 miles out of it that summer with only minor issues (a light bulb here, a wheel cylinder there), but it was never the reliable fun driver I wanted. By the end (less than a year) it had literally broken down (in one form or another) most of the times I had driven it.

That fall (1993) I traded the Duster in on a very low mileage 1986 Chevy Celebrity (at a reliable and conscientious Chevy dealer) in which someone had disguised bad tranny. They'd traded it in with fresh fluid, that I burnt brown in 200 miles. The tranny was replaced under the 90 day warranty.

That Duster cost me over $2.00/mile in parts.

An old friend bought a 73 Plymouth Valiant 4dr w/ a slant 6 cyl. He drove that thing like he stole it and beat the snot out of that car for a number of years. It wasn't fast and it went around corners like it was riding on old rubber bands but, that old Plymouth kept going !

[padgett]

Around 1980 I bought a rebuilt 1970 VW Westphalia Camper (slept 2 friendly adults, one not so friendly adult, one midget). 1600cc single carb with an IVEECO oil cooler on the side.

Developed an oil leak in the block, replaced with a "rebuilt" engine. Wasn't.

Pulled engine out and completely rebuilt with machine work performed by a reputable local company, new barrels, rebuilt heads, align bored, yada yada.

No leaks but after first night below freezing it started and ran for 30 seconds and froze. Winched into garage, pulled engine and sent to shop for analysis. Everything seemed fine and turned easily then. Said I must have done "something" wrong in assembly. New bearings and seals and back together.

Ran fine until first freezing night (this was in Texas) and ran 30 seconds and froze. This time they took everything apart, found nothing, and reassembled.

Third cold morning same-same. This time they miked everything and somehow the center main was found about .003" off center (how does that happen when align bored ?) Align bored a second time and was running fine when sold.

Have had obscure problems before and since but bottom line is that unless you find the root cause they will continue.

[Guest Dave Boyer]

Reading all that makes me feel bad, I have a old Dodge van, it never let me down, it helped me build my business. I can't bring myself to get rid of it..and it just sits behind my shop

[Luv2Wrench]

Yep, same here. I've got an old Dodge pickup parked by the shop. I haven't had the heart to tell it that its been replaced. I just tell her that I don't drive as much anymore. So far that has worked out OK but I've come close to getting caught before and there have been awkward questions about that 'silly blue sedan'. I take her out a few times a year and it is just like old times.

[Guest Oldengineer]

HMM - brings back memories of a brand new Plymouth Barracuda with a 273 V8 that I bought in 1967. Luckily Chrysler had a 50K warranty back then. By the time I got to 50K, the car was on its second engine, and, needed it replaced again. Along the way it ate a couple of water pumps, its carb( float retainer broke), its tranny cooling lines, and a set of front ball joints. At 50K, I swapped it for an Oldsmobile.

Regards:

Oldengineer

[Guest AlK]

I have had a few clunkers but I think the the worst one was the Dodge SE 250 van that I inherited from my Step-fathers estate. My step-father was a die-hard mopar man. He had a 64 plymouth sation wagon with a 318 v-8. He got 240,000 miles out of it and had a"I will trade in no car before its time" After a pretty hard winter and while making a panic stop one day the body slipped forward a few inches, he figured it was time. Some years later he bought a 1984 Dodge SE250 extend van. Unfortunatley he kept his 318 v-8 mentality and also got the economy read end. If the salesman had done his job he would have convinced him to go with a 360 and a slighly lower rear end, but.............. When I got the rig it would take me from Columbus GA to Atlanta to get the rig up to 60 mph. I had a steep driveway and the rig would not climb the driveway in reverse. During the 1 year that I owned it I replaced the A/C 3 times, the starter 2 times, the rear u-joints once and the tranny once. Had to get rid of it.

ALK

[John_Maine]

My uncle sold Chevies for many years. One time while on a visit, I was at the dealership with him and we went out in back of the garage for some reason. Sitting there was a brand new Malibu - 1968 - as I recall, all smashed up - half the front end was gone, the left fender, A pillar, windshield and both left doors all smashed in. The car had like 70 miles on it. Seems someone took it out on a test drive, fell asleep and ran it into a ledge on the side of the highway. It looked pretty totalled to me and I mentioned it to my uncle. He said, "Nah, they'll fix that up good as new." He was serious, and since this was in the days before any kind of disclosure was given to buyers concerning the history of a car, I'd be willing to bet they sold it as a new vehicle without disclosing the body damage. I've often wondered about it and how the buyer made out with it.