Your Worst Car?

[zipdang]

Plymouth Turismo. Forgot the year. Forgetting the car...

[Paul Dobbin]

In 1968, just back from a USAF oversea's tour of duty, I bought a nice looking 1964 FIAT 600 sedan.    I drove it home and asked my wife to go with me to the Beach for Pizza.   We got about half way there and the FIAT began to smoke like a mysquito fogger.   We coasted into a gas station where we were approached by a guy who said he had a good engine for that car, installed & guaranteed, for $50.00.

A few days later I got it back an again tried to go for pizza.

The engine seller thought I must have abused it, be agreed to check it out.

Turns out that the guy he got the engine from had put rings on only 3 of the 4 pistons and had wrapped the 4th cylinder with a rag.  When the rag fell off the piston, it became a fogger.   My engine guy put rings in it and I was not off for pizza, but to the corner with a FOR SALE sign  $350.

It sat on that corner for a month and I changed the price to $450 and sold it within an hour,   The buyer had driven by it everyday and never noticed it.

I think that he subconsiously thought $350 was to cheap and was excited at $450.   I've never owned another FIAT.

[lump]

1976 Pontiac Trans Am, hands down. Black with gold "flaming chicken" graphics, etc. 400 four barrel with 400 turbo automatic. Was easily outrun by various Toro riding mowers in the neighborhood. Positraction rear end went wonky every 90 days or so, and was rebuilt under warranty 3 times by the dealership inside of one year. The only thing that saved my investment in that POS was that the SMOKY & THE BANDIT movie which came out that year. Then everyone was wanting to buy my car. I soon allowed someone to "beg and plead" with me until I sold it to them. 

 

Whew! Dodged a bullet on that one! 

[M1842]

75 Chevy Monza with the Vega engine.  Body was rusting out by 1980 and don't remember all the mechanical issues.

[Terry Harper]

1985 (?) Chevy S10 truck. It was the rock bottom base model with the 4 cylinder and a manual transmission. That in itself was not a problem but the build quality was. For instance, the rubber gasket around the rear window had about a 1 inch gap. It was the only vehicle I have owned that the throttle stuck open while going down the road. The only satisfaction was when I sold it to my ex-wife's lawyer.

 

 

[30DodgePanel]

How did the Chevy Chevette not make the list? 

Pick a year, I'm sure they were all the same.

 

Clearly some of the worst designs and performance for American automakers during that era.

 

 

 

 

[Fossil]

31 minutes ago, 30DodgePanel said:

How did the Chevy Chevette not make the list? 

Might be a running tie with the Chevy Vega. What a piece of work. The Corvair was a Cadillac compared to the Vega. 

[Restorer32]

Mom's '81 Chevette.  She bought it new and I swear the plastic interior just fell apart on its own.  Nothing but trouble.  Finally sold it for $200 to a fellow who wanted it for his Daughter's first car.

[avgwarhawk]

88 Chevy Monte Carlo.  It was back in the shop not but 15 minutes of signing for it.  It was all down hill after that.    

[John_S_in_Penna]

10 hours ago, 30DodgePanel said:

How did the Chevy Chevette not make the list? 

Pick a year, I'm sure they were all the same.

Some Chevettes must have been pretty good. A man I know

could have afforded any car, but he chose a 1980 Chevette.

He drove it as his regular car for 19 years.  "Why buy a new car

when the old one still works?" he told me.

 

In this video, the Chevette appears at the very beginning and

in more detail at 5:20. 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

We purchased a new Chevy vega new when we were young and had very little money. It started smoking 3 blocks from the dealers lot. I took it back and they said drive it as that was probably oil in cylinders from assembly. Drove it for two days, checked the oil and it was down a quart. Took it back to the dealer and this time they said they would put a new engine in it. When I picked it up a week later I made it a couple miles from the dealer before it started smoking. I took it back and told them to keep it. They made me a great deal on a Camaro that I put over 150,000 miles on with out a problem. 
dave s 

[kevin1221]

1971 Vega GT.

The day it turned 40,000 miles, it imploded. It used more oil than gas. It ran on STP until I sold it one night in the rain. My dad asked me how was I going to sleep that evening. I said “like a baby”. 
 

At the same time (1974), it began to rust away also.
 

By far the worst car I ever owned.

[Terry Harper]

2 minutes ago, kevin1221 said:

1971 Vega GT.

The day it turned 40,000 miles, it imploded. It used more oil than gas. It ran on STP until I sold it one night in the rain. My dad asked me how was I going to sleep that evening. I said “like a baby”. 
 

At the same time (1974), it began to rust away also.
 

By far the worst car I ever owned.

I had a 1971 Vega but.... it had a V8 stuffed under the hood. 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

3 hours ago, 30DodgePanel said:

Clearly some of the worst designs and performance for American automakers during that era.

The Chevette was a Brazilian car brought to America with a Chevette badge to be the quick small car to replace the Vega. If the base, Scooter , model fit your needs, it was a great little car that was not supposed to last 200 k miles. But, if you wanted a loaded automatic, AC, etc optioned car, way better to buy the next size up of ANY brand!

 

I still have Dad's 79 Scooter. It fit his needs perfectly, being a former Biscayne (several) owner.😉 A little spot repair and ready for archival class. Or maybe not...😆

[John348]

There was Chevette in the HPOF class at Hershey a few years back with the wood grain sides and it had a crowd of people 4 deep all day long around it. Before that I don't think I had seen one in 20 years. Didn't they attempt to make a diesel Chevette? That must have been a real real lemon!  

[lump]

Conversely, my wife and I bought a low-mileage used Chevy Citation from a GM exec, here in the Dayton Ohio area. After we had bought it, we began to hear the constant rumors about how horrible of a car it was. Yet we drove that little V6-powered 2 door hatchback car for several years, and almost 200,000 miles. It was peppy, fun to drive, practical, and reliable. Other than lubricants, antifreeze, brakes, and tires, the only thing we ever replaced on that car was the "dog-bone" style motor mount which attached to the chassis up near the hood latch. I wish every car we have ever owned were as reliable and practical as that Citation was. 

 

Interestingly, this car was way peppier and overall faster than that 400 cu in Trans Am I mentioned above. 

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by lump (see edit history)

[normanpitkin]

1963 Corvair convertible ,not a single journey without something falling off or ceasing to work.It even broke down on the test drive when i sold it, abandoned the new purchaser at the ferry to denmark.If he had any sense he'd have pushed it overboard.

[8E45E]

29 minutes ago, John348 said:

Didn't they attempt to make a diesel Chevette? That must have been a real real lemon!  

Yes, it was a slouch.   The diesel engine was supplied by Isuzu.

 

Craig

[8E45E]

47 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

The Chevette was a Brazilian car brought to America with a Chevette badge to be the quick small car to replace the Vega.

Yes, the Chevette was GM's first 'world car', and was introduced in Brazil 2-3 years before its North American unveiling.  The Brazilian Chevette looked much better, too, without the ugly 5-mph bumpers, and was also available in a 3-box sedan and station wagon besides the hatchbacks we only received here.

 

Craig

[8E45E]

4 hours ago, 30DodgePanel said:

How did the Chevy Chevette not make the list? 

Because GM didn't badge engineer a Cadillac out of one.

 

Craig

[JamesR]

Worst car: In terms of mechanical condition in a running car, probably a 1950 Plymouth P-19. In terms of design and quality of construction, probably my late '70's Mercury Zephyr.

[coachJC]

Wife bought a used 1987 Toyota Tercel, worst piece of crap we have had in our drive way. Got rusty, sun roof broke, burnt out 2 valves, and in the end I was putting a litre of oil in it every week before it finally gave up the ghost and came to a screeching halt at the end of our driveway one day. Happy day when we took that thing to the scrap yard. Wife bought it with under 85,000km on it and my guess was there was little to no maintenance done to it by the previous owner(sister in law).

Edited May 5, 2022 by coachJC (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

7 hours ago, John348 said:

There was Chevette in the HPOF class at Hershey a few years back with the wood grain sides and it had a crowd of people 4 deep all day long around it. Before that I don't think I had seen one in 20 years. Didn't they attempt to make a diesel Chevette? That must have been a real real lemon!  

Hey John, late 1981 ISUZU diesel at 1.8 cc.

I wonder how it would survive if I bought one new. Over 50% is how you take care of it.

Its dimensions are great for an around town commuter/grocery getter. I think it would grow on you.   

[Pfeil]

7 hours ago, JamesR said:

Worst car: In terms of mechanical condition in a running car, probably a 1950 Plymouth P-19. In terms of design and quality of construction, probably my late '70's Mercury Zephyr.

Zephyr/Fairmont-a great concept, well executed on paper, three box well-proportioned Fox platform. Buy one with the Windsor V8 and a C4.

4 doors look best,  

Edited May 6, 2022 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[JamesR]

26 minutes ago, Pfeil said:

Zephyr/Fairmont-a great concept, well executed on paper, three box well-proportioned Fox platform.

 

Mine was an inline six automatic. I took a trip with a friend back in the early '80's in that car. The speed limit was 55 back then, which is exactly the speed that the front end shook and vibrated at...all the way to Thunder Bay, Ontario and back. Yes, I could've cruised faster than 55 to avoid the shaking...but not much faster, at least in that car. My friend had just bought a near new Honda, and after riding in my car awhile, he was very impressed...with his Honda. So, to me, that car was always emblematic of why the Japanese auto industry was thrashing the American makers at the time.

[Pfeil]

27 minutes ago, JamesR said:

Mine was an inline six automatic. I took a trip with a friend back in the early '80's in that car. The speed limit was 55 back then, which is exactly the speed that the front end shook and vibrated at...all the way to Thunder Bay, Ontario and back. Yes, I could've cruised faster than 55 to avoid the shaking...but not much faster, at least in that car. My friend had just bought a near new Honda, and after riding in my car awhile, he was very impressed...with his Honda. So, to me, that car was always emblematic of why the Japanese auto industry was thrashing the American makers at the time.

If my car vibrated at 55 the first thing I would do is not drive it (especially to go on a trip) and then I would be all over it to find the cause. Little problems that can quickly be fixed can progress into big problems. You can't drive through a problem.

[Frank DuVal]

9 hours ago, 8E45E said:

9 hours ago, John348 said:

Didn't they attempt to make a diesel Chevette? That must have been a real real lemon!  

Yes, it was a slouch.   The diesel engine was supplied by Isuzu.

Dad's Scooter could get 50 MPG on trips to Charlotte (he drove easy, probably due to first driving during the depression and then during WW II rationing). I bet he could have done way better in the diesel version. Probably with the same acceleration profile for him....😉

 

I knew two people who loved their diesel Escorts. The battery looked so big you would think it was an electric car! All products of the gas shortage then high prices of the 70/80s. Rabbits, LUV trucks, etc.

[avgwarhawk]

I learned to drive a stick in a Chevy Chevette.  It was a good car overall.

[pkhammer]

1993 Dodge Shadow we purchased new. In 1995 when the car had about 30k miles it decided to just not start sometimes. You'd crank and crank and crank and......nothing. Would never shut off on us but if you turned the engine off you never knew if it was going to re-start! Had it back to the dealer many times; new computer, new relays, new this and new that. Nothing fixed it. Finally the dealer told me not to bring it back anymore! My local mechanic figured out it was sometimes not getting power to the electric fuel pump but couldn't figure out why. He ran a hot wire from the ignition direct to the fuel pump and we traded it off in a hurry for a used 1993 Honda Civic DelSol that had about the same miles. 28 years later the Wife still has the DelSol, it's been a great car.

[28 Chrysler]

1969 Toyota Corolla:

At less than 43,000 miles it needed a new head, the cost of the repair was almost the original price.

Made with leftover tin can sheet metal without sound deadening, no radio, no defroster, no heater, rubber floor, manual choke, everything was an extra cost.

 

[Frank DuVal]

9 hours ago, 28 Chrysler said:

1969 Toyota Corolla:

All of the Asian imports had a learning curve. And boy, did they learn!

 

Subaru 360 , look at Fuji Heavy Industries now, I mean Look at Subaru now.

Toyopet,  and the above 69 Corolla, look at Toyota now.

First Hundai Excels, now look at them sell.

First Kias, look what they grew into.

First single sided bed Asian pickups by Datsun, Toyota, Isuzu, Luv, etc etc, look at them sell now!

First Daihatsus.    

 

Etc 

Etc 

Etc

 

Most even adopted the GM/Sloan multi make system of moving buyers up from low cost brands to higher cost brands. 

 

Forgot to mention those oil burning first rotary Mazdas!

 

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[Pilgrim65]

Tie  , 1974 Skoda and 1960 Thames van , both terrible , sold Thames van after 1 month at half the purchase price , Skoda was only 1 year old ,when bought from friend , initially looked ok but fell apart we endured for a year then sold for peanuts 

[JACK M]

The worst one changes depending on which one is fighting me at the moment.

[Buick35]

On 5/4/2022 at 12:21 PM, Dave Gray said:

I concur with you 100%.   I have owned several hundred vehicles in my life and

the Renault stands out as the worst.

I had a 60Renault Daulphine in high school that I paid $50 for.My dad traded a shot gun for it. It burned a hole though the top of a piston and a mechanic got it running enough for me to sell it.I got $250 for it.

[TexRiv_63]

After reading all the responses and wracking my less than perfect memory I have to say that out of hundreds of hobby and flipper cars over the last 55 years the worst one was this 1957 Lincoln Premiere. It looked and ran decent but it was a horrible rust bucket, leaked like a sieve, had half a wheel turn play in the rear end, on and on. But none of this was the fault of the car or it's original design, it was all my fault being a dumb buyer. I bought a Washington state seacoast car sight unseen on Ebay without getting complete information, shipped it across the country, was appalled when I got it, then spent a lot of time and money fixing it that barely caused a ripple. I thank this car for it's object lesson on all following purchases.

 

My worst new car was a 1995 Honda Civic DX sedan. We needed a new family car after moving to Texas and were short of funds so we went the poverty stripper route, the only option was DEALER INSTALLED air conditioning, which never really worked well. After previous ownership of higher optioned luxury cars I HATED this car. We kept it for many years, put 119,000 miles on it traveling all over Texas and I don't think I ever drove it without the gas pedal floored. My wife had four minor accidents with it plus countless door dings and scrapes from three foot higher pickup trucks. Again, none of this was Honda's fault but all of it was due to the car not meeting my overblown expectations. It was replaced with a loaded 2001 Honda Accord EX which we absolutely loved. 

[rocketraider]

4 hours ago, JACK M said:

The worst one changes depending on which one is fighting me at the moment.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has cars like that!

 

My problem is it's old cars and everything else around this house...🙄

[JACK M]

Yup. old cars, old lawn mowers, old furniture etc.

I do own some newer stuff, but only use for long trips.

My DD was giving me trouble the other day, Ignition, someone smarter than me had wired up an HEI module screwed to the firewall utilizing an electronic distributor on the slant six.

It actually worked pretty well for the several years that have owned it. It did eat a coil a few years ago and I figured it had done that again.

But no, I can only guess that the whole system failed as I tried replacing coil, module and even a distributor, but no spark.

I put the old points distributor back in to get it into the shop.

Then I bought a kit that converted it back to a regular old Mopar electronic set up including a brand-new distributor and it runs fine now.

At this moment it is not my worst car ever. But it was for a few days there.

[Ed Luddy]

Worst was a 2004 Audi A4 Quattro Sport. Bought it 3 yrs old. Looked nice had great seat for my achy back and AWD for winter driving. It was the biggest POS I ever encountered, and I've owned a lot of junk cars! The local VW/Audi shop finally cut me a deal on my weekly repairs if I promised to never bring it back to them. I won't even sit in an Audi now unless it's already loaded on a flatbed tow truck!

[39BuickEight]

I’ve been lucky.  I’ve never had a vehicle that needed an unexpected major repair.
 

1988 S-10 Blazer 4x4 2.8 needed engine at 275,000 miles

 

1997 Malibu V6 sold at 175,000 miles great car

 

2002 Honda Accord V6 sold at 125,000 miles great car

 

2003 Silverado 2500 HD sold at 50,000 miles great truck

 

2002 Acura MDX still own 170,000 miles great car

 

1939 Buick fully restored by my family runs great

 

1967 Nova fully restored by my family runs great

 

2009 Solstice Coupe 67,000 miles so far so good

 

The main horror story from my family comes from my parents.  They bought a Ford Granada in the late 70’s.  My Dad said the exterior door handle came off within a week, and parts routinely fell off the car.  They swapped for a Monte Carlo with swivel seats.  Dad always was a GM man and said he never understood why then even bought the Granada.  Needless to say, they never owned another Ford.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, 39BuickEight said:

 I’ve never had a vehicle that needed an unexpected major repair.

Man, I've seen people tempt fate before, but this is tap dancing in the mine field!