Your Worst Car?

[rocketraider]

1 hour ago, Ed Luddy said:

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!

Audi. Rhymes with howdy!

 

Can we assume your friendly VW/Audi mechanic stopped saying "howdy" when you brought him your Audi?

 

😆

[Matt Harwood]

1 hour ago, Ed Luddy said:

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!

 

That's too bad, I love mine and it's been bulletproof reliable.

 

[39BuickEight]

1 hour ago, GregLaR said:

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

 

I thought about that 😆

[Ed Luddy]

16 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

That's too bad, I love mine and it's been bulletproof reliable.

 

 Yes but your's is the ultra rare UTE Quattro!

 

[Professor]

1983 Buick Skylark purchased brand new.  The quality on this car was the worst I have ever seen.  The plastic “chrome” on the interior bubbled after less than a year, transmission failed in year two, paint started oxidizing and turning dark, cooling problems, a/c problems.  Oh my gosh.  What a terrible car.  It was my first new American car (I had owned four new Toyotas prior, two trucks and two cars, all wonderful) and my last new American car.  I have owned three new Jeep Wranglers and two new Chevrolet trucks with no issues.

 

Joe

[Jim Bollman]

I have had a few cars that didn't live up to my expectations but I liked them well enough to keep them till they were worn out. The one exception was a 1981 AMC Eagle Wagon. I really liked the car accept a rear axle broke twice while my wife was driving, right at the end so that the. wheel fell off. The first time she was just stoping for a stop sign. I replaced both rear axles thinking it must have been a defect and didn't want the other one to break. Less than a year later a second axle broke as my wife was backing out of the drive. I put the good axle from the first swap and traded it way before I planned. This was when AMC was still in business and I contact them after the first axle and they said it was the first time they heard of it. My wife worked in the ER and one of the Deputy Sheriffs that stopped in for coffee on a regular bases got to talking to her and he had the same thing happen on his Eagle. A friend that ran a garage new of the problem and after I got rid of the Eagle showed me a manual he had that they changed the design of the axle a year or so later and put a taper where both axles broke. So I guess it was worse because instead of the usual 5-10 years I usually kept a car t was more like 2. Just would not take a chance of it breaking at highway speeds.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Jim Bollman (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

7 hours ago, Professor said:

and my last new American car.  I have owned three new Jeep Wranglers and two new Chevrolet trucks with no issues.

Jeep Wranglers are cars....  And most Pick Up Trucks are station wagons these days, with their 4 doors. Not the rough commercial tucks of the 50s and 60s.🤣

[misterc9]

My friend had an 87 Eagle. The left rear axle snapped and wheel and brake drum rolled down the street.  The car had numerous other problems but that was the most memorable .

[Pilgrim65]

Think I have to revise my previous post as my current classic triumph stag is major candidate for my award 

as have had to have pick up truck 6 previous times and currently waiting for same at local gas station as went there and then wouldn’t restart . 

Didnt give it award before because great to drive and I love it

[alsancle]

1977 Chrysler Cordoba.   Low mileage piece of junk I owned in the mid 90s.

[alsancle]

2 minutes ago, alsancle said:

1977 Chrysler Cordoba.   Low mileage piece of junk I owned in the mid 90s.

 

Check that.  I forgot I leased a brand new R500 Mercedes for my wife back in my salad days,   that was worse than the Cordoba, because there was almost a 60x difference in price and both were pieces of crap.   They dropped the 500 after one year of production. 

[John348]

As we enter page 3 of this interesting thread, it seems like the European cars are leading the pack, not keeping official score.  

[rocketraider]

I think part of that's because American drivers don't understand the maintenance requirements and obsession European cars demand.

 

But yes, part of it is they make just as much junk as US automakers do, just costs ten times as much!

 

I remember the first time I heard Mercedes and BMW were considered throwaway cars in Europe, and that they were mostly used for taxicabs and other fleet service there. Bimmer breaks? "Junk it, it's only a BMW!"

 

As sexy and expensive as a Triumph Stag was, I believe it gave the Vega a run for its money being crap on the assembly line! And yes, my high-school self lusted for one.

[8E45E]

14 hours ago, rocketraider said:

I think part of that's because American drivers don't understand the maintenance requirements and obsession European cars demand.

 

But yes, part of it is they make just as much junk as US automakers do, just costs ten times as much!

 

I remember the first time I heard Mercedes and BMW were considered throwaway cars in Europe, and that they were mostly used for taxicabs and other fleet service there. Bimmer breaks? "Junk it, it's only a BMW!"

 

As sexy and expensive as a Triumph Stag was, I believe it gave the Vega a run for its money being crap on the assembly line! And yes, my high-school self lusted for one.

Not so much anymore, but foreign cars were NOT built for our climate and other demands in North America.  For the most part, the British never learned, and the Japanese and Koreans learned fast, and corrected the issues.  For years, in the Northern Climes, it was accepted one could not expect adequate heat from four cylinder engine to warm the interior and defrost the windshield of a sedan on a cold winter morning, until Datsun and Toyota proved it could be done successfully.  

 

I can tell many stories of electrical and vacuum assisted accessories on some very expensive European cars, and the first Hyundais that did not work properly, or at all in the extreme cold, where most North American made vehicles still performed well in a similar environment.

 

Craig

Edited May 10, 2022 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[alsancle]

2 minutes ago, 8E45E said:

Not so much anymore, but foreign cars were NOT built for our climate and other demands in North America.  For the most part, the British never learned, and the Japanese and Koreans learned fast, and corrected the issues.  For years, in the Northern Climes, it was accepted one could not expect adequate heat from four cylinder engine to warm the interior and defrost the windshield of a sedan on a cold winter morning, until Datsun and Toyota proved it could be done successfully.  

 

I can tell many stories of electrical and vacuum assisted accessories on European cars, and the first Hyundais that did not work properly, or at all in the extreme cold, where most North American made vehicles still performed well in a similar environment.

 

Craig

 

This is a good point.   The climate in England tends to be cool and not super hot or not super cold.   The US has the full range from stupid cold to stupid hot. 

[Guest]

But it's a "dry" stupid hot.

 

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

[ScarredKnightfan]

On 5/7/2022 at 5:32 PM, rocketraider said:

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...🙄

 

HA ... add me to this list lol. Oh my ... I had a LOT of "sibling rivalry" when I had the family of cars a number of years ago. SMH.

 

Also ... reading through this thread has been interesting. Goes to show that nobody really has the same experience. Some of the worst cars noted, I've had good luck with. *shrugs*


My 2 worse cars:
1997 Corsica (er "malibu")
2000 Celebrity-Lumina (er "monte carlo")

Mechanically ... probably my 1972 Monte Carlo.


Cort, pig and cow valves with pacemaker
2003 MGM LS + 1981 cmc SC; need 1975 Chrysler Cordoba
"No good news in the news this morning" | Lacy J Dalton | 'Black Coffee'

[Max4Me]

New 1989 Ford F250. Tried to take a test drive but the battery was dead. Didn’t listen to the little voice saying “Walk away!”  Over the next 10 months it was in the shop 11 times for a total of 57 days. Thankful for California lemon laws. Went on to own four Dodge Rams. Loved every one and still have the ‘05.

[JamesR]

If we include cars our parents owned (i.e., family cars) the worst car we had was a brand new '71 or '72 Ford van (Econoline, I think) with a 302 V-8. Within a few weeks of picking that vehicle up new from the dealer, the problems started..and never ceased. We kept it 15 years because, well...that's the kind of people we are. (Actually, my sister was in a wheel chair and that van was her transportation.) As I recall, Ford had a reputation for declining quality about that time, and our van was the poster child for that trend. Most of the issues were in the engine. I don't ever remember it running smooth, either as a driver or a passenger. My parents took it in for warranty countless times, but the dealer never made it run right. The warranty was a joke in that respect. And the only time the suspension rode smoothly was when it was completely loaded down (which, to be fair, was probably how it was designed.) Rusted out quickly, too. We eventually gave it to our church...it only had 60k miles on it, but it looked like 160k or 560k miles. 

 

When It was time for a new van for my sister, I was amazed that my dad bought another brand new Ford van, this one a 1986. I remember thinking how forgiving my dad must be to give Ford another chance. Thankfully, this vehicle ran, drove and worked much better than previous one.