Worst Car You have Ever Owned?

[2090]

1980 Pontiac Phoenix-Motor Trend Car of the Year. GM couldn't make manual transmission to last more than 15K- warranty for 12K. Took 3 transmissions, 5 water pumps, 2 recalls & 115k miles, sent the rust bucket, with falling headliner down the road. Next up 1989 Dodge Caravan. Four transmissions- 3 water pumps 112K parked it on Nissan dealers lot. Been driving a Nissan or Toyota every since 1996 and NO mechanical issues or complaints. since.

 

[rrlund]

Never really had very many cars. Does a pickup count? I bought a new 77 Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4 that was made out of tin cans and chewing gum as far as I could tell. Last Chevy I ever owned. Junk with a capital J!

 

[560Dennis]

I had a 64 Rambler that did that. It was a bad diaphragm in the fuel pump.

Only did it winter time .

 

[Dingo3]

2007 Chevy 2500. Anti-lock brakes never worked right. Trans. went south and it rusted so bad the under carriage looked like something that’s been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for centuries. I have never owned anything that rusted out so quickly.

 

[Tom from Buckeye Lake]

1958 Ford (retractable hardtop).
It had 7 solenoids to operate the folding top and several switches to synchronize them. A real pain to keep in operating condition. Leaked a quart of oil daily even after replacing rear main and seal twice. Got 5 mpg out of the 390".
Replaced with 1963 1/2 Falcon Sprint 260 n four speed, nice little car.

 

[DWF]

I ordered a 1500 Chev Diesel pickup in the fall of 79. By about April of 80 it still wasn't in. Probably a good thing as those engines turned out to be a problem. The dealer got me a new 1500 gas engine pickup from another dealer. It had the 305 V8 engine. It was a good pickup for a couple of years, but after that it went down hill. At about 20000 miles I was out in the forest looking at timber to cut as I was a logger. The pickup suddenly started acting like I was running out of gas. I turned around, but didn't go too far and it quit. I walked 7 miles before I got a ride. Nobody out in that area and way before cell phones. After that episode I kept having fuel pump failures no matter what brand pumps new or rebuilt. I always had a pump and tools with me. That was the major problem with it, but had lots of other minor problems too. I traded for an 86 Ford F150 and have had Fords ever since. I have had some problems, but never had to walk.
DWF

 

[Gene Davis(Ga.)]

A red 1975 Chrysler Cordoba in 1977, I did not want it but my wife insisted she wanted it and you now how that goes. In 9 months time it ate 4 starters failed to crank many times when she was in another town on business for the State. My self and no one else could stop it from flooding when you needed to crank it hot. She decide it had to go and when I took it to the car auction it flooded and would not crank to go into the sale ring. Finally got it back home and sold it to a used car dealer for $500.00 and never looked back.

 

[RedMF40]

1958 Ford (retractable hardtop).
It had 7 solenoids to operate the folding top and several switches to synchronize them. A real pain to keep in operating condition. Leaked a quart of oil daily even after replacing rear main and seal twice. Got 5 mpg out of the 390".
Replaced with 1963 1/2 Falcon Sprint 260 n four speed, nice little car.

Recently visited a local collector with some very nice cars and tractors. He demonstrated the top going up and down on his Ford Skyliner with every option available. I was struck by how delicate the whole operation looked, everything had to be in perfect shape for it to work at all.

 

[Janicholson]

Saab made a 3 cylinder two stroke engine that was a joke.
3 sets of coils and points. Had the pleasure to work on one.

Never came back after the tune up,

Guido.

I had 2 of them- a Monti Carlo 3 carb and a 96 one carb. I drove them thousands of miles with little repair. Jim

 

[guido]

I had 2 of them- a Monti Carlo 3 carb and a 96 one carb. I drove them thousands of miles with little repair. Jim

The one I worked on was a three carb. After I tuned it up, I did test drive it. All I can say is that it sure sounded different,

Guido.

 

[jwal10]

I had 2 Chevy LUV pickups, a '76 and a '80. Got a S-10 in '85, it had the 2.8 manual 4 sp. Dealer had to take transmission out because it got to vibrating, had to do it 4 times while I had it, then got a '90 EL with the 2.5, 5 speed, was a cheaply put together rig, no mechanical problems, Had to be repainted in the first year, paint came off in sheets. Headliner came down the next winter. Had a '85 Cavalier wagon, '94 Cavalier 4 door sedan, a 2000 Tracker and a 2006 HHR. All were great little rigs. So I guess the '85 S-10 was the most troublesome....James

 

[old]

Mine was a 1991 Continental town car.

Early brake failure, window lift motors issues, tbi issues. Eve the head liner failed to stay up.

First year with the 4.6 liter ohv engine. The transmission was not that great either.

Even the Michelin tires wore out way faster then any other vehicle I have ever owened,

Guido.

That's a hard one for me but I have owned a lot of cars and trucks over the years. Back when I was 17/18 I had at least 7 VWs bugs and vans. Many had there problems and many had good points. Probably the one that caused the most problems was an Austin America that I had due to transmission issues

 

[plattman]

A series of VW bugs. Terrible cars but its not fair to compare any of the old time cars to a modern car.

 

[NDIHC]

1981 Mercury Lynx. First and last Ford product I've ever owned. The 82 2 door Cutlass with the 5.7 Olds diesel that replaced the Lynx was 10 times the car. I didn't think much of the 2004 Chevy Trailblazer I had either.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Second worst car ; after the Saab was an ex Australian military Landrover .
I christened it the ' Pig Truck ' as it was probably well suited to transporting swine ! Burnt valves , absolutely horrifying fuel consumption and only an 8 gallon tank . Top speed of 89km and at that speed it sounded like there was an ailing jet engine in the seat beside you . Steering so heavy you almost needed a come along to help turn the wheel and a circle that resembled that of the Bismark .
When my old German Shorthaired Pointer travelled with me I used to put ear muffs on the poor old boy's head .

 

[Hobo,NC]

2007 Chevy 2500. Anti-lock brakes never worked right. Trans. went south and it rusted so bad the under carriage looked like something that’s been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for centuries. I have never owned anything that rusted out so quickly.

I don't know what the issue was with those but you are right about the brakes. I think it had to much rear brake and to little front brake. I have done everything I could do to them including installing a add on a adjustable brake equalizer. Chebby trucks never had good brakes Ford had them beat there.

​

 

[JF in MI]

77 VW Scirocco (chopped Rabbit). Talk about German quality? In the 100k I had it almost everything you can think of went bad at least once. Both front springs broke, had to replace all 4 struts eventually twice, fuel pump twice (never stopped working but the aluminum housing would rot through and leak from road salt), fuse block melted from fuel pump relay electrical load, seat fabric fell apart where sun hit it, several water pumps, fuel injection cold start controller, fuel injection distributor (because debris from broken fuel line check valve ruined it), exploded York air conditioner compressor, radiator (plastic end tanks expanded and cracked), heater core, several clutch cables, all bushings in shifter, several timing belts (thank goodness it wasn't an interference motor), complete motor rebuild (rings and piston ring lands wore out also cylinders requiring a re-bore), clutch, several sets of valve seals. Probably more things I forgot.

 

[Loosehandle]

Mine was a 1991 Continental town car.

Early brake failure, window lift motors issues, tbi issues. Eve the head liner failed to stay up.

First year with the 4.6 liter ohv engine. The transmission was not that great either.

Even the Michelin tires wore out way faster then any other vehicle I have ever owened,

Guido.

About 1990 Ford Tempo

 

[wjytexas]

Mine was a 1991 Continental town car.

Early brake failure, window lift motors issues, tbi issues. Eve the head liner failed to stay up.

First year with the 4.6 liter ohv engine. The transmission was not that great either.

Even the Michelin tires wore out way faster then any other vehicle I have ever owened,

Guido.

Yellow 1972 Ford Pinto Station Wagon, "The Banana". Probably built on a Monday or Friday. Friends had Pintos and didn't have all the trouble we had.

 

[560Dennis]

Yellow 1972 Ford Pinto Station Wagon, "The Banana". Probably built on a Monday or Friday. Friends had Pintos and didn't have all the trouble we had.

Test drove a country squire wagon .came back and many of rear fender the side mounding had pop out . I push one in in front of the salesman and politely left the deal .