Your 'worst car' stories.........

Discussion in 'Station Wagon Lounge' started by Krash Kadillak, Nov 5, 2014.

  1. n2fordmuscle

    n2fordmuscle Well-Known Member

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    Same here. We had an '86, my parents had a '93. We had great luck with both of them.
     
  2. n2fordmuscle

    n2fordmuscle Well-Known Member

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    My worst would be my wife's 2006 Kia Amanti. I "adopted" that car when I met my wife about 4 years ago. It had a loud roaring noise from the front. I ended up replacing the front hub/bearing soon after we met. Within 6 months, I had to do the other side. What makes it worse, is that she had replaced both of them a year before I met her. What I really hated about this car was changing the spark plugs. You have to remove the intake plenum to get to the back 3 plugs. I replaced the front 3 plugs, and said "F*** it" on the back 3. Dealers want $500 minimum to do a tune-up. Why in the world would someone design a car like this?!?! I'm guessing some other newer cars are designed this way??? Not sure, but I'll never own another Kia/Hyundai.
     
  3. ModelT1

    ModelT1 Still Lost in the 50's

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    Well for me and my VW squareback stationwagon I suppose it was Poor manufacturing/engineering. It wasn't me that installed the rear quarter panel with air inlet louvers backward. It wasn't me who installed two different complete wiring harnesses that burned up and shorted everything from the alternator to the battery. It wasn't me who built a front end that wore out while still under warantee.
    It was me who practically lived in the dealerhip and survived on free coffee and Canteen candy.
    And the list goes on and on.:(
    Maintaining from new is supposed to be the reason I had a waurantee on it. I wasn't supposed to need to do any work except driving in for tune-ups.
    Some cars are just lemons no matter what color or how much attention the owner pays to it.
    As for VW Beetles I had two of the most dependable and fun cars I've ever owned. I even pulled a new Corvair out of soft sand when the Chevy dealer was testing how well it would perform off road. :rofl2:
     
  4. Jairus

    Jairus Well-Known Member

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    Oh, I am well aware that there are "lemons" constructed by low wage employees.
    The buyer should be aware during the purchase to check over the mechanical and electronics regardless of new or used. The buyer should also understand that when buying new... there is no history to draw upon.
    That is why I always buy a car that has gone at least 20,000 miles first.
    Let the idiot with the big wallet figure out what is wrong before I take over.
    Replacing worn CV joints, busted radiator hoses and leaking shocks are simple stuff.

    When I took over ownership of a '79 Toyota Corolla it already had over a hundred grand on the odo. I took it 240,000 more miles before selling the little car in a garage sale for less than I got for my Yamaha 100 dirt bike!
    :cry:
    Still miss that little car.
     
  5. tbirdsps

    tbirdsps New Member Charter Member

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    Surprisingly the worst was not my Vega!

    When the 79 Monte Carlo got to be 7 years old lots of exterior bits kept falling off never to be seen again.

    It had started to burn oil. I thought it needed valve stem seals. NOT. When the mechanic removed the rocker covers he could see the rockers because they were completely full of sludge. He shoveled it out for two days, cleaned it all up, reinstalled the rockers and never had another smokey exhaust. 6 months later it was carefully traded in on a 1 year old Cougar. Problem solved.
     
  6. yellerspirit

    yellerspirit Well-Known Member

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    I will have to go with my 84 Nissan Sentra. It was just a winter beater, but I think it was allergic to snow, it would lose all power after running 15 minutes if it was below 45 degrees and raining or snowing. it even haunted me after I sold it, the kid never registered it and got stopped by the police who called me to see if I was missing a Sentra. It made me miss my Renault. :cry:
     
  7. Glide-Aways

    Glide-Aways Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]

    Okay, I have one. I had a 1994 Chrysler LHS that I purchased used in the late '90's (spitting image of this photo, wheels and paint color and all). All in all it was a reliable car. One day however, all hell broke loose....actually it was the steering mechanism. I'll never forget it. I was living in NYS then and on this day I was driving through CNY on the Thruway. I had just exited and passed through the toll gate when I started to feel a VERY warm sensation in my right foot; toes up to my ankle. Upon the need to make my first turn (about 100 yards beyond the toll both) I found that I had no power assistance in the steering. With a hard crank, I pulled the car over to the shoulder and got a first look at my foot. My shoe, sock and part of my pant leg were dowsed in power steering fluid. I hopped out of the car and found about an equal amount in the form of a puddle under the car and smoke was starting to rise out of the hood immediately outside of the windshield. I was on my way to my parents' house; Dad came out to rescue me.

    I don't recall the details now, but it was found that something in the steering ("rack"?) had broken and I think it was described to me as something that ran parallel to the windshield right near the firewall. Anyway, whatever it was, it was the most unique and possible "the worst" roadside breakdown I've experienced. I recall it cost me over $1,000 to repair it.
     
  8. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    ^^^

    Around 2001, my Dodge Neon company car was at the end of its run, and was told it needed to be turned in. My next car was to be a PT Cruiser, but there was hitch in the supply line somewhere, so I would have to wait a few months for it. In the meantime, the company let me use a former 'executive' class car - a 1999 Chrysler Concorde LXi, much like this one.

    [​IMG]

    This car had everything! Dual power bucket seats (leather), moonroof, Climate control, killer stereo, the works. Only thing they skimped on was the engine - had the base 2.7 V6. While it had 'adequate' power, it certainly wasn't a killer at the stop-light grand prix. Loved the car, though. Was kinda sad when my PT Cruiser showed up about 3 months later.....
     
  9. a1awind

    a1awind Tiki God

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    I have been blessed with great running cars and my own personal paranoia driven maintenance.

    the only 2 I had problems with were due to a "buyer beware" situation.

    1 my 93 jeep YJ. I bought it off of a lady at my moms church and I really overpaid for a then 7 yr old jeep that (I didn't find out till later because....young and dumb) had a bad soft top, rusty front fenders, and scaly rust underneath. it turned out that the people that owned it had not washed it 1 time since new.

    2 was the "crappy ****box" Toyota corolla. some of you might remember that one. remember? bought it to drive in the winter and it was clean...just needed an engine. and as it turned out the only rot on the car was where the sub frame attatched to the body. :mad: at least it was only $300
     
  10. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    I buy and sell cars often, so I have had a number of "lemons" in my garage over the years. The WORST was this one. I got a '93 Ford Aerostar with a bad water pump for a song at my shop, cleaned it up and attempted to use it. It was a total POS. I swore off Fords for good after this.

    Truck was very clean, low miles, nice paint and interior, but in the year I owned it, I had to replace the transmission (lost 2nd gear), the engine (started burning oil like mad), the full a/c system, front wheel bearings, and on and on.

    It was an extended version but only had the 3.0 V6, not the 4.0, so it was totally gutless, LOUD on acceleration, and for something shaped like that, it had a ton of wind noise too...

    You can see the Ford Dustbuster in the background here, behind my sister-in-law and my nephew. I DO NOT miss this one.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2014
  11. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    '97 DeVille. What a TOTAL POS. This car was SO pretty, and yet such a piece of garbage. The Northstar V8 blew head gaskets twice in 40K miles. The dash warped so the center-mounted speaker grill popped out, seat cushions went limp, steering wheel leather went from light tan to rotten brown, a/c failed, door panels warped, power window switches failed on driver’s front door, and none of the windows could be opened from ANY door when that happened. Headlight lenses fogged over, chrome trim fell off rear bumper, rear shocks leaked, and on and on. SAD! It was always garaged and babied...and yet it fell apart. Cars like this are what helped put GM in the condition it's in now. Had an ’89 DeVille before this one, and it was a WONDERFUL car.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  12. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    GM H-body cars are known for being good vehicles, and I have owned three 90's-era Pontiac Bonnevilles and loved them all, including the '96 that my wife still drives today.

    That said, II got this '95 Park Ave Ultra at just 60K miles in about 2006. Was a new car trade-in at the local Buick dealer (who had also sold it new, it had never left Austin Tx), but because of the age went on the wholesale lot, and I got it for a song.

    It was LOADED, Supercharged, like new, and only missing the sunroof option. It had lighted vanity mirrors for the REAR seat, power everything, really a swanky car.

    BUT I had nothing but issues with it! The transmission gave up soon after purchase, at just 65K miles, for no good reason. I put it in reverse after a ballgame, and it was just not there, and going forward I only had 2nd gear. Fun drive home at 35mph with the flashers on. That was $1500...

    Next the car started randomly stalling, even on the highway, it would just die. Replaced the crank sensor, ECM, and more, still had the issue, and no warning when it would happen. Once you stopped and put the car in Park it would start right up again. Drove me nuts to the point that I didn't trust it for any trips out of town.

    Also, the pretty black paint on the upper bumpers faded both front and rear, despite me keeping the car cleaned and waxed, and the trunk was constantly wet, never could find the leak, the weatherstripping seal was perfect, but if it rained the trunk would be totally soaked. I first found out about this issue when I went to check the spare tire and found the well full of rusty water and the wheel and jack rusted solid to the floor! Amazing!

    I sold at about 75K miles....for a '99 Cadillac Catera Sport. Now a Caddy Catera is supposed to be one of the most unreliable cars ever, but mine was great! Ha! I pnly sold the Catera because my '96 Roady wagon showed up on Craigslist and I had to sell something to buy it. Toys!

    Anyway here's some pics of that Park Ave. I was a really sharp car!

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  13. ModelT1

    ModelT1 Still Lost in the 50's

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    No matter how nice some cars look or how well they are taken care of, some are just lemons and nothing will make them right!

    my sister-in-law and my nephew. I DO NOT miss this one.:slap:

    Perhaps you should rewrite this or make sure your sister-in-law does not see this post. :naughty:
     
  14. Breadbox

    Breadbox Active Member

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    My worst car was an '86 Escort. My first car was a '73 SuperBeetle that my mother absolutely hated. I had a small accident and she jumped at the chance. She went to the Ford dealer where she had bought a fleet of Escorts (never keeping one for more than a year and a half, which is important to the story) and bought one for me without telling me. This car was 3 years old and loaded for what it was. Low mileage too. She took me to the dealer to give it to me and the first thing I noticed was that it had been wrecked badly and sort of fixed. The front bumper was higher on one side than the other but none of the seams anywhere were uneven, so the whole car was twisted. The replacement pinstripes confirmed it had a whole new front end and one door. It rode like a boat crossing a wake since it effectively had different spring rates on each side of the front end since the shock towers were at different heights, it leaked everything, and it would randomly just not start, even immediately after turning it off. Turned out it was ripping vacuum hoses out of the firewall, which was caused by all the leaking fluids rotting all the motor mounts. The engine was pitching fore and aft 4-6 inches. It also ate a set of front tires every 10,000 miles and a set of rears every 20,000, had a weld in the driver's seat break which caused the backrest to torque to the left, blew a head gasket, had the exhaust break off the manifold (also from the pitching engine), and never idled right. Finally a valve lifter failed to do what it's name implies at 75,000 miles and I traded it for a new '92 Tercel which I kept for 16 years and 332,000 miles. It may have been a nice car when it was new, but in 3 years the original owner abused it so badly it would never be right again. Here she is, in all her glory, but probably running like crap, since usually the cleaner she was, the worse she was running.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. MercWoody

    MercWoody Well-Known Member

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    I still hate even thinking about this little story, which probably would not bother most people. I have been a lover of full sized american made land yachts and battleships since I was old enough to say "car". My parents used to joke about how I was the only 5 year old that new that makes/models of every car on the road. I began working on the farm in our town at the tender age of 13, and started saving. When I was starting my senior year in high school I had saved and was still working on the side, so I bought what was to me a dream car, a champagne 93 Lincoln Town Car Signature with 59,000 on it. The year was 1999 and the car was 6 years old, and I was in love (with the car). The next year I was commuting going back and forth to college about 45 minutes away from home. My parents convinced me that the Lincoln was not practical with the gas mileage and I very reluctantly traded it for a brand new 99 Hyundai Elantra. Within about 3 days I knew I had made a huge mistake. I did not have any problems with the Hyundai other than I simply hated how small and plain it was. Needless to say, the 2nd year of college I moved onto campus and within relatively short order managed to find a one owner 88 Town Car with only 45k miles on it....think I paid somewhere around $5500 for that one.

    My wife is still rather heart broken about getting rid of her 98 Sedan Deville. The car was beautiful and she loved it. The head gaskets were starting to go and the repair bill was going to be super ridiculous for that darn sideways mounted V8 Northstar.
     

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