Crappiest car make / model?

[Bdiddy]

quote:

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Originally posted by Not the Autorx Frank:
1. Yugo

2. Gremlin.

3. Pacer

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Started reading this topic knowing what to expect. Let me guess, you owned both a Pacer and a Gremlin that were pieces of junk? I doubt it, and I know both my Gremlins are doing pretty well after over 30 years for both of them. How well the Gremlin and Pacer were styled is completely subjective, but no matter how ugly a car, if looks are the only thing wrong with it then I don't see how that makes it the CRAPPIEST CAR.

As for what MAY be a crappy car, I had an aunt with a Mercury Topaz and a friend with a Ford Tempo both of which gave their owners constant headaches, that coupled with popular sentiment makes those out to be crappy cars.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by carrera79:
Currently I don't know who to choose from, but I don't like Ford on principle

. As for the worst car ever in my opinion, well it's gotta be the Le Car from Renault

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Renault Dauphene was far worse. Le Car isn't even close to the bottom of the sad heap.

 

[TN Tracker]

quote:

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Originally posted by cryptokid:
i think alot of it has to do with the type of driver which buys the car, and not so much the car its self.

lets take kia for example. if you read any reviews on the sephia you would see its a tinny piece of crap that warps brake rotors every 5K miles and blows engines in 20K, among a host of other problems.
then read a review of a mazda protege of the same year and see dramitically less problems.

its funny because a kia sephia and protege share 95% of the same components, so how is it that kia has all these problems but the protege with the exact same parts doesnt?

i think it has to do with the driver. what kind of person buys a kia anyways? someone who probably does not have alot of cash sitting around for one thing. and they would probably not take very good care of the car, and maybe beat on it alot and neglect it.

so to read car reviews and "number of complaints per model" is a very flawed thing. kia consistantly ranks dead last or near last in terms of quality, yet mazda who makes the exact same car ranks consistantly in the upper class in terms of quality. how can this be possible? its gotta be the type of driver which buys the car i think.

p.s for the worst car my votes go to the vega and anything old and british.

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I bought a new '97 Sephia (Mazda Engine) and wasn't motivated by money but because I like the way it looked. The car was a piece of junk and I got it replaced, for free, with a '98 Sephia (KIA Engine). My wife now drives this car and it currently has 78,000 miles. The only component replaced other than normal maintenance has been one plug wire. Most new cars could hardly make that claim and I've read enough horror stories on this forum to know that. True, many Kia Owners seem to neglect their cars for whatever reason but not all.

 

[tom slick]

Lucas is still around. all the new C-130J aircraft are lucas electronics. i wonder if the engine will start after it gets wet, or if the windsheild wipers will go on when you turn on the lights?

i don't think i'd own a daewoo, kia, or mitsubishi. i have one of those POS 80's GM cars that is junk but it won't quit even though it has over 240,000 miles on it.

 

[Jerry]

Brother had a yugo.. It was the worst by far but did seem to run around 40-50K miles before he gave it away due to rod knock. They were cars built on worn out fiat tooling. But the good side of it was it was the ONLY car that would not get stolen if left on the Bronx streets at nite ! And that's what he did.

My wife had a Pacer, only problem was front end alignment. Finally just welded it in place and put on new tires every 20K miles. Got rid of it with 70K miles on it, some minor rod knock was only problem.

Vega and Dodge Aspen are the # 2 and 3 on my list.
Roommate had a 318 Aspen that rotten out through the fenders in ONE winter.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by tom slick:
Lucas is still around. all the new C-130J aircraft are lucas electronics. i wonder if the engine will start after it gets wet, or if the windsheild wipers will go on when you turn on the lights?

i

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Lucas Aerospace has a decent reputation. I haven't dealt with them in a long time so just looked them up, they are part ot TRW now.

 

[JohnnyO]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris B.:
80's Camaros were way cool!

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Don't let your mullet hit you on the way out.

Why do Yugos have rear defrosters? To keep your hands warm while you push it.
I always noticed the sideways stance of Novas and their clones also.
Worst of all time, hmm, Vega, Tempo/Topaz, the Mercury convertible they imported from Australia, Camaro/Firebird (big quality issues), Corvette (also), GM X-body

, Yugo, and anything from England and Italy.

 

[pacem]

I vote for:

Ford Tempo.
Drove one for a while. I agree with the above comments. Lots of stuff failed at low mileage (under 100K that is). Expensive stuff too, like transmission. 90's are a bit better than 80's, but both are good only if someone gives you one, which is how I got mine.

Late 70's Chrysler products.
Like Volare. Engine and drive train were not too bad, but everything around them failed. Poor gas mileage - 15mpg, low power post-emissions, a V8 generating 140 hp, rust prone bodies, misaligned body panels, etc. Of course by the time I drove it, it was already 15 years old, which explained some of that. About the only good thing I can say about them, they were pretty easy to fix, which I found out from much personal experience.

Anything compact, FWD from major domestic manufacturers, but especially Chrysler. Tranmissio
ns and more. Very difficult to service. Took me 4 hours to replace the AC compressor on the Tempo. I feel sorry for those who work on them on a daily basis. These cars are not shade tree mechanic territory.


No experience with Ford Pinto, but I heard that is a much underrated car, that some of them just kept going and going.

 

[Kestas]

Laugh all you want, but these nerdmobiles (Yugo, Pacer, Gremlin...) draw more interest at auto shows than your 57 Chevys and the like.

 

[dropitby]

Terminally unsafe and a nightmare to own. Were Ramblers,Corvair and the first Hundyi.It had no brakes no power and very small.Like Yugo

 

[Chris142]

I always hated the mid 80's Hyundai Excells. Oil leaks, blown headgaskets, broken upper strut mounts and sloppy inner tie rod ends.....All before 50,000 miles.

Late 80's gm trucks with 2 inches of toe-in and toe-out due to a worn idler arm that was "still in spec". Wonder how many people bought tire after tire.

Gm J-cars. Especially ones with the 2.5 four that leaks oil on the alt belt.

Fords rubber impregnated tie rod ends. Who's idea was this? Worn out at 30k.

2.8v6 S-10's. These motors suck! Anybody ever change a starter on a 4x4 one?

Gm 3.1v6. An updated 2.8. In my 20 years of working in the auto industry have not seen a more problematic engine than the 3.1.

I also hate any car with a computer controlled ac/heat system because the things always quit working.

 

[MikeR]

We just traded in my wife's '01 Elantra. Trade-in value was only slightly more than that of pocket lint.

- Replacement longblock at 17k (piston slap)
- 6 headlight bulbs, various inopportune times
- Battery at 38k
- 2 coil packs at 42k (Mrs. MikeR stranded, MikeR angry)
- Wheel bearing, knock sensor, O2 sensor, exhaust manifold (cracked) at 43k

Barely started on tradein day, 43.5k.

I think that by the end of the 60k warranty, we might have had all the bugs worked out. /sarcasm

M

 

[seotaji]

2000 Acura 3.2 TL.

I've had almost the whole interior save the seats, but not the seatbacks replaced because of defects, this was all before 30K. Now I've got so many squeaks and wind noise that I hate driving the car.

The only parts that haven't been faulty are the engine and tranny, which I am thankful for. Except the tranny shifts harder than it used to.

Soon, I'm having the windshield removed and replaced along with the window molding b/c of wind noise.

My 95 accord has never had any problems.

I'll never buy another honda product.

 

[crashz]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the Peugot. I actually liked the style of the later cars, but they were French made and prone to failing miserably in everyway.

 

[Matt_S]

quote:

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Originally posted by crashz:
I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the Peugot. I actually liked the style of the later cars, but they were French made and prone to failing miserably in everyway.

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My uncle used to drive a Peugot. In fact, he took me and my dad for a ride in it (I was probably 11 or 12 yrs old at the time). I remember it being turbocharged and when that turbo kicked in, it could really push you back into the seat. A few years later, however, he had gotten a new BMW. My dad asked him about the Peugot. His response was that it was "the biggest pice of sh** I've ever owned."

 

[JohnBrowning]

I like to avoid any thing that has a GM 2.8,3.1 or 3.4 in it! I absolutely hate the old Pontiac 6000's and 2000's!!! With this said the worst car's ever were the YUGO's and the Trabants!!!!!

 

[JohnBrowning]

Last Z I love it. THe Carolla is no picnic because the A/C only works when it wants to(probably easy to fix). The F Body gets a thumb's up even though 8 pistons had to be replaced and in spite of this the slap is returning! Some how partialy inoprative A/C seems minor compared to haveing to replace the factory pistons! TO make matters even worse the piston slap is returning and it still gets a good rateing?

I wounder what you would have said about the Carolla had it required 4 new pistons or 4 new pistons twice around to equal to 8?

 

[JohnBrowning]

Patman, I agree a 100% the Ford Tempo was an evil engineering disaster forced on people. I was forced to buy one as a teenager. It was my money but my mom and dad controlled the account. I had a nice Chevell with a 396 and fresh sheet metal repairs waiting for me. The soldier was going to Germany and had to sell it. It was primered and ready for paint. The interior was nice as well. Mom and Dad would not let me buy it. Then I found a 68 Camaro with a fresh engine and good body. The interior needed some work. I got the old gas millage speech and the old your kill yourself speech! They made me buy a piece of sh!t Tempo with 50,000 miles on it. THe body and inerior were perfect and it had cold A/C. THat car nickle and dimed me to death!!!

Buy the time it hit 80,000 miles I had rebuilt the engine, replaced one halfshaft, rebuilt the carb, replaced the starter, replaced the steering collum, replaced the front seat, replaced EGR, replaced the transmissil cable, replaced the audio system, replaced the voltage regulator 8 times, replaced the thin film IV ignition model, the rack went bad and the power steering pump leaked. Buy the time the car had 80,000 miles on it 1st gear and 2nd gear did not work and reverse only worked if florred. THe car would get real floaty at about 65MPH and the power steering was over boosted. THe car would not reliable start if the temp drouped below 70F!

I had tinted windows, cromed out wheel covers and 16 speakers includeing 4 12 woofers in the trunk! The paint had so much wax on it that girls would slide off the hood trying to sit on it. It had leathe seats not vinyl and I had so much armor all on them that people would slide around in the back seat is they did not have their seat belt on. I could go on but wont!

 

[moribundman]

My worst car was a 1985 Buick Century wagon with the 3 liter motor. Within a year I was forced to replace almost everything, including engine, tranny, the carburetor (3 of them), and a few waterpumps. That car left me stranded at least once a week.

 

[jsharp]

I owned a couple of Fiats over the years and they weren't quite the worst. That honor went to my TR4. During my last Fiat encounter a friend owned a Renault 5, also known as LeCar. We used to call and trade horrow stories and I would feel better. His Renault made my Fiat look like the model of reliability.

Whoever mentioned the Yugo for worst car was probably right. What's worse than a Fiat is a Fiat made in Yugoslavia...