Top 10 worst cars of all time List?

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: djb
The Vega wasn't that bad. My parents had one that ran for almost 200K miles.



There are always exceptions to the rule and I'm glad yours was the exception. However....the Vega initially had a 36K warranty. (Not much compared to todays standards, and just about all cars made it past that) Anyway, the reputation of the Vega was so bad that GM decided to increase the warranty to 50K miles on the Vega (but no other GM engine. Hmmmmm....) to quell all of the unease that new car buyers felt around about that engine. It really didn't help when all of the automobile rags had ads in the back of the magazine of companies selling re-sleeved engines that had iron sleeves instead of the factory aluminum.
My cousin had a Vega that had a bad engine (religiously maintained by my uncle, I might add) that went out about 20 miles before 50K. Matter-of-fact, my uncle almost unhooked the speedometer cable to get to to the dealer so it wouldn't break 50K getting there.
I do remember my car would get about 27-28 MPG with her driving it, 23-24 MPG if she had a passenger. IMO, Chevy should have put the Chevy II four cylinder in the Vega. Rust would have killed the car before the engine would of had problems.

 

[tbm3fan]

Originally Posted By: Burt
The Mustang II and Pinto's were running around long after the Vega's were in grave yard. The 4 cyl engines, while laughable by today's standards, weren't half bad, almost rugged when compared with the aluminum Vega engine and the fuel tank problem was exaggerated relative to other cars on the road at the time.

While the Aztek was ugly, it was functional and appreciated by its owners. It did not bring down Pontiac.

The Pacer should be on the list. Some of the early Hyundai's, Renault/AMC's, and Daewoo were [censored].


The early Ford 4 bangers weren't bad. You should have seen my brother's 72 Pinto with the engine built to an 11:1 compression ratio among other things. God, that car was fast and scary as [censored] when he was passing slower cars on a two lane highway. Had no problem keeping up with my built up 302-4V in my 68 Cougar. When he worked on the car he would actually remove the block, by himself, by hand.

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: Trajan
Miro thinks the Yugo is the best csr ever made. That it's worth twice as much as a M3.


Was that the synlube guy? Its been so long I don't remember


It was. he seems to have fallen off the radar after he got his head handed to him at Noria.

 

[ms21043]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Chevy should have put the Chevy II four cylinder in the Vega. Rust would have killed the car before the engine would of had problems.


They did... sort of. The last year of the Pontiac Astre, a Vega in Pontiac trim, had the 2.5L Iron Duke under the hood.

 

[GearheadTool]

Aztek. Pontiac Aztek.

I wonder if the Merkur XR4Ti is on there?

I could think of a few that people grumble about...

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: djb
The Vega wasn't that bad. My parents had one that ran for almost 200K miles.



There are always exceptions to the rule and I'm glad yours was the exception. However....the Vega initially had a 36K warranty. (Not much compared to todays standards, and just about all cars made it past that) Anyway, the reputation of the Vega was so bad that GM decided to increase the warranty to 50K miles on the Vega (but no other GM engine. Hmmmmm....) to quell all of the unease that new car buyers felt around about that engine.


Actually it was 60K mi for the '76 & '77 that had the iron sleeved engine, still few were biting, but the re-skinned Vega(Monza) with same engine sold fairly well... Nail in the coffin was when Pontiac started dropping the "Iron Duke" into their '77 models, they made it known that their little car had a all iron engine... In '78 Monza also had the Iron Duke & Vega was dead... In retrospect the '76 & '77 Vegas were fairly decent vehicles, but they still had rust issues...

Undoubtedly the biggest POS vehicle I ever owned(and we're talking over 150) was a '74 Vega... I also had a nice looking '77 that came to me in a package deal, unfortunately it had a rod knock when hot, junked it...

 

[N7Quarian]

My mom had a Gold 74 Mustang 2 with the 5.0. It was [censored].

But I'd still rock a King cobra.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: N7Quarian
My mom had a Gold 74 Mustang 2 with the 5.0. It was [censored].

But I'd still rock a King cobra.


No she didn't, the '74 was not available with a V8...

 

[Burt]

Originally Posted By: TFB1

Undoubtedly the biggest POS vehicle I ever owned(and we're talking over 150) was a '74 Vega... I also had a nice looking '77 that came to me in a package deal, unfortunately it had a rod knock when hot, junked it...


A high school friend of mine bought a used 75 vega with the idea that when he paid off the loan, he would have a better car than if he bought a cheaper older car. It had power steering, brakes, A/C and a trailer hitch!

Don't know how long it lasted but was a rust bucket before he go it paid off.

 

[HerrStig]

Why did the Yugo come with a heated rear window??? To keep your hands warm when you pushed it.

 

[PF52]

A friend of mine had a Mustang II. It leaked oil. A LOT of oil.

Some of the oil would wick through (or dribble along) part of the wiring harness or a cable (or something) and into the dashboard where it would eventually collect and drip onto the passenger's feet. It was one car that probably really wasn't safe to drive.

 

[fdcg27]

I owned a '73 Vega Kammback (wagon), and it really wasn't that bad.
The engine went well beyond 50K, and other than oil consumption resulting from scored cyliner bores (I know this, because I took the head off), the engine ran fine, even with the built in roughness at higher revs that was standard equipment.
As long as you kept oil in a Vega, it would run for a long time, just like a Saturn, although Vegas consumed oil at a rate that would make a Saturn owner really weep.
Rust was not all that bad, and Chevy even threw in a free set of new front fenders, which were the main early rust through point.
For what it was, a cheap disposable car, the Vega wasn't all that bad.
It was at least reliable, unlike, say, a Fiat of the same era.

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: 71Chevyguy
I have a Saturn Ion and have had it since 2x,xxx miles and it has not given me a single problem. It was previously a rental so I don't imagine it had a great life before I got it. All I have had to do to it was tires and oil changes since I bought it. It is about to flip 80k prob by this weekend when it will get an oil change after this 8k run on G-oil. I agree that it is not a fancy car by any means but it looks just as good inside as when I bought it. The original brakes all around are still at 75% or so. Usually averages in the upper 30's as far as MPG and into the 40's on a trip. I accept it for what it is and appreciate it for being a fuel sipper and a trouble free car. Before this one I had a Saturn SL2 that gave me 130k trouble free miles and never asked for anything other than scheduled maintenance and tires. Might not have been the most popular cars but it seems to me from my experience owning and repairing them at work that the Saturns have not been half bad.



I have a low mileage 2005 Ion that I got a good deal on. I put some money into the front end (struts, CA bushings, sway bar links and finally sway bar bushings) in an effort to get rid of the clunking noise that turned out to be sway bar bushings.
The car is peppy, economical, and has ice cold a/c.
It is a very minimalist car but I'm sure the Ecotec and 4T45E will do 200K easily.
The 2003 and 2004 had either a CVT or Aisin A/T which weren't very good but from 2005 on they are a pretty good car...

 

[mva]

I owned a 1975 Vega that was by far the worst car I have ever owned. Early engine failure, rust and disk brakes that rattled over every bump even when completely rebuilt with all new parts. It was the last GM car I have owned.

The Hyundai Stellar should be on the list. It offered lots of options and content for the price but the reliability was terrible. My father in law bought one and I helped him fix it on a regular basis - rad blew apart, rear end failed, power windows, speakers and door locks had to be rewired, oil leaks, etc, etc. I am still afraid to consider buying a Hyundia or Kia.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: mva
...The Hyundai Stellar should be on the list. It offered lots of options and content for the price but the reliability was terrible. My father in law bought one and I helped him fix it on a regular basis - rad blew apart, rear end failed, power windows, speakers and door locks had to be rewired, oil leaks, etc, etc. I am still afraid to consider buying a Hyundia or Kia.


It was a nice attempt, but too many pieces of too many different cars. Mitsubishi engines in a Ford Cortina chassis with a Giugiaro body.
Sometimes Mulligan Stew is good, sometimes it's a bunch of stuff that doesn't go well together.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Originally Posted By: 71Chevyguy
I have a Saturn Ion and have had it since 2x,xxx miles and it has not given me a single problem. It was previously a rental so I don't imagine it had a great life before I got it. All I have had to do to it was tires and oil changes since I bought it. It is about to flip 80k prob by this weekend when it will get an oil change after this 8k run on G-oil. I agree that it is not a fancy car by any means but it looks just as good inside as when I bought it. The original brakes all around are still at 75% or so. Usually averages in the upper 30's as far as MPG and into the 40's on a trip. I accept it for what it is and appreciate it for being a fuel sipper and a trouble free car. Before this one I had a Saturn SL2 that gave me 130k trouble free miles and never asked for anything other than scheduled maintenance and tires. Might not have been the most popular cars but it seems to me from my experience owning and repairing them at work that the Saturns have not been half bad.



I have a low mileage 2005 Ion that I got a good deal on. I put some money into the front end (struts, CA bushings, sway bar links and finally sway bar bushings) in an effort to get rid of the clunking noise that turned out to be sway bar bushings.
The car is peppy, economical, and has ice cold a/c.
It is a very minimalist car but I'm sure the Ecotec and 4T45E will do 200K easily.
The 2003 and 2004 had either a CVT or Aisin A/T which weren't very good but from 2005 on they are a pretty good car...

The transmission in my 2003 never gave me problems.
Instead I had a cylinder with far below normal compression at 95,000 miles.

There were other things that were wrong with that car too.