Worst or most problematic car you've owned?

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So far mine is a 2005 Grand Prix. I've owned it for a year now and bought it with 54,000 miles. It now has 73,000 miles and have replaced the following:

Tie rods/sway bars were worn causing clunking, shaking, and uneven tread wear.
Engine was over heating at stops: New thermostat, coolant flush and ended up having to replace water pump.

New problems:
A valve cover is now leaking oil, slowly.
My passenger front wheel bearing is getting worn out.
My transmission is now clunking going from reverse to drive.

The best part is the engine, good power and good fuel economy and is comfortable for my 30 min commute to work. With that being said though, it will be gone within a year.


Whats your most problematic car you've owned?
 
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2004 Chevy Impala. Got it from my FIL, he bought it new, I got it years later with about 35K on the odo. FIL garaged it, OCI was 3K dino, and dealership visits for any regular maintenance.
In my 2 years of ownership, all 4 brakes done (had already been done by my FIL once!), all interior door handles were falling off, dash rattle, engine rebuild, numerous electrical problems such as windows failing and lights-out, transmission failure at 60K caused me to finally sell it for dirt-cheap.

Total piece of garbage and a money-pit.
 
My 1996 Saturn SL2
I loved the car and it never actually let me down per se, but it had so many stupid issues. Sunroof, power windows, rear defrost, ignition cylinder, other typical wear stuff of course, but overall, just an oddly problematic car. Still ran good though and pulled strong, right until I sold it this spring. For some reason, I miss it.
 
Two posts, two GM cars. Not a good start. I believe GM really was at its worst between 2000-2008. My family's GM's from the late 80's/through the 90's were pretty reliable and everything worked on them when we sold them.

I guess "my" worst would be my wife's first car, a 1994 Mazda 626. Transmission constantly leaked, MAF sensor went bad, fuel injectors clogged.

EDIT:
I totally forgot about the 1994 Dodge Caravan, thanks Hokiefyd for reminding me. That thing was offensively bad. Suspension parts all the way around multiple times, transmission went at 100k, multiple water pumps, A/C broke once a year, 02 sensor two years from new, driver's door hinge cracked off the body.
 
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Ours was a 2007 Chrysler Town & Country. Bought it brand new off the lot and kept it for about 3 years and 45k miles or something like that.

Things replaced under warranty:

* powertrain wiring harness
* two A/C compressors (and even the 2nd replacement one was noisy)
* one alternator
* two pairs of sway bar bushings
* one rear wheel ABS sensor
* two serpentine belt tensioners
* A/C leak into interior

Things replaced or work done myself, due to bad dealership experiences:

* three additional pairs of sway bar bushings (I'd have to do these about once every 8-10 months)
* remove front seats and front carpet to dry out the A/C interior leak (dealer wouldn't do it)
* two additional rear wheel ABS sensors (out of 3/36 warranty on those)
* both outer tie rod ends (out of 3/36 warranty on those)

We loved the van, but it was an absolute money pit, and both the Chrysler-Jeep and Dodge dealers here were not pleasant to deal with. Chrysler Corporate was poor as well. They stiffed me a day on the rental car they promised me when the van was in for the A/C interior leak. That week turned into a real debacle.

IMG_3712.jpg
 
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1983 Ford Mustang I drove in college. Bought in 1986 with 40K miles on it, transmission rebuilt at 60K miles, hard to start, burned a quart of oil every 1K. After I graduated, drove for 2 more years until my wife refused to ride in it because smoke would come out from the front wheel wells at stoplights. Got $800 bucks for it in 1990 with 80K on the odo.
 
Originally Posted By: swirlparanoid
(anxiously awaits the american vs foreign argument that's inevitably about to happen)
grin.gif



And I so very sincerely hope it doesn't, but agree that it probably eventually will.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: swirlparanoid
(anxiously awaits the american vs foreign argument that's inevitably about to happen)
grin.gif



And I so very sincerely hope it doesn't, but agree that it probably eventually will.


That is not my intention with thread. If it does I'll ask the mods to freeze the thread.
 
Wife's 1998 Buick LeSabre, POS edition, biggest pile I've ever suffered through owning. From things falling off to electrical issues to the LIM gaskets and much, much more, it was just one thing after another starting at just 25k miles. Last piece of GM junk we'll ever own!
15.gif


John
 
1991 GMC Syclone. Seems like I had to fix it every time I drove it. It wasn't necessarily the truck's fault though. I bought it from a guy that had been drag-racing it. He had the front driveshaft out of it when I took it for a test drive. I should have known better, but I just had to have it. I drove it for 2 years, fixing stuff on it as I went along, then sold it to a guy for not too much less than I bought it for.

My but that thing was fun when I pulled out to pass!
 
Our 1991 Dodge Caravan (it was nice, top of the line everything for the day) was a money pit. Off the top of my head: bad electrical system that had to be rewired in some place, went through a battery every other year, multiple replacements of engine mounts, gauge cluster that died 2 or 3 times, speakers worked intermittently, ignition that didn't even need the right key after a while, multiple catalytic converters, burned tons of oil from day one, suspension was shot after 5 years...I KNOW there is more but that's all I can remember right now. It made it to 128k miles before we sold it because it needed another catalytic converter to pass emissions.
 
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Hard to decide between...

A 97 ford taurus that just kept me buying parts-- snap off a strut bolt in the rear knuckle, get knuckle too. Or the radiator tucked in the aero nose that takes six hours book time to change.

or a 2000 chrysler T&C with no data at the OBDII port, refusal to work with "exactly the same" junkyard computer due to VIN-locking, engine wiring that intermittently breaks within the insulation. Biodegradable solder that gets cracked like twenty year old asphalt.

or a 2000 buick century with that same terrible solder. Surface mounted resistor chips just fall off the instrument cluster, a known fault, and make the PRNDL and odometer go dark. Rocker panels made of the finest, rust-prone paper mache. Piston slappy engine, sometimes slammy transmission. My BIL and I have had several A-body cieras and centuries make it near or over 200k; this W-body heap was junk at 125.
 
86 Mitsubishi 4x4 pickup.

My dad Bought it brand new.

Got 2 blocks away from the dealer and it stalled. Towed back to the dealer.

Got it back a few days later.

The guages never worked from day 1.

5 transmissions rebuilt before the 12/12 warranty was over.The carb would ocasionally over flow with gas.



1 transfercase.

Body mounts under my feet broke and you could see the ground.

This also sprung the doors and caused the windshield to crack.

Rear spring hangers would flip up and jam against the frame rendering the rear suspension useless and solid.

@ around 20K the carb flooded which caused an underhood fire. Destroyed many emission parts I could not buy so from here on out it wasn't smog legal. It had a big burned spot on the hood now.

The part of the frame that held the front differential broke off which left the diff hanging from the driveshaft and axles...Well untill the CV joints in the axles pulled apart as I was pulling over to investigate the noise.

5 more transmissions before 30,000 miles. They always lost 2nd gear. From 30k to 44K I didn't use 2nd gear as I was tired of constantly swapping transmissions into this truck.

The engine needed a valve job @ 35k. Soon after the valve job the rings went bad. I used to pour oil down the carb so it would have enough compression to start on cold mornings.

This oil plugged the cats so they got removed and rodded out.

The crankshaft broke @ 44k which destroyed the block. I was able to drive it home with the broken crank!

I found a low milage engine from a wreck and swapped that in. My dad wanted the truck so I gave it to him.

He had it about 3 weeks and he double gasketed an oil filter and burned that engine up.

This Mitsubishi was my daily driver. I had a Toyota at the same time that I beat on. It only suffered a couple of clutches and a rear pumpkin and went over 300k.
 
ive posted this probably way too many times now but since theres a thread dedicated to this sorta thing i guess ill do it again

this is my dads 02 ram
rear has been replaced 1 time, limited slip 3 times, trans been replaced, driveshaft replaced, engine has sludge in it on 5000 mile intervals on dino, drinks about a quart every 800 miles engine has had other problems i cant remember, one day the trans wouldn't shift unless u let off the gas, power steering rack been replaced 2 times, new rack leaks, power windows don't work in back or pass side, door locks don't work, key fob doesn't work, bed is rusting inside, back fenders are rusting, tailgate almost has holes in the bottom, parking brake wont work it doesnt release, some mornings it starts 1st time,blower motor is very loud, oh and it has 62000 miles on it with everything done as the manual said.

new stuff it now has 70k on it amazingly,bout a month ago the starter was replaced, rear is vibrating on accelleration again.

thats the worst vehicle anyone in my family has owned
 
1990 Honda Accord EX purchased new. Made in Marysville Ohio on a monda or Friday. Only thing that did not go wrong was the engine.

Transmission,
A/C
Moonroof leaking after rain
CV Joints

Worse thing was the attitude of the dealers. "Honda's don't give problems!"
Also, "I'm sorry sir, but we have not been able to reproduce the problem."

Traded for a 1992 Camry that never gave me any problems in 100k miles.
 
1986 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon.

Had the 307 backed by whatever transmission GM put behind it.

-Tranny was going out of it by 200,000Km
-Went through several brake boosters
-Rear bumper started to fall off
-Door handle broke inside the door
-Power window switches would stop working
-Would randomly lose (expensive!) hubcaps
-One door would randomly not open at times.
-The same door would randomly not close at times.
-The AC needed to be recharged
-It drank gas
-The 307 didn't have a lot of "go" and developed pretty good blow-by by the 200,000Km mark.
-The Delco/BOSE stereo died. A new one cost a fortune so it got a wreckers one. Which developed issues with the LCD. It eventually got an aftermarket one.
-The shocks went out of it
-The exhaust system fell off it

The 1989 Lincoln my dad bought so that he wouldn't have to continue driving it (the wagon was my mom's car) was 400x the car in every way. We sold the Wagon with 225,000Km on it to a cabbie for a song. Just to get away from it. Still have the Lincoln, has 348,000Km on it now, tranny shifts like new, all the windows still work, still has AC, engine was running perfectly when I "upgraded" it to an HO.

That Town Car is one of the best, if not the best car we've ever owned as far as being low maintenance and reliable. Two cars from the same era with vastly different experiences.
 
My '98 Ford Ranger 4x4. It was back to the dealer with about 500 miles on it because both front shocks were leaking. The dealer replaced the shocks under warranty three times in 35,000 miles IIRC.

The transfer case was replaced and the rear differential was rebuilt,both under warranty.

Ford bought back the Firestone tires during the Explorer roll over fiasco.

I sold it right before the warranty ran out at 36,000 miles. Not a chance I was going to own that thing out of warranty.
 
1998 Volvo Station wagon AWD. That is the biggest pos ever designed and built.

The entire rear suspension has to be removed to replace the fuel pump. I did it twice.
 
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