Your worst car decision ever.

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
The dealer base here for Toyota stinks and Toyota itself was no help either. Wouldn't stand behind any of the issues. I will never buy another Toyota even though I know they are all not as bad as that Tacoma was. Just such a nightmare I will never do it again.
I dont know who toyota pays off to promote the Tacoma as the #1 choice in midsized pickups ... but .. I had 2 over the years and they both were big stinkers. On one new one the headlight fell out when I drove over a small bump in the road on they way home day1. Shock damping was almost non-existent in the rear, engine skipped and had these weird "spaghetti" thin ignition wires that leaked juice. Cab had the room of a corolla . Yucchhh.

 

[Vibe_2007]

1998 Dodge Neon

2002 Nissan Sentra

Both had numerous head gasket problems early on and were purchased brand new. Never again.

 

[Sierra048]

Moderators:

Where is my post(3rd post)from this morning on this topic? Were any posting rules broken?

 

[Russell]

Originally Posted By: glum
Originally Posted By: Russell
Originally Posted By: glum
1997 BMW (Big Money Waster) 528i

* Horrific Euro-oriented shops and dealers.
* Vastly overpriced parts.

I went to just about every indy shop in my area. Came to distrust and/or dislike them all.

But I may have spoke too soon. I forgot my '83 Camaro, which as a stupid young kid, I dumped about $5,000 into, reworking the stock 305 V8, removing the emissions garbage, adding a 600-CFM Holley carb, replacing the rear end with a 12-bolt, adding N2O, an accelerometer, ad nauseum. Idiot. Wish I could have that $5K (and all those hours on the freezing garage floor) back.


Not a suprise. This was first year of a new model.
Yes BMW dealers are Horrific. However there are good independent BMW shops, yet still are expensive

First year or not, doesn't make me hate that vehicle any less. Handing the keys to that thing over was like being released from prison.



Sorry about your experience. If you bought the 97 BMW new I would be doubly upset. The so called free mainaintance that BMW "gives" with a new car is really almost no maintintance and the pproblems so up many miles after warranty has expired. As a used car, the newer BMWs, for example the 2004 and up 5 series is so heavily electronic even BMW buffs say to never buy one out of warranty unless you get the best extended warranty.

My 95 has never been trouble free especially with 200,000 miles. It is on it's third radiator for example. Even so, if it it breaks , I fix it as I like the way it drives.

 

[fdcg27]

My worst car purchase was an '84 BMW 733i.
Decent miles, around 130K.
Five speed; good.
Enormous torque coupled with really tall gearing; good.
Really complicated electronics in a really old BMW; bad.
The electrical nightmare still takes up space in my garage.
A fun big sedan to drive, better than any big Benz I've driven, but built to nothing like the quality level of any 'eighties Mercedes.
Still, for only 1K, not a very expensive mistake.

 

[HM12460]

2001 Ford Taurus. Numerous problems from the first week of ownership. At the same time i owned a 1977 Thunderbird and a 1974 LTD 2 door. Either one was a much better, quieter, more comfortable car. I would hope Ford is building better quality cars now.

 

[Russell]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
My worst car purchase was an '84 BMW 733i.
Decent miles, around 130K.
Five speed; good.
Enormous torque coupled with really tall gearing; good.
Really complicated electronics in a really old BMW; bad.
The electrical nightmare still takes up space in my garage.
A fun big sedan to drive, better than any big Benz I've driven, but built to nothing like the quality level of any 'eighties Mercedes.
Still, for only 1K, not a very expensive mistake.


I have heard only BMW mechanics should own old 7 series BMWs.

These old BMWs had more electrical connections than the space shuttle!

 

[Spazdog]

If we're just talking bad cars, 1979 Chevrolet Chevette.

It was undoubtedly the biggest [junk]pile EVER.

It was horribly underpowered. Zero to sixty was measured with a sundial. Wide ['effin] open with the A/C on it might get up to 70 mph.
Averaged 20mpg mixed

Whomever designed the car should be tested for severe inhalant abuse. That person is a freaking idiot.

The #4 sparkplug wire is about 6 feet long because the distributor is driven off the crank at the bottom of the opposite side of the engine. To get to the distributor, you have to take the A/C compressor off. Simple tuneups are anything but.

To change the starter, you can take off the steering column or the intake manifold. The starter is junk. You will have to take the column or the intake off

I've never seen a rear axle like that. Don't think I'll ever see one like that again

The brakes are junk. Even if had good brakes, they would still be terrible. The firewall is made out of tinfoil and balsa wood. It flexes enough to make the brakes feel mushy.

The HVAC controls are not backlit. The comically small lightbulb above the panel does not illuminate the panel. Choose your A/C or heat setting before the sun goes down.

It rusted. North Texas cars do not have rust. The Chevette did. Given enough time the shocks probably just crashed through the shock towers. I think the paint was purchased from an arts and craft store.

Wipers have two speeds. Comically slow and banging all over making noise

RWD is supposed to be better right? Every MarkI Rabbit handles better than a Chevette...Every single one of them. Quicker and faster too. A diesel Rabbit might lose to a Chevette in acceleration....it'll be close.

On the plus side? The AM radio was pretty good....you know, for an AM radio. It went on a shelf in my parent's garage.

 

[Spyder7]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
If we're just talking bad cars, 1979 Chevrolet Chevette.

It was undoubtedly the biggest [junk]pile EVER.


It didn't change much in the 5 years between your model and the '84 model that was the first car I ever owned (a free hand me down that I therefore don't count alongside the cars I've bought since).

You described it well, although underpowered can't be stressed enough. It came as a relief when 6 months later someone T-boned it while it was parked on the side of the street, and I got enough from the insurance and salvage to buy my first car: a '79 Rabbit that was about the same size and engine displacement as my Pontiac branded Chevette (sold here as the Pontiac Acadian).

That was as far as the similarity went, and I was stunned from the moment I test drove it at how a car 5 years older, and with more than double the mileage (over 200k when I bought it), and which was outwardly so similar, could be such a day and night difference.

One is the one car I've owned that I most loathed (nothing else comes close, not even the wreck I started the thread with), the other the car I have the most nostalgia for and regretted the most having to give up.

The only good memory I have regarding the Chevette clone was the day it got T-boned. I can't think of a single good thing to say about it. You nailed much of the worst. Mine had maybe 100k on it when I inherited it, and was already on its 3rd engine before I got the keys to it (the second a drop in replacement while it was still under warranty, the 3rd a rebuild when the replacement croaked after delivering about the same meager mileage as the original engine).

Only car I've ever owned to where the manual window mechanism broke. Just an all around lemon on a scale that nothing I've seen from any company since, including GM, came close to.

I think everyone involved in it, from my owner perspective (and it was the family car before I got it, so I was well acquainted with all its problems that began almost from day one, and the constant trips to and from the dealer over its warranty period), from design, to production, to QA, had to have been on some serious crack to pass that lemon onto the consumer.

Over 25 years since it was bought new as the family car, and that experience led me to never set foot inside a GM dealer, nor look at a GM product when car shopping.

Today I really, really try to be more open minded, but in the end that nightmare is so heavily rooted in my memory that I still can't get around it.

-Spyder

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
The dealer base here for Toyota stinks and Toyota itself was no help either. Wouldn't stand behind any of the issues. I will never buy another Toyota even though I know they are all not as bad as that Tacoma was. Just such a nightmare I will never do it again.

I dont know who toyota pays off to promote the Tacoma as the #1 choice in midsized pickups ... but .. I had 2 over the years and they both were big stinkers. On one new one the headlight fell out when I drove over a small bump in the road on they way home day1. Shock damping was almost non-existent in the rear, engine skipped and had these weird "spaghetti" thin ignition wires that leaked juice. Cab had the room of a corolla . Yucchhh.

The composite bed in my 05 cracked going over a frost heave. Toyota blammed me and said I overloaded the bed so they would not cover it. Not a scratch, ding, chip, etc... on it as the heaviest thing I ever carried in it to that point was a 150lbs snow blower. What a joke.

Day two of ownership I discovered a long strip of paint( 1" or so )peeling off the bottom of the passengers front door while washing and waxing it. Dealer/Toyota would not fix it and made ME pay for touch up paint!

NEVER EVER AGAIN!

 

[demarpaint]

1980 Dodge Van 6 years old at the time with about 50K on it IIRC. I needed a work van bad and this one was set up perfectly. It had the loved 225 Slant Six which I quickly grew to HATE!!!!!!!!!!!!! That van kept me away from Chrysler from 1986 until 2008 when I bought my Jeep, which we're very happy with.

The engine had no power at all, and I knew when it was going to rain about 2 days before because as soon as it got damp it was a royal PITA to start. Come to think of it, the more I think of that van it was clearly the WORST vehicle I ever bought. I know how well loved the 225 Slant Six was, I never understood why.

Second place was the 95 Caprice Classic I bought from my FIL. It had the 4.3L V8 with the distributor cap behind the water pump. What a POS. I bought it because of price, kept it for a few years and off loaded it while it still had some value.

 

[Oil_Can_Harry]

The slant 6 as it was used in lighter cars and without pollution controls was a very decent engine. My uncle owned a number of Plymouth Valiant's with the slant six and swore by them. By the middle/late 70's Chrysler started putting it in bigger and heavier cars. In 1980, the slant six was the standard engine in the Chrysler Newport! You can just imagine how that car struggled to move.

In 1981, I picked up a late model Plymouth Volare with the 225 Slant Six and single barrel carb. The Volare, a heavier car and the effects of primitive pollution controls made this car a gutless wonder. The engine was noisy, especially under acceleration, the engine leaked oil and there was an issue with the fuel tank/fuel filler tube that only allowed you to fill the tank to 3/4 full.

I had bought the Volare based on my uncle's success with the Valiant. What a disappointment. The Volare replaced a Plymouth Satellite that got better mileage and had much better performance running a 318 V8. In the heavier Volare, the slant six could not get out of its own way.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog

RWD is supposed to be better right? Every MarkI Rabbit handles better than a Chevette...Every single one of them. Quicker and faster too. A diesel Rabbit might lose to a Chevette in acceleration....it'll be close.


You forgot the Isuzu diesels they put in Chevettes.

 

[VNTS]

Worst car I owned and regretted buying was a 1985 Accord. 1.8 Engine was a piece of junk, carb was always screwed up, and the body integrity was terrible, never saw a modern car rust so fast.
Put up with it for 4 years and dumped it and got a 89 Shadow ES turbo which I still drive daily, has 285K miles. Honda could of learned how to build a reliable 4 cylinder from Chrysler back then.

 

[Pablo]

I love the one line, one or two word answers the best.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
I love the one line, one or two word answers the best.


Auto-Haiku?

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Originally Posted By: Pablo
I love the one line, one or two word answers the best.


Auto-Haiku?


Pretty much.

Vega
Renault Peugeot
Fiat
Blazer Corvair Pinto

 

[Craig in Canada]

Selling Porsche.

(does that count?)

 

[expat]

77 Pontiac Ventura, 78 Chevy Scotsdale.

 

[adamjeeps]

1986 S-10 Blazer 4x4 2.8 5 speed

This has to be one of the worst motors ever put in a SUV. No power, horrible mpg, and loud.

Worst thing was one time I was in 5th and pushed the clutch and the steering wheel locked up on me like the key was out of the ignition. I managed to get it under control just before hitting a bridge abutment in the other lane. Luckily no one was coming the other way!!

Brakes were terrible, and rust was eating up the bottom of the doors and body.

The only good thing was the 4 wheel drive worked well in the snow.