Worst or most problematic car you've owned?

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For me it was a close race between my 95 Trans Am, 84 Laser and my 84 Corvette. (1984 must have been a bad year!)

The funny thing is that it seems with me when I buy a bad car, and then give that carmaker another chance, I get one that's completely the opposite. So after owning the 84 Laser, I decided to give Chrysler another chance and bought a brand new 88 Dodge Shadow ES Turbo, and that car was super reliable in the three years I owned it (did not have to bring it in for warranty work at all!) Same thing with my second Corvette, the one I own now. It has been very reliable!

And with the 95 Trans Am, it was in the dealer for warranty work about 30 times in the first 18 months. But even still, I gave the f-bodies another chance and ordered a new 98 Firebird Formula and that car didn't need to return to the dealer for any warranty work at all!

So for me, if I want to have a reliable car, I need to buy the lemon version of that car first! LOL!
 
Mine was an 07 G6 V6. Bought with 30k on it. In the year I owned it:

-front struts replaced, both were shot
-replaced coolant res, cap and cross over gasket. Still had coolant loss.
-ISS replaced with revised part
-airbag sensor, replaced and still giving me a warning.
-two sets of tires, first set feathered and worn horribly. Balanced and aligned at least 8 times including the second set which was also wearing horribly. Done at 3 places.
-Found a crusty burnt tangerine in the engine bay
-2 sets of rotors and pads, calipers replaced.
-Always had wheel wobble, rims checked, balanced, still there.
-Rack was going, Steering would bind occasionally and then make a loud whine, leaking fluid.
-sway bar links replaced, both had rubber torn, stiff to manipulate.
-07 head unit CD loader stopped working. Bought a used 08 head unit, CD drive failed again few months later.

Sold it shy of 1 year. 3.5L V6 was peppy, but poor quality car.
 
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1999 Honda Accord LX 2.3 Litre - 5 speed purchased in 4/2003 with 35,000 miles and died 11/2009 with 125,000 miles of a stroke.
The problems:
1. Replace cat converter at 80,000.
2. Engine consumed 1 quart of oil every 1500 miles.
3. Short circuit in the starter caused it to continue spinning even with the engine off. The starter then self destructed.
4. Multiple carbon canisters needed replacement.
5. Radiator cap began to leak at 45,000. No dealership in NJ had the correct cap because 1999 Accords came with an assortment of different radiators, depending upon origin of assembly. I had to drive back to IL with a rag around the cap and a lot of prayer.
6. Both lower ball joints had to be replaced after 50,000 miles.
7. Engine developed a piston slap at 45,000 miles.
8. The transmission could not be put into first gear intermittantly. It was blamed on a casting spur on one of the gears in the tranny.
9. Clutch wear indicator showed 80% wear at 100,000 miles with gentle driving on the highway.
10. At 125,000, the entire electrical system suffered some kind of cascade failure, frying the computer, then the coils, plug wires and spark plugs. The car simply stopped dead while on I-88 outside of Chicago and would not start again. I sold it for scrap - $500.00. I saw it at an independent used car lot in Chicago about 2 months later - asking price of $1500.00. Wow.
I am absolutely meticulous about maintaining my cars (I guess I wouldn't be on this forum if I were not) and not abusing them.
I came to absolutely hate this car, especially since Honda had a reputation for reliability. Subsequently, after describing the issues with this car, you folks on this forum figured out that the car must have been flooded at some point. Although this makes perfect sense, this didn't show up on the carfax. Oh well. My other Hondas have been nearly perfect.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
so ford got first place?


No.

GM: 20
Ford 11
Dodge 9
Honda 4
Mazda 1
Mitsu 1
Volvo 2
Merc 1
VW 2
BMW 1
Nissan 1
Hyundai 1
Audi 1

[Offtop] I knew you will show up as soon as I mention Ford
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Honestly I was missing you, forum board got little boring last couple days. At least you answer my posts every time
smile.gif

[Offtop]
When I used to work at car shop, I remember lots of loud knocking Mitsu Galants. So you can count at least +20.
Also another buddy has MK3 GTI which is literally falling apart,and leaks, and he hates it. So +1 to VW. Another one had Dodge Intrepid, he hated it and it hated him, tranny died, that was last drop.
 
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Originally Posted By: zyxelenator

[Offtop] I knew you will show up as soon as I mention Ford
smile.gif
Honestly I was missing you, forum board got little boring last couple days. At least you answer my posts every time
smile.gif



Awww, now aren't you sweet
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luring me in like that big boy! I missed you too. But it hasn't been a couple days, only a few hours. Though I'm sure it feels like a couple days to you
wink.gif
 
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We need to remember that not every car of the same make model shares the same problems. Keep that in mind
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Originally Posted By: Anies
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We need to remember that not every car of the same make model shares the same problems. Keep that in mind
smile.gif


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Exactly, every manufacturer is always going to have a few lemons. Also a lot of people don't realize, the more popular the car and the more there is produced, theres going to be more problems that arise just because of the large production numbers.
 
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Originally Posted By: Radman
I bought three Ford's in a row and sued on the last one.


1999 Mercury Villager ~ Spent 88 days in the Stu Evens repair shop the first year owned. Drove off the lot without brake lights, and no A/C. A/C never worked the 1 1/2 years I owned it. The Ford Rep told me that if I don't like it get a lawyer...so I did. They ate their words.

As you can see by my list I no longer purchase Ford products.



To be fair, the Mercury Villager was actually a re-badged Nissan Quest. Nissan had some sort of strange corporate mental block on being able to build a minivan that didn't suck rope. Not that Ford fared all that much better going solo, I've got two co-workers who have gone through 5 engines and 4 transmissions between their two Windstars.

To be even more fair, I think minivans in general are brutally hard on their mechanicals. Its just too much weight to move around with a compact/lightweight FWD drivetrain. Every single manufacturer has had at least one rash of common failures with minivan components- usually transmissions. Honda's been in the thick of it most recently.
 
1999 Mercedes ML 320

38,000 miles:

-center bearing & "guibo"
-cooling fans' harness
-various switches failed or the knobs just fell off
-possessed radio (uncontrolled volume changes, on/off on its own)
-main body harness shorted where it passes over the transmission...car went electrically dead & essentially had a stroke at 75mph on the highway..coasted to a stop, little smoke from underside. 4K repair. Car was ~1k past warranty, but MB generously credited me $300 towards a new gauge set (taken out when the body harness went).

Made all my English cars look downright dependable.

In all fairness, MB seems to have gotten their act back together but it will be a while before I go there again.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

But it hasn't been a couple days, only a few hours. Though I'm sure it feels like a couple days to you
wink.gif

I've seen that topic after "flying Ford truck"
To the topic: have any one had Yugo?
smile.gif
 
My first car, a 1985 Buick Skyhawk sedan with the 2.0 Chev I-4 and a 3-speed auto.

I was a naieve kid when I bought it as is, and fell for the guys line that 'GM's all have stiff power steering'...new steering rack 2 weeks later when I couldn't turn anymore.

From there, everything that could go wrong, did. Brakes all the time, heater core, radiator, exhaust...on and on. Only thing that kept working perfectly was the tranny....

Firewall rusted and leaked water, springs broke out of the seats, seatbelt chime shorted out and wouldn't stop, valvecover gasket leaked so badly car smelled like burnt oil all the time...on and on!

It took me 11 years to even consider another GM vehicle.
 
Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL

But it hasn't been a couple days, only a few hours. Though I'm sure it feels like a couple days to you
wink.gif

I've seen that topic after "flying Ford truck"
To the topic: have any one had Yugo?
smile.gif



No Yugo. And I have no idea what you just said, LOL
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My 1982 Chevrolet Cavalier coupe. I was second owner bought from an older aunt. I took it in 1995 it had 28K. Every month it seemed like something broke on it. I figured because it averaged 2K a year for 13 years, then I used at as a DD being a teenager at the time I was driving the [censored] out of it
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
so ford got first place?


No.

GM: 20
Ford 11
Dodge 9
Honda 4
Mazda 1
Mitsu 1
Volvo 2
Merc 1
VW 2
BMW 1
Nissan 1
Hyundai 1
Audi 1


Great Tally it looks like you got all three of my Fords. GM is the Winner. I really hope the automakers see this thread and realize that they are losing customers.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Radman
I bought three Ford's in a row and sued on the last one.


1999 Mercury Villager ~ Spent 88 days in the Stu Evens repair shop the first year owned. Drove off the lot without brake lights, and no A/C. A/C never worked the 1 1/2 years I owned it. The Ford Rep told me that if I don't like it get a lawyer...so I did. They ate their words.

As you can see by my list I no longer purchase Ford products.



To be fair, the Mercury Villager was actually a re-badged Nissan Quest. Nissan had some sort of strange corporate mental block on being able to build a minivan that didn't suck rope. Not that Ford fared all that much better going solo, I've got two co-workers who have gone through 5 engines and 4 transmissions between their two Windstars.

To be even more fair, I think minivans in general are brutally hard on their mechanicals. Its just too much weight to move around with a compact/lightweight FWD drivetrain. Every single manufacturer has had at least one rash of common failures with minivan components- usually transmissions. Honda's been in the thick of it most recently.


My grandmother went from Nautica, to villager, to villager, to monterey, to edge, to edge. She never had any real problems with any of them. I was impressed with the Monterey too, that was a pretty nice van.
 
Originally Posted By: Radman
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
so ford got first place?


No.

GM: 20
Ford 11
Dodge 9
Honda 4
Mazda 1
Mitsu 1
Volvo 2
Merc 1
VW 2
BMW 1
Nissan 1
Hyundai 1
Audi 1


Great Tally it looks like you got all three of my Fords. GM is the Winner. I really hope the automakers see this thread and realize that they are losing customers.


Yeah the whole what 60 or 70 people that post and especially the ones that post about cars that are over 20 years old.
coffee2.gif

It is such a small cross section of the public it dosen't even represent anything.
 
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Yeah the whole what 60 or 70 people that post and especially the ones that post about cars that are over 20 years old.
coffee2.gif

It is such a small cross section of the public it dosen't even represent anything.

I think in a way it does Mike (and not the way you might think). GM was, up until very recently, the world's largest automaker. So the majority of cars out there were of course GM. So it would make sense that, from that perspective, given that they were the largest, that of course, they would have the greatest number of people with issues.

It is like saying IBM had more Notebook failures than Fujitsu.... Of course, they have WAY more market share! It is all relative.
 
The people who post here are in general car folks. It really says nothing because it is a range of cars and a lot are old or have less than a stellar history as they were purcharsed used. It is cross section of one website...Bob is the oil guy.

The same question was asked at the RV board I hang out at the results were very different. It was a cross section of an RV board. Not the general population.
 
Originally Posted By: Radman
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: zyxelenator
so ford got first place?


No.

GM: 20
Ford 11
Dodge 9
Honda 4
Mazda 1
Mitsu 1
Volvo 2
Merc 1
VW 2
BMW 1
Nissan 1
Hyundai 1
Audi 1


Great Tally it looks like you got all three of my Fords. GM is the Winner. I really hope the automakers see this thread and realize that they are losing customers.


Except you are drawing a perhaps erroneous conclusion from the numbers. Those numbers could say that Ford and GM lead the way in problem cars, or simply that most BITOG members owned GM and Ford vehicles in a generally dark age for vehicles, or that BITOG members own far more GM and Ford vehicles than other makes and thus the chances are greater that one was the "worst".

Don't take more from it than is possible.
 
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