Worst or most problematic car you've owned?

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Originally Posted By: cchase
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.

I wasn't drawing any sort of conclusion from the numbers. In fact, if I was to look at them, what you've said is pretty much my thoughts on them. Most of these cars were owned back when GM held the largest portion of the market.... by a wide margin. With Ford and Dodge pretty much in the positions they are in the list. Almost nobody had anything else. They fall in the order they do because that represents their respective market shares during that time period.
 
Originally Posted By: cchase
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".


Agreed. My best vehicle ever was a Ford, and my worst, most problematic vehicle ever, by far, was also a Ford. That being said, both lasted forever and a day.
 
Had an 2002 Honda Odyssey van. transmission went out, honda attempted repair, 10K later it went out again, ... honda refused at first to repair under warranty had to get lawyer to convince honda to make repair ... they did finally.

Later the AC went out, warranty expired repaired it for about $600 then ignition problems, then sliding door stopped working, pwr seat stopped.

Got hit and totaled

now have a Sienna, and no problems so far.
 
Far and away it was the '84 Ford Escort. It was underpowered, but that didn't condemn it; a lot of cars were underpowered back then. But it stranded me with a breakdown or issue at least once a year for the 6 years/70K miles I owned it.

An ignition module died on a hot afternoon, and while that was covered by Ford, the timing belt that broke at 2 a.m. on a chilly night outside a housing project wasn't. (A nice couple in a Cadillac pushed my car with theirs to my house, literally a couple of miles.) Something else, I forget what, went out two days before Christmas 1988. Rust started up on the edge of the hatchback. Gah.

When I traded it in for the '89 Olds Cutlass, I had no regrets and never looked back.

The other POS was that '75 Volvo I bought used and which burst into flames one night while I was driving it. But I'm not sure it counts; I think the point here is about cars that we owned for some time, and which were troublesome over that time. I only had the Volvo 2 months.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
I wasn't drawing any sort of conclusion from the numbers. In fact, if I was to look at them, what you've said is pretty much my thoughts on them. Most of these cars were owned back when GM held the largest portion of the market.... by a wide margin. With Ford and Dodge pretty much in the positions they are in the list. Almost nobody had anything else. They fall in the order they do because that represents their respective market shares during that time period.


No worries - just looked like others were trying to draw conclusions that don't work.
 
Originally Posted By: cchase
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
I wasn't drawing any sort of conclusion from the numbers. In fact, if I was to look at them, what you've said is pretty much my thoughts on them. Most of these cars were owned back when GM held the largest portion of the market.... by a wide margin. With Ford and Dodge pretty much in the positions they are in the list. Almost nobody had anything else. They fall in the order they do because that represents their respective market shares during that time period.


No worries - just looked like others were trying to draw conclusions that don't work.


For sure.

cheers3.gif
 
Worst car ever for me was a 1991 buick regal 4 door with the 3.1.

For the year that I owned it I replaced 2 window motors. Blower motor. 1 CV shaft, water pump. When the head gasket blew, I sent it to the junk yard.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
.... They fall in the order they do because that represents their respective market shares during that time period.


Exactly...agree 100%
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
... My best vehicle ever was a Ford, and my worst, most problematic vehicle ever, by far, was also a Ford. That being said, both lasted forever and a day.


My list would be the same, my best car ever was a Ford and my worst car ever as far as trips back to the dealer would also be a Ford. But I've owned ten times as many Fords as any other make...my personal data is useless in this regard I would guess.
 
'72 vw squareback. She was pretty but a major headache--well, just the engine actually, the rest worked really well. After this I decided I probably won't buy a carbureted car anymore.
 
1983 Camaro Z28.. but in all honesty most of it was my fault.. i drove it like i stole it daily..

My longest car is my best dependable car and most small issue car 1998 Chevy Cavalier. nickle and dime you to death.. but never ever left me stranded..

Worst ive ever seen, my now wifes then G/F Saturn, cant recall the year but it was serious Junk.. and then the next car she owned a 2000 Pontiac Grand AM GT.. motor was pretty solid but the little stuff killed us on that one too, i recall owning it for two weeks, a heavy rain storm, and 2' of water filling up the floorboards.. scary!!
 
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
My list would be the same, my best car ever was a Ford and my worst car ever as far as trips back to the dealer would also be a Ford. But I've owned ten times as many Fords as any other make...my personal data is useless in this regard I would guess.


The one I'm referring to (worst) was a 1983 LTD mid-size with factory propane and the 2.3L. Aside from being incredibly gutless, it was comfortable and handled well, considering the era, and was great in the snow. It got totaled at 500,000 km. I fought and fixed and spent my way to that mileage, though. It's amazing what one can accomplish when one's young and has finances too limited to upgrade. I wouldn't have the patience these days. That car was a major, major chore.
 
2006 Jetta TDI with DSG transmission.

Trans failed early on. Then fuel pump. Then electrical. Then calipers locked up. Then EGR cooler leaked. Then O2 sensor wideband very expensive. Then intake manifold anti shudder valve. Then electric steering. Then the flywheel exploded, taking out the $7000 transmission. The car left me stranded far from home 3 times. Each time the repairs were 3 weeks or more. Never again
 
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
.... They fall in the order they do because that represents their respective market shares during that time period.


Exactly...agree 100%


And let's face it, someone is going to drive EVERY car until it gets too annoying. Ideally the owner gets to pull the trigger and drive it to the scrap yard, or a white knight like cash for clunkers swoops in. If the car gets traded it will probably be resold on a buy here, pay here lot and cause future heartbreak for someone.
 
2000 Ford Focus, poor build quality and lots of recalls. I'll never buy another first year model again, although the first year of the Fusion turned out to be very reliable.
 
Mine is probably the 1990 Ford Tempo. I was super busy at work, and a friend of a friend was the sales manager at a Ford store. My ex wife went there while I was working, as I didn't have the time. She had clearance to buy whatever up to X dollars. She came home with a Tempo four banger automatic. Grrrr.

The car would intermittently stall leaving from a stop. The it would be hard to restart. Seemed to happen more when a semi or train was coming. Took it back to the dealer over and over, and finally filed for lemon law. The day before they had to take it back, the called and said it was fixed. The replaced Everything from the fuel tank to the injectors, plus the ECM. It still wasn't fixed. Traded for a 1994 VW Jetta GL. That was the last American car I will ever have.

My late brother had a 200X Dodge Caravan that he and his wife got new. The side slider door was always squeaking. He took it back over and over, and the dealer supposedly adjusted and lubed the door a bunch of times. One day, my sister in law gets home, opens the slider and it fell off the van onto the driveway. He took the door, tied it to the top and drove it to the Honda dealer and traded on a Honda Odyssey.

The thing I never understood about him- he bought new cars every 2 years. He bought mostly Chrysler products, and would complain about the issues. Then he would turn around and buy another Chrysler product. Of all of his cars, I remember one Chevy and 2 Hondas. HIs wife had a Tempo as a company car. That one was junk too.
 
1996 Dodge Stratus (my dad's first new car). For a while I thought the power window motors and relays were normal maintenance items
 
1982 Renault Le Car. Should have bought a Corolla for about $1K more. Paid much more than that in repairs that seldom repaired the issues it had.
 
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