Corona Virus: A Time to Reflect - Worst Vehicle You’ve Ever Owned

Nov 30, 2015
1,337
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
Last night I got together with a few local friends. Only six, not more than the ten allowed by Fed guidelines here in New York State. We opted to attack the Corona Virus from internal body dosing with introducing Labatts-a virus. So far no positive contagion responses, and no headaches reported. We had a wonderful dialog which included a conversation dating back to the 1970’s, where we discussed the worst vehicles we have ever owned. It amazed me, as well as the others, of the list of vehicles the group has owned since we all graduated for High School.

I won’t share the private and potentially corporate damaging experiences we all shared, but I’m okay sharing mine, since it was a 1972 Chevy Vega GT, a well documented aluminum block disaster.

This was the third car I’d purchased after High School graduation. It had about 35K miles on it. Sleek, bright, sexy, faster than a VW Beetle (which my father owned), cool looking rim inserts, white wall tires, hatch back storage, manual transmission, and a minor problem...

It smoked oil worse than the last petroleum based fire and explosion at ARCO in Channelview, Texas, that killed a few of my lab counterparts decades ago. Sorry, I digressed for a moment,

Regardless, this vehicle was a smoker. I would pull into a gas station and say “check the gas and fill ‘er up with oil.“ My father told me one time that he could tell which way I turned at the bottom of the hill, where we lived near Scranton, Pa., due to the blue cloud left in the valley. I couldn’t even skip classes without him leaving 10 minutes after me in the morning.

The only other major issue besides the smoke, was a shifter mechanism going into reverse. The manual shifter would not engage going into reverse, so I kept a screwdriver in the car, to press down on the T-plate to get it into gear.

Yeah we got the cast iron cylinder inserts. We got the red light indicator on oil pressure and temperature. We spent way more than the car was worth...and the car ultimately went to my sister as a hand me down. Upon her first accident the car was scrapped.

I bought a VW super beetle after owning the worst car ever.

What’s the worst vehicle you’ve ever owned? :poop:
 

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Jan 7, 2011
4,727
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
Funny question...and funny that yours was a VW too...
when I was in high school, my dad came home with one of these... ‘70’s vintage VW Squareback Station wagon.

56DE048C-F476-4FD2-9EFD-6969D2A05F06.jpeg

I don’t remember mine looking as nice as this one (I found this photo on the internet).

What I do remember is:
1) It was free (at least to me).
2) Rear engine does it could go through the snow pretty well
3) not exactly a chick magnet...
4) cracked the aluminum block somehow
5) sold it for more than my dad paid for it!

ah...the good old days!

Greg
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I married my wife even though her first car was a Vega Hatch Back. When we were dating I noticed she chose my Mercury Capri to jump into rather than the Vega sitting next to it in the driveway.

We drove that Vega across the country. Slept in the back with the hatch open, untill we got to Wyoming and the temps dropped to cold freezing cold. Then we closed the hatch bundled the quilts on top of us, and survived the night.

We even nearly died coming home one night. It was a dark night. 4 lane road no median. Doing about 45 (I think that was top speed). Looked ahead and there were black sticks standing across the road with lights under them. The Vega was a low riding car. I hit the hi beams and the brakes almost together. There were 10 cows standing across the road. Good brakes. We came to a stop about 4 feet from one of the cows. What's worst than a deer in headlights? 10 cows.

Sold the Vega after my wife threw the keys in to the local garbage pit and bought a Volvo sedan... But that is another story.
 
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Oct 1, 2007
1,856
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
Worse for me was a 1960 Porsche coupe I bought for around $500 in 1966, or so. I had always wanted to own a porsche in high school and then into college. Only problem was money. So I picked up this old girl cheap. The engine was great but the heater didn't work and the transmission was day to day. At one point I turned her over to my German neighbor who swore he could fix the transmission. I loved her but eventually had to part (literally) with her because I needed to get to class. I went on to own a 912 and finally a 911 as my career moved on. However, I finally abandoned Porsche completely when a girl I loved (at the time) wanted more room, so I moved up to a BMW 2002. Those were the days....
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I finally abandoned Porsche completely when a girl I loved (at the time) wanted more room, so I moved up to a BMW 2002. Those were the days....
Which... changing from Porsche to BMW because of a girl... or buying a series if hot cars rather than a mini-van?
 
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Oct 1, 2007
1,856
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
Which... changing from Porsche to BMW because of a girl... or buying a series if hot cars rather than a mini-van?
Back then I really wasn't a mini van kind of guy. Eventually I graduated (literally) and moved on to the 912/11, other women, a Camaro Z28, then BMW 4 door sedans (can't remember the numbers - 428 I think). Eventually I outgrew the hot cars and owned 2 Nissan Maximas, one of which I still own. And a woman I love dearly who has been with me for 37 years, BMWs, Maximas, etc. Women, cars, ah the days....
Great thread..
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Worst vehicle I've ever owned?
Where shall I start?
Ah yes!
1980 Renault La Car.
Do I need to elaborate?

My father bought two used for $200 each as Christmas presents for my foster brother and me. The shifting linkage was a solid that ran from the bottom of the stick shift to the transmission in the rear and there was a hook and eye connection under the car that kept coming apart. We'd have to learn out, head down and reach under the car to reconnect them before going any farther. They were glorified go-carts without the glorified part.
2 weeks and the drive axles broke. The dealership refused to cover it, claiming they had no idea how hard I drove the car. The dealership wasn't in business a year after that. Not saying we had anything to do with that. :waycool:

My wife and I sold my Jeep Renegade and bought a Plymouth Horizon to save money right after we got married. That was actually a serviceable car and tested its well for what it was. The next was a Mercury Lynx that blew up at just over 32,000 miles, maintained and no explanation. Ford admitted it was unusual and had a mechanic look into it. They found no explanation and refused to do anything. It was just outside of warranty.
The thing was, we had taken it in with concerns about noise and rough running issues a couple of times with no known solution. Those were within the warranty period. They just kept returning the car, no problems found, it would run ok for a few weeks, then start up again.

I loved my Jimmy S15 blazer and my Dakota Quadcab and my wife's A4 Cabriolet was great fun to drive until I hydroplaned into a guardrail. :confused: I did the same thing to her Toyota Celica, another fun car. As a family vehicle, I though our Toyota Previa was awesome.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
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Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
Oooh... I'll play.

I had a 1975 Vega Wagon in puke yellow.
chevrolet-vega-9.jpg


My dad bought it new to use as a MH toad. Gave it to my big sister to take to college. She gave it to me when I turned 16. Funny enough, it wasn't all that bad of a car. None of the idiot lights worked. Hit some debris one day and punched a hole in the oil pan. Didn't know till the engine stopped. So you'd think that's that, huh? Nope, dropped the pan. Removed one heck of a lot of shaved up bearings. replaced the rod bearings (no measurement or nothing... I was a kid) Filled it with oil and drove it another 50K miles until it was totaled by a drunk. Think it had around 120K on the odo when it died. Pretty good for one of Detroit's finest failures. I'd rank it as the 3rd worst car I ever had, as it was free and it only ever was towed once.

2nd worst: 2015 Kia Optima hybrid. On the back of a towtruck 4 times, once with a sized engine (warrantied) . The day the warranty ran out it was gone.

1st worst: 2014 Jeep Cherokee. Towed twice before 5K miles - 2 transmissions - lemonlawed the POS. Last jeep I bought. (Owned 9 in total)
 
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Sep 25, 2018
258
Catalina Capri 22 Capri EXPO 14.2 1282 Stony Point
1976 Plymouth Duster station wagon. The year pollution controls filled the engine compartment. Funny, I had a 72 duster with same engine but without the miles of hoses under the hood. Pollution testing said the dirty 72 emitted half the pollution as the improved 76. The car taught me what ping was. A piece of S**t. Now I drive German!
 

DArcy

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Feb 11, 2017
1,691
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
My worst was a 2000 Nissan X-Terra. It wasn't a horrible car, but it was under-powered and had cooling problems the entire time I owned it. It overheated several times and I'm pretty sure the head was warped by the time I finally sold it. Too bad, it was a good car other than that. The worst car I've driven was a 2016 Dodge Caravan I rented for a family trip. Wow, that is a horrible driving vehicle. I was really glad to get back in my FJ Cruiser after that trip.
 
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RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,578
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
1982 Z28 Camero. my dream car at the time turned into a nightmare before I even got the 250 miles home from the dealer. used but very low milage v-8 4 speed car. fully loaded beauty with t-tops. the power steering pump froze up first. within two years I spent over $2,000 just keeping it on the road. AC pump tossed a rod out the side wile sitting at a boat ramp waiting my turn to launch the ski boat. I remember thinking.... what is that squealing sound and who's car is making that terrible noise?.... oh s#it... it's mine :yikes:. the Rotenchester carb had a casting flaw in the idle circuit that made adjustment impossible. had to replace the computer controlled carb for over $400.00 in 1984 dollars. the power steering gearbox blew the seals out. by 35000 miles it was killing mosquitos behind me due to the shot valve stem seals and guides. That was my last Chevrolet to this day.

well... there was one Vega here after that also. we raced a 72 hatch back with 327 power and 4 speed. it blew the rear window out twice because the body would flex so much coming off the line. the track owner convinced me to sell the car rather than it being banned from the track :laugh:
 
Nov 22, 2011
1,192
Ericson 26-2 San Pedro, CA
My worst was a 2000 Nissan X-Terra. It wasn't a horrible car, but it was under-powered and had cooling problems the entire time I owned it. It overheated several times and I'm pretty sure the head was warped by the time I finally sold it. Too bad, it was a good car other than that.
Yeah, other than all that it sounds really swell! :oops:
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
My worst cars of all time:

1984 VW Rabbit GTI - Hands down one of the worst vehicles I have ever owned. Nothing about that car was ever right. Did I even mention the squeaks & rattles....

2002 Mercedes E320 4Matic Wagon - Mercedes had my wifes car for 80% of our ownership. They absolutely could not fix the issue with the driveline. It took a lawer and a lemon law case to get Mercedes to finally do the right thing.

2004 Audi A6 Wagon - Lets just say that after this debacle we will never touch any Audi (or VW or Porsche) product in this lifetime. Why? Audi won't even honor their own written warranties. They are a despicable company to deal with and completely dishonest.

1999 BMW M3 Convertible - we only drove that car about 3K miles per year and it average $1.00 per mile in non routine maintenance.

GM Family Level Feud - Since my fathers debacle with the GM diesel issues in the early 80’s not one person in our family will touch any GM vehicle with a ten foot pole. My dad was treated so poorly that we all have a lifetime boycott....
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,885
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
'74 Saab 99 .. Lemon law got most of my money back after a couple of years.. Followed closely by '87 Ford Taurus.. Some will understand how damning that is because they were worse than the 2 MG's, An old Jag, two Fiats, and an Alfa Romeo GTV.
 
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Jun 2, 2004
3,390
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
1986 Hyundai (wife's pick) woefully underpowered reliable enough but rusted through in two different spots twice in two years. Warranty was for three years after the second incidence we traded it in on a 1988 Mustang convertible (my turn to pick). That one is still in the driveway with about 250k on the odometer, pain is thin but it runs great and still fun to drive.

Runner up would be a Volvo 265 GLE (my pick this time). We drove the thing all over the country was comfortable and made me a convert to heated seats. Left us on the side with a two year old and a three month infant of the road in Williamsburg coming home from New Jersey visiting my wife's family for Christmas. Fortunately we were close enough to home that a good friend picked us up. Dumped it and I just drove my 66 Mustang my wife the 88. We liked the wagon but weird stuff would break and the dealer would have to order parts from Sweden.
 

DArcy

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Feb 11, 2017
1,691
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
Then there is the one I didn't buy. In 1994 I went to see a new Lada Niva in the show room. They didn't have a test drive model available when I went in but I figured I would just check out the show room anyway. The one in the show room had rust on the rear view mirror, the tonneau cover over the luggage compartment was broken, the drivers seat was lopsided and the sales man was drunk. I bought a 1984 diesel Land Cruiser instead which turned out to be a great vehicle. Oh, the Lada dealer closed down not long after. Go figure.
 
Aug 2, 2009
637
Catalina 315 Muskegon
My brand new 1976 Pinto wagon was pretty lame. I remember when I bought it, I was split between it, and the Ford F-100 pickup with an inline six, as they cost about the same. I bounced the pickup idea off my friends, and they thought I was nuts for considering the F-100. Who the heck drives a truck?!? I guess that was before trucks were cool. Don't always listen to your friends.
 
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Mar 29, 2017
576
Hunter 30t 9805 littlecreek
To review this write up just buy a Honda or Toyota. Lexus being luxury choice no problems mentioned with these. Yea BMW "broke man walking"
 

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
When I married my wife, she had a1968 Karmann Ghia Convertible. Mechanically it was fine. However I began to think the thing stopped in England on the way across the pond to have its electrical components retrofitted with Lucas equivalents. The car ate lightbulbs! Every week I was replacing one somewhere in the vehicle.

The last straw was when she drove into the driveway and opened the driver side door, it fell off.The car was 2 years old.

We went through a series of Firebirds, Camaros, and Corvettes. Then came kids, Station wagons, Suburbans, and Tahoes to tow small sailboats. Now I have a crossover to haul sailbags, tools, hardware, and whatnot back and forth from home to the boat.

After, nearly five decades, my wife passed, and I now have a new love. She brought a BMW into the relationship, and it can’t stay away from potholes! This one destroyed two tires and bent one alloy wheel within six months.