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

Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
It's a toss up between the rust bucket Datsun B210 that my wife brought into the marriage or the diesel 240D Mercedes. I swear "D" stood for dog. It was dangerously underpowered.
Especially if you had the automatic transmission! The stick is still slow but much better than the 240D automatic...
 

DArcy

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Feb 11, 2017
1,690
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
Foot was mashed to the floor whenever taking off from a stop.
Sounds like a HondaMatic Civic a friend had in the 80s. Woefully under powered 2 speed semi-automatic. Coming off the line he would stick the peddle to the floor wait, and wait until the revs picked up then slam it into second. No clutch.
 

DArcy

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Feb 11, 2017
1,690
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
A car I drove for a while was a Holden station wagon some friends bought from a guaranteed buy back lot in Sydney, Australia 1990. This a business model where you buy a used car from their lot and they will buy it back at a guaranteed price if you can get it back there, driving, pushing or towing. It was probably a late 70s model, they drove it up the East coast over to Darwin where I jumped in. We drove through the outback down to Adelaide then to Sydney.
About half way from Darwin to Alice Springs we were camping on the side of the road when I was woken up to a request for help trying to fish the fuel pump spring out of the oil pan. The fuel pump seal had been leaking and one of the guys had pulled it off, lathered on some high temp sealant we had and when he was going to put the pump back in bumped the pump leaver knocking out the spring. They looked around on the ground and could not find the spring so figured it must have shot into the crank case. We tried fishing around for a while then stopped to think. How much damage could it do if it was in there? Probably not much, just sit in the sump. So then we had to come up with a spring to be able to drive the car. We went through the car, finally finding a spiral wound note book in the glove box. The spiral binding fit well so in it went. The car started up and sounded happy.
Outback towns are mostly just a pub, and a few houses. In the next town we asked in the pub if there was a garage near by, the bar man said sure, Joe has a garage, and he pointed across the street. We walked across the road and it turned out Joe was just the local guy that knew how to fix cars. We explained our situation and he pulled out a cardboard box with a few old fuel pumps, pulled off a spring and handed it over.
Other than low oil in the automatic transmission which caused some shifting problems until we topped it up, that car was great. Just another adventure. Oh, the fuel pump spring sat in the glove box and never was installed. We made it back to Sydney just fine with the notebook binding coil and it was still there when my friends got their buy back money.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
in sturge, next door to me, my cousin has a mint 240D. the highest speed limit in the county is 55. we go motoring in it all the time. fabulous seats in the car. being sailors that go everywhere at an average of 5 mpg ...........
it's a hoot motoring in this cream puff. stick shift. we like it.
 
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May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
Renault Dauphine - has been officially dubbed by many as the worst production car ever built! Very innovative though, it did have a switch for "winter or summer" operation.....mom drove it till the wheels fell off, literally.....

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TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
Tough question for me. When I think back about the cars and trucks I've owned, most are memorable: As the worst vehicle I've owned.

I'm not adverse to things. I love boats, even houses (old especially), and become more emotionally attached than I think is normal.

In fact, my worst vehicle may be our present family car. A typical 4 door jeep SUV. We bought it slightly used, less than 10k miles. It's 8 years old and now has about 75K easy road miles.

We took it in for routine inspection. We've put the usual $$ into it over the years, keep up with maintenance, religious with oil changes at the Promto-whatever. Write the checks,...

It's shot. Done! 8 years old, 75k miles, looks almost like new. A trusted mechanic (we've only used the same outfit for decades-we're loyal customers) took my wife under the lift and poked his finger through the frame in several places. Total death trap.

Did I mention it's 8 years old, 75k miles,....?

Amazingly, our mechanic did some research and there must have so many complaints that they extended the warranty. Which they should - Jeep built such a piece junk to start, used junk steel (according to our mechanic).

Naah,... this wasn't a build (I'm a builder - this car is an insult to builders!), this was a robbery for shareholders with what is charged for cars these days.

It will still cost 12-1500 in related parts but I feel like I won the lottery in my experience with, 'cars'.
 
Jun 7, 2004
350
Oday 28 East Tawas
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My turn:
A 1986 S-10 Chevy Blazer. I just HAD to have that 4WD vehicle. After all; I lived in Michigan, ventured to northern ski resorts and OOOH that 4WD!
Anyway what a piece of crap! The 2.8 liter V6 didn't have enough power to get out of it's own way. Combine that with an automatic transmission and that engine making it an under powered, over rated snail of a vehicle.
On one occasion my wife was driving back from the boat pulling a small utility trailer. She noticed a deer running along side the truck on the road side and thought she should speed up to get ahead of it in case it bolted into the road. So, she put the hammer down and the deer out ran her! Sure enough it decided to bolt into the road and due to it's head start dashed in front of the "pig" (as my wife called the vehicle) just missing the front bumper.
Later GM put a 4.3 liter V6 in that platform and it worked pretty well I'm told.
You don't see, of course, many on the road these days but if one crosses your path just increase your jogging rate a bit and you'll out run it.
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
...........I bought a VW super beetle after owning the worst car ever. What’s the worst vehicle you’ve ever owned? :poop:
My first car in 1968 was a beautiful, used black 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 2 door hardtop. Unfortunately the seller did not disclose that the vehicle was in an accident, which bent the frame (chassis). I only found this out after replacing the transmission for the third time. I used to travel to junk yards looking for a used transmission so that I have a replacement ready to go when it failed. Eventually dumped it and purchased a brand new VW Bug.

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Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
1954 Simca Vedette. Flathead Ford V8. A gift in 11th grade to learn about cars. I learned which way the top of the fuel pump was supposed to blow, though. As my brother said of our teenage-years cars, "a second class ride was better than a first-class walk. " His car was a Renault Dauphne IIRC, but now has a Farrari. .
 
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DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
Never owned it, The worst company car I was ever assigned was a Pontiac Aztec. Mechanically it was fine, but
Bright Yellow and the worst styling ever. However, it was great for hauling sails and all other sailing gear we needed to go to weekend regattas. Thankfully, I only had it for 3 months, otherwise I would have gotten a citation from the neighborhood association for violating the blight regulations.
 
Nov 30, 2015
1,336
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
The worst company car I was ever assigned was a Pontiac Aztec.
Yeah, the Aztec was a homely beast.

We've had several V6 Pontiac Grand Prix's that I've driven over 200K miles with great success...but discovered that there was nothing Grand about the 4 cylinder Grand Am. :thumbsdown:
 

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
20 cars and trucks between my wife and I over 21+ years of marriage and one of the nicest loaded was our 2015 Ford Flex Limited. It had every option except AWD and was a great comfortable family hauler. It was bought on Carvana, our second car bought like this, and was only 2 years into the 3 year warranty and 15,000 miles. It was a no brainers as the saving was $20k over new and my wife loved it. Carvana actually paid for a full paint restoration on it due to hard waterspots that were not disclosed, a $2,500 bill, that made the finish amazing and better then new.

Unfortunately the only Ford dealership in Huntsville could never do anything right without 2-3 return trips. Early on the front left suspension was squeaking loudly in certain articulations. I took it in under warranty and said I think that strut is bad. Service said oh no there are to few miles, it is probably a bushing going bad. 3 trips later they replaced the strut and it is fix...

I do like Ford and have enjoyed a lot of their cars trucks and SUV, so I kept trying. There was some cracked trim and rattle noises in the AC vents in the overhead, so took it in again. This was a 2 times trip to get everything sorted and when I left the lot the car was rattling like it was a ratted out NYC taxi cab! I had no time to deal with this so I called the service manager and he promised to fix it the next day, so this was a 3 trip try. That afternoon I picked up my daughter and we discovered the back hatch was jammed and won't open. The shop closed the hatch on a blanket that basically tripped the power release system to not allow it to open. We managed to pull the blanket out and get the hatch to open. This was the issues with the rattle noise as the hatch was slammed shut on the blanket around the latch mechanism and was not closed so it was shacking and rattling. Unfortunately that was just the first bad sign. Apparently instead of using the trim plastic screws the shop used unpainted pop rivets on the trim and left the pieces in the jam and back area! Shop assured me this was the proper repair process per Ford, minus leaving all the trash and jamming the hatch.

We had a good run of no issues and where close to being out of the 3 year 36k mile warranty. Then it died on my wife in the middle of a busy 4 lane road. The transmission went into some failure and she managed to coast into a parking lot. 3 weeks later the rebuilt transmission was returned to us but the dealership wasn't sure they found the problem! Less then a month later it started to act up again, back in and again a week later nothing could be found. At this point an unhappy wife, a family car we didn't trust for road trips and a dealership we had no faith in sealed the deal. After barely 2 years I traded that POS in and bought her dream car, Dodge Challenger GT AWD in blue metallic optioned up the way she wanted. Ok so maybe she really wanted the Hellcat motor but the AWD is actually better for her needs in driving in bad weather and the snow we get here rarely.

I'm pretty sad as Ford is a favorite line of vehicles but until something changes in Huntsville I'll not be buying any new Ford cars, my Ram 1500 with over 100k miles and the 4 Dodge vehicles we have had have been the best running most reliable, I know shocking...
 

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Jan 13, 2009
391
J Boat 92 78 Sandusky
My first car in 1966 was a 1961 Fiat 1200 pinafarina cabriolet- $650 in 1966. Most expensive car I have ever owned to operate. Great looking car but pieces would fall off it as you drove down the road. Broke generator brackets every 3 months. Put in a new short block after 2 years. Drove it 1400 miles round trip to college and back. New muffler and clutch later I arrived home. Only redeeming factor was that chicks loved it. Fiat is an acronym for fix it again Tony. Never owned a Fiat again although did have a Vega for a short while. Easily the 2nd worst car. First brand new car was a 1972 Monte Carlo Custom. Absolutely great car. High performance 327. Corvette wheels, positraction, beefed up suspension. Bought it from Chevrolet zone manager who had it as a demo. My dad's golfing buddy. Price was $3200 and worth every penny. Wish I still had it. Drove it for 3 years, put 120,000 miles on it and sold it for $2,000.
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Jan 13, 2009
391
J Boat 92 78 Sandusky
The 72 Monte did not and were not an option. I replaced it with a 75 Monte Carlo which did have swivel bucket seats. They actually worked pretty well. The 72 was a much better car especially after I put Michelin radials on to replace the bias ply oem tires.
 
Aug 28, 2006
564
Bavaria 35E seattle
It's a toss up between the rust bucket Datsun B210 that my wife brought into the marriage or the diesel 240D Mercedes. I swear "D" stood for dog. It was dangerously underpowered.
I've borrowed a 240D wagon back in the day. What a dog for sure. The owners called it the "sewing machine." That's about what it sounded like.
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,702
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
My previous employer normally provided sluggish stately sedans for employee use. Then one year (1976/77) they provided me with a brand new Vega four speed. Wow, what a fun car to drive. Never had a problem with it, even as hard as I drove it. Brought back many fond 1966 Triumph TR-4A IRS days.

My worst, sort of a car, was restoring my mom’s 1923 Model T coupe engine and turning it into a homemade roadster. That was a real knuckle buster of a high school project. Dad never had many tools, so my tool kit consisted of an adjustable wrench and pliers, pipe wrench and a screwdriver to work with. Sheesh. Finally got it running, but the Navy called before finishing. Mom eventually sold it.
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
I was talking to a friend Saturday on the dock about Porsches. He is in a local Porsche club as well as a couple other sailing club members. Gotta have other interests right?
Anyway, I mentioned a 914 with a 6 cylinder that I almost bought about 30 years ago. The transmission would grind with every shift so I passed on it knowing how expensive they can be. He says today, a 6 cylinder 914 sells for well over $100k :yikes: