What worst car have you bought ever?

[henrythomas]

Hi to all,

I bought this one. Just look at this.



‘It’s a fun-size Audi TT! Only without the fun! In fact it was dreadful to drive – utterly gutless. But the worst thing was you felt such a prat driving it. When I went to drive it, I really did feel like Noddy and Big Ears.

[vtec-e]

I drove one of those and thought it was too small. My head was bent over so i could see out the window. Only when the roof was folded in did i have the room to sit upright, but my view was blocked with the top of the windscreen frame!
I'd love to drive one with a scangauge though!

ollie

[shovel]

The worst car I ever bought was a 1984 Accord. Great condition, terrible car. I don't know what people see in Hondas from that era

[some_other_dave]

My family loved our 80, 81, and 82 Accords. Drove them for over 100K miles each. The only real problems were that the 82 started having carburetor issues, and the carbs on those cars are insanely difficult to rebuild.

The worst car I've ever owned is also my favorite car: My 914. Go fig.

-soD

[vtec-e]

My worst was a peugeot 206. I went through:
*anti roll link
*top gear replaced
*Brake calipers warped so the pads were not square to the disc. This wore my discs unevenly.
*Fan seized, almost toasted my engine
*Back axle suspension bearing rusted apart, whole back axle replaced
*Gearbox failed
*Chassis flexed so the tailgate rattled a lot. Reminded me of a silage trailer!
*Cowl over the speedo didn't fit properly and fell off many times.
*The jack broke, while the car was off the ground. The threads in it were plastic.....for lifting a car.
*Front wheel bearing failed, but not noticeably. So it overheated and broke the driveshaft going through it as i was braking into a corner. Limped home with the caliper holding the front wheel on.

All in all a very bad purchase! All this happened outside the 1 year warranty and within the remaining 3 years i had it. Mind you, if i had it now it would have lasted a lot longer due to the gentle nature of my hypermiling!

ollie

[Piwoslaw]

My Dad-in-law has had most of those problems in his Peugeot 206. The front wheel bearing may have been from hitting a pothole going fast (of course, with his driving, if the car is moving, then it's going fast). The first thing that broke was some engine sensor, less than a week after buying it. The dealer's service station said that the car had been produced for the Spanish market, so wasn't prepared for the Polish climate - a bunch of BS if you ask me, since when I checked the car's details (by VIN) in the database, it turned out that it was built for the Czech market.
Another problem with the 206 was the driver's seat. Some springs or reinforcement bars would pop out of place, inflicting an awkward position which caused back and butt pain.
The 1.1 liter engine got pushed pretty hard: many short trips, almost always over the speed limit, and always in low gear - he'd often be doing 70-80 km/h in third, when I'd already be in fifth. The engine would WAIL, but his hearing is bad enough to not let him notice. I'm surprised the engine hasn't fallen apart.
With that amount of bullying over 7 years I guess the car isn't that bad...

[cfg83]

henrythomas -

Welcome to EM!

The worst car I ever got was one I don't even count in my owner list (lasted maybe 1000 miles). After I crunched my Dad's VW Karmann Ghia, the insurance totalled the car. I should have just kept it and fixed it, but I didn't know what I was doing back then. I was desperate for another Ghia, so I bought a terrible bondoed one. It was "lowered" in the front with a bag of cement that was soaked in water. I transferred my "4 chrome-cone exhaust tipped" header onto it. When I revved it really high, it spewed fuel into the exhaust and caused a fiery BANG out of the exhaust tips. That was actually the only fun part of it. One night in Hollywood we came back to it and found the (el cheapo) stereo had been stolen. As I was driving it home South on the 110, the lights went out and it suddenly went quiet. All we could hear was the wind. The engine had caught fire. I coasted over to the side without any problem (luckily traffic was light, or maybe the fire *announced* my empending doom and people avoided me). We got out of the car and watched it melt.

Ironically, the fire was a good thing. That Ghia was a disaster. Insurance paid out the price I paid for it, which I gave to my Dad. From that point forward I just drove my sister's hand-me-down Datsun B210 Honeybee.

CarloSW2

[bgd73]

Originally Posted by shovel

The worst car I ever bought was a 1984 Accord. Great condition, terrible car. I don't know what people see in Hondas from that era

me either. number one sighting in an accident was the honda.
the tt, is that 1.8?
I dove into economical in the 1980s too, there is no good one, except for the subarus. That needs a mechanic above a monkeys butt....so I became my own "genius". I am a real einstein for fixing one of those...I liked it so much I still drive one.

the audi interests me for the engine mountings..may as well mention the other 1980s winner for doing this too, the saab. there is many many more losers than winner. Audi is a frustrating teaser wannabe winner.Ideas are good..but something from fairyland of fantasy owns it from day one...

my answer in summary: they all suck, and if they don't; they sure as heck need something.

[brucey]

1985 Renault Alliance Convertible.

Without Question. Awful awful awful car.

The tire fell off at one point.
The rim fell off at a separate point.
The brakes always shook.
The engine leaked oil
The interior was similar to that of a go cart
We had to hot wire the reverse lights together. Putting the transmission in reverse would never get the lights to come on. You could actually drive down the road.
Impossible to find parts for.
Multiple steering linkage failures.

Still though. Because it was a convertible. It was quite fun. And with a tiny engine got good enough gas mileage to go for a cruise whenever you wanted. A nice thing when you're poor!

[Johnny Mullet]

Lemme tell you all a story..................

I was one of those mullet sportin' Mopar guys that would speak of nothing except Mopar Performance. My dream vehicle was the newly designed (back in the day) 1994-2004 Dodge Ram pickup. I never in my life financed a vehicle until I spotted my dream truck at a local dealer. It was a sweet 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 extended cab equipped with a roll bar, brush gaurd, fog lamps, KC Hi lights, and Buckshot Mudder tires. It looked identical to the "Walker Texas Ranger" Dodge Ram. I financed this truck and paid $500.00 per month just to own it.

The trans went out and I replaced it with a used one.
The front wheel bearings went bad and I replaced them.
3 out of the four tie rod bars went bad and I replaced them.
The track bar went bad and I replaced it.
The trans went bad again after 13 months and was out of warranty. I replaced it again with another used trans.
The rear end burnt up and I replaced it with an Auburn Gear diff.
The intake manifold started leaking and I repaired that.
The A/C compressor went bad and I replaced that.
The PCM went bad making the alternator not charge and I had a dealer fix that after replacing the alternator for no reason.
The Hood flew open on me at 65 MPH breaking my windshield and flocking up the hood and mounts. I learned later there was a recall on this.
The trans went out again................

Screw this truck! It had less than 100,000 miles and all these problems. This truck ruined my credit because I was so pissed off I let the bank repo this pile of crap and I never looked back. I replaced it with a 1995 Chevy 4X4 that I beat the crap out of and never had an issue with it for 5 years.

I have since denounced Chrysler and all it's products. Even the sighting of a Hemi Cuda or a sweet Charger makes my stomach churn anymore. I have never spent so much money on a vehicle until I got my "Dream Truck" and if throwing money out the window is a dream, then wake me the hell up!