# What's the worst car you've ever owned and why?



## dicor (Dec 5, 2007)

What is the worst car you've ever owned and what made it the worst?


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## phantombmw (Nov 6, 2007)

honestly I would say the 2006 Z4 3.0i that I had. It was a blast to drive, but it rattled and the general build quality left a lot to be desired. 

For example: Part of the rear view mirror actually fell off while I was driving and I didn't even hit a bump

a piece or cover near the top when you put it down fell off

the tire warning light seemed to always be on

it creaked and rattled a LOT. 

Again, great car to drive, would never ever ever want to drive one everyday of the week.


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## dboy11 (Mar 6, 2006)

1975 Fiat Spider....fun ass car to drive when you could get it running and keep it that way....only car where the 18 wheel trucks could beat me up hills hauling 80k...I learned a lot about working on cars back in those days....sold that for my first BMW 79" 320i.....one of the best cars I've had 380K


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## Alpha (May 22, 2007)

*Renault Alliance*

It had comfy pedestal seats but spent more time in the shop then on the road.....Real piece of ................


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## Cliff (Apr 19, 2002)

Toss-up between a 1971 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe and a 1972 Saab 99E. 

In the case of the former, I bought the car used in 1975 and it was inexpertly maintained by the previous owner. The cam tower studs were over-torqued, causing the car to hemorrhage oil. The shop I was using was unable to fix that problem with keys or heli-coils. Then I failed to replace the timing belt soon enough, and I bent some valves. Finally, the car caught fire a week after I sold it when the fuel hose came loose from the carburetor and presumably sprewed gas all over the place. The new owner's father was pretty pissed off at me.

Saab's engines used to be made by Triumph. The head gasket went out. Apparently the motor's head bonded with the block through some sort of metalurgic reaction. The head had to be pried away from the block, the studs cut, and both surfaces machined and the studs reset prior to reassembly. That was about $1000 worth of work in the mid-70's. My Saab also had a 3 piece crankshaft pulley, ostensibly for sound deadening. There was a metal hub, a rubber grommet, and a metal ring. The rubber grommet deteriorated, requiring the replacement of the pulley. That required pulling the engine. Another pricey repair.

Today's cars are absolutely wonderful...


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## dicor (Dec 5, 2007)

1985 Chevy Malibu it had more vertical mileage on it from going up and down on a lift than horizontal mileage. :yikes:


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## iversonm (Nov 15, 2004)

dboy11 said:


> 1975 Fiat Spider....fun ass car to drive when you could get it running and keep it that way....only car where the 18 wheel trucks could beat me up hills hauling 80k...I learned a lot about working on cars back in those days....sold that for my first BMW 79" 320i.....one of the best cars I've had 380K


1995 Dodge Stratus. You changed the transmission every time you changed the oil.

I've owned 13 cars in my lifetime, whose makes included Ford, Mercury, Chevrolet, Honda, and BMW.

That car was in the shop more than the other 12 combined. Fortunately, I had bought an extended warranty, and avoided paying for its failings. I happily traded it in 2000 miles before the warranty expired.


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## ed325i (Dec 20, 2001)

1982 Dodge Daytona Turbo. Paint peeled off. Clutch cable broke multiple times. Engine would stall when coming to a stop unless I tap the throttle. Power steering rack broke.


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## TXE39 (Oct 2, 2003)

1992 Saab 9000 Turbo. Everything was fine until about 95,000 miles when in one month's time the A/C stopped working, the heater core blew, the direct ignition system broke and the 2nd gear synchro in the 5-speed transmission went. The bill to fix everything was about three times how much the car was worth. I sold it on ebay for parts.


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## BmW745On19's (Aug 12, 2005)

Plymouth Prowlers.

I hate them. They make a lot of money, but they have such crappy build quality, drive quality, and ride quality. It's crazy that people will drop $35k on one. Sure, they look cool, but that's about it. The interior sucks, the engine sucks, the transmission sucks, the suspension sucks, the whole car is a blind spot, its impossible to get in and out of the car without tripping and falling. The only reason to buy the car is the look.


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## brkf (May 26, 2003)

1983 Ford Exp

I replaced every damn hose, chain, belt and pump in that car. Every weekend seemed to require some new project. My first car at 16 (1990) and I have not purchased an American since.


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## cwsqbm (Aug 4, 2004)

For me, its a toss up between an '83 Dodge Omni or an '80 Buick Skylark. The Omni's reliability was worse, but the Buick was even less fun to drive. Both ended up getting taken to the junk yard with only 90k on them. My '05 Dakota that I'm getting back from my mom this weekend is currently in third on the list, with definite possibility of moving up. However, I'm dumping it in the next couple months before the warranty expires - its spent way too long in the shop already.


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## SkyDog (Aug 1, 2007)

My first vehicle -- a '68 VW Bus. Nothing against VW's in general, but this particular one's best days were a few decades behind it. It had been serving as a tool shed for about a decade at my girlfriend's dad's. I really needed a vehicle and had zero money, so he told me I could have it if we could get it running. Well, we got it running, but in hindsight, maybe it wasn't such a good idea:

* It was a total rustbucket. There were huge holes everywhere. Sitting in the driver's seat, I could look down and watch the road go by. If I bent forward, I could look under the driver's seat to see the front tire. The battery almost fell through its mount and onto the ground. The sliding door fell off more than a few times.

* It needed an EGR valve to pass the visual portion of the smog inspection. We couldn't find one, but found a part from a Maytag clothes washer that looked pretty darn similar. We screwed the thing to the fan housing and ran some dummy hoses, and it passed smog!

* With the battery mount failing, I needed to reposition the battery. Well, in its new location, it had a tendency to pinch the main positive wire. When the insulation gave way, it arc-welded itself to the surrounding sheet metal.

* The cabin heater uses some sort of heat exchanger to collect heat from the exhaust pipe. Well, that exchanger had long since rusted through, so turning on the heat sent a whole lot of exhaust through the dashboard vents. If it wasn't for the ventilation in the cabin from all the rust holes, I might've died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

* An oil leak caught fire once or twice. As the cloud of smoke rose from the bus on I-680, some genius called '1-800-EXHAUST' to report my van as a polluter. When the CA Air Resources Board (or whatever agency) sent a letter asking for an explanation, the response was pretty easy: "I don't deny the vehicle was smoking and polluting. IT WAS ON FIRE!"

* Because of the horribly worn steering components, there was well over 90 degrees of play in the steering wheel. This, combined with horrible aerodynamics and bad tires, made for some handling adventures. It was difficult to keep the thing in one lane if there was a good wind. I think I made a few involuntary lane changes on the Bay Bridge and Altamont Pass.

Even with all the problems, I kinda miss the old thing. I'd love to have a bus in decent shape. It was simple mechanically, fun to work on, and even fun to drive in its own way. The huge amount of interior space came in handy so many times, and for more than just giving me a place to sleep when I broke down!


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## dicor (Dec 5, 2007)

SKYDOG if we were giving trophies I think your VW would take best of show.!!


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## LmtdSlip (May 28, 2003)

My 85 Toyota Celica GT-S. It was fast but had a million problems. Really too many to list.


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## Rich_Jenkins (Jul 12, 2003)

cwsqbm said:


> For me, its a toss up between an '83 Dodge Omni or an '80 Buick Skylark. The Omni's reliability was worse, but the Buick was even less fun to drive. Both ended up getting taken to the junk yard with only 90k on them. My '05 Dakota that I'm getting back from my mom this weekend is currently in third on the list, with definite possibility of moving up. However, I'm dumping it in the next couple months before the warranty expires - its spent way too long in the shop already.


Hahahahahaha...1981 Plymouth Horizon (twin to Omni) here...Argh, I'd almost forgotten about that car.

Nasty, itchy upholstery, gear shift that vibrated more than the bed in a two-dollar motel, pot-metal cast door handles that came off in your hand.

It ejected an oil line fitting one day on Rt-29 North of Charlottesville, and the then-future Mrs. Wingspan had to drive down to pick me up in her '70 Camaro (Man - we sold it shortly after we got married - I wish we'd kept it - it was pristine and unmolested  )


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## wdgiles (Jul 9, 2007)

2000 VW GTI VR6... need I say more? Well, ok I will. Lets start with 6 count 'em SIX airbags replaced due to faulty electronics. Same airbags were replaced multiple times, I think the only one that never failed was the passenger side seat airbag. Don't even get me started on how many times the drivers seat was "serviced" to make the backrest actually latch and stay in a vertical position. When it wasn't working, the whole seat would move up and forward like I was letting someone into the back of the car. Pretty scary until I got used to the feeling. Last VW I'll ever consider.


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## EdCT (Mar 14, 2002)

Not mine, but my mom's 1980 Buick Skylark - it was the first of a new generation of GM front drivers built on, what I think they called an X platform (Chevy had a version called the Citation, Olds and Pontiac had variants, too).

This car arrived with almost every body panel misaligned, lots of exposed screw heads and ultra-thin paint over entire areas.

Worse yet, the rear axle was skewed (it was a beam axle, so its misalignment made the rear of the car track a bit to one side).

Once all these build issues were sorted out, it was actually a pretty competent car, my mom got almost 11 years out of it with no real problems. As an entry into a market to battle the Japanese and Euro makes, it was a disaster, however and Ford creamed GM when the Taurus bowed in 1985.

Ed


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## Hawkeye16 (Aug 1, 2007)

I have owned a 1991 Ford Mustang, 2002 Honda Civic EX and 2007 Z4 3.0si

Quality: Honda > Ford > BMW

Speed: BMW > Honda > Ford

Fun: BMW > Ford (RWD ftw) > Honda


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## Penforhire (Dec 17, 2005)

Easy for me -- the 1970 VW fastback (Type III) I drove in college.

Why? Let me count the ways.

Top speed 84 MPH according to the manual. Verified after about three miles at WOT on level ground. And the suspension felt like it was about to explode.

A hubcap flew off into the night, never to be seen again, during vigorous driving.

And the killer flaw? I had to spin the fuses to get it to start each and every time I got in it. It could not cope with corrosion from the ocean air near San Francisco. Both the box terminals AND the fuse ends quickly turned to crap.

I was so glad when some old guy ran a stop sign and crushed me (without injury).


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## Andrew*Debbie (Jul 2, 2004)

dicor said:


> What is the worst car you've ever owned and what made it the worst?


1982 Renault Turbo Fuego.

Amazingly bad materials. Terrible workmanship.

When I got the car home I found the spare tire compartment full of fasteners. Those were parts that should have gone on my car, but they just dumped them in there.

Here is a sample of some of the items that failed somewhere between year 2 and 3. Warranty was 12 months.

Transmission failed at 13 months. Renault wouldn't pay for any of the repair.

Brake master cylinder. Seals failed. No rebuild kit. I had to wait over a month for the part to come in. Once again no help at all from Renault.

Tail lights multiple times. Electrical contracts burned through. had to get entire assembly. Several times the wrong part was in the box. I often went without working tail lights.

Window cranks broke. Multiple times. Eventually I gave up and used ViseGrips. This is on a 2 year old car.

Fuse box printed circuit board burned up causing the headlights to go out unexpectedly. Traces melted.

Fan belt. I was stranded on I5 north of Oceanside very late at night. That was before I (or just about anyone) had a cell.

Numerous small problems. To many to recall.

Sometimes the car would just stop running. Neither I nor the Renault dealer was ever able to figure out why. By this point I rarely drove it far from home, so I usually just walked back.

Water in the oil around 20,000 miles.

As soon as the loan was paid off, I traded the car even for my old 1978 Fiat 131 back. The Fiat was a much better car that I kept for many years.


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## Bmwcat (Jul 30, 2004)

SkyDog said:


> My first vehicle -- a '68 VW Bus. * *
> \
> 
> It needed an EGR valve to pass the visual portion of the smog inspection. We couldn't find one, but found a part from a Maytag clothes washer that looked pretty darn similar. We screwed the thing to the fan housing and ran some dummy hoses, and it passed smog!
> ...


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## Steven335xi (Jan 14, 2008)

1985 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport.

The mid 80’s were truly a dark time for domestic automobiles. My collage roommates suffered similar fates driving cars with names like “Pitiful Pete Plymouth” a totally miserable Plymouth Fury that despite having a 318 cubic inch V8…, it was routinely passed by 1.6L Ford Pintos on highway on ramps.

My POS Chevy Eurosport (I.E. Flat Black trim), had probably the worst v6 to ever come out of Detroit. The dreaded, enimic 2.8L 60º L44 that made a whopping 140 HP.

That lousy engine had the misfortune of being coupled to equally miserable THM125, 3-Speed automatic transmission. You might ask how I would remember such obscure numbers like L44 and THM125…, hundreds of trips to the auto parts counter leaves a lasting impression on you.

Everything on this car was a wear item. If it could break, it did. Every light, every handle, every switch…everything. I had to replace darn near everything that bolts on to the motor, including the A/C mounting brackets, twice. Two transmissions, head gaskets, rear seals, belts, bolts, and every stinking hose under the hood.

You dare not go on a long trip, with out a bevy of spare parts in the trunk. I routinely carried spark plugs, hose clamps, fan belts, duct tape, motor oil and a gallon of water.

The final straw was the spot welds on the engine cross member failed, and the engine fell out of the car in 1990. Only the drive axels and exhaust pipe, kept it from hitting the ground. After the dealer told me it was my problem, I took it to a muffler shop, jacked the engine back up and had them weld the cross member.

I quickly traded it in on a new Toyota Camry. Dealer gave me $500 for it, and I felt like I was ripping him off.


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## GBimmer (Mar 26, 2008)

1994 3.8L Mercury Sable. Biggest POS ever made: blew headgaskets every 60k, window motors failed, the driver's side mirror fell out when I looked at it one day (really insulting...), AC system died three times, ect, ect. 

I'm grateful that we can afford better now!


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## dubis (Dec 30, 2006)

'65 Ford Galaxie with a big V8. Had to drop the engine to change the rear spark plugs.


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## Mike_Check (Feb 7, 2007)

1986 BMW 325e. :eeps:


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## davec_ias (Oct 23, 2007)

GBauer said:


> 1994 3.8L Mercury Sable. Biggest POS ever made: blew headgaskets every 60k, window motors failed, the driver's side mirror fell out when I looked at it one day (really insulting...), AC system died three times, ect, ect.
> 
> I'm grateful that we can afford better now!


Ford wound up recalling that 3.8 for the headgasket issue. Happened to me too on a Cougar, unfortunately I missed the recall as well.


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## Stevej2001 (Jan 26, 2008)

*Fiat, Volvo*

My worst car was a 74 Fiat 128. I bought it because it'd been recommended by Consumer Reports. The next year, I canceled my subscription. My monthly repair costs exceeded the monthly loan payments on the car I bought as a replacement, a '80 Accord.

As for our 70 Volvo 740 turbo, it taught me the basis of the Volvo reputation for safety: It's hard to be killed in a car that won't start.


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## GBimmer (Mar 26, 2008)

davec_ias said:


> Ford wound up recalling that 3.8 for the headgasket issue. Happened to me too on a Cougar, unfortunately I missed the recall as well.


I got my money back for the first replacement. I dumped the car as soon as I started noticing coolant disappearing so I never got to the second!


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## ttgxc (Dec 22, 2006)

Stevej2001 said:


> As for our 70 Volvo 740 turbo, it taught me the basis of the Volvo reputation for safety: It's hard to be killed in a car that won't start.


I had (sitting in a garage for the last 3 years) a 1991 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon. It had served our family since 1995 with very excellent reliability and minimal maintenance. I got before I went to college with 199k miles in 2001. I ended up with 227k when I parked it half way through my senior when I got a new car. Those 28k miles had a lot of problems and a lot of money was put into it, but it did have a lot miles and was pretty old. I parked it and it was running well too! I plan to do a Ford 5.0 V8 conversion and also do an exterior euro conversion sometime down the road. :eeps:


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## hockeynut (Apr 14, 2002)

elbert said:


> You just :aty: yourself. In the same thread.
> http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2908040&postcount=21
> 
> At least you included a picture this time.
> ...


<deja-vu>
The worst car I've ever owned was an '87 Dodge Daytona...
</deja-vu>


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## optikal (Sep 5, 2004)

My 2000 BMW 328Ci. Loved the color (titanium), and it was loaded with every possible option (except nav).

In the four *4* months that I owned it, the sunroof failed, the weather seals on the rear flap windows cracked / separated, the interior mouse-fur liners separated from the rubber and fell down, the gear knob would no longer seat to the stick, the cam inlet sensor failed, and I know I'm missing something but I can't recall right now. When the window cracked for no apparent reason and I saw the bill at almost $1k (didn't realize I could use my insurance at the time), I traded it in.

That aside, my 2004 330i ZHP is my favorite car so far, and I've had a decent number of cars over the years 

In Chronological Order:
1972 Ford Pinto Wagon
1992 Mazda MX-3 GS
1992 Nissan 240SX SE
2000 BMW 328Ci
2004 Mazda RX-8 Grand Touring
- 1995 Acura Integra (2nd car)
2006 Honda S2000
2000 BMW 330i ZHP


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## Ice350 (Oct 2, 2007)

Worst car I ever owned was my first car....a 69 Plymouth Satellite. In case you're too young to remember, it looked just like the SuperBee. If you still don't know I can't help you. Hehe.
Anyway, the car had something broken almost every month. I learned how to fix everything because everything eventually needed repair.
I still loved her, she was my first and she looked beautiful. I kept it in showroom condition. It was passed on to my brother and he let it die.
Lot's of fond memories but lot's of breakdowns too.


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## Tesla (Apr 17, 2008)

I'd probably have to say my 2000 V6 Mustang. The build quality was overall terrible and the seats left your ass numb after a long journey. Oh, and the tranny died at 60,000 miles.


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## tlm999 (Feb 8, 2006)

Another vote for a Fiat. Mine was a 1970 124 Spyder which I purchased new. I traded it for a Porsche 911T on the day that it's two year warranty expired. By that time I don't believe there was an original part left on the car. I should have gotten wise the day drove home from the dealer. Turned out that I had a faulty fuel gauge and a leaking fuel tank, not a good combination. I found this out about 30 miles from the dealer. I drove one whole winter in upstate NY with no heater because the factory was on strike and parts were unavailable. The wipers were manually operated frequently by reaching out the drivers window. The day I turned it over to the Porsche dealer, I had to stop every few miles to get the oil pump come up to speed. This was on my second engine as the first had overheated and failed for the same reason. It had an electrical system that Lucas would admire. Switches frequently failed and the fresh air fan switch melted twice. Every time I blew the horn a fuse would burn out. The headlamp stalk had to be manually held in position or the lights would turn off. Front end alignments would last about 500 miles and as a result tires would be good for 8-10000 miles. It was a great fun car to drive but, unfortunately I didn't get to do that often enough.

Second worst car, a 1976 Triumph Spitfire which I bought just to restore as a hobby. It was fun to fix up and fun to drive provided it wasn't important that I reach my destination.


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## keithsimp (Nov 18, 2007)

BLT said:


> 1974 Chevy Vega, need I say more. Today someone offered me a FIAT 124 spyder for free, could it be replace the Vega on my list?


+1 on the '74 Vega. Bought one brand new never made it past 20K. Warped heads + quart of oil every week. At 12K engine just quit and of course it was out of warranty. GMC said they were doing me a big favor replacing the engine, but I had to pay $500 for a new cam shaft. They claimed I ruined the cam shaft by not keeping oil at the correct level. I argued with them and they threatened to drag my car out into the street and dump it there with my old engine in a hundred pieces. Being young and naive I backed off and paid them for a new cam shaft to get the new engine. 6 months later the new engine started overheating. GMC only gave me a 90 day warranty with the new engine. Would not go over 150 miles at a time. Finally dumped it for what I could at just under 20K miles. Never been back to GMC.

I'm sure there are many stories similar to mine.


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## tlm999 (Feb 8, 2006)

BLT said:


> 1974 Chevy Vega, need I say more. Today someone offered me a FIAT 124 spyder for free, could it be replace the Vega on my list?


Fiat Spyder for free. Overpriced! My brother had one of the first Vegas. I used to borrow it when my Fiat wasn't running. The Fiat was better looking, more comfortable, better handling, better acceleration and more fun to drive; when it worked.


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## Alpine300ZHP (Jan 31, 2007)

*Mine like wingspan...1991 Dodge Shadow Turbo*

Royal POS. The car was my first and it was a love/hate relationship beyond belief. It blew the manual tranny at 5000 miles...went in for something or another every couple of months and by 70k the valves were tapping. It was my first and last american car. Prime example of how bad automotive engineering can be.


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