What has been your worst car?

[Hank Ellis]

One of my ex's had to have a diesel VW Rabbit. I don't know how much horsepower that thing had but my guess is around 12. It would not go up a gentle slope with the AC on. What a POS.

For a long while I had a '82 Datsun 210. No AC. Wasn't even an option. Not a good thing in south Louisiana summers. The 1.4L engine gave a rated 68hp. As such when it came time to cross a bridge over the Mississippi I had to plan ahead. At the proper time I floored it to reach its terminal velocity of 85mph then using the momentum to carry me over the top of the bridge. If I didn't do this it would slow to 45 or 50 and I risked becoming road pizza.

Another time a front was coming through with heavy winds. Drove 110 miles with it floored and the speedo indicated 55. Gutless car but served a purpose and never left me walking.

Ended up giving the car to my godson with the condition that he give it away when he was done with it. He did giving it to a single mom who was in dire need of a ride. She then sold it to a crackhead who put rims and some big boom boom bass speakers in it. I assume the speakers was to drown out the transmission noise. Saw that car around town for over a year after my godson got rid of it. Note to self: remove the company parking stickers prior to disposing of a vehicle.

[GrumpyOne]

Had several that qualified as very bad... 1972 Mercury Capri...bushing in the distributor was wore out, thought is was water in the gas...took me weeks to find out why sometimes it would run good, then hit a bump and it would skip like mad... every time you hit a bump, the distributor shaft would "wobble", causing the points to open up too wide. At an idle, it wouldn't do it....Steering box and the weird bushing system was wore out, changed the bushing, still had about 14" of play in the wheel. Damned near killed me one day, freaking tie rod broke going about 80 mph, car drifted right, I turned it it left, slid sideways and rolled 7 times. When it came to a stop resting on the driver side, the steering wheel was bent down to the steering column, the dual exhaust was sticking through a front fender well, and I climbed out through the windshield, with nothing more than a grass stain on my white shirt where my shoulder went through the driver side window when it flipped one time. No cuts, bruises, anything. One of my 9 lives gone.

1974 Plymouth Scamp... Literally bought from a little old lady from Pasadena. 36,000 miles. In one year, new radiator, near alternator, new windshield (constant leaks), new starter, new front end ( the damn tie rods again!), new exhaust, final straw was the transmission going....Never, NEVER, own another Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth again...

1997 Mitsubishi Montero Sport... Bought brand new...no troubles for 80,000 miles, then it started. Oil leaks, replace all the seals...new throttle body at 83,000, at 85,000 or so, new alternator, new alternator at 86,000, new alternator at 90,000, new alternator at 94,000, new alternator at 99,000. the last straw was my wife and I were on vacation in Virginia (our anniversary). Decided to go through the Cheasepeake bay/bridge tunnel on Thanksgiving day. Got through the tunnel, with her driving, when she asked "Why is the oil, air bag, engine light on?" I told her to pull over, turn the truck off, and start it back up. Guess what? New alternator time! So, on Thanksgiving day, no shops open, ended up buying 2 new batteries, a battery charger, and drove 350 miles, stopping and charging the batteries wherever we could "steal" power from, gas stations, libraries, construction sites, driving at 12:00am with no lights to save the batteries, trying to get back to our hotel. Did I mention we had our dogs with us at the time? FUN!

[Carlos]

In the late 90s, my ex had a 1980s Buick LeBaron that constantly broke down. Her dad liked to work on cars almost as much as he liked inevitable visits from his daughter while he fixed her car. He picked it out for her.

[kevin c]

'78 Chevette.

I could get out and beat that rusty hunk of tin and plastic up any upslope...

That sorry excuse for an auto even gave me grief after I sold it. Forgot to go to the DMV to get my name taken off the title. The new guy promptly wrecked it, and the injured party threatened to sue me as I still technically owned the car...

[Ohioguy]

My wife and I sold her 1999 Lincoln Navigator earlier this year. Paid $2000 used. Put that into it in repairs in less than 2 years. Last 2 months we had it, we put $2800 into it (though $550 was tires). Left her stranded twice during the time we had it.

My first car literally died. Within a two week period, my '76 Buick Skylark brakes went out, charging system stopped working, transmission started producing LOUD noises, and some sort of timing issue was occuring. When the brakes failed, I parked it, and eventually junked it.

My '06 Superduty might be the next worst vehicle. Frozen front calipers in July , and frozen axle shafts in October. It has never plowed snow, only off roading it has seen is a rough driveway. Probably been in 4wd a total of 5 hours. Less than 55k miles.

[driver8M3]

1994 corvette. bought it new...and it was a POS from day 1. i owned it 5.5 years and put about 80k miles on it.

-alternator replaced 3 times

-driver's window didn't close properly and rubbed some paint off the pillar

-antenna replaced twice

-rear defroster fried twice (entire window replaced the first time...second time they repaired it b/c a window wasn't available)

-water pump replaced

-center console door replaced twice

-carpet in the hatch area detached

-leaked in the rain (they could never fix that)

-exhaust manifold leak

-rear hatch molding fell off

-defective stereo, repaired twice...took 10 weeks to fix the 1st time...3 weeks the 2nd time

-etc, etc, etc

the "etc, etc, etc" is no exaggeration. in the 5.5 years i had that POS i had 40 separate problems that required dealer intervention. i can't come close to remembering them all. and as if having that many problems wasn't bad enough, every time i took the car in for repairs the service people were complete a-holes. i don't think i had a single pleasant experience with any of the 3 dealers that serviced the car.

when i finally got rid of the POS i sent a nice letter (along with all the service records) to the GM chairman (john smith)...via fedex...with delivery confirmation. i didn't even get a form letter back from him...

beautiful car...but it had way more problems than all the other cars i've ever owned...COMBINED.

[The Antichrome]

'94 Chevy S10 (Pokey The Wondertruck). I bought it new, took very good care of it.

Had every scheduled maint, and service, including numerous recalls.

It didnt take very good care of me.

Drove it 120,000 miles in 5 years...Everything that could go wrong, break, or wear out, did.

[Carlos]

1994 corvette. bought it new...and it was a POS from day 1.

when i finally got rid of the POS i sent a nice letter (along with all the service records) to the GM chairman (john smith)...via fedex...with delivery confirmation. i didn't even get a form letter back from him...

did you CC "Somebody that we don't need to talk about on the SHOOTING forum"? (nevermind. he would probably not reply either).

[mpeltier]

My worst was a 1972 Jeep CJ5, with a 390 v8. It was powerful and really cool looking. Every 4 months though it would break a universal joint and after it wacked the undercariege a few times would be seen spinning behind me down the highway. Thankfully it was 4whl drive as I would then put it in 4 wheel and drive home using the front wheels. It was also a very wet ride. Kept a rainsuit in the jeep because in south florida during the summer months I needed it on a daily basis. Rust was also a constant problem as were many small engine components, like a broken rocker arm stud thet could only be found at the time by ordering direct from chrysler and it took two weeks to get. (This was pre-internet, I can find anything like this now, yesterday.) It was not a total loss though as its the only vehicle i sold for much more than I paid for it.

[CSEMARTIN]

'87 Mazda RX-7 Turbo ( I still get mad thinking about this car)

'96 Chevy S-10 SS

'87 Chevy Camaro

[BSeevers]

My first car was a 1974 Ford Torino that my sister found for me. $300 from one of her co-workers. It was a green 2-door with a 351 Windsor engine. Not a bad car ... but nothing exceptional either. I drove it for about 3 months during the summer of my Junior / Senior year in high school ..... totaled it after a night of *adult* beverage consumption, and sold it a week later for $350 to a guy who wanted the motor for his boat! What a summer, and I made a $50 profit!

My absolute *worst* car was a 1980 something Plymouth Horizon. What a piece of crap! I would have gladly traded it for a Chevette.

How bout looking out in the driveway. If you shoot all the club matches next year there won't be any more parts or pieces to fall off

[Field]

my first car was a 94 pontiac grand am SE and i crashed it into a curb real hard one time, so that car was done. Now i got a 92 Oldsmobile Achieva V6 and im gonna drive the wheels off it going to matches.

[boz1911]

I didn't own it but we rented a Chevy Impala while in Vegas for 10 days. That car was an absolute turd. You can ask 45DV8 and Joecichlid. It had no acceleration and rode like a marshmellow. And GM wonders why they aren't selling cars..........