• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What's the worst car you ever owned?

#181
Rickengeezer said:
But 6 times in 22k miles? Hard to imagine I could be that unlucky with defective springs. Something was off in that car, and various dealers never seemed to address the problem--they just treated it as "normal wear" and put in new plates, which would last about 2 months.
Click to expand...

My guess is a tranny/engine misalignment caused excessive stress to the throw out bearing and springs. The clutches were probably just fine but the misalignment was beating then to death. Factory defect, very rare. Just an educated guess.
 
#183
bmc said:
Didn't the Camero come out in 67?
Click to expand...

No, but the Camaro did.

My friend's dad was a Chevy salesman - he let us into the warehouse where the first Camaro to hit town was stored, and we saw it before anyone else did. COOOL!

My family had tons of cars, and none were complete stinkers.

My sister's Gremlin couldn't be killed, but the windshield wipers (vacuum powered) died all the time. She drove it for years with a string tied to the left side wiper blade so that when the wipers went down and wouldn't come up, she could pull them up with the string.

My parents briefly had a 1976 or 77 Ford Granada (not the European model, which was quite different). It was a cheap car, completely underwhelming in every aspect, but it did run OK.

I've never had a car I couldn't get to work well as long as I spent some time taking care of it.
 
#184
Pilgrim said:
My sister's Gremlin couldn't be killed, but the windshield wipers (vacuum powered) died all the time. She drove it for years with a string tied to the left side wiper blade so that when the wipers went down and wouldn't come up, she could pull them up with the string.
Click to expand...

That was a bizarre thing about AMC, the vacuum driven windshield wipers. If the driver ever had to step on the gas hard you could see them slow down. My family had a couple Rambler/AMC cars when I was a kid.
 
#187
Rickengeezer said:
That same attitude cost GM any business from me for the rest of my life. I've had numerous other manual transmission vehicles and I average at least 60-75k per clutch. Furthermore, the initial clutch failure (at 2,500 miles) occurred as follows: (1) depress clutch, (2) feel something inside the clutch mechanism "snap", (3) smell clutch burn to cinders. I would challenge your son to attempt to replicate that with "operator error". The clutch assembly was clearly defective and was never properly repaired--it continued to burn through replacements at about one every 2,500 miles. I could probably ride the clutch in my Mazda continuously for 2,500 miles and not put a dent in it.

Maybe by '88 they worked the kinks out of the clutch assembly, but '86 was the first year of the V6 and I have a strong hunch that they simply used the same materials from the 4-cylinder version, which wasn't up to the job. Regardless, if your son drives a Fiero he has my condolences. He just better hope he never purchases my old one.
Click to expand...

Maybe he did buy his last 87 GT from you. It came from central Texas with a burned up clutch. I put one in and four years later it's fine.

Even with your other cars only averaging 60k to 75k on a clutch you're doing something wrong.
 
#188
head gasket blown(before 60k), manifold crack, car wouldn't go into reverse with out a whiplash effect

i should have know there would be issues when my parents gave it to me and didn't even want 500 bucks for it after babying it for 6 years (my father is an aircraft inspector so he keeps his cars in showroom condition)
 
#190
mpdd said:
head gasket blown(before 60k), manifold crack, car wouldn't go into reverse with out a whiplash effect

i should have know there would be issues when my parents gave it to me and didn't even want 500 bucks for it after babying it for 6 years (my father is an aircraft inspector so he keeps his cars in showroom condition)
Click to expand...
I believe it all, but Gawdang they're adorable.

51941.jpg



;)
 
#191
1997 Saturn SL1. Bought it used with less than 60,000 km on it. Three months afterwards, the front part of the frame snapped in two because of rust: should have taken the clue, but decided to replace the part because the dealer agreed to split the cost with me. Changed the wiper motors about three times in two years. Also, it ate wheel bearings like they were breakfast cereal. Calipers would just decide to stick, needing replacing.

The damn thing would also just decide not to start or rev wildly on its own due to the crappily deisgned oem thermostats (which I learned later). The POS automatic transmission gave up the ghost at 100,000km. Reluctantly had it repaired. Every dash instrument stopped working after the repair, but I did not care.

Less than 5,000km later (estimated, odometer had stopped working), the head gasket cracked and cooling fluid got into the engine basically destroying it.

Sold it to the scrapyard for 200$. I was so happy to see Saturn go under I almost cried. Now drive a 2004 Toyota Echo and apart from a few minor repairs, it's still going strong at 200,000 km and my firlfriend's 2001 Camry with 300,000 km on it is even MORE reliable.

My '82 Yamaha Virago was even worse than the Saturn though. To call it a piece of crap is insulting to crap.
 
#192
Mike N said:
Maybe he did buy his last 87 GT from you. It came from central Texas with a burned up clutch. I put one in and four years later it's fine.

Even with your other cars only averaging 60k to 75k on a clutch you're doing something wrong.
Click to expand...

Mine was an '86 and was last seen in Tennessee. My last clutch lasted 14 years and I sold it with the original one still in there. Maybe 90k miles.

It's nice that he and you like Fieros. You won't have any competition from me for them. Hell, I had a Triumph that was more reliable than the Fiero, which isn't saying much for the Triumph. But at least it's clutch lasted longer than an oil change.
 
#193
yep the 97 saturn i had experienced electrical problems, a cracked manifold, and trim randomly popping off, this was what drove me back to toyota with the tundra, which lost a fuel control valve, but that's minor for 7 years of ownership and it's only problem ever
 
#194
Rickengeezer said:
Mine was an '86 and was last seen in Tennessee. My last clutch lasted 14 years and I sold it with the original one still in there. Maybe 90k miles.

It's nice that he and you like Fieros. You won't have any competition from me for them. Hell, I had a Triumph that was more reliable than the Fiero, which isn't saying much for the Triumph. But at least it's clutch lasted longer than an oil change.
Click to expand...

I actually enjoy the Fiero. They're neat cars for a mid engine two seat $hitbox. I drove his 87 GT from Western NY to Dallas and back averaging 28 mpg, hauling a$$ with the A/C blowing ice cold the whole way. I also picked it up from Fort Knox and cruised it back to WNY when he was deployed overseas. We sold that one two years ago for far more than we paid for it and he found his 88 GT, which he still owns.
 
#196
Pilgrim said:
I'd like to drive a V6 Fiero. I thought they were pretty cool. The drivetrain was basically the front end of a FWD GM X-body turned 180 degrees and installed in the back end.
Click to expand...

Rumor had it that by 1988 they had worked some of the kinks out of the V6, but by then it was too late to combat the perception of the Fiero as an unreliable POS, and Pontiac gave up on it. I still think that the problems with the '86 drivetrain that I had was that GM basically stuck together existing engine/transmission/clutch assemblies that were never designed to go together or to be used in that configuration.

Having had many different sports cars over the years, I wouldn't put the Fiero among the more fun to drive. It had some pep, and I seem to remember that it sounded pretty cool, but it didn't handle all that well relative most other 2-seaters I've had.
 
#197
uOpt said:
A 1984(?) Ford Escort convertible.

First the transmission broke, in a way that it blocked the front wheels. Not pleased.

Later the timing belt broke although it had been changed on schedule.

My unreliable VW Santana (Passat sedan in Europe) would normally hold the title but it didn't commit complete suicide and didn't try to kill me.
Click to expand...

reminds me of my 98 Chevy Malibu: the break line broke, and one of the front shocks collapsed. Both happened in the driveway, so it gets points for that. The last time I floored it, the crankshaft broke off.
 
#198
Heathen said:
I'm surprised anyone else has had the Trabant experience. My Grandad has one from the early 80s, and you still see them around in the former Soviet bloc. Of course, that's disregarding the shells of many a former Trabant currently rusting peacefully in my Grandad's back yard :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
the shells might not be rusting, they were made out of some sort of composite material, weren't they?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back