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What's the worst car you ever owned?
- Thread starter xXxTWO FACExXx
- Start date
Worst car was a '71 Oldsmobile Delta 88.
The engine (a straight-6) ran well, but the transmission was a TWO speed.
And thats pretty much how you had to drive it. 28 mph or 61 mph. wasnt much in between.
Imagine a 5 speed tranny with no 1st, 3rd or 5th gear. Yah, kinda like that.
How that thing ever made it past the engineer's desk is beyond me.
and for the record: I didnt buy it... it was a hand-me-down from an older cousin. Hey, ya dont look a gift horse in the mouth, right?
The engine (a straight-6) ran well, but the transmission was a TWO speed.
And thats pretty much how you had to drive it. 28 mph or 61 mph. wasnt much in between.
Imagine a 5 speed tranny with no 1st, 3rd or 5th gear. Yah, kinda like that.
How that thing ever made it past the engineer's desk is beyond me.
and for the record: I didnt buy it... it was a hand-me-down from an older cousin. Hey, ya dont look a gift horse in the mouth, right?
Most TBers are American and most cars sold in America are American. Odds are, most "worst" cars in this thread are going to be American.
I had a two speed auto also!
On '62 Ford Galaxie with a 351 V8 and eighteen zillion miles. That was the only bad part of that car though, that two speed transmission. It was a super reliable battle wagon, and only cost $150.
On '62 Ford Galaxie with a 351 V8 and eighteen zillion miles. That was the only bad part of that car though, that two speed transmission. It was a super reliable battle wagon, and only cost $150.
Kinda. They were supposed to be made of something very similar to particle board (compressed, shredded stuff and some kind of glue). When I was stationed in England, we used to see them when we had deployments to Germany, shortly after Reunification. They were finally banned from the Autobahn, because they were way,way too slow. And, the cloud of 2-stroke oil smoke that followed a Trabant around was unacceptable. We scared the hell out of a Trabant owner once, when our convoy pulled into a rest stop. He had the hood up, trying to figure out why it quit running; next thing he knew, he was surrounded by The Enemy!. A couple of our mechanics had it fixed in a few minutes; he was grateful, but I'm sure we scared him to death, after hearing how terrible Amerikans were all his life. We spent the rest of the drive laughing about what a piece of crud a Trabant was, and wondering if the poor guy was going to make it to wherever he was going, without getting run over by a scooter. Would be kind of cool to have one now, though- just to have.
Oh, and my worst car? Toss up between a '69 Ranchero, and a '65 Ranchero. Both total crud, but not really their fault. Lots of prior neglect, bad customization, and simple age. Would'nt want either of them back, though.
'95 Saturn SC2. Burned oil. The engine went on it and you can't get a rebuilt one, you can only get one out of another wreck. So, the first replacement lasted about 2 weeks (it burned oil like it was going out of style too), the next one lasted about a year. Total junk. I'll never buy another Saturn.
That would be new to me. They certainly aren't banned now. Any vehicle that can legally reach 60km/h is allowed on the Autobahn. Most semis run at about 80km/h, that's a speed even a Trabbi has no problem with.
Never thought I'd turn into a Trabbi apologist
Me either. I don't think the American auto industry has ever given up on the "planned obsolescence" marketing strategy, which started to seriously fail as the Japanese companies started nailing the coffin shut on the Big Three in the 70s and 80s. After 40 years, the American companies still can't get close in the Consumer Reports reliability ratings...really? Obviously, it isn't that important to them, and we will having to keep bailing them out until they get the message.
However, in fairness, there are a lot of British, French, and Yugoslavian contenders for roadside abandonment as well-there are just far fewer of them sold.
Another American car. A few years ago I bought a derelict Dodge 300. Had no compression; the transmission was failing; would only do 25mph up hills. Shocks were going bad on it as was the entire front end for that matter.
I wouldn't say it was a bad car; probably a really nice car in 1983. It was super cozy and the bench seats meant my lady could be right next to me; but yeah. It's hard to have high expectations for a car that you only paid $300 for. I was actually sad the day I had it hauled off to the junk yard.
It was basic transportation and filled a temporary need until I could get my Honda which is turning out to be the best 2nd hand car I've ever owned (a 95 Accord Station Wagon that is going on 200,000 miles and still runs with minimal maintenance and few hassles).
I wouldn't say it was a bad car; probably a really nice car in 1983. It was super cozy and the bench seats meant my lady could be right next to me; but yeah. It's hard to have high expectations for a car that you only paid $300 for. I was actually sad the day I had it hauled off to the junk yard.
It was basic transportation and filled a temporary need until I could get my Honda which is turning out to be the best 2nd hand car I've ever owned (a 95 Accord Station Wagon that is going on 200,000 miles and still runs with minimal maintenance and few hassles).
Bought a mid eighties Olds Calais in 95 for my daughter at John Carroll university. She wanted it because it was a cute girlie car. The car seemed clean and well taken care of, so we got it for her. Within a month, I had spent more on repairs than we paid for the car. The repairs tapered off but we still had too much money invested. When she graduated she got a new car, and I pretty much gave the olds to the first inquiry, wishing them better luck than I had.
That would be new to me. They certainly aren't banned now. Any vehicle that can legally reach 60km/h is allowed on the Autobahn. Most semis run at about 80km/h, that's a speed even a Trabbi has no problem with.
Never thought I'd turn into a Trabbi apologist
I have to admit that it's been 35+ years since I was on the Autobahn. I remember talk about them banning Trabants at the time, because of their slowness, and bacause of the emissions ( catalytic converters were just becoming the thing to have, if you were a "good" motorist). The only semis I remember going 80 klicks back then were getting on/off the Autobahn; most of the time, even my Gov't. V8 pickup truck couldn't begin to keep up with them. But, as I said, that was a long time ago.
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I think it was recycled furniture and clothing that even thrift store shoppers didn't want. Grind it all up with some horsey glue, voila, a car. Kinda.
And as much as people rave about "German Engineering" we've had more than a few VW's represented here too. No doubt that the early VW Dasher Diesels and their Audi counterparts were among the worse cars made. And I suspect of BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche owners weren't so wealthy and didn't get rid of their cars quick (sometimes after a 36 or 24,000 mile lease) we'd here more complaints about them.
I know the early Mercedes SUVS built here were rattle traps and had all kinds of issues. And the BMW 5 series had some serious problems with their six cylinder engine in the 90's.
I don't think anyones immune, but the Japanese, especially Honda and Toyota seem to be better than most.
Along those lines, look at the Cadillac Catera. German engineered, German made and utter garbage. GM decided to bring it in house and build it in Lansing and the CTS was born. The C in CTS stands for Catera.
It's won more awards than any other Cadillac to date.
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