I’m not sure cars with accidents, poor maintenance, neglect and crappy PO’s having done dumb/shoddy E36 M3 to them are fair game. My personal worst car was new, as have been a couple of other. We needed a replacement for my wife’s 01 Ford Escape. At the time I worked for Visteon who are a parts suppliers, not Ford so I didn’t feel a need to buy a Ford, necessarily as Visteon sold to the whole industry, and importantly they were the largest non-Asian supplier to Toyota (here after referred to as the Evil empire, turdbota etc.).
While she could and can drive a stick, with most of her driving being in town, stop go, car run, suburban etc. and living in Mi. her requirements were 5 seats, AWD, Auto and either a wagon or SUV. I was pushing hard for a wagon. We drove the Mercedes’s C class (numb and the worst trans I’ve ever come across). The 3 series which would have won if it could have gotten out of its own way, but for some reason BMW only saw fit to offer the 325 in the ix wagon. The extra weight of the 4WD, the wagon body and the drag of the auto trans meant she instantly nixed it as it was so painfully slow, bummer. Then we drove the A4 Avanti Quattro V6, God I loved that car and I really really wanted her to get that one, I’m sure even with all the B6 issues I’d still have that car as a hand me down. She was >< close but decided she wanted more space of an SUV so we tried those. Honda Pilot, I liked it and could have lived with it. Turdbota (Evil Empire) 4 runner, unfortunately it had grown too big by 04, so we tried the Highlander. Oh Dear. I hated it from the first moment I got in it. It was as inspired and exciting as cold porridge on a summer day. While I was at the dealer I saw a woman trying to put her grocery’s in the back of a white one assuming it was a refrigerator. Dull, boring, squishy appliance don’t begin to describe the fundamental awfulness of that vehicle. I think the ride and handling target vehicle was a 1950 Buick on its original tires, shocks and bushings it was that bad. But she’s not called SWMBO for no reason, she picks her cars, I pick mine. And as we all know Turdbota are the epitome and zenith of automotive quality and reliability. Ha-ha.
So we purchased this turd of automotive ‘design’ (Design is too nice a description, try Friday afternoon collection of scribbles before heading out for Sake, or maybe it was designed post Sake, that may explain it.
• Almost immediately the ‘soft touch’ plastic color started coming off the dash anywhere you touched it around buttons (that’s wear and tear so not covered by warranty.
• The leather started cracking within a couple of years. Now I will admit that many domestic auto manufacturers don’t use the highest quality leather, and after only a couple of years it starts to crease, stain fade, but not crack.
• Broken hinges on the center consul thingy
• The carpet for the floor mats was so thin they wore through in less than 6 months, yes 6 months. After bitching up a storm they did swap those under warrant, but guess what the second set were worn through, like holes in another 6 months.
• Master cylinder and booster failed at separate times, covered by warranty.
• The paint was so crap it made an early bug eye WRX look like it had a $20K concourse paint job in comparison. It scratched and oxidized like nothing I've ever owned, I literally think it was so thin it had negative depth. Just awful. It’s the only car I’ve ever bothered trying to polish because it was always so crappy. My Volvo is 4 ½ years old, driven every day and parked outside rain, shine etc. Mistreated with automatic car washes and I’ve never bother polishing it. People still asked me what it as and assume it’s a new car, it looks that good. That berkeleying Turdbota looked way worse than the Volvo does now after only 6 months.
• This was the best one, after about 18 months the headlights started to melt, yes the plastic outer cover started to melt and bubbles formed in it. We went in and complained, the service advisor tried to tell my wife it was her fault for fitting upgraded too powerful bulbs which had generated excess heat and melted the plastic (we hadn’t). I wish I’d been there, she tore them a new one, insisted on seeing the manager, they checked the bulbs and sure enough they were the factory units. She made a big impression on them as whenever we went back there after that we got the full 5 star red carpet treatment.
• The steering intermediate shaft UJ failed and we needed to fit a new one.
• The Right rear wheel bearing died and had to be replaced ( actually paid for that one at the same time as having the cam belt changed at its scheduled interval whatever that was)
The we got to the straw and camel’s back stage. Right around 4 years and 100k miles, basically all in the same month:
• The HVAC control unit in the dash crapped out and the new part, not labor, just the part was $1,100, we lived with it until getting rid of it.
• Then the other wheel bearing started to rumble a bit (I left that).
• Then the center bearing died in the drive shaft. I called all the local junk yards, everyone I called that had one checked and they all had bad bearing. I found one that had 4 in stock that assured me they were all good. I went and checked, sure enough all bad. I took the least bad that was still quiet and fitted that to trade it in.
I think the single happiest day of my automotive life was the day that unmitigated piece of automotive garbage left my life forever. I automatically assume anyone I see still driving one of those dreadful pieces scum to be completely devoid of brains, personality or intelligence.
Any car can have issues. But the number and frequency of issues on that car (above and beyond its inherent crappness as a design) is unforgivable. This was the car that made me really really made as the press fawned over Tudbota for years as the imagined quality leader of the world. I loathed and detested that car from the day we got it until the day it went. Some people may think I’ve been a bit over the top here, but I’m really being kind about the POS and the Turdbota compared to my true feelings.