In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
I guess we have different brains. My response would be, I'm a better mechanic now, I could totally fix it and cheaper this time.
I might say I'd never own whatever, but you offer me one for cheap enough and I'll go in with unearned confidence all over again
I traded in an 03 Jetta wagon 1.8t 5spd car that we absolutely loved for a 2006 Rabbit 5cylinder 5 speed car that we truly despised.
We put 50K on the Jetta with zero issues, it was fast enough, got great gas mileage, was unstoppable in the snow, hauled whatever we asked it to and still looked linke new.
The 2006 was in for repairs 12 times in the 12k miles we put on it. Within a year the interior fabric pilled up like a 30 year old polyester blanket, It managed 15mpg in town and on one cold morning the seat heater burned through the upholstery, through my jacket and 2 layers of shirt to give me a nice scar I still carry to this day. The air conditioning was the worst I have ever experienced and for some reason it was considered a feature to pipe it into the glove box and armrest cubby. The air vent in the center of the dash rattled and buzzed any time the motor was running and after the 3rd trip in to get it fixed the service writer said all they could do was install an aftermarket delete kit.
I still hate and resent that car
Uncle David (Forum Supporter) said:'92 Taurus SHO.
I read about all their problems and immediately went into "It won't happen to me" denial.
In 3 years, from 30K to 110K failures included but are not limited to:
- Exhaust
- window regulators
- A/C
- crank sensor
- cam sensor
- shocks/struts (twice)
- door lock module
- clutch
Neighbor had one and had the automatic transmission go out during a trip, which is/was supposedly a known thing.
In the 1970's while in high school, my brother bought a Toyota Crown, apparently a practice run for Toyota's later Lexus line. It was a red-haired freak in that no one knew what it was or wanted to touch it, and parts were hard to find. Nothing but trouble for him, never mind that neither of us knew anything about cars. Oh well.
I bought a '79 Fiat X-1/9 back in '86. Paid $3k for it. Put about $1,500 into it and traded it a year later for $1,300 and was glad to see it go. Traded it for my first Corolla FX16 GT-S.
That X-1/9 was a blast to drive when it ran. Reverse was popping out and I can't remember everything else that was failing on it. Loved pulling the top off and driving it open. Slow as molasses though.
My 2017 Colorado 2.8L Duramax Z71. Never had so much engine trouble with a vehicle. GM couldnt fix it and ended up giving me good money to make it someone else's problem.
Rest of the truck was glorious. That engine was built by the devil.
2006 Wrangler Unlimited "LJ". It got 11mpg and the brakes weren't adequate enough to hold the truck on an incline. Regretted it the minute I drove off the lot. Traded for a 2009 Mazda3 which was a 10x better experience.
Got a unicorn for the family - 2010 SAAB 9-5 content
It ended up OK in the end but was a stressful week or so.
2006 Subaru STi, bought brand new. Great car on a 15 minute test drive but a miserable car to live with. The spring rates weren't matched to the shock dampening, so the ride was horrendous. The build quality was total E36 M3e, paint/interior were garbage. It had more squeaks and rattles in 4000 miles than my german cars had at 140k miles. Got crappy gas mileage too.
Another disappointing car was a 1999.5 Mk4 VR6 GTI. Never, ever, ever buy the first model year of a car. Learned that lesson with this car. It kept breaking motor mounts, which would allow the motor to move enough to tug on the engine wiring harness and then send the ECU into limp mode. The sunroof would randomly open and not close, etc, etc. I came really close to lemon lawing the car and in retrospect I should've, but instead I just got rid of it.
Trent said:I traded in an 03 Jetta wagon 1.8t 5spd car that we absolutely loved for a 2006 Rabbit 5cylinder 5 speed car that we truly despised.
We put 50K on the Jetta with zero issues, it was fast enough, got great gas mileage, was unstoppable in the snow, hauled whatever we asked it to and still looked linke new.
The 2006 was in for repairs 12 times in the 12k miles we put on it. Within a year the interior fabric pilled up like a 30 year old polyester blanket, It managed 15mpg in town and on one cold morning the seat heater burned through the upholstery, through my jacket and 2 layers of shirt to give me a nice scar I still carry to this day. The air conditioning was the worst I have ever experienced and for some reason it was considered a feature to pipe it into the glove box and armrest cubby. The air vent in the center of the dash rattled and buzzed any time the motor was running and after the 3rd trip in to get it fixed the service writer said all they could do was install an aftermarket delete kit.
I still hate and resent that car
Holy E36 M3!
I hate to sound litigious, but I hope you sued or got some compensation out them for that.
My 94 BMW 325is.
I can forgive some of its issues being its age. But there was a LOT of hidden 'repairs' from the PPO (previous previous owner) and there was a bunch of issues that stem from the small block swap that the PO did because somethings just 'weren't necessary' at the time, but at the same time a whole bunch of very janky things were done in the attempts to save money? I will never know the reasons why a lot of things were done the way they were, all I can do is try my best to rectify them.
It's sad because its a car full of little issues, and it's a maintenance nightmare, but when things work well together it absolutely rips and puts a smile on my face most times when I drive it. It'll make a decent track car one day.
It's funny - some of the "worst cars" listed were some of my best cars. My 2013 135I - I love this car - balanced, small, powerful, and I've replaced one wheel sensor and changed the oil twice a year, but that's the extent of the maintenance, up to the current 33,000 miles. Fiat Spiders - I had a '69 $250 rust bucket in college - put gallons of bondo on that car, but great memories, and a 1974 mint one (ziebarted) that I bought a few years later, when I had an engineering job that paid, from a dentist who had taken great care of it. Neither one ever stranded me, and the '74, for $2500 back in 1982, was an attention-getting ride at 1/3 the then-cost of a new VW Rabbit. Wish I had kept the 74. The 69 is long melted away, I'm sure.
I drove a 1990 Jag XJS V12 for several years, daily. Left me stranded once. Again, I did not buy it for reliability but for the romance of the V12. I'd read Peter Egan's column on lifetime cylinder count, and decided I needed to get mine up. Not the most beautiful car, but built like a tank, amazing highway car, and if you kept your foot in it the GM 3 speed automatic did not shift out of second gear until 80 mph! Plus, I bought it for $6,500 and sold it for more.
1986 Alfa GTV6, daily driver in the early 2000s, no issues. 1999 M Coupe, 2010 Z4, many others. I'm not saying I've been lucky, but I've had unwise purchase decisions more than bad cars. Probably my "worst" car was a 1.7 liter 914 - underpowered, and it turned out, severely rusted, but well covered with a fresh paint job. I passed that one along within 6 months. Still like the cars, but want a 2 liter, with a good body.
In reply to philacarguy :
I'm pretty sure it was just bad luck on my part. The car gods were probably punishing me for getting rid of a perfectly good '15 BRZ that was on coilovers, wheels, exhaust and E85 tune.
In reply to z31maniac :
I had to fight to get them to replace the burnt seat cover! First time through they just replaced the heating element and gave the car back with a melted hole still in the seat.
I mean I can understand their concern. Who would want a nice new seat back while the seat bottom still looked like that nasty polyester blanket that Grandma had in the bottom of her linen drawer for 25 years
Lexus LS400 1993 model . After a friend wrecked my RX8 , that had 80,000 trouble free miles, I found the Lexus with about 200,000 miles for 1500 bucks. It was a little tougher than I expected but got it for 900 bucks. I replaced the tires with new general snow tires the next day. A day or so later the electric dash starts going dark occasionally. Then turning a corner in the hood area I break a ball joint and get it around the corner into a repair shop parking lot. They raised hell telling me to tow it away or have them fix it. They fixed it. A few days later the heater core went bad. I start looking the cooling system and decided to put in a water pump and hoses at the same time. The day the parts show up I'm driving it and it does. I Coast into my neighborhood tiity bar and determined that the timing belt has broken. I go in get likkered up and left it there for 10 days. I then took it to the crusher as I could not sell it and look at my self in the mirror. All told I had about 3000 in that piece of E36 M3
ddavidv said:
1967 CJ-5. This vehicle broke down every single week of ownership. Clutch. U-joints. Ignition stuff. The radiator finally sprung a leak and I couldn't find a replacement for this oddball Kaiser era thing. Retrofitted a Pinto radiator in it which was too small and sold it in cold weather.
My '81 Charger 2.2 was a complete turd too. Left me stranded twice because of cooling system problems. Sold it within a month. At the time it was the newest and most expensive car I'd ever owned.
Still miserable by modern standards but those got a lot better starting in '72. Saginaw steering was huge improvement not to mention the venerable 258 I6 and also V8 options. But I'm biased.
I always wanted a CJ6. But they are almost unicorns. Thought about stretching a '5 a few times since the aftermarket makes a tub.
Scotty Con Queso said:2006 Wrangler Unlimited "LJ". It got 11mpg and the brakes weren't adequate enough to hold the truck on an incline. Regretted it the minute I drove off the lot. Traded for a 2009 Mazda3 which was a 10x better experience.
You should have kept if for the resale. Those are the holy grail of modern Jeeps. But what do I know? I let a cherry '98 XJ 5 speed with a lot of aftermarket stuff go for $1500 on a trade.
A 401 CJ said:ddavidv said:
1967 CJ-5. This vehicle broke down every single week of ownership. Clutch. U-joints. Ignition stuff. The radiator finally sprung a leak and I couldn't find a replacement for this oddball Kaiser era thing. Retrofitted a Pinto radiator in it which was too small and sold it in cold weather.
My '81 Charger 2.2 was a complete turd too. Left me stranded twice because of cooling system problems. Sold it within a month. At the time it was the newest and most expensive car I'd ever owned.
Still miserable by modern standards but those got a lot better starting in '72. Saginaw steering was huge improvement not to mention the venerable 258 I6 and also V8 options. But I'm biased.
I always wanted a CJ6. But they are almost unicorns. Thought about stretching a '5 a few times since the aftermarket makes a tub.
Jeepster Commando and CJ 6 share a frame if my recollection is correct
lifted smart car was fun for a trip down Daytona Beach. But it failed miserably during its intended adventure, the FL Gambler 500. Broke an axle and sheared off the oil filter before I even left base camp. Fixed it up, sold it and bought a Cherokee, which has been a far superior off roader (duh)
My free D-sports racer.
We spent a year rebuilding the car top to bottom. I spent $12,000 in today's dollars on parts.
It was glorious to drive and I managed to set a lap record with it but it was a boat anchor around my neck. It record constant maintenance and money.
It emptied my wallet $500 - $1000 at a time. It was akin to chasing a bad bet.
In reply to Lof8 - Andy :
Id say that picture alone is worth the price of admission....
Regrets... I've had a few.
73 AMC hornet sportabout wagon. It had 7400 miles on it. I replaced every single brake component - master, hard lines, hoses, cylinders, shoes, drums, the works. Even the shoe springs. I have no idea how that car ever made it past a DOT inspection to become a production vehicle. In the snow, I could stand on the brake with both feet and when I dropped it into drive, one back wheel would just spin in the snow. It was awful.
94 Fordzda Branger. It had 89k and blissfully it was a rust-free FL truck. It needed an intake manifold gasket, the EGR system constantly failed causing a misfire, and the clutch that someone had put in never disengaged fully. I bled it a dozen times, forward, backward, vacuum, nothing worked. I had to put in a new clutch, and the old one had nothing wrong with it. I thought for sure I would take it out and see a bent or broken diaphragm spring but nothing. The front left wheel bearing would also never stay put. Every oil change I had to retighten the front bearing. No clue why.
Lof8 - Andy said:
lifted smart car was fun for a trip down Daytona Beach. But it failed miserably during its intended adventure, the FL Gambler 500. Broke an axle and sheared off the oil filter before I even left base camp. Fixed it up, sold it and bought a Cherokee, which has been a far superior off roader (duh)
That looks like you were re-enacting a certain Smart commercial which ended with a voice over saying "Trying to take a Smart car off road makes as much sense as trying to park a huge SUV downtown."
Shocking but: some cars on eBay look Wayyyyy better in the grainy pix than they do in person! And.....some sellers especially those that are going to jail for a really long time, just need some money and they will lie to you! Finally, early 1970 s cars were much easier to steal and re VIN back then, after sitting in some ones barn for years , they are no longer on a hot sheet of any kind. Such was the case for a 401 Amx. Mysterious delays to arrange shipment after a 1000 mile away sight unseen purchase . timed out any eBay guarantee by the time the heap arrived. Very strong engine barely ran, trans leaked all over the car port, front end was deathly worn out, further investigation confirmed original vins had been ground down, only the dash vin matched the title held on by Phillips screws. Took weeks of parting it out to make most of the $4500 Back. Whenever you try to get something for nothing you wind up with nothing for something(your money).
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