The worst vehicle you ever owned was...

[Klasse Act]

2007 Mini Cooper S, nothing but problems:

-3 aux fuel pumps
-timing chain
-frozen throttle (yes its drive by wire but something on the engine kept freezing)
-2 intake manifolds
-bad fuel injector

Loved that car as I made it my own by customizing it but was unreliable....British cars, gotta love em'.

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online

 

[cardaddy]

07 wrangler. worse soft top ever on a jeep. interior water leaks that were unfixable.

12 wrangler. unfixable interior water leaks.

09 toyota fj cruiser. unfixable steering shimmy at 60-65 mph. (they still do this till today).

10 gmc canyon. (5cyl. what was i thinking?) not a bad mid size truck, but as stated above, CHEAPLY MADE. headlamps would always fog up (inside) replaced many times. (warranty). PW switch went out very early.

You mean you had a soft top JEEP that leaked, say it ain't so.

Oh the FJ... that thing should be embarrasing to Toyota. They had a lot of problems early on with the frame (or the lack of a frame actually) splitting and cracking open. (Close to the steering box if I remember.) I like the retro-modern minimalistic styling a lot. And, I mean I understand unibody construction and it's place in new, light weight, high mileage, 21st century construction. But, you want a tough truck/suv you need "body on frame", period. It's a shame actually because the old ones were (and still are) about the toughest off-road vehicles ever made. My daughter wanted one of those too (the new FJ) but we thought better of it.

 

[cardaddy]

Dodge Aries K, hands down worst car I ever owned. Had it 3 weeks, think I broke every major mechanical part. The junkyard didn't even want it lol.

Car had bench seat in front and I was able to drive from passenger seat. People would freak out when they didn't see a driver in the driver seat.

Telling our age there huh? :laughing:

That car resurrected Chrysler from the ashes. I remember we had a mail carrier that drove one way back when, from the right side!

 

[crrdvr6]

For REAL Bill? That sux to hear! I woulda' thought VW has their act together these days. OTOH, I thought Ford did back then as well and BOY was I wrong!

My daughter has been looking at a VW Tiguan on her 'short list' along with a Honda CRV to have something a little larger than a coupe. Like she thinks I'm gonna let her take our Doberman (that she has 40% ownership in) with her should she decide to get married in the near future. :laughing:

As a vw guy it always hurts to hear this about the TDI's. Problem is that you do hear these stories. Some people have over 350K miles on their TDI's while others had nothing but problems.

 

[crrdvr6]

Ahhhh the Celica... the first 'brand new' car I bought was a 77 Celica, the fastback style that was modeled after the Mustang. Really tough car! I drove that thing till 1990 without having to do a thing to it.

Then I sold it to my much younger brother and about a month later my Dad called telling me I needed to come help him, he was trying to put a clutch in it and in the background Mom was yelling and fussin' and really making a stink over it. I mean she was saying I sold him a lemon, that it was wore out and all I did was take advantage of him, blah blah blah. (Needless to say he was her baby and she paid his way buying cars, paying bills, bought his home for him, and tried to raise his kids till the day she died, even after if you count all the stuff he stole but that's another story)

So, I went over there and he had it all up in the air, (with MY floor jack, my ramps, my jack stands, tools, creeper etc). I grabbed a light, popped on some gloves and went in for the kill.

And WHAT DID I FIND????????

That fool had taken some fish tank tubing and ran it from the windshield washer tank to the rear tire(s) and held in place with coathanger wire. He would move it from one side to the other as it suited him. Both tires were bald as could be! :bolt:

What would you guess he PUT in the windsheld washer tank? Hmmmm???:idea:

BRAKE FLUID!
Not exactly what you need to clean the ol' windshield if ya' know what I mean.

Yessirreeee Bob.....
That lil' jacka$$ figured out a way to do burnouts, and burnouts he was a doin'. :hotrod2:

I snatched that air tubing off the car, along with the mess of coathanger wire from front to back and went inside, threw it on the kitchen table and told my Mom I didn't want to hear not ONE MORE WORD.:bash:
He had been abusing the darned thing since the first weekend he got it. Tires were fairly new and (did) have at least 25,000 miles left on them but in a month he was down to the cords, go figure.

And what did she say you might ask?.?.?.... "Well the least you can do is help him fix it!" OMFG Are you kidding me! Dad told me he would handle it and it might be best if I went back to work. :laughing:

LOL, thanks cardaddy. I don't feel so bad after reading this.:laughing:

 

[The_2nd_G]

Early 70's Delta 88. Bought it for insurance reasons when I was 18 so it would look like my '86 Trans Am was my dad's car, not mine. Ironically, my dad wrecked the transmission in the '88 and it had no reverse gear. I really had to plan ahead when parking the car since it was an awfully big car to have to push. Drove it through 3 winters like that.

 

[brentech]

Pontiac '97 Grand AM GT, 5 speed, 2 door. Should mention 4 cylinder, since its one of the few years they made a GT version that wasn't V6.

Constant problems with the car. AC broke yearly in one way or another. Same with window motors. Think I replaced 4 window motors.
Had the alternator die when I was on I75-N, was lucky enough that when the car lost power I coasted all the way off an exit ramp.

Was also re-ended on I75 , but that's not so much the car, as much the luck I had with it. There was an accident about 5 cars ahead of me, and the kid behind me didn't brake in time...tore the rear end off the Grand AM.

My windows always got weak, and I'd have to use my hands to help them up or down while holding the power window button. My first week of work at a new job and on the Friday I got in my car to go home and it was hot as all hell. Like a good 105+ inside. With the AC not working, of course my window totally locked up and I was stuck with 2 windows that wouldn't come down, just boiling in my seat.

Got home and basically rolled out of the car, all red and feeling sick. the next day I bought a new car.

 

[CheckeredFlag]

Tie

'73 Impala - I bought in '75-- then it started with peeling paint on the roof and hood, and the engine block developed a slight enough crack in '78, that you could find a trace of anti-freeze in the engine oil.

'08 Chrysler Town and Country Mini Van - 6 speed tranny went out at 47K miles, and since I was 2nd Owner - no warranty .... + $4800 to replace ... The Service Manager said I was lucky and pointed to another '08 in another bay with 99K miles, he said that owner was installing his 2nd rebuilt ... I said- So thats his 3rd tranny ? And the SM said yeah, but it's OK- he's original owner so its covered, and I said ummmm NO it ISN'T !

 

[slapshot]

I had 2...an '86 then a few years later, an '87 Camaro IROC. Constant problems with both of them. The 87 ended up having a cracked block right before I sold it in '90. I didn't buy another Chevy product until '04.

 

[swanicyouth]

Worse car I ever had was a brand new Toyota MR2. A detailers nightmare. Paint started peeling off various places on the car. Dealer repainted several panels multiple times and couldn't make it right. Interior was cheap. First and last Toyo for me ever.

I kind of like the look of the FJ Cruiser, until I did some reading on them.

 

[MPBGT]

I'm going to have to go with my 1992 Chevy 1500 4x4. I traded in my 86 Dodge ram on it and regretted it almost immediately. Terrible front IFS, weak 4x4 lock in, and poor electronics. I fought with it for a couple years then traded up to a F150 which was a reliable truck. I'm back to a Dodge now.

 

[RMM]

Worse car I ever had was a brand new Toyota MR2. A detailers nightmare. Paint started peeling off various places on the car. Dealer repainted several panels multiple times and couldn't make it right. Interior was cheap. First and last Toyo for me ever.

I kind of like the look of the FJ Cruiser, until I did some reading on them.

If you read MR2 in French, it will sound "merdeux", which means "shi$%y". Probably that was a hint on what not to buy...

 

[oldmodman]

Girlfriend had a VW Rabbit.

Total pile. It had electrical problems on the way home from the dealership. Brand new.

It had to be towed back and they kept if for 11 days. Couldn't find anything wrong. It died in their parking lot, blocking the exit from the service department. Walked right back over to the sales department and told them that if wasn't replaced, at once, we would stay in the showroom in shifts and tell every single person to walk through the door that under no circumstances should they buy a VW.

They gave her all her downpayment back and cancelled the sale.

She bought a used Toyota and never had to do anything to it except for tires, brakes, plugs, and oil changes for 200K miles.

 

[cardaddy]

LOL, thanks cardaddy. I don't feel so bad after reading this.:laughing:

I learned to laugh about it..... years later that is.

But BOY was I pissed when I found it! :argue:

 

[cardaddy]

Early 70's Delta 88. Bought it for insurance reasons when I was 18 so it would look like my '86 Trans Am was my dad's car, not mine. Ironically, my dad wrecked the transmission in the '88 and it had no reverse gear. I really had to plan ahead when parking the car since it was an awfully big car to have to push. Drove it through 3 winters like that.

Missing reverse reminds me of the first car I ever owned. I hot rodded that puppy big time. Intake, carb, distributor, headers, pipes, traction bars, and on and on.... But the thing I didn't do right away being as it was an auto, was the tranny. Was out with my girl, (my wife now of 35+ years) and it stopped going 'forward'. Good thing we were just a few miles from home as it did have 'reverse'. Backed up all the way home, used the blinkers and everything. :laughing:

 

[Bigds2012TT]

My current 2012 black Tundra. Keeping swirls out of the paint is totally impossible.

 

[cardaddy]

Worse car I ever had was a brand new Toyota MR2. A detailers nightmare. Paint started peeling off various places on the car. Dealer repainted several panels multiple times and couldn't make it right. Interior was cheap. First and last Toyo for me ever.

I kind of like the look of the FJ Cruiser, until I did some reading on them.

Ahhhh, paint peeling reminds me of another Ford tow truck, 2nd one I bought I think. Was a gray metallic cab. Ford had problems with delamination on the horizontal surfaces of all their F series trucks that year. So being as I knew the body shop manager he told me when I got ready he'd do it under warranty, just don't wait till after the 36/36.

Back then I was averaging like 72,000 ~ 75,000 a year (per truck) so I noted my calendar for the 6 month period to take it in. Made an appointment 6 weeks in advance so I'd have as little down time as possible. I always make sure (to this day) to clean my vehicles before taking them in for ANY type of service, just makes for a better service experience when they think you always keep them clean. (Plus it keeps them from washing when they are done.) Ended up working 6 days the week before and I caught myself that Saturday after dark trying to get it washed and the inside all shined up.

Got up Sunday and had my buddy bring over his truck mounted pressure washer. He had a rig that'd run 5gpm. 3800psi @ 210° he used to clean drive-thru's and dumpsters etc. Hit the hood with that sucker and paint flew like a flock of geese. Hit the A pillars, roof WHAM paint everywhere. So I'm thinking.... what is this paint gonna' look like when they don't do the fenders or doors?

Took out my pocket knife and checked a place or two on the door and it wasn't budgin'. Moved to the bottom of the fender, same thing.... paint was as good as new. :idea:
"Hey Mike, crank up that rig of yours again!" Uh Huh, Dat's Right!!! :laughing: I hit that thing with basically a 3800psi steam gun and could carve my name in it! By the time was done I even had the back of the cab down near the frame showing almost bare metal! Went ahead and cleaned it all up, shined the tires, polished the wheels, touched up the frame with 3~4 cans of rattle bombs almost like it was going to a show.

Monday morning rolls around and I pull into the body shop at the Ford dealer, go inside and get Red and hand him the keys, tell him just put it in the lot Friday evening and I'll come get it that night. He's like, "Naaahhh I won't need it all week, we're just doing the peeled surfaces, probably Wednesday afternoon it'll be ready." HAAAAAAAAA was all I coulld think, and tried to get outta' there asap. So he says he wanted to come take a look at it before I left, "OK" says me....

He almost freaking passed out when he saw it! :laughing:
"What in the he!! did you do? This looks like you used a sandblaster on it!" he cried. "Well you know I only hand wash this baby Red." He started laughing and I just walked away... he said "I'll see you Friday then."
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[cardaddy]

2007 Mini Cooper S, nothing but problems:

-3 aux fuel pumps
-timing chain
-frozen throttle (yes its drive by wire but something on the engine kept freezing)
-2 intake manifolds
-bad fuel injector

Loved that car as I made it my own by customizing it but was unreliable....British cars, gotta love em'.

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online

Woah there... wait a minute... I see a common theme. Fuel! :laughing: From the tank to the intake that puppy just didn't like FUEL.

 

[cardaddy]

I had 2...an '86 then a few years later, an '87 Camaro IROC. Constant problems with both of them. The 87 ended up having a cracked block right before I sold it in '90. I didn't buy another Chevy product until '04.

Cracked block, ohhh that can hurt.

Man, the more of these I here/read, the more I remember from my Ford(s).
I had also bought new one in 89 to take to the Florida show. I designed this custom paint job for that one. It was a black truck so I did 3 different color metallic blue stripes from the hood, front of fender, and bottom of fender around to the back. Took and added a custom red neon tube (highlighted with mica) that wove in and around them front to back. And of course it had 4 coats of clear over it all. It was wild, and when I took it to have the frame stretched and the rollback added they were scared to work on it! They ended up wrapping the ENTIRE CAB in blankets and duct taped them on it until the bed was on.

Anyhow... I would USUALLY buy new ones in Jan/Feb to get some miles on them, but this one, because of the paint, was in the paint shop for weeks. So I didn't get to put it on the road till the 3rd week of March, (with the show being usually the 2nd week of April). All of the Fords back then were International Navastar V8 Diesels which are/were fairly solid engines.

This one however failed 3 days after I put it on the road, 1800 miles total. Felt like it lost a cylinder and was knocking REALLY bad. Took it to the heavy truck dealership (back when we HAD a heavy truck shop) and they jumped right on it. Called me the next day saying it had cracked a sleeve and melted a piston. Said they were going to order a block and swap everything out.

"Oh NO that's not gonna' work" I said. It's brand new, and I want a brand new engine. So they said it'd have to be cleared by the local rep which wouldn't be in till the end of the week. I waited, didn't hear anything for several days so called them early on Monday. The rep said he would OK a short block, but that was it, nothing more.

"NOPE, that won't work either!" was my standard reply. Their response was that if I wanted something else done then I'd have to get the rep to do it because it was out of their hands. I called, he called, we talked, changed e-mails, played phone tag, but he wouldn't budge. So I went over his head, direct to Dearborn! Sent them all the info, FedEx'd photos of that truck along with others that had trophy's on them. This was on Wednesday afternoon.

So.... Thursday morning a VP in Dearborn calls me and says he understands and is taking care of it, that Ford will be putting a brand new crate engine in my truck and they would put it on a truck right away and ship it down. I thanked him and reminded him that the Florida show was Saturday, THAT Saturday, and the truck was going to the show MOTOR OR NOT! I'd put a sign under the hood that says, "pardon the mess. new engine on the way". We left the conversation at that.

Friday morning at 7:18 the Shop Forman calls me and says, "Tony, Who in the HE!! did you talk to? I had no idea what was going on at the time and said something like 'It really doesn't matter, but I'm sending a Land All to load it up today so we can haul it to Orlando". He was all excited and said, "DUDE, there was a brand new crate engine sitting on our dock when we came in this morning, it was AIR FREIGHTED HERE! Whoever you talked to has more pull than anyone we KNOW!"

I *had* been asleep, but was fully awake by now, and about passed out when he said that. But I still needed that truck to get it to Orlando in 24 hours. He said they wouuld get it out TODAY! Hooooolllyyy $hit..... They put the whole shop on it I guess because at 4:00 that afternoon they called me and asked me if I could please come get it, if it wasn't too much trouble, or if they needed to they would bring it to me. Im the MAN

Good thing it was really clean when I took it because by the time I got it home all we could do was load up the Accord (had to have a car to drive around while were were down there) and drive all night to Orlando. I hadn't put the front spoiler on it yet, (was still wrapped in paper from the body shop) and remember when we got there about 6:00am we were out there with other guys holding flashlights so I could see to get the spoiler on.

BTW, won 1st place that year too. :coolgleam:

(And that truck went on to run 250,000 trouble free miles before I sold it.)

 

[cardaddy]

Girlfriend had a VW Rabbit.

Total pile. It had electrical problems on the way home from the dealership. Brand new.

It had to be towed back and they kept if for 11 days. Couldn't find anything wrong. It died in their parking lot, blocking the exit from the service department. Walked right back over to the sales department and told them that if wasn't replaced, at once, we would stay in the showroom in shifts and tell every single person to walk through the door that under no circumstances should they buy a VW.

They gave her all her downpayment back and cancelled the sale.

She bought a used Toyota and never had to do anything to it except for tires, brakes, plugs, and oil changes for 200K miles.

Oh, oh oh oh oh.... that reminds me of the truck that started this thread. (I've gotta' find more of my old truck photos) Once I had all the lemons all over it, and the Quality is job none. & Have you driven a lemon lately? all over it at the first dealership that'd have all the RO's running all at once, I took it into the service lanes, parked it, LOCKED IT, and went next door to have donuts and coffee. ROTFLMAO!!! :laughing:

They freaked out! I mean they REALLY got the message about then. :cheers:

I walked back in about 30 minutes later like 'what's going on'.... I had left the keys in the switch and pretended I didn't know. It was hilarious! Not as funny as driving it all around the infield at Atlanta Motor Speedway and then parking it with 2 more Fords like pontoons partying at the lake. Which btw we always did and DID party like pontoons. But it was fun.