Worst vehicles you've driven and owned

MRC · Apr 28, 2020

jaguar11
Triumph TR7 for me from 1975 number KFF 287P. Awful. I could go on and on about it.....

1976 I was considering a TR7 but looking for a decent s/h Lotus Elan. Took a test drive in the TR, was "pressing on" and saying to the sales guy that it wasn't quick enough. Clinging hard to his seat he said "British Leyland Special Tuning have a range of improvements for the car, sir".

I bought an Elan, but it was not a good one 🙁

loniscup · Apr 28, 2020

Even trying to find a picture of it made me feel sick 🤔 Hands down the worst car I have ever driven!!!! No soul, no character, no nothing!!

Now the worst I have owned? There is no such thing.. everything I have bought is carefully thought to bring driving happiness. That's what matters personally.. Yes there were quirks and mentainance headaches with some of them, I had two RX7s ffs 😁, but that's part of their character and the charm of owning them

melanieux · Apr 28, 2020

Buick Electra 225.. bought it for $450 of my very own money.

My friends and I used to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight, park it in the lot and dance on the hood. It was indestructible, if nothing else.

pic sourced from the web

Evose · Apr 28, 2020

Worst I've driven..probably Jeep Renegade. We rented one on a trip in Miami for a weekend and aside from it being pretty cramped for 4 people, it was also very rough driving. It's a truck but I own a Cherokee and it's league above this base entry level.

ATWG · Apr 28, 2020

Bought an Audi Q5 3.2L S-Line in 2011 and sold it in 2014 right after warranty expired. The car had transmission, electrical and gas tank problems. Drove like a dream when it wasn’t in the shop but the problems kept piling on.

Worst car I have ever owned, will never purchase one ever again.

64Wing · Apr 28, 2020

Worst ever: Audi A4. Replaced a CV axle and the clutch shredded on the way home that very night. Owned it for three days and sold it to diy kid. I'll never own an Audi again.

Best car I've owned is my Ford Fusion. Though my trusty old Taurus was a great car, the lack of hydraulic power steering on the Fusion is proving to be far superior than the often leaky, cavitating pumps and racks on the old Taurus.

Faz · Apr 28, 2020

Archer
VW - it's an event when the check engine light actually goes out! 😉

Oddly, after 15 years of BMW ownership, (couldn't handle the maintenance cost anymore) I took a leap of faith and bought a 2000 VR6 Jetta. Had 5 more including a couple of TDIs. Loved them all. None of them ever failed me.

Evose · Apr 28, 2020

Faz
Oddly, after 15 years of BMW ownership, (couldn't handle the maintenance cost anymore) I took a leap of faith and bought a 2000 VR6 Jetta. Had 5 more including a couple of TDIs. Loved them all. None of them ever failed me.

That's pretty much my gripe with BMW. Just becomes a money pit.

Faz · Apr 28, 2020

Evose
That's pretty much my gripe with BMW. Just becomes a money pit.

Not sure about the newer generations, but my last one was a 1989 525i. It was ok but front end and exhaust parts were ridiculously expensive and needed frequent attention.

jimmyjay · Apr 28, 2020

1980 Audi 4000. Wouldn’t start below 32 degrees F. Not even the dealer could fix it.

Evose · Apr 28, 2020

Faz
Not sure about the newer generations, but my last one was a 1989 525i. It was ok but front end and exhaust parts were ridiculously expensive and needed frequent attention.

I have several friends that had constant issues and were always in the shop. Obviously this is a bit anecdotal as some models fare better than others, but their reputation is pretty clear: allocate 5% of the cost of the car for repairs. I would rather buy watches lol

queriver · Apr 28, 2020

Archer
VW - it's an event when the check engine light actually goes out! 😉

Yep, my VW today ..... and most days. We think its a faulty sensor.

But I won't criticise VW because of a very positive personal experience a few years ago. This car had 2 cracked pistons and was well out of warranty. My repair shop told me VW thought it was a fuel quality problem and they'd seen it a few times before. I always use 98RON and they would have confirmed that by testing what was in the tank. Anyway after lots of to-ing and fro-ing with the repair shop and VW Group, VW committed to cover the full cost of repair as a gesture, over A$8000. This was some time before dieselgate so I doubt it was a PR exercise by them.

noelekal · Apr 28, 2020

melanieux
Buick Electra 225.. bought it for $450 of my very own money.

My friends and I used to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight, park it in the lot and dance on the hood. It was indestructible, if nothing else.

pic sourced from the web

Oh yeah! What a car.

My grandmother bought a '72 Buick Electra Limited brand new, but hers was a four-door hardtop, gold with black vinyl top, just like the one below. It was a mile of gloriously big Buick. Had a 455 4-barrel V8. Effortless at 100 miles-per-hour with the cooling breezes of the air conditioner vents blowing on you and it was like sitting on the living room couch while it did it.

pascs · Apr 28, 2020

Oddly I dont think I've owned any really bad cars, plenty of old cars that needed work but none that I didnt enjoy. A few Alfas which had various electrical gremlins and of course rust (Italian metal on salty Scottish roads was never a good combination).

Most boring car I've owned was a Toyota Camry, it had nothing of interest in it at all, you just got in and drove to where ever you were going, it was reliable at least. Most reliable was our 1997 Toyota Landcruiser, 270,000kms and still starts first turn of the key and just never lets you down. My son learned to drive in it and I think must have nearly killed it on several occasions but it just keeps on going.

Archer · Apr 29, 2020

vbrad26
Oh shots fired!
Ever heard of a turn signal?
😁

Oh you VW guys...the turn signal won't make the check engine light go out, but hey keep trying! 😁

Archer · Apr 29, 2020

Faz
Oddly, after 15 years of BMW ownership, (couldn't handle the maintenance cost anymore) I took a leap of faith and bought a 2000 VR6 Jetta. Had 5 more including a couple of TDIs. Loved them all. None of them ever failed me.

My wife and I have had 10 BMW's between us over the years. Only one was problematic, and the extended warranty we purchased for it covered all but a small portion of those costs. Most of them have been trouble free, other than regular maintenance. Yes, when things break they are expensive, but they are as reliable as any other car out there, and probably better than some.

In fact our first one, my wife's 1989 325ix (AWD) is still going strong nearly 20 years after we got rid of it. We sold it to our mechanic when the cost of new suspension parts exceeded the value of the car - we needed it fixed right away (only winter car) and he could take his time and find good used parts. He gave it to his son, who ended up having a pretty major accident in it, but they again took their time fixing it and it's still on the road today.

If you really want to talk about money pits, my 1987 Jag was a good example...

Larry S · Apr 29, 2020

alam
Meet my ex-college hooptie, a Chevy Vega wagon and if memory serves me well, it was a 1976-year model. It was the only thing I could afford during my college years... owned during my junior/senior years and it left me stranded multiple times until it finally died the week I graduated! talk about good timing! And as my college mates used to say, if that car could only talk! oh boy! 😲

ahhh those fun college days.. 😀 things got better over the years...

Fraternity brother had one. Oil Filter welded itself to the Aluminum block. Yea this was a spectacular POS. Probably the lowest point for GM.

Edward53 · Apr 29, 2020

Never owned a bad car, but I have driven an Austin Maxi, Austin Allegro and Mini Metro, all of which were dire, the last having amazingly bad handling. I learnt to drive on a Morris Marina which I remember as being much better than its reputation. Had a courtesy Skoda Fabia a couple of years ago after a bus driver reversed into my (parked) car and was surprised at how Communist it still felt in the light of praise heaped upon Skoda in recent years.

I drove a hire Pontiac, an auto but I forget what model, on my first visit to the US in 2003. There was a palpable sense of inertia when you put your foot down and the fuel gauge needle seemed to travel from right to left at the speed of a watch seconds hand, which didn't bother me too much as it was less than $20 to fill the tank.

Conversely, my ex had a 1.1 Fiat Punto which was brilliant on heavily-loaded trips from England to France. I did briefly hire a 1.0 Ford Fiesta a few years ago which was a joy to drive. As is my Ford Focus. A mechanic once told me "you can't beat a Ford" and I've never regretted heeding that advice.

jaguar11 · Apr 29, 2020

MRC
1976 I was considering a TR7 but looking for a decent s/h Lotus Elan. Took a test drive in the TR, was "pressing on" and saying to the sales guy that it wasn't quick enough. Clinging hard to his seat he said "British Leyland Special Tuning have a range of improvements for the car, sir".

I bought an Elan, but it was not a good one 🙁

The Elan can't have been worse than my TR. For me the TR 7 summarised the worse of British Leyland with its inadequate rear axle, gearbox and engine. With the 3.5 V8 and and improved design package everywhere else it could have been different. Oh, and one of the headlights kept sticking up!!!

jaguar11 · Apr 29, 2020

Edward53
Never owned a bad car, but I have driven an Austin Maxi, Austin Allegro and Mini Metro, all of which were dire, the last having amazingly bad handling. I learnt to drive on a Morris Marina which I remember as being much better than its reputation. Had a courtesy Skoda Fabia a couple of years ago after a bus driver reversed into my (parked) car and was surprised at how Communist it still felt in the light of praise heaped upon Skoda in recent years.

I drove a hire Pontiac, an auto but I forget what model, on my first visit to the US in 2003. There was a palpable sense of inertia when you put your foot down and the fuel gauge needle seemed to travel from right to left at the speed of a watch seconds hand, which didn't bother me too much as it was less than $20 to fill the tank.

Conversely, my ex had a 1.1 Fiat Punto which was brilliant on heavily-loaded trips from England to France. I did briefly hire a 1.0 Ford Fiesta a few years ago which was a joy to drive. As is my Ford Focus. A mechanic once told me "you can't beat a Ford" and I've never regretted heeding that advice.

I agree about the Marina. I had an Early Allegro with the square steering wheel. It was however very reliable to the point of being bomb proof and kept going in spite of the abuse metered out to it by myself on a daily basis!!!!