Worst car you have ever owned and why.

[prktkljokr]

Originally Posted by russellw

Even for $165 I'd have to ask what insanity possessed you?

I needed wheels to get to work, it was very cheap for a 4 year old car, I was 17
and thought what could go wrong, I found out really quick it was the heap part of cheap I had paid for.

[Wretched]

2002 BA Falcon - unreliable, poorly built and wore quicker in 5 years than most would in 20.

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Burnout

However the worst of mine was a Cortina TC, it was rubbish. .

Pommy Unionism at It's best...

[danzvtil]

I have 2 main ones, a 2001 Kia Rio I bought when it was 4yo with 55k, within a week a piston was hitting a skirt which got rebuilt by the dealer, the drivers door latch failed meaning I had to hold the door shut with rope for a week while the part came in, the suspension was so soft that you could hit speed bumps at 60 and not feel them. In the end it wouldn’t idle and the mech kept scratching his head wanting to replace random things at $500 each just in case it fixed it.Traded on a Corolla.
My recent one has been 2 Holden Cruze company cars which has been covered here before, how anyone can sign off on that engineering and sleep at night is beyond me, they are broken from beginning to end.

[Citroënbender]

Originally Posted by FC

All you blokes that have been on earth for a few more laps of the sun, how do you find cars of today compared to say 30-40 years ago? In regards to maintenance, repairs, longevity and ownership?

I’m probably old and grumpy enough to qualify as a “c***” but not quite an “old c***”.

There was no golden age, it’s a myth. Different manufacturers got their act together in different ways. Ditching wholesale ABS for exposed trim in favour of more durable plastics, was a Great Leap Forward. Galvanised body panels, another. Removal of inline heater taps, improved fusing and spec’ing of circuits are also good measures of progress. Simplified sub-assemblies, like dashes that went together (and came apart) in two or three bulk elements, improved window and sunroof regulators, trim that was more precisely moulded, fitting more consistently into better stamped and aligned body pressings.

A lot of this started in the late eighties, but there are sufficient outliers over the next twenty years to make it impossible for defining an actual timeframe.

[.:4:.]

Id say my worst was the Mitsubishi express van i had as a work van. It was a 2009 but the most basic thing ever. No safety anything, no creature comforts. It didnt even have central locking. It did have aircon, but on hot days it would make the thing overheat, so defeating the purpose. Then there was the ranger that was a 2013. It was a much nicer thing. But issues arised from 50k to its sale at 138k. Again a work car, but in that k range it did a charge pipe, 3 intercoolers and the final nail in its coffin was the turbo crapping out.

[Poetic Justice]

By default I'd have to say my first car - a VK Calais 6 - was just problem after problem but it was a 200k car so can't expect it to be great either.

On a different light.. one of the cars I've owned that I just didn't love was a 2015 Audi S3 Sedan, fully optioned. Nothing wrong with the car from a reliability stand point and it had a pre purchased service package so not too terrible there. The car itself drove well, fast etc but for me it just had no soul. Not sure what exactly it was about it but I just didn't have a bond with it like I did my WRX, my i30N, SRT etc etc. One thing I truly hated about it and all modern Audi's is the usability of the in car entertainment. The screen corner buttons, wheel etc are just annoying to use by comparison to many other brands.

[Trevor 57]

I have had 2

1. 1984 Ford Econovan (purchased new), we had 2 kids, wife pregnant with twins, one low salary, we decided to purchase the Econovan and add the extra seat to turn it into a 7 seater ourselves. Terrible car, dual rear wheels, terrible fuel economy, had to replace egad gasket. Got rid of superb 1976 TD Cortina 6 cylinder to buy the piece of ****, but you can't out 4kids on the back seat of a Cortina

2. We traded the Econovan on a MK Nisssan Patrol 7 seater (2nd hand), it gave us huge grief, started out with bent front axle, then it was plauged with overheating issues, we never really resolved them, replaced everything except the water pump - traded it after 2 years on the 1989 Ford Maverick TD42

[Bossxr8]

DF LTD V8 I bought for $1500 just as a run around. Typical coolant leak from the front cover, and was starting to use oil. But I kept it for a couple of years while I saved for my G6ET 50th. Sold it for $1400, so it was cheap motoring.

[bb_zetec]

Worst was a 1986 VL Calais...

Everything Electronic Failed in the thing...even the ECU had to be sent for repair. It broke down in the middle of Millitary Road in Sydney during peak hour and wouldnt restart for over an hour...

Body started to rust around the rear windscreen.

The RB30E was the best thing about it, a great engine surrounded by poorly made local garbage which was the standard of our cars at the time.

The 80's was pretty bad for panel fitment and quality in general.

Sold and went across to 2nd Hand Carby XF as was sick of the electrics by then and it went well until rust and a leaky head gasket led it to be traded in for $800 on an AU.

[Tommie]

I had a series 2 XJ Daimler with the 350 Chev. Electrics were generally comical, and there was a special switch on the right hand side of the dash which was actually a self destruct button?, it would blow every fuse in the car when flicked? Only one fuel tank worked, but the fuel guage didn't anyway so good luck estimating.... and carb also needed a rebuild but I was broke, so I'd just had a sauce bottle full of fuel in the console to top up the carb when the car stalled... despite all that the car looked sooooo good on the side of the road broken down.

[EGOG6ET]

The worst car I ever owned was a 2010 BMW 550i. In the 5 years I owned it it spent a total of 12 months in the work shop. It used 1 litre of oil for every 2000 kms. In fact I got a low oil warning on the way home from the dealership. Timing chain stretched, coil pack problems. Lost so much money on that car it hurts to think about. But my wife refused the drive it with the kids as it would always go to limp mode. Got the extended warranty so ended up going back to the dealership after it broke down for the 1000th time and threw them the keys and said you guys are buying this heap of **** off me. I cannot in good faith sell or trade it. Went and bought an SQ5 that day and been happy with that ever since.

[Tickford.]

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

2. We traded the Econovan on a MK Nisssan Patrol 7 seater (2nd hand), it gave us huge grief, started out with bent front axle, then it was plauged with overheating issues, we never really resolved them, replaced everything except the water pump - traded it after 2 years on the 1989 Ford Maverick TD42

The Ford Maverick is a re-badged Nissan Petrol is it not Trev? With only a badge change on the grill.

This was during the period where Ford Australia and Nissan decided to sell their kids to each other. The Falcon XF ute/Nissan XFN ute, Nissan Pintara/Ford Corsair, Nissan Petrol/Ford Maverick were some examples. Wish Ford had sold the R32 Nissan Skyline as a re-badged Ford Falcon. Would've been much better than the Falcon being offered at the time. And rebadged the R32 GTR as the Falcon GT Coupe! Would have been the best Falcon ever!

[hawke]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Id say my worst was the Mitsubishi express van i had as a work van. It was a 2009 but the most basic thing ever. No safety anything, no creature comforts. It didnt even have central locking. It did have aircon, but on hot days it would make the thing overheat, so defeating the purpose. Then there was the ranger that was a 2013. It was a much nicer thing. But issues arised from 50k to its sale at 138k. Again a work car, but in that k range it did a charge pipe, 3 intercoolers and the final nail in its coffin was the turbo crapping out.

I had one of these vans in the 80’s. When the front pads wore down, they fell out of the calliper. It happened twice.

Still, not the worst car I ever owned. It was a Morris Minor side valve. Didn’t go, stop or handle. Sort of the same words I use for my Ford Ranger. At least the Ranger is reliable, and can tow my trailer.

[SSVPom]

A well worn, 256k KMs 1991 Holden Apollo Executive back in 2004 - no lacquer left on the roof bonnet or boot, and as slow as a wet weekend. The reason I bought it on a Saturday afternoon? It came with a road worthy and rego, and I needed a 2nd car for the Monday (and it was only $2k)
As a car enthusiast; it was one of my low points.

[Ratmick]

It's a toss-up between a 1978 Japanese-import Datsun 200B, better build quality (just) than the Australian-assembled units but the spares for the Aussie variants didn't always fit

...and a 86 GN Sigma, the last of its kind (the first Magnas appeared in 85 I think). The earlier Sigmas were ok, mine was a gutless POS with a plastic carby. The 2.6 wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding and the auto was dodgy.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by Tickford.

The Ford Maverick is a re-badged Nissan Petrol is it not Trev? With only a badge change on the grill.

This was during the period where Ford Australia and Nissan decided to sell their kids to each other. The Falcon XF ute/Nissan XFN ute, Nissan Pintara/Ford Corsair, Nissan Petrol/Ford Maverick were some examples. Wish Ford had sold the R32 Nissan Skyline as a re-badged Ford Falcon. Would've been much better than the Falcon being offered at the time. And rebadged the R32 GTR as the Falcon GT Coupe! Would have been the best Falcon ever!

Yep, the Maverick was a rebadged Patrol, but there was many differences other than the badges - there were a lot of option differences which is why we settled on the Maverick rather than the Nissan

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

Yep, the Maverick was a rebadged Patrol, but there was many differences other than the badges - there were a lot of option differences which is why we settled on the Maverick rather than the Nissan

While we are at it, your Ford Econovan was a rebadged Mazda E series.

[.:4:.]

Small ****ty vans are awesome to work out of. They maximise space, but the rest is just ****ty. And they're cheap. No need for those space taking crumple zones, no need for other safety like expensive abs brakes, brakes in general, airbags or any of that crap. And who needs things like manual mirrors that can be adjusted from the inside, let alone electric mirrors, or anything remotely luxurios. Nvh, who cares, tin can it. Fuel economy? Its not like you'd be driving across the nullabor plain, so just fill up every day and a half at one of many servos in metropolitan areas. And drive it till the doors fall off. Or atleast that was my L300 experience, and yes, at one point the sliding door did fall off. Well, the rear sliding bit stayed attached, the top and bottom front rollers sycronised and decided to pop out and dropped the front of the sliding door onto the ground. It went back in ok as the thing was made out of steel about as thick as aluminium foil. But still, atleast i drove a car untill atleast 1 door fell off.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Small ****ty vans are awesome to work out of. They maximise space, but the rest is just ****ty. And they're cheap. No need for those space taking crumple zones, no need for other safety like expensive abs brakes, brakes in general, airbags or any of that crap. And who needs things like manual mirrors that can be adjusted from the inside, let alone electric mirrors, or anything remotely luxurios. Nvh, who cares, tin can it. Fuel economy? Its not like you'd be driving across the nullabor plain, so just fill up every day and a half at one of many servos in metropolitan areas. And drive it till the doors fall off. Or atleast that was my L300 experience, and yes, at one point the sliding door did fall off. Well, the rear sliding bit stayed attached, the top and bottom front rollers sycronised and decided to pop out and dropped the front of the sliding door onto the ground. It went back in ok as the thing was made out of steel about as thick as aluminium foil. But still, atleast i drove a car untill atleast 1 door fell off.

I had both a Ford Econovan (for a whole week) and the mighty L300 Mitsy.

It did everything I ever forced it to do, and still when camping in it on the weekends. Such an easy van to play with. I went to dump it at the wreckers and the owners son offered to buy it off me. $800 cash.
I paid $800 10 years earlier converted it to a camper, drove it all up and down the Eastcoast with a sailing dinghy on the roof. When it was done camping I continually loaded it with granite up to the window sills while driving over paddocks and through fords. The thing just wouldn't quit.
Certainly not the worst thing I owned.
Only little fragile snowflakes need all that safety crap.

[b0son]

I've been fairly fortunate with cars. Never had one that was a money pit or a lemon.

But most annoying to own was a Renault RS250. The steering column lock was prone to getting stuck. I think it locked on at least 2 occasions, once while getting a wheel alignment (they had fun trying to manoeuvre it onto the tow truck in the tight car park), and another time at work (again, tow needed). Made all the more frustrating by the fact that the included roadside assistance wasnt actually allowed to touch anything (disengaging the lock was 2min with a screwdriver), they could only tow it to the dealer who were nearly an hour away. After a very heated argument with Renault's call centre who were adamant it had to go to the dealer, I decided I didnt want to drive a brand that treated its customers with such disdain. Traded on a HSV not long after.

[Pis-ton broke]

Originally Posted by Burnout

I had one of these as a 'hand me down' for about a year. It was terrible.
image
Fiat 1500.
However the worst of mine was a Cortina TC, it was rubbish. The 4speed fell to pieces at 10,oookm, in spite of the clutch still being in good condition. The engine failed at the front gate, after 60km the day I bought it new.

as much as it was a ****box, to me it looks like a collector to me, the soyboys will love to be seen in this, or you drop in a light v8 with a bugcatch sticking out.

[Trevor 57]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

While we are at it, your Ford Econovan was a rebadged Mazda E series.

I know

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

I had both a Ford Econovan (for a whole week) and the mighty L300 Mitsy.

It did everything I ever forced it to do, and still when camping in it on the weekends. Such an easy van to play with. I went to dump it at the wreckers and the owners son offered to buy it off me. $800 cash.
I paid $800 10 years earlier converted it to a camper, drove it all up and down the Eastcoast with a sailing dinghy on the roof. When it was done camping I continually loaded it with granite up to the window sills while driving over paddocks and through fords. The thing just wouldn't quit.
Certainly not the worst thing I owned.
Only little fragile snowflakes need all that safety crap.

Exactly, function over form. And driver safety is driver ability, you dont need safety if you dont smash it. And if you do smash, the ride in the ambo and hospital time gives you plenty of time to reflect on being a poor driver. The overheating thing on hot days running the ac was my major gripe in the L300.

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

I had both a Ford Econovan (for a whole week) and the mighty L300 Mitsy.

It did everything I ever forced it to do, and still when camping in it on the weekends. Such an easy van to play with. I went to dump it at the wreckers and the owners son offered to buy it off me. $800 cash.
I paid $800 10 years earlier converted it to a camper, drove it all up and down the Eastcoast with a sailing dinghy on the roof. When it was done camping I continually loaded it with granite up to the window sills while driving over paddocks and through fords. The thing just wouldn't quit.
Certainly not the worst thing I owned.
Only little fragile snowflakes need all that safety crap.

My express ive owned for about 18 months, i had it loaded with 800kg of bags of mulch in the back and (ahem) 500kg(unbraked) towed in the trailer 100 kays up the freeway to a clients property. It was slow and loud to begin with but i topped out at 80-90kph. Unladen on the way back 100-110kph is doable with earplugs.
My dilemma is, what to replace it with? Its only got 160k on it, paid $6k, every hiace the same age is $25k with 300k on it, and every new van seems to start at low $40k.I like the LDV van for $30k, but it wont have the reliability of the old mitsi.

[Stubbie]

A Holden Calibra was my worst. I would be driving down the freeway in the fast lane at 100kph and the engine would just cut out, come to a stop and it would just start and go again. It would be fine for a couple of weeks and then cut out again. Spent a lot of time at the Holden dealer arguing with the service manager about how dangerous it was. Finally after 12 months and a lot of money I got it working to a point and traded it in.

[FTE217]

My worst ever vehicle I should have Never bought is a 2WD dual cab D21 Navara in auto.
What a POS - I don't know why I ended up with it purely by the fact was an impulse buy at the time.
Gearbox was shyte, motor was shyte.
I've had NOvara decease ever since and know D40's were POS as well with many issues, nothing changed it seems.

[fgpsi]

vs statesman supercharged v6

auto shat itself at 40k

[russellw]

Originally Posted by .:4:.

Small ****ty vans are awesome to work out of. They maximise space, but the rest is just ****ty. And they're cheap. No need for those space taking crumple zones, no need for other safety like expensive abs brakes, brakes in general, airbags or any of that crap. And who needs things like manual mirrors that can be adjusted from the inside, let alone electric mirrors, or anything remotely luxurious. Nvh, who cares, tin can it. Fuel economy? Its not like you'd be driving across the Nullabor plain, so just fill up every day and a half at one of many servos in metropolitan areas. And drive it till the doors fall off. Or at least that was my L300 experience, and yes, at one point the sliding door did fall off. Well, the rear sliding bit stayed attached, the top and bottom front rollers synchronised and decided to pop out and dropped the front of the sliding door onto the ground. It went back in ok as the thing was made out of steel about as thick as aluminium foil. But still, at least i drove a car until at least 1 door fell off.

I've got to say that while most vans are crap, our Hundewagen (the last of the LWB W639 Vito 122CDI's) has been great. The 3.0L V6 turbo diesel has plenty of grunt (shame they dropped it), it's well equipped with safety and convenience features and has been reliable with the only fault in 130k km being a failed temp sender on the DPF so that it wouldn't work which necessitated a $700 trip to a country dealer in the middle of a road trip.

Servicing costs are a bit severe for major services (thankfully only every 120k) and even the interim ones are a bit steep but they only come up every ~30k.

On the down side, the seats are crap for long distances but no one seems to make a kit to mount an after-market one; we tossed out the M-B 'premium' audio system for a decent one 'cos it sounded like a 70's trannie and it's hard to get a wheel alignment because it needs a special electronic gadget to do one.

Performance wise, it's on par with the petrol SZ Territory it replaced and it is happy with ~1T of gear in it!

[Rob S]

Originally Posted by Stubbie

A Holden Calibra was my worst. I would be driving down the freeway in the fast lane at 100kph and the engine would just cut out, come to a stop and it would just start and go again. It would be fine for a couple of weeks and then cut out again. Spent a lot of time at the Holden dealer arguing with the service manager about how dangerous it was. Finally after 12 months and a lot of money I got it working to a point and traded it in.

Holdens early version of the stop start engine HAHA.