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Worst Cars You've Experienced

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 9:03 am
by evolutionmovement
One was an old Ranger that had no suspension, nothing but the headlights worked, and the gas tank leaked. Badly.

The next was a two year old Durango I transported for a dealer. I think all its balljoints were bad (as in their recall) since I felt safer at 120 in my car than 60 in that POS. Didn't brake, accelerate, stay in the lane, and had bad traction even in the wet with 4wd.

The third worst was a 1975 Chevy Nova with a built 350. Bought as a parts car it was more iron oxide than steel (a rear shock had even broken through the trunk). The doors alternately stuck shut or flew open on corners and there was no seat belt for the bench seat that slanted towards the door. I was a passenger at over 135 as indicated by a Formula 350 and accepted that I was going to die.

Lastly was a taxi Peugeot 505 wagon in Egypt with over 300k miles. We were coming back from Dendera to Luxor at night with Nile irrigation canals to each side of the single lane road. No one uses headlights at night so we pulled out to pass two tour buses into oncoming traffic. The idiot driver didn't even downshift. We were halfway to the second bus when blinding flashes came from in front of us - another bus coming our way. A hard stab on the brakes and we just barely made it back where we started. Then the bus went by and he tried it again... All I wanted at the time was for my body to make it back home.

Steve

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 2:35 pm
by MrBean85
The worst that I have experienced so far would have to be a 97 Ford Escort w/ the Sport package. Its obnoxiously loud, vibrates like crazy, no power, it just sucks.

Second worst is a 94 Mustang GT w/ automatic. The guys got an exhaust on it that sounds good, but its all show and no go. The transmission doesn't know how to shift, suspension is shot, and only has power on certain days of the week!

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 11:46 pm
by Dr Nick
I don't think you US guys get these, but I recently had a Peugeot 307 diesel hire car. This car is the size of an Impreza but with a 1.4litre diesel engine. It is without doubt the worst new car I have EVER driven due to the incomparably dire performance - the factory performance figures include a 0-60mph time of 16.0, some 9 seconds slower than my Legacy Turbo.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/car_r ... _id=100090 to find out more if you really must... :wink:

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 12:53 am
by eastbaysubaru
^LOL. There are some pretty crappy new cars in Europe for sure. We don't get a lot of those small engine jobbies or any of the diesels. Hell, we don't even get a lot of the brands you guys get. Fortunately you guys don't get a lot of the American made crap though.

The worst car I've ever ridden in/drove was my buddys '86 Escort. True POS. It only had an AM radio :lol:

-Brian

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 1:40 am
by Yukonart
92 Ford Probe that I picked up for a coworker several years back. The thing was only 4 years old at the time. . . . but looked like it had been through a solid decade of wear.

Sat way too low in the driver's seat, was gutless, brakes SUCKED (and it had JUST had a brake job when I picked it up), the windows leaked, the tranny didn't know when the hell to shift (automagic), and the engine sounded like it was on it's last leg.

I think the car had 50,000 miles on it at the time. :lol:

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 2:22 am
by LegacyT
My buddys saturn and anothers 92 ford taurus. Both major peices of shit.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 3:12 am
by import_freak
The worst car I've ever driven by far was an 00 hyundai accent. That thing was a piece of shiat! The seats had no padding, the interior looked like it came from the dollar store, and it had about 3 gerbil power.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 3:57 am
by legacy92ej22t
I dated a girl in school for a while that had one of the Chevy versions of the Geo Metro. It was a 3 cylinder auto....horrible car.

Had a friend that had a (IIRC) 82 Civic hatchback that was missing 3rd gear and sprayed coolant all over the front passenger floor area. The car was beat to hell but kept going, so I guess it was still a pretty good car.

Worse car I ever owned was a 91 Ford Explorer. I had to dump about $500-600 every 3-4 months into that piece of crap.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:04 am
by THAWA
The worst car I've had hands on experience with would have to be my legacy, not that it's a terrible car or anything. The civic I had before was just in better shape.

One word Dewoo

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 5:32 am
by G-reg
I have a friend with a Dewoo..Leganza or something, the "nice one." The car is 6mo old, the dash has about warped itself in two-pealing up from the wind sheild, the power windows don't work most of the time, doors don't shut right, lots of road noise, the list goes on and on and on and on....

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:08 am
by LaureltheQueen
my best friend's 86 jetta. slow as sin, auto, over 200k miles, her dad's done so much work to it, but she trashes it.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:44 am
by THAWA
oop i lied, my old 86 16v scirocco, it was killer to drive, but shit was messin up and it had no reverse.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:06 pm
by scottzg
I drove a 82 dodge van for a year. It was nice inside, but it was a terror to drive. No windows, Manual, 6 cyl. It was the slowest vehicle i have ever seen. You could floor the engine, drop the clutch, and the thing would STALL. 0-60 was in 24 seconds. Top speed was 78mph. You had to plan your moves waaaay in advance, cause you couldnt change speeds and you couldnt see anything nearby. OH, and i popped 3 tires and the throwout bearing was dead.

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:04 am
by 970subaru
worst hands down would be f 250 at my work. its the company trash truck for small remodel business, so it has led a pretty hard life. no radio, 351 smokes like a chimney, zf 5spd has not much synchros left so tranny grinds really bad and sometimes jumps out of gear. alignment is off and pulls really hard to the right. not to mention the body and interior, both are disgusting. probably the worst thing about it is the tailgate, for lack of a better word. its a piece of 3/4 OSB screwed to the end of the bed. to unload, you use a cordless and unscrew it. trouble is, the screws eventually pull out of the piece holding the "tailgate." its actually pretty scary to drive with a big load. not too bad empty.
my rabbit is pretty uncivilized. has no interior except seats and a dash, needs strut bearings so clanks over bumps, and has really stiff springs/shocks. however it is so fun to drive anyway that I dont care.
a neighbor of mine has the junkiest cars Ive ever seen. lots of old honda civic cvcc's or whatever, two 65 vista cruisers which are actually damn cool but pretty beat, and a monza with a 350. he is pretty cool though and has used a huge tree in his yard and a com-a-long to pull a big block olds from the vista. :twisted: :shock: 8)

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:21 am
by patcal
Without a doubt my 74 AMC Hornet Wagon. I had it in 82 & hated it from the day I got it. Gutless, scary handling, real bad gas mileage.

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:45 am
by entirelyturbo
My grandfather's 92 Isuzu pickup. If I launched my XT from a stop in 2nd gear, it would still beat that truck's ass. Very hard to start, no power anything, not even PS. Clutch is really stiff. A/C and turn signals don't work. He has piled so much crap in the pass. seat that you simply cannot sit in it.

The unfortunate thing is if my car is undriveable, that's my next mode of transportation... :(

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:53 am
by ciper
It probably had the 2.3 liter 96 HP 4 cylinder! I replaced the headgasket on an 89 2.6L version and it wasnt bad (120hp).

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 8:22 pm
by scottzg
hmmm
sounds like the mitsu engine. Do you remember if it was carby, or, by some lucky chance, mpi?

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 7:49 am
by entirelyturbo
Yep, its the 2.3 4cyl carbed. Dog slow. And yes the headgasket went on this truck too... POS Isuzu. I always had a thing for an 80's Isuzu Impulse, but not anymore :?

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 3:38 pm
by MrBean85
After driving that Mustang GT last night, I can honestly say that it sucks! Sure its loud and may be quicker than my Subaru, but I don't see how anyone could drive that thing. Not only does the trans shift like crap it binds worse than any AWD Legacy I have ridden in. The guages are impossible to see at night, and the interior trim panels feel like they could fall off at any given moment. I'll stick w/ my Legacy :D