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The Car You Wish You Never Bought

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DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998
Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2005-12-16          121187

Least favorite three cars in least favorite first order:

1) 1975 Chevy Vega GT -- sport bucket vinyl seats, 4cyl alumumium block literally an old V8 chevy block d=sawn in half, all components sized for a V8, like huge AC compressor that would cause overheating at idle.

2) 1978 Chevy C10 Pickup -- a constant Trans leaker

3) 1963 (?) Chevy II -- the worlds absolutely most boring piece of metal, 2 spd auto ugh ugh


Hmm I just noticed these were all Chevy products. I just have not had good luck with them, in fact I had an accident with a Chevy rental car that was due IMHO to the poor handling of the cars brakes and suspension that I had become unaccustomed to after owning Hondas.

Dennis


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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2005-12-16          121190

1. 1977 Datsun 280Z. Piece of crap. Bought brand new and had 2 paint jobs and 1 engine rebuild in 40,000 and less than 4 years old. It was the first and last Jap car for me. ....

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Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3034 Northern AL
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2005-12-16          121191

1) 1979 - Omni O24 - early Onmi 3 door with the VW engine. At 50K it was a 2 cycle. Back window channel rusted out and it rained in the back. My wife bought new before we got married. Albatross! Albatross!
2) 1970 VW van – small engine – no power – no brakes
3) 1990 Toyota Previa – folded up like a beer can and written off – happened just prior to them receiving dangerous status in the offset crash tests – I was clipped on the drivers side about 1 ft in at 40 mph – Toyota claimed the offset crash was not a real world test.
....

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2005-12-16          121192

Probably the closest to total junk I ever had in a car was a Dodge "K" car. It was always broke down. Frank. ....

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Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3034 Northern AL
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2005-12-16          121193

Frank;
Ever seen Red Green's conversion of a K Car to a Zamboni? One of his funniest bits. Claimed it was the proper use as a K car had leaked water everywhere but the ice rink. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2005-12-16          121194

1. 1998 Ford Ranger 4WD. Still have it but don't know why. New engine at 30k miles due to piston slap, replacement has same problem and "they all do it", four complete driveshafts and it still clunks like a model T, resealed transfer case, crank sensor, seat brackets, A/C system, clutch pilot bearing, transmission, chronic tailgate latch problems, and probably another 20 things I can't remember. Made a killing on the extended warranty but now it's all on my dime.

2. 1986 Toyota Corolla. What a piece of crap. You couldn't keep front wheel bearings in this POS and the design was so lousy you couldn't pack 'em and couldn't replace them without removing the knuckles and having new UNSEALED and UNPACKABLE bearings pressed in. Power Steering pump was crap, and the damn thing never did idle.

3. 78 Datsun pickup. Not a bad vehicle except we couldn't drive it at night because the headlights would decide to shut themselves off from time to time for no particular reason. ....

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oneace
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1490 south central pa
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2005-12-16          121195

03 f250 PSD 3 trannys and counting. But that was my fault for using it the way it was intended to be used.

94 Chevy Impala. could not keep a tranny in that one either, along with clock springs, rear ends the list goes on and on. Only good thing about that car was when I sold the engine (LT1) for what I paid for the car to a guy building a street rod. ....

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Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 6898 Waterville New York
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2005-12-16          121197

Can I jump in with my 2001 1500 4 by 4 Dodge pick-up with a new engine at 60,000 because of being a happy prior owner paid for by the dodge. This is the worst by far and for the most part the little 318 just has it's tongue under the front bumper! I've taken a couple of transmissions out a few trucks ago before I realized they really do mean to lock out the over drive while towing. ....

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2005-12-16          121202

Peters; That strikes my funny bone about Red Green probably trying to "Duct Tape" one of those together because I seem to remember using some "Duct Tape" trying to hold something together on it. We kept it on the road till no junk yards had a cylinder head left for one. I don't have a clue how many water pumps that thing went thru. I better stop I'm getting depressed just thinking about that thing. Frank. ....

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Iowafun
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 955 Central Iowa
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2005-12-18          121285

1989 Old Cutlas Calais International - 160 hp Quad 4 in it with manual transmission. Not a bad car, but right rear shock was always breaking and leaking oil. Couldn't keep spark plugs in it. Needed new plugs at most 5,000 miles or at least re-gapped. Was better with platinum plugs, but still needed new ones at 7,500-10k miles. Very sucky handling on snow/ice despite front wheel drive. Finally, GM brakes were not good on this car. Bought used, paid too much, had a baby barf smell in it when it would sit in a hot sun. ....

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bvance
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 280 The Great Pacific NorthWet, Olympia, WA
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2005-12-18          121290

Here's one: My 1976 Dodge Power Wagon 4X4. It was an absolute piece of junk. IMHO, the 70's were the height of arrogance of the US car industry. They all made a pretty lousy product. But Dodge was the worst by a long shot. This was also a time when Dodge was cutting all kinds of corners before their ills and near total collapse became publically known.

This vehicle had too many problems, malfunctions, breakdowns to mention but the all-time favorite come apart was as follows:

I was going down the road about 60 mph and the rearend was whining more than usual. At that point, I just didn't care what noise it was making, I had just decided to drive it until the wheels came off. Well, they did.....at 60 mph! The entire rear axle came detached from the frame....wheels and all. I looked in my drivers mirror to see the axle with wheels attached gaining on me. Off course by this time the frame had dropped on the pavement, and I was slowing rapidly....and noisely. The rear axle and wheels went whipping by me on the drivers side (luckily there was no oncoming traffic) and veered off into the borrow pit. Anyone else call the ditch along side the road the borrow pit? The reason was in early days they "borrowed" dirt from the side of the road to make the road bed....but I digress. The axle, wheels and all hit a barb wire fence along side the road and proceeded to wrap about 100 yards of barb wire in an incredible mess all around the axle.

The Brown Dog as we called the Power Wagon came to rest along the side of the road and I had it towed home and had to come back and fix the poor guys fence. I cut off some of the wire but took wire, axle and all back to the dealer to prove what had happened, because I didn't think he would believe it. He believed it, because this wasn't the first axle that had come loose....but this one was the most dramatic he said. I guess the the differential just totally froze up and at my speed and weight, as it was loaded with lumber, the wheel friction on the pavement totally tore the whole axle loose from the frame.

That story is the gosh honest truth. It was also the last Dodge or Chrysler product I ever owned and will ever own!

....

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2005-12-19          121307

Frank your comment on the "K" car seems funny to me. I had a 1984 Plymouth Reliant and had no trouble with it. It was a stripped down version 2 door with 4 cylinder and 4 speed stick. I only had the car for 5 years and 70,000 miles but heard from the people that bought it from me. It got almost 200,000 miles on it. My brother-in-law still has my deceased mother-in-laws 1985 Dodge Aries. He still drives it, but it now is a total piece of crap. He prides himself in his $450.00 Suburbans that he buys. (ie. doors are held shut with rope and the dog has dug a hole in the right front cushion). Red Green could learn something from him. ....

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2005-12-19          121313

Yoperpete; I agree ther must have been exceptions at both ends of the scale not only with "K" cars but most any brand. The one we had should have never been built, but a friend still has his mothers "K" car that he drives to work. Our Son in law in northern Minnesota buys up some rust bucket Suburbans in the summer then sells them for snow beaters in the fall. Claims he makes a few bucks doing it. Frank. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2005-12-19          121320

I've never owned a car or truck I regretted buying or owning.

I have, however, been stuck with some pretty pathetic excuses for cars as rentals, usually becuase my reservation got screwed up, or they over-booked.

Two stand out in particular.

One was the aforementioned K-car. After driving it for 2 days I came to the conclusion that passing gear was NOT in the TX, it was in the stereo, it only made more noise, not more speed.

The other was a Chevette, 4 cyl. auto. with A/C, thought I was going to die getting onto the Interstate. A/C off, foot to the floor, and I ran out of merge lane (on a downhill on-ramp), looked down and I was only doing 52 mph!!! Took it back to Dollar and told the clerk to either give me another car, or get in it and we'd go for a little cruise on the Interstate. I left in a Cadillac in about 2 minutes.

Best of luck.

....

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Iowafun
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 955 Central Iowa
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2005-12-19          121339

Murf, I remember when I did crewing for race teams. Rental cars were fun for us especially when you had two or more to play with. I feel sorry for the people that got them after us. Getting them airborn on the entrance to hotels was popular, speed bumps were fun at 30 mph, etc. We won't even mention the hand parking brake. Good memories...

We even had 1 guy ride in the trunk due to lack of space. He volunteered and never did it again after the speed bumps, spin-outs, curbs, etc. That's what happens when you try to fit 7 crew dogs in one Pontiac Grand Am. ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2005-12-19          121342

My staff got into a heated debate about the "best off-road vehicle" at the company picnic one year.


I ended the discussion when they asked my opinion. "Simple," I said "rental cars.".

The conversation ended right there in a big roar of laughter........

Best of luck. ....

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shortmagnum
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 848 Wisconsin
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2005-12-19          121345

I've been trying to think of a car I've owned that was bad, and I can't think of one either. I do have to stick up for the poor maligned K car. My mother bought one when she had just turned 65 yrs old. She made the mistake of taking my older brother who used to be really cheap along to order it. Somehow he talked her into an 81 Dodge Aries with NO OPTIONS. Actually, the auto trans must have been an option. It had no power steering, no power brakes and of course, no power. It was all the poor woman could do to turn the wheel.

She gave it to me when she bought a new '90 Buick. This time she went shopping with my brother's wife. :) I drove it for another 5 years and gave it to my daughter who drove it 2 more years. It still ran when she had the junkyard pick it up, said it was too embarrassing to drive. While it wasn't a really good car, it wasn't a bad car either. Plus the K car saved Chrysler in the eighties. Remember the govt loan guarantees?
Dave ....

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kyvette
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 194 Central Kentucky
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2005-12-19          121346

My negative purchases were two cars my wife wanted and a GMC Jimmy that I wanted.

1. 1975 Chevy Vega GT wagon. This was a good looking car but basically a piece of junk, brought it new for $4K and sold it a year later for $3K.

2. 1969 Volkswagon bug, brought it used in 1974, the wife wanted it, as it was a stick shift automatic. Paid about $1300 replaced the transaxle and sold it for $1000, kept it about 6 months. Then we got the Vega.

3. I brought a used 1983 GMC Jimmy. I kept this for about three years and used it to pull the ski boat. I had to replace the camshaft and when I traded it, the front main seal was leaking.

My favorite all time was my second, car a 1963 white Chevy super sport with red interior. It was a good chick car. I brought it the summer before my sophomore year in college. ....

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jarndt
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 351 Northern Virginia
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2005-12-19          121347

1986 Ford Escort L. Very surprised no one else has mentioned this one yet. They seemed to be as common as cockroaches back then and about as ugly. It's anemic 4 banger was only good for about 60K-80K miles before it started burning more oil than gas. ....

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yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
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2005-12-19          121352

The mention of a Vega brings back some wild memories. One of my former college room mates had one when we graduated. His was a Vega GT. Actually it went pretty fast for mid-70's vintage cars and did handle well. After a long tough night of partying, we woke up and looked at his poor car. In mid August we did a bunch of crop touring in corn fields. The hood was all dented and grille was broken from the cobs. The under carriage by the shock towers had corn stalks hanging everywhere. We were making crop circles before it got popular and mysterious. ....

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DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998
Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2005-12-19          121355

Wow with my 75 Vega GT that makes three Vega GT's for first place in the worst car challenge.

Seems like a few of us made the same bad decision. ....

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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2005-12-19          121364

I always wanted a Cosworth Vega. Probably a good thing I never got one. ....

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DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998
Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2005-12-19          121371

Of the many bad parts to the Vega, one of the worst was the engine, so maybe the Cosworth engine might of solved some of the shortcomings.

That Vega of mine was a mixed blessing, the brakes were poor and one night I was coming home late and I locked up at about 65 MPH descending a steep mountain road and the poor balance of car threw me into some high speed 360's and I wound up in some guys yard, miraculously without rolling the car (the blessing), and a further miracle that the car had somehow missed more than a half dozen trees, had I hit them I doubt I would be writing this.

When I got my 1981 Honda Accord in 1981 I was going to junk it at 150000 miles, but my neighbor insisted on taking it, he was a handy guy and we discussed the risks. He gave it to his daughter, and the front wheel broke off on the same mountain road I had my spin out on, she was Ok (thank god). After that he junked the car.

Dennis ....

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Iowafun
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 955 Central Iowa
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2005-12-20          121422

I forgot about the '86 Ford Bronco II my dad owned. HE had loaned it to a friend whose wife was, um, extremely robust. The result was the passenger seat was deformed. Literaly bent and twisted.

It was not the best vehicle. Course, the way I drove it may have been part of the problem. I'm surprised I never rolled it or wrecked it. I used to get it airborn leaving school in an attempt to get by buddy's head to kit he ceiling. I did get his shoulders pinned to ceiling one time. That was neat! I must have been 3 feet in the air on that one.

But one neat thing about it was the short wheel base. So in 4x4 mode on ice, I could get it to drive sideways. Neat trick. ....

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