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Worst Car

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My husband bought me a TR3', by this time we had 3 kids. We were in the process of building a house in another town so I drove the guys to the new school every day. Now the car had plastic Windows and a lousy heater. My 3 year old laid on the floor by the passenger seat to be closer to the heater. When the wind blew it took my breath away it was so darn cold.

When we were moving to the new house we put up for sale a fiber glass body that he was going to put on the TR frame., decided too much work. Too in trade a VW bug with wide fenders and tires. That car would run on 3 cylinders and go in the snow, but no heat, had to scrape the inside of the window every couple of minutes. Went to pick up a Christmas tree with 3 kids and a St Bernard. Bought a 10' tree which was tied on the roof by the door handles. What sight going down the road. Got home, found ourselves locked in the car , pushed one of the kids out the window to cut the rope.
 
HardHatGuy#2 said:
That's too easy; The Yugo. Never had one, but a guy in my Army unit bought one. Engine blew before it hit 5k, and the dealer wouldn't fix it. Even the JAG office couldn't help. May not have been as bad a car as the Hoffman, but this was 35-odd years later.

Personally, I've never had a car that didn't go 200k without a major repair (except the one that got demolished by a drunk and a bus). Bonus of being a backyard mechanic.

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RockyMTblue2 said:
The hands down winner has to be the Yugo, aka the Mona Lisa of horrible cars.

The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History by Jason Vuic | Librarypoint


Has its consumer advocates though: general tenor, sure it falls apart, but when it works it is fun to drive. 1990 Yugo GV Consumer Reviews

It was actually a clone of a 11-12 year old Fiat car, built to the abysmal standards of communist manufacturing.
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Can't believe you guys are ragging on Yugos. Most people don't know this but the Yugo was the first car to have airbags.....

granted you had to blow them up yourself.

You want to know how bad Yugo's were? Not only do they not exist anymore, Yugoslavia does not exist anymore.

:D (I'm around all week. :rolleyes:)
 
CocoHusky said:
1977 Chevy Nova with column shift.

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I had Chevy Vega--ran the tires and wheels right off it. If I'm not mistaken it had Teflon rings that supposedly melted when it over heated.
I over heated it--ran through Clintons home town of Hope once a week then from Little Rock to Laurel Md every other weekend and it ran like a champ--don't recall ever checking the oil in it. Standard shift--had an interlock had to push in the clutch to start it (not in neutral).
 
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The worst car is my current Hyundai--they have air bags that killed people, the sun roof shatters for no reason, the service stinks
they are rude and drag their feet on everything and charge for tire rotation but send you to the tire dealer for any tire problems
I've had the alignment re aligned 7 times in 6 months--only once ever before was my other cars in need of alignment. The structure of the wheel assemblies is made of metal too light for the job--is my opinion. Not one I could recommend
They have a keyless entry fob that will only allow 2 fob on the car--you can't buy a spare. If they program the Fob, the car is programmed to the new fob--not the fob to the car. Not rational--if the owner requests not programming the car --it can't be done. strange system.
 
uconnell said:
My husband bought me a TR3', by this time we had 3 kids. We were in the process of building a house in another town so I drove the guys to the new school every day. Now the car had plastic Windows and a lousy heater. My 3 year old laid on the floor by the passenger seat to be closer to the heater. When the wind blew it took my breath away it was so darn cold.

When we were moving to the new house we put up for sale a fiber glass body that he was going to put on the TR frame., decided too much work. Too in trade a VW bug with wide fenders and tires. That car would run on 3 cylinders and go in the snow, but no heat, had to scrape the inside of the window every couple of minutes. Went to pick up a Christmas tree with 3 kids and a St Bernard. Bought a 10' tree which was tied on the roof by the door handles. What sight going down the road. Got home, found ourselves locked in the car , pushed one of the kids out the window to cut the rope.
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Had a TR4 bought it at Uconn and sold it at Uconn (poor guy). Fun car--but the carbs would not stay tuned and I wasn't up to the job --apparently it required a "tuned ear". Owned it 2 months--happy to buy it, happier to sell it!.
 
A very early pre-rotary Mazda sedan (don't remember the model but mid-seventies probably) a friend had - it had a pneumatic controlled throttle that brilliant required the air pressure to it. When the rubber hose came off, the engine would go to full throttle which it did once driving in town causing a rather frightening collision.
 
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Funny... two of the best cars I ever owned were a 65 Ford Galaxy 500 with the 352 four barrel and a '97 Mazda 626. Guess it's all relative. I did have a neighbor who owned a Le Car for a bried period until it died one day on the bridge going over the CT River.

My worst car ever was actually the first luxury car I bought -- a 1991 Renault 18i. The brakes started squealing -- I mean cover your ears squealing -- at about 50o miles and never stopped. They changed out the brakes -- they still squealed, with a slightly lower volume that made the mechanic shrug his shoulders and say "That's as good as it's gonna get." The luxurious leather driver's seat started cracking and peeling almost immediately. Not the other front seat -- just the driver's seat, which prompted the dealer to ask what I had done to it. Then there was an awful fuel pump leak. When the oil was changed the first time the car subsequently refused to start -- one of the sensors had reset.

But the final blow was the electrical system. When it rained, the electric windows didn't work. I took it to the dealer -- but it wasn't raining -- and they could find nothing wrong. I was driving back and forth to Boston a lot on the Mass Pike and got real tired of having to open the door to take tickets and pay the tolls. In desperation I took it to another mechanic who found the problem: air bubble on the printed circuit cards for the windows -- when the barometer went down they prevented the circuits from making contact. Then the alternator went -- and it took the dealer eight days to get the part.

The guy I sold the car to was amazed that I would sell a car with only 21,000 miles on it for a third of what I'd paid for it. Little did he know that he probably could have negotiated me down another couple of thousand!
 
Blueconn said:
Worst ever probably include Yugo and Trabants. But my personal worst was my 1971 Chevy Vega. My first brand new car...$48 per month to GMAC ! At about 35,000 miles on the odometer the aluminum engine compononents began to melt and warp.

Sold it to my girlfriend's brother who never gassed up without buying a couple of cans of oil....and kept it going for at least another year or two. Told me he just waited for the engine oil light to come on and then just pulled over and dumped a quart in. Over time the hood, the driver side door, steering wheel, radio knobs, etc. all got smeared with oil.
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I also had one. First new car. Lasted about 8 years. Took me across the country about 1.5 times, including through western deserts during the summer with no a/c. Thank God for my 8-track.
 
Zorro said:
Had an interesting experience with a TR4. (a car I loved to drive.) Was in Autlan, Mexico, when, for some reason, the electrical system burned down. Somehow or other, within a day, the mechanic had located a Lucas voltage regulator and alternater and I was on my way back to Dallas. (All I could understand of what he told me was something about a tractor.) All the panel instruments ran backwards, (empty to full, etc.) but what the hell. I think it cost around $30. Of course, this was around 1960 or so. One of my favorite cars was a Renault 4cv. Weighed in at 1100 lbs. Used to commute from Dallas to Arlington for night classes. Could park in amazingly tight places. Would back it in and then my buddy and I would get out, pick up the front end and muscle it over to the curb. Top speed on a level run of about 45mph.
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Ah, Lucas, the Prince of Darkness.
 
1981 Ford Fiesta 3-door hatch back (the only good feature on the car). 4-speed, 1100CC (68CID) but it wouldn't get out of its own way. Supposedly built for good mileage, but it was so underpowered that you had to drive it full throttle all the time just to keep up with traffic, so mileage sucked.
 
meyers7 said:
Can't believe you guys are ragging on Yugos. Most people don't know this but the Yugo was the first car to have airbags.....

granted you had to blow them up yourself.

You want to know how bad Yugo's were? Not only do they not exist anymore, Yugoslavia does not exist anymore.

:D (I'm around all week. :rolleyes:)
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You're a riot!
 
1981 Delorean DMC-12.

It looks cool, but every time I hit 88 M.P.H. I travel 30 years either back or into the future. It gets me out of speeding tickets but what a pain the neck. Really not worth the hassle or creepy encounters with my parents.

Oh, and who knows if I'll return to the same dimension from whence I left? Just can't know.
 
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Nothing is worse than all year models of the "built for economy not speed" Cheverolet Chevette. Worst ever...
 
ktuck911 said:
Nothing is worse than all year models of the "built for economy not speed" Cheverolet Chevette. Worst ever...
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Yeah, but you could always brag to the ladies that you drove a 'vette! Just don't offer drive them, anywhere.
 
Worst cars are the British's, I bought an MG midget that never made it to public road.
 
Hongster is right! MG's were horrible cars. Had friends that owned them and they totally sucked.

Worst car I ever owned might have also been the best value of a car I ever owned. It was a comet which year I don't remember. I picked it up for a 100 bucks and it needed an oil additive to run. I only bought it as a transition car because I my car had got wreaked. I only expected it to last about a couple weeks since the engine seemed to be on it's last legs. The auto transmission slipped like a muther as well took some time to get up to speed. Anyone that wasn't a cripple could out run it for a block.

I did tell myself I was going to drive it till it quite starting. The problem was that it always started and I finally had to give up and just have it towed away. Damn thing just wouldn't die.

The one really good thing about it was it's radio ( it still had tubes). It would get stations on the east coast with me being in California that was some reception. Even after I got another car I would still start the engine and sit in the car just to see what stations would come in.
 
BroadwayVa said:
Had a TR4 bought it at Uconn and sold it at Uconn (poor guy). Fun car--but the carbs would not stay tuned and I wasn't up to the job --apparently it required a "tuned ear". Owned it 2 months--happy to buy it, happier to sell it!.
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Actually- if I remember correctly, the duel carbs were really easy to adjust. You could adjust them by sight. They had pistons that regulated the air flow and all you needed to do is match up the spaces created as the engine was running. You could see that easily by taking off the air filters. A friend of mine had a TR4 and I had a Spitfire. The carbs worked on the same principle. We just measured the space and adjusted them so that they were the same on both carbs.
 
Driving up 44 towards Hartford. Rounding hard right turn. Fiat 128 frame points right. Fiat 128 body points straight. Ruined the whole day not to mention a brand new pair of underwear.
My mechanic felt so sorry for me that he had the body welded back on the chassis for $50. Guess he knew he already had all my money.
 
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willtalk said:
Actually- if I remember correctly, the duel carbs were really easy to adjust. You could adjust them by sight. They had pistons that regulated the air flow and all you needed to do is match up the spaces created as the engine was running. You could see that easily by taking off the air filters. A friend of mine had a TR4 and I had a Spitfire. The carbs worked on the same principle. We just measured the space and adjusted them so that they were the same on both carbs.
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As the man said --too little Much Much Much too late---
 
So what's everybody drives nowadays?
I have to take care of 5 cars.
Wife's 01 BMW 330XI
Daughter's 97 BMW 528I
Son's 08 Toyota Yaris
Me? F150 Crew cab and DD 02 BMW 530 S/C
 
Hongster said:
So what's everybody drives nowadays?
I have to take care of 5 cars.
Wife's 01 BMW 330XI
Daughter's 97 BMW 528I
Son's 08 Toyota Yaris
Me? F150 Crew cab and DD 02 BMW 530 S/C
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1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins 4X4. ~ 300k (no odometer for 5-6 years, so unsure). Unstoppable.

1996 Jeep Cherokee 2-door 5-speed - just rebuilt for my Daughter's car. ~200k, should get her through High Scool, college, and a bit after.

Had a 2002 Dodge Caravan EX with a 3.8 that I had set up to keep for another 5 years, but my (now ex) wife went offroading in it, bounced off a telelphone pole, ran over a neighbor's mailbox, and stopped by running into the back of a parked dump truck. Alcohol, Ambien and cars don't mix well
 
Bought a new MGA roadster while stationed in England. Brought it home with me. Visited a friend at the time in NYC. Parked the car & when I returned to drive back home, someone stole the windows out of the car, which were removeable. It was freezing outside & in the dead of winter. When returning, my wife, myself, & a dog, where all huddled together like a big ball to stay warm while driving.
 
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Artifact said:
Bought a new MGA roadster while stationed in England. Brought it home with me. Visited a friend at the time in NYC. Parked the car & when I returned to drive back home, someone stole the windows out of the car, which were removeable. It was freezing outside & in the dead of winter. When returning, my wife, myself, & a dog, where all huddled together like a big ball to stay warm while driving.
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Believe me I share your pain with English cars. I had removable windows in my TR3, they didn't help much but we're better than nothing.
 
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