Worst Car You've Ever Owned

The_Enginerd
The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
Mine goes to the 1984 Renault Alliance. 1.4 liter engine pounding out a thundering 64 hp, combined with a 3 speed automatic transmission, led to breathtaking performance. 0-60? Yes, as long as there wasn't the slightest uphill incline. I drove it once for 20 miles on the highway to my parents house where it's slightly uphill the entire way. I buried the throttle the whole way and never reached the 75 mph speed limit. And to think this was the 1983 Motor Trend Car of the Year. Reliability was terrible as well. But at least it was a looker...

1986_Renault_Alliance_For_Sale_Front_resize.jpg
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Replies

  • Tryxxie2013
    Tryxxie2013 Posts: 1,489 Member
    Mine wasn't the actual make that was bad because I owned an identical one right before and it was the best. But the second Impala that I got was a complete lemon. Nothing worked properly, couldn't open the trunk, the gas gauge didn't read the levels so I never knew how much gas was in there.

    The first month that I had it, the driver-side window slid down into the door. WTH? :noway: I swear, I was so happy when that thing died. ARG!
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    My 2012 Chevy Sonic LT hatch is my best and worst car I've ever owned.

    Wait, it's the only car I've ever owned!
  • zrod81
    zrod81 Posts: 111 Member
    96 mazda protege. Broke down on me more times than i care to remember!
  • mister_universe
    mister_universe Posts: 6,664 Member
    1986 Oldsmobile Omega. Mine was silver with a blood red interior. Technically belonged to my parents, but they made me buy it when I wrecked it. It was the fore bearer of the Saturn line, one of the first cars to experiment with fiberglass panels instead of steel.

    Being partially fiberglass the paint job on it sucked. It was a different kind of paint job, and it basically didn't respond to waxing at all, so it never looked shiny. You could baby it and it would still look like an old shoe.

    1982%252Boldsmobile%252Bomega%252Bside.jpg
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    Toss up between my Dodge Neon and 2002 Pontiac Rendezvous. Both lemons.
  • Factory_Reset
    Factory_Reset Posts: 1,651 Member
    My first car was a white 1980 Mustang. It was awful. I have no pics of it. It was a b*tch to put in 5th gear, so it made freeway driving super fun! it always idled high too, even after I had it "fixed". The heater broke in the winter time but not until the temperatures got to freezing. When I had a cd player installed in it all my lights burnt out...headlights, taillights, the little dome light even.

    I put more money into it, yes, my own money, than I actually paid for the car. I think my parents worried whenever I would leave in it. I only had it about a year and a half. I was so thankful to get rid of it!!
  • Cali_Chica
    Cali_Chica Posts: 895 Member
    2dv371h.jpg


    1980 something olive green Datsun station wagon with the wood paneling. My parents made all of us drive this little beauty when we turned 16. Had to learn how to change the oil and tires on it too before we were allowed to get behind wheel of a normal car that you didnt have to duck being seen in.
  • zrod81
    zrod81 Posts: 111 Member
    Toss up between my Dodge Neon and 2002 Pontiac Rendezvous. Both lemons.

    Neon! my other worst car that I own!
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    The invisible one... I could never find it and so I had to take the bus.
  • ercarroll311
    ercarroll311 Posts: 295 Member
    I've only had a 2004 Grand Prix and a 2013 Nissan Altima... love my Altima! The Grand Prix cost me thousands in repairs, only to not make it past 103k miles.
  • jenifr818
    jenifr818 Posts: 805 Member
    Toss up between my Dodge Neon and 2002 Pontiac Rendezvous. Both lemons.

    Neon! my other worst car that I own!

    I loved my Dodge Neon. I miss that car more than words can say

    I'd have to say the worst car I've ever owned is my current one, Kia Optima. I can't wait until this thing kicks the bucket. At the rate it's going, won't be long either
  • molonlabe762
    molonlabe762 Posts: 411 Member
    1987 Dodge Omni...BRIGHT blue, and holes in the floor boards.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    I'll also give honorable mention to my old Firebird I had. 2.8 liter CA emissions V6 with a 2 barrel carb that didn't even make 100 hp. It would have been okay if it wasn't a complete piece of crap though.... way too much money into fixing that thing. Constant overheating problems. I could not run a thermostat in it without it overheating and never did figure out why as it ran plenty cool without one. Running it cold all the time meant it ran like crap, got horrendous mileage, and I didn't have a heater. Fun times for sure...
  • 1972 Ford Pinto!
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    1987 Dodge Omni...BRIGHT blue, and holes in the floor boards.

    *snort* My sister had a pale blue Dodge Omni. The lighter would catapult into the back seat. The first time that happened I'm sure we almost wrecked.
  • i dont drive, but my bfs worst car imo was a toss up between a vw polo or an old ford fiesta (he usually goes through a car a year) he crashed his first car on his way to see me lol, his fiesta fell apart literally, his polo well the steering locked on it its engine was hanging out and its shashie was just beyond help. but currently his tiny little nissan micra is AWSOME despite the fact it conked on the way to see my dad before he kicked the bucket lol was out last laugh lol and its exhaust is currently hanging off. but i SOOO Hope he holds onto it i love it to bits lol
  • Behxo
    Behxo Posts: 1,190 Member
    2001 Ford Focus
  • Gearjammer71
    Gearjammer71 Posts: 151 Member
    2010 Chevy Traverse.

    What ever made me buy that fish head in the first place, escapes me. It was a complete POS though... It was in the shop so much I never really felt like I took delivery of the thing. It was a hunk of monkey *kitten*!
  • _JPunky
    _JPunky Posts: 508 Member
    My first car. I had a 1981 Dodge Aries...**** brown. Someone had obviously crashed it at one point and tried to repaint it by hand, because you could see paint brush marks on the corner of the hood.

    And the BEST part was that there was some kind of glitch with the radio. If you turned the steering wheel right, it came on. If you turned it left, it went off. If we really liked a song, we'd pull into a parking lot and do donuts so we could listen to the whole thing. :laugh:
  • mammamaurer
    mammamaurer Posts: 418 Member
    1988 bronco 2........ when it wasnt in the shop, we called it the "roving refrigerator" since the heater in it NEVER worked....

    88bronco_zpsf32eef60.jpg
  • jackpotclown
    jackpotclown Posts: 3,275 Member
    my dad had an 84 mazda B2000 pick up with power nothing on it.....no power steering (pump went bad) and no power brakes either....that piece of junk got me my first accident on sweetest day (backed into a parked car)

    my worst car was a two tone maroon over beige 81 pontiac grand prix....the speedometer made "crunch" sounds when you first took off......\m/
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  • mister_universe
    mister_universe Posts: 6,664 Member
    Almost forgot this one. Early 90's Pontiac Grand Am. Bought it well used, and it was out of camber. Chewed through tires like crazy, but also was a death trap when it rained.

    My wife rear ended a car with it in traffic one day, pretty badly, and she's the most cautious driver I know. She told me she hated that car, that it didn't feel safe. I brushed that off, we got it fixed.

    A few weeks later I was driving home from college down a busy five lane street. It was raining lightly, had been for awhile. I was in the right lane, and the driver from my right started to pull out in front of me, but then stopped. I went to correct back into my lane. Long story short, I did everything right, and it didn't matter. Ended up in a 360 spin down the middle lane and eventually into the oncoming lanes. No amount of steering correction/brake massaging/whatever would correct it. She was right. I was shaking and about to pee myself by the time it came to a stop.

    We sold it within two weeks to a young guy that worked in a garage that could fix the frame issues. Less than a month later it caught fire and burned up overnight one night.

    1991_pontiac_grand-am_coupe_se_fq_oem_1_500.jpg
  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
    I had a 98 Pontiac Grand Am that stayed in the shop and left me stranded more than it got me where I was going.
    I also had a Pontiac Grand Prix that stayed broke down alot.
    The top worst car I ever owned had to be the 1999 MERCURY COUGAR!!!! It was horrible. 3 alernators burned up within 6 months then the damn thing caught on fire and melted the wiring harness. Couldn't be fixed and the shops I took it to all told me the same thing. That model cougar was a pile of crap. :grumble:

    http://www.google.com/imgres?q=1999 mercury cougar&sa=X&rlz=1C1OPRB_enUS531US531&espv=210&es_sm=93&biw=1280&bih=922&tbm=isch&tbnid=dgIKo5z_prtH5M:&imgrefurl=http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/1999-mercury-cougar-long-term-road-test&docid=kaorMHIej3FG9M&imgurl=http://media.caranddriver.com/images/00q2/267323/1999-mercury-cougar-photo-5998-s-429x262.jpg&w=429&h=262&ei=nPjOUpT0HISqkQfzzYDoBw&zoom=1&ved=0CHkQhBwwBg&iact=rc&dur=1732&page=1&start=0&ndsp=18
  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
    Almost forgot this one. Early 90's Pontiac Grand Am. Bought it well used, and it was out of camber. Chewed through tires like crazy, but also was a death trap when it rained.

    My wife rear ended a car with it in traffic one day, pretty badly, and she's the most cautious driver I know. She told me she hated that car, that it didn't feel safe. I brushed that off, we got it fixed.

    A few weeks later I was driving home from college down a busy five lane street. It was raining lightly, had been for awhile. I was in the right lane, and the driver from my right started to pull out in front of me, but then stopped. I went to correct back into my lane. Long story short, I did everything right, and it didn't matter. Ended up in a 360 spin down the middle lane and eventually into the oncoming lanes. No amount of steering correction/brake massaging/whatever would correct it. She was right.

    We sold it within two weeks to a young guy that worked in a garage that could fix the frame issues. Less than a month later it caught fire and burned up overnight one night.

    1991_pontiac_grand-am_coupe_se_fq_oem_1_500.jpg

    My friends had one identical to that one and it too caught fire and burned to the ground.
  • delicious_cocktail
    delicious_cocktail Posts: 5,797 Member
    Toss up between my Dodge Neon and 2002 Pontiac Rendezvous. Both lemons.

    Neon! my other worst car that I own!

    Used '98 neon. Looked about yea:
    left_front.jpg

    About six months after buying it the crankshaft bearings went and the crankshaft itself got pretty damaged. No replacement parts were available. My choices were buy a replacement engine from a junk yard or go to a machine shop. Both cost well over the car's book value.
  • sammie121403
    sammie121403 Posts: 49 Member
    1997 Pontiact Grand Am. It was the year they decided to make it electronic, that year had so many recalls and was known for the ignition to start a fire. I had so many issues. Key got stuck in the ignition, alarm would go off when it felt like it, locks would lock and unlock while I was driving, headlights would go out while driving at night, and my favorite....the Gauge cluster crapped out 3 times while I owned it, replaced it each time with one i got online, and it would work fine, then crap out again. Had to pump the brakes 3 times before the car would decide to stop. The key was a chip key, and they kept telling me i needed to get a new one, but they wanted too much money, so a mechanic friend re-keyed the lock and cylinder with the magnet "active" so you just turned the ignition and it started, without a key.

    The moment i knew it was time to get rid of it, power window got stuck down and you didnt need a key, was too easy for someone to steal it (although if they did, they wouldve brought it right back to me! LOL).
  • jackpotclown
    jackpotclown Posts: 3,275 Member
    My first car. I had a 1981 Dodge Aries...**** brown. Someone had obviously crashed it at one point and tried to repaint it by hand, because you could see paint brush marks on the corner of the hood.

    And the BEST part was that there was some kind of glitch with the radio. If you turned the steering wheel right, it came on. If you turned it left, it went off. If we really liked a song, we'd pull into a parking lot and do donuts so we could listen to the whole thing. :laugh:

    LOL that's awesome....I had an '84 mustang that for some reason the horn clip eventually wore out on......so I would go to turn the wheel and suddenly a slight "honk" sound would be heard. It was pretty nice out so there were people who would see me come by, hear the horn, and think "wtf is this??", so I decided to just go with it after a while and wave to everyone. Eventually I got it fixed, but it was hilarious \m/
  • BamaBreezeNSaltAire
    BamaBreezeNSaltAire Posts: 966 Member
    HANDS DOWN - 2005 Ford F-250 6.0 diesel. WHAT A HUNK OF $50,000 crap!!!!!
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    My first car was a 70s-something Mustang. It had the clutch from hell and if stopping on even the slightest incline was necessary, you had no choice but to get out and push.
  • vinny76063
    vinny76063 Posts: 133 Member
    Worst was my first car old broken down front end hanging off 84' cutlass supreme.....