POS cars you've owned

[andyzee]

1964 Dodge Dart, got it for $165 back in the late 70's early 80's. Freaking thing had a push button automatic transmission and came with 6 spare wheels and tires in the trunk. My parent refused to get into it, but I loved it. Had the thing for about a year. One day I was driving home late at night on the highway, fell asleep at the wheel(These were my wilder youth days) and ran up on the curb and hit an exit sign. Front wheel fell off but I was still able to drive down the exit and park it on the street, next to an auto salvage yard.Walked home and the next day came back and sold it to the junk yard for something like $25.

Another car that I loved was a Lancia Beta, believe it was a 73, Great car for it's time, small luxury 4 cylinder. At the time it had features that were not found in other foreign 4 cylinder cars. Stuff such as power windows, door locks, etc... Only problem, it was stick shift, which I wasn't used to and the motor mounts were messed up. I was never aware there was an issue with the motor mounts. When I would let off the clutch and the car/motor jumped, I just thought it was my inexperience and this was a more touchy clutch. It was actually the motor jumping and that resulted in all kind of stuff breaking. Eventually got rid of the car.

One of my favorite songs:

 

[Terry]

1982 Buick Skyhawk. That thing was the biggest piece of crap. Mega electrical and computer problems. I am a mechanic and this lady brought it in to be worked on. Everytime I fixed something on it, something else would screw up. We started dating, and I married her and inherited the car. It is a joke between us that she had to marry me so that I could keep her car running. I ended up trading it even for a 76 chevy wagon.

 

[ctenidae]

I had a 1986 Ford Escort that had 110K miles when I got it (free). Drove it past 200K (including cross country, and Louisiana to NC more times than I can count).

Then I got a job.

 

[kid3]

My biggest POS was and is my all time favorite vehicle, a 97 Ford Tauras SHO. I bought it new and have replaced everything and now it is sitting in my yard and needs a new transmission. I will replace it when my canoe comes in. Right!

I drive a 2000 Chevy Blazer back and forth the the Loaf each day. About 84 miles round trip. I go through alot of front end parts and just replaced the fuel pump as I knew it was going. No fuel gauge for a year and sometimes it would just refuse to start. Usually at Judsons after closing and after everyone has driven away. It's the only time I think, gee I need a cell phone. She is running right now and I will leave it at that. I do like my Blazer. Very safe ride in the snow. A perfect ride for this gal.

 

[Glenn]

lucky enough to always had good cars

-93 VW Jetta

I had a 1994. Solid cars! Granted, it was the firebreathing SOHC 8v 2.0. :razz: But it was a really really realiable car; and easy to work on! I did about 99% of the work myself..brakes, belts, water pump, head gasket. Nothing like those OBDI MKIII's. :beer:

 

[bvibert]

Those 2.0 8v's were good motors. The cross flow heads were a nice improvement over the older 8v heads. I preferred my 2.0L with 16 valves though. Too bad those weren't used more widely.

 

[billski]

Yeah Andyzee, the 70's were real ugly for American cars. you got rid of them at 60K because they literally fell apart.

65 Galaxy 500 - Engine mount bolts snapped going down a hill on Rte 495. Engine moved forward, the driveshaft backend dropped off and continued to rotate and bang it's way into the cabin floor. Very, very scary car.

Scrapped it and bought a Datsun, which had serious carburetor problems. Solved the problem by trading it for a my first Subie.

p.s., I met the manager of a Chevy design shop in Detroit in 1981. The arrogance oozed badly. The man saw my Subie and wouldn't shake my hand. "you know son, you just put eight Americans out of work." He didn't see how important quality was going to become. The quality movement clearly passed them by, and now it's too late. American manufacturers are destined to be shell corporations with somebody else building the product. I don't think I'd every buy American, sorry folks, the party is over.

 

[amf]

Oh what the heck…. I’ll add to this:

#1 1959 VW. No fuel gage (just the reserve tank lever), no heat (always had a couple of lap blankets). Valves started to stick, & I would put AT fluid in the crankcase. They had a rounded “nose” above the rear license plate lite, which I painted day-glo pink & wrote “snort” over since the thing rarely got over 45 mph & truly snorted. That got me busted. Engine finally seized going thru the Baltimore Harbor tunnel.

#2 1964 Ford Custom. Straight 6, three on the tree. The original land whale. I could sleep full out across the back seat. Things broke (like rocker arms), but were easy to fix & it kept running. Tranny died heading north on I95 – kept losing gears. Abandoned it under the highway after I was reduced to first gear.

#3 1968 Opel Kadett. The newest car I had owned up to then, and THE biggest POS. Everything broke. Sold it to some guy who loved Opels and needed a stable to keep one running.

#4 1959 Dodge PU. What a beast. Flathead straight 6. You could live in the engine compartment. Had no oil filter. Hydraulic clutch liked to freeze up in cold weather – always made sure I parked on a grade on really cold nights. Cruise control was a brick on the accelerator . 60 was about tops, but it had a nasty piston slap at that speed. But talk about power – I pulled a Caddy out of a snow filled ditch once & had to check to make sure I had actually attached the chain, as I hardly felt any resistance. After college, it took me to Mexico & back at which point I got a job & bought my first new car.

 

[billski]

#1 1959 VW. No fuel gage (just the reserve tank lever), no heat (always had a couple of lap blankets). Valves started to stick, & I would put AT fluid in the crankcase. They had a rounded “nose” above the rear license plate lite, which I painted day-glo pink & wrote “snort” over since the thing rarely got over 45 mph & truly snorted. That got me busted. Engine finally seized going thru the Baltimore Harbor tunnel.

#2 1964 Ford Custom. Straight 6, three on the tree. The original land whale. I could sleep full out across the back seat. Things broke (like rocker arms), but were easy to fix & it kept running. Tranny died heading north on I95 – kept losing gears. Abandoned it under the highway after I was reduced to first gear.

#3 1968 Opel Kadett. The newest car I had owned up to then, and THE biggest POS. Everything broke. Sold it to some guy who loved Opels and needed a stable to keep one running.

#4 1959 Dodge PU. What a beast. Flathead straight 6. You could live in the engine compartment. Had no oil filter. Hydraulic clutch liked to freeze up in cold weather – always made sure I parked on a grade on really cold nights. Cruise control was a brick on the accelerator . 60 was about tops, but it had a nasty piston slap at that speed. But talk about power – I pulled a Caddy out of a snow filled ditch once & had to check to make sure I had actually attached the chain, as I hardly felt any resistance. After college, it took me to Mexico & back at which point I got a job & bought my first new car.

did you ever take any of those beasts skiing? Sounds like the drive could be an adventure in any of those in the winter.

My Datsun wagon used to creak, literally when we went north. It literally ran out of heat. the engine was so small, it seemed designed for warm weather, there was nothing wrong with the thermostat or cooling system, we checked and check. I literally had to decide if I would just ski at Gunstock (north from Boston) because the cold just got unbearable. Finally decided the Datsun wasn't bred to be a ski car and traded it.

 

[Glenn]

Those 2.0 8v's were good motors. The cross flow heads were a nice improvement over the older 8v heads. I preferred my 2.0L with 16 valves though. Too bad those weren't used more widely.

I often wondered why they didn't go with a 16v as the "base" engine in the MKIII's.

 

[bvibert]

I often wondered why they didn't go with a 16v as the "base" engine in the MKIII's.

As did I. It was the base engine for the B3 Passat, which was cool, for it's short life span anyway. Then they switched to the 8V for the B4. I never drove one of the B4's, but I understand they were a little on the underpowered side for that size car. I never understood why the 16v didn't get more love...

 

[Greg]

I see your problem.... you have owned way to many American cars. I will not even consider buying an American car (except for a Corvette) but American pick-up trucks are pretty good and we actually own one. Until things drasticlly change in the American auto indusrty I am all about Japanese cars. Our last cat was a 2001 Nissan Maxima that I bough new and put 120,000 miles on. That car was rock solid for over 7 years. We just got rid of that and purchased a new 2009 Honda Accord Coupe. Its our first Honda and we are both hooked!

Normally, I would agree with you, but my 2000 Chrokee Sport has been nothing but great. I'm approaching 170,000 miles and the thing just keeps on going and going. I'm hoping the 2004 Grand Cherokee (same 4 liter straight six) lasts as long. My wife is getting antsy for a new car, but I'm content with just driving these into the ground. Still I think a new Forrester is in our not so distant future so we'll be going back to a Japanese car, I guess. I'll "inherit" the Grand and hopefully it lasts as long as the Cherokee has.

 

[MR. evil]

Normally, I would agree with you, but my 2000 Chrokee Sport has been nothing but great. I'm approaching 170,000 miles and the thing just keeps on going and going. I'm hoping the 2004 Grand Cherokee (same 4 liter straight six) lasts as long. My wife is getting antsy for a new car, but I'm content with just driving these into the ground. Still I think a new Forrester is in our not so distant future so we'll be going back to a Japanese car, I guess. I'll "inherit" the Grand and hopefully it lasts as long as the Cherokee has.

The Cherokee sports are great, I will never understand why Jeep stopped making them. My father had one that lasted him 10 years with very few problems. However I know a bunch of people that have had nothing but problems with the Grand Cherokee's. They have also got panned in Consumer Reports for reliability a majority of the model years this decade.

 

[Rushski]

1979 Chevy Monte Carlo -
V8 305ci.
Cocoa/Creme two tone with rust stripe up the middle of the hood.
Had it a little over a year in 86 and by that time it was running on maybe five cylinders...

Real hunk of ....

 

[Glenn]

As did I. It was the base engine for the B3 Passat, which was cool, for it's short life span anyway. Then they switched to the 8V for the B4. I never drove one of the B4's, but I understand they were a little on the underpowered side for that size car. I never understood why the 16v didn't get more love...

Either did I. Although, maybe they were developing the 1.8t at the time and wanted to phase out the "older" DOHC engine?

 

[Glenn]

The Cherokee sports are great, I will never understand why Jeep stopped making them. My father had one that lasted him 10 years with very few problems. However I know a bunch of people that have had nothing but problems with the Grand Cherokee's. They have also got panned in Consumer Reports for reliability a majority of the model years this decade.

Cherokee's are great! Well cared for, they last forever. I think they nixed it in an effort to go over to something more crossoverish...like the 1st generation Liberty. I want to say the production run on the Cherokee was 16 years? Not bad for a vehicle that remained, for the most part, fairly unchanged.

I have an 03 Grand Cherokee Laredo. It's got it's quirks, but it's solid overall. I went with the 4.0 because it's just a reliable engine..IMHO.(Although, the 8 cyl that came in the 99-04's has proven reliable) The Laredo Grands tend to be fairly trouble free. The big issues with the Limiteds are the blend doors...which regulate the temp in the cabin. You have to pull the dash to fix that. But there's a kit out there where you can cut into the dash.

 

[bvibert]

Either did I. Although, maybe they were developing the 1.8t at the time and wanted to phase out the "older" DOHC engine?

That's the only thing that I could think of, and I vaguely remember hearing something along those lines back in the day. That's ok, because the 1.8t is pretty effing cool too! I love mine, and I never thought I'd like it as much as the 16v.

 

[JD]

My first car was a 95' Ford Escort. Parents bought it for me for my 16th birthday from a friend for $600.

It was the cheapest it could have come from the factory. No power steering. The passenger side mirror was a option that year, so that was not on the car. No tach.(try learning to drive stick with out one.) All speakers were blown. The original owner replaced the trunk speakers with house speakers.

The previous owner had lived in it for 6 months after his apartment was sold. While cleaning it out I found several used condoms.......

Nasty. Good karma for a car though. My last car was a ford green escort wagon. $350.00, got 8 months out of it. It died on 89 near WRJ when a frost heave sent the strut thru the wheel well, thru the speaker and into the passenger area of the vehicle. Good times.

 

[bvibert]

No tach.(try learning to drive stick with out one.)

I learned to drive on a stick with no tach, they're mostly just fun to look at. Pretty much the only time I look at mine is when I leave it in 3rd a little too long while getting on the highway. When the rev limiter kicks in I look down to make sure that I was indeed exceeding the redline and that there wasn't something else wrong instead.

The previous owner had lived in it for 6 months after his apartment was sold. While cleaning it out I found several used condoms.......

That's just NASTY. uke:

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

hahaha about the used condom..usually people that live in their car don't get any action..lol