Your Automotive Nightmare - Whats The worst POS you owned?

Bigerik

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
SO what car that you have owned still makes you break out in a cold sweat when you think about it? Which one did you spend more time fixing then driving? The one that left you stranded in the most inconvenient spots. The one that you drove no further than AAA/CAA towing range.
Me? I had a VW Cabriolet with GTI engine and suspension. THe car was a joy to drive, when it would move. My new group of friends were all in the VW repair or parts industry. My most embarrassing breakdown was with my dad in the car. Went to one of those quick lube places. He hated the car and could not figure out why I was putting so much money into the POS. Well, after getting the oil changed, I started it up and found no oil pressure. NONE. Pushed it out and had it towed. Oil pump had failed! Of course, this did nothing to change his view and I heard plenty about it in the coming days and weeks from him....
So what is the worst automotive nightmare you have owned?
 
1977 Dodge Aspen station wagon, purchased new. A four-door turd with whitewall tires that even the flies avoided. Decreased in value quicker than I could pay it off.

Mike Koste
Gobs of Knobs
Ambler, PA
 
1994 Nissan Pathfinder - Hands down.

Went through 3 transmissions in the 7 years I owned it. The original tore up, and the first replacement I put in was a factory re-build that I am embarrassed to say how much I paid for. It lasted a total of 18 months. The next one was done by a shade tree mechanic for substantially less. I immediatedly traded it off after I put the last tranny in.

Had an exhaust leak that would have required the removal of the entire motor to fix, as the bolts to the mainfold were broken off in the block. Next time you are sitting on your front porch watching traffic, notice how all the Nissans from the 90's whiz by with a ticking exhaust leak that is too expensive to fix. Several mechanics have told me Nissans from that era "came from the factory" with an exhaust leak.

Some people have no trouble at all with these rides, but mine was a money sucking pile of excrement.

94 Nissan Pathfinder - No Bueno:thumbsdn:
 
That's an easy one for me: a black 1961 Ford Galaxie. The car was really nice looking...two-door sedan, nice looking, black over red, V-8, three-on-the-tree, very deceiving, though.

I owned it for 10 weeks and had the following things happen: the muffler fell off on the freeway the first day I had the car, had to replace the U-joints, generator failed, voltage regulator had a loose wire causing the engine to die in Friday night traffic in Detroit, lost the taillights, brakelights, and turn signals, windshield wipers would only work for about three minutes before quitting...definitely a memorable 10 weeks.
 
Take yer pick-1979 Olds Cutlass 4.3 liter V-8 diesel, 1980 Olds Cutlass 5.7 V-8 diesel, or 1982 Chevy Suburban 6.2 V-8 diesel... The 4.3 had all the usual GM diesel fun 'n' games, plus it has the GM 200 tranny,the one that was sized for a Chevette. GM promised they'd gotten their diesel woes straightened out in the 6.2 motor, it was supposed to be a new from the "ground-up" design. Wrong. It was a dieselised big block V-8, altho they were a bit better than the 350s. The biggest trouble w/the Urbanizer was that it had a 4.11 rear-end in it-which gave it an effective top speed of about 55 MPH. At 65-70, the motor was in SERIOUS pain, as the 4.11 drove it much faster than the motor wanted to turn. I blew up 2 motors in it before I finally hollered "Calf Rope !" I begged them to just put a 350 gas motor in it, but they wouldn't. I sold it, & it conked out on the guy before he got home in it. I think he dropped a 350 in it by the end of that week...
 
Isuzu truck. Everything about it sucked. Hell if I went over 55 the mirrors on the side would start folding in.
 
1986 Audi 4000S. The 4 stood for the amount of cylinders, the zeros represented reliability, performance, and legroom.
 
I can think of several Chryslers and one BuICK that I could easily nominate, but the absolutely worst POS I ever owned was a '82 Ford EXP (two-door hatch Escort). Ford appointed it nicely inside with leather Recaro seats. But blew its biscuits apart on a late Sunday afternoon, leaving me and a friend stranded on I-30 far, far from home.
(Edit) When I say it blew its biscuits, I mean the transmisson literally flew apart and sent pieces straight into the engine! Ford (Found On Road Dead) made good on it, but immediately got rid of it nonetheless.
 
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Every car I've bought used! vw bug that had a rebuilt motor that handgranaded on the way home,a mustang that broke down and left me walking many times,toyota truck thats max speed was 55mph and a few more cars, in short every car cept the stang needed a motor or trans when I bought them (I didn't know it). I bought a new Dodge dakota in 1995,it spent many days in for repairs under warrenty and still has bad breaks and a howling trans at 58,000 miles but it's never left me walking.
 
1991 Ford Exploder, err, Explorer. Rebuilt Engine, new heads, 3 transmissions in a year - including the time one went out while towing a small camper, in front of the Pentagon. Two small kids, nervous wife, very unhappy Pentagon police and sharpshooters were all involved.

In the end it rolled into the Ford dealership burning oil, leaking tranny fluid, idling rough and hard to start....barely 100K miles on it.
 
'73 Maverick, '78 & '80 Sunbirds, '79 Z28, '84 Celica......all were pieces of shit. Even so, I'd love to have the Z28 back.
 
Early 90's Ford Escort.

Held up ok mechanically (aside from mysterious fuel injector gremlins and the electrical fire incident) but I've never seen or even heard about a car that rusted out so bad so fast. 4 years old and the thing actually had huge chunks of the tailgate gone.

What a POS.
 
1984 Ford LTD. That 3.8 was the biggest POS. It would always overheat in the most inconvenient places. I replaced the radiator, flushed the block twice, replaced the water pump, cooling fan. The block was clear of debris and it still overheated! It had poor oil circulation in the top end and the valves would always chatter for about a minute when I first started it in the morning.

At about 80k, the transmission starting shifting real rough and the bands had to be adjusted every 8 months.

For a fuel injected car it got terrible gas mileage and always ran rough on anything less than 92 octane.

Overall it was just a shit car, and came to be known in the family as the Long Term Disappoinntment
 
The 1986 Ford Thunderbird I had in the late 90s.
The 3.8 V6 engine was a dog, it had no power to speak of. And I had to replace the water pump, twice.
This funky looking pink undercoat was visible under the fading paint, and I just painted it in gray primer and left it that way.
The radio only worked intermittantly, and I fastened an aftermarket radio and one speaker to the console between the seats with duct tape.
The power window switch broke and I had removed the switch and extended the wires and and would then touch them together to open/close the windows.
It had a short I never could find, so the battery was always going dead.
Eventually a friend of mine was driving it and crashed it, at first I was upset, but after a week or so I decided to junk it and and was actually relieved.
People have told me they like this car with the 302, but with all the electrical problems this one had, I wouldn't go near another one.
 
Steering gear broke at 12014miles... with a 12k warranty
Radiator
Radiator hoses
Alternators (2)
Water pump (2)
Power steering pump
Power steering hoses
Fuel pump (2)
Camshaft
Valve lifters
Pushrods
Timing chain
Oil pump
Distributor drive gear
PCV valve (3)
Disc brake caliper
Broken shocks
Carb rebuild (2)
Spark plug wires
Master brake cylinder (2)
Brake lines
Heater fan switch
Wiper linkage
Washer pump
Spontaneously cracked windshield
Heater controls and cables
Ignition lock cylinder
Rear axle seals
Muffler (5)
Tailpipe (5)
Left rear door (rustthrough; and this was with rustproofing!)
Tailgate window motor (2)
Rear springs
Entire rear end (broken gear)
Taillight assembly (2)
Tailgate latch
Frame rot
Repeated rust and paint repairs

Not included: tires, brake shoes & pads, oil changes, etc.

All this on a '79 Impala wagon we kept from new in 1979 until we shot it in 2002 and 180,000 miles... 23 years. 0 to 60 times of 22 seconds from an asthmatic 305cid engine that acted like it was really a hamster in a wheel. I have no idea why we kept it except that my parents liked it. :dunno:
 
In the early 1980's I bought a Peugeot 604 turbo Diesel. A car so crappy the local Peugeot dealer did not stock oil filters for it.
It took special tires you couldn't buy anywhere. I would leave the keys in it hoping it would get stolen.
 
When I turned 16,my dad let me start driving his first new car!....................
A 1978 Ford Granada.Special California only Carburetor(dual Venturi,maybe?)that had to be fixed every 5000 miles,plastic trim and door handles that fell off at will,an AM radio with preset buttons that popped off if you even looked at it funny.And a V-8 engine with less get up and go than the 4 cylinder Fiat 127 hatchback with well over 200,000 miles on it I owned in Italy.
So far,its the only new car my dad has ever owned.The used cars he's owned,and gotten rid of include a 67 Mustang,a Fairlaine with a Shelby Cobra engine,a 49 Hudson,a 56 Ford Pickup,a 51 International Pickup,and a Sunbeam Alpine.
Ill take my dads advice on used cars anyday,but dont call him until after I buy a new one.
Jimmy
 
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