Embarassingly bad automobiles you've owned.

[deathshadow]

Unless you're a spoiled rich kid still having life paid for by mommy and daddy, we've all done it... owned cars that were ... less than cool. Not just clunkers, but "holly hannah people owned those?" type cars.

Was thinking might be fun to share some of the more unusual choices... by putting up my own list of shame.

My first car: A FIAT 128.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_128

Strangle little beast that was reliable as hell - as long as you didn't need to go uphill. Stupid little motorcycle engine may have been fine for tooting around England, but in New England  -- specifically plymouth, MA trying to go over the pine hills was a joke; much less my visits to New Hampshire where I had to go through Winchester to get to Chesterfield from Keene, just because it LITERALLY couldn't make it over Cheshire hill... much less heading towards Manchester where Temple Mountain (a glorified hill) was effectively impassible.

Most fond memory, going to junkyards every three weeks for replacement spray nozzles for the wiper fluid -- after I junked it Robertsons Auto Salvage put it on a giant stick by the highway as their advertising sign. Those of you who traveled route 24 through Wareham know what I mean. Yes, that was MY Fiat.

My second car: The Plymouth Cricket, a re-branded Hillman Avenger.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillman_Avenger

Was actually a fun little ride, though often embarrassing to be seen in... It was a sleeper because the previous owner had dropped the engine from a later model, the sunbeam lotus in it. 165bhp in a car designed for 45 in the british market and sold with just under 80 in the American market was... fun.

My third car was a dodge colt that was half hyundai excel with a rotary volvo airplane engine in it -- junkyard scraps a friend pieced together to ride around the yard, sold it to me for $200.

My fourth car: A Renault Dauphine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Dauphine

Cute little car -- took my date to the prom in it... just one problem with it; It rode like a jackhammer. Oversteered like crazy, NO POWER STEERING, ungodly body roll changing lanes at highway speed... and if you hit a "dip" in the highway (like the legendary exit 3 on-ramp southbound on route 3 in Plymouth) you WOULD catch air... 0 to 60 in sometime this century, it was woefully underpowered; but that was good, since 40mph in it felt like doing 100mph in a modern automobile.

From there though things got better -- AMC Eagle, AMX, Olds Cutlass Cierra, Eagle Premier...

But really, it's the bad cars that were more... fascinating. Anybody else have some ... interesting vehicles in their past?

[Stormlion1]

I'm driving a 96 Toyota Tacoma right now that just will not die, its been backroading, in car accidents, been broke into, stolen and recovered, driven cross country, smacked against a national monument by another car (monument undamaged), driven down a beach during low tide, driven through a flood, and I'm pretty certain I lit it on fire at least once. It's got lost paint, lots of dents, rust in the strangest places, burn marks, and windows that don't match. People see it and go "You actually drive that!" and I just say it will not die, its a zombie truck, its gotten me through heck and back. I use junkyard parts to fix whatever problem comes up and only twice needed to order parts from a dealer as no parts store ever seems to have the parts I need. I love my Zombie truck.
Best part is I only pain $500 for it off the side of the road after my last truck blew its engine after the mechanic screwed up a engine repair.

[M-Rex]

Here's mine.  This isn't THE car, but it is precisely what I owned.

1974 Datsun 510 wagon.  The driver's side door was red.  Interior completely black...and the heater was stuck on all the time.  Yeah...you know I had to swat the ladies off with a stick.

(I did have 3 out of 4 hubcaps)

[ShadowRaven]

86 Dodge Reliant K station wagon
89 Dodge Shadow
91Chevy Cavalier died suddenly with the screeching of tires and metal
89 Shadow again....

wanna talk wall of shame?

[Daemonknight228]

Mine wasn't bad as in I was ashamed of it, it was bad because it was a pile of crap. 1985 Chevy S10, with the 2.6l V6 engine.

It was my dad's old truck from before I was born, and at the time I got it running again(my senior year of HS, so Fall of 2005), it had been sitting in my grandmother's garage for 6 years. To get it running, I had to totally replace the exhaust system(except for the manifolds), replace the brakes and 2 wheels, all 4 tires, new brake lines to the front brakes, new fuel lines, new ignition system(distributor cap/rotor, spark plugs, cables), new battery, gave it a valve job, replaced both head gaskets, replaced 1 piston/connecting rod, new water pump, new timing chain, all new belts, and had to rebuild the carb. I actually got it running before the major engine work, but I had to pour about .5 quarts of ether down the carb to get it to fire.

However, once it was running, it was my favorite vehicle, ever. First own I owned, but despite driving my mom's Mazda SUV, or my Dad's Lincoln LS, the various Mazdas and Lincolns at the dealership I worked at, or the newer Chevy and GMCs at a different dealership, that old S10 is still my favorite. Its was just a total POS.

[Sigma]

Me then.






Me now.








The more things change eh? ;D

But seriously, the Caddie is my Dad's old car that he likes to drive around in the fields with. I actually drive this around now and have been for the last 6 years.

I miss my 8 cylinders. I don't miss the gas bill. I've never had anything fancy but I've always had reliable cars I could work on myself.

[deathshadow]

86 Dodge Reliant K station wagon
89 Dodge Shadow
91Chevy Cavalier died suddenly with the screeching of tires and metal
89 Shadow again....

wanna talk wall of shame?

Man, that almost matches one of my ex-girlfriends; Lemme guess, you knew someone who worked for a power company in Massachusetts? Hers were all ex-fleet cars -- ranging from schoolbus yellow to puke tan with a fake wood STICKER down the side.

Toss a '88 Aries K in there and you've got the superfecta.

[ClarkeMarek]

First one I had was a 1980 Mercury Bobcat.  Yeah, Mercury's version of the Pinto.  Wouldn't have been bad(other than the fact that the driver fender was dinged up), but second and third gear made the worst noise.  It's a damn wonder the thing didn't leave me stranded.  Got rid of it, got a 1980 Mercury Capri that had a faulty fuel pump.  Needed to tank up at a half tank, and the turbo was disabled, but otherwise, it was a good car until I landed it driver side down in a guy's field.(Somewhere I've got the picture of it, not sure that I want to repost it or not.)  Next one was a 76 Pinto, which considering the fact that I wouldn't originally drive one(otherwise, I could've had my dad's 78), I wound up not complaining.  It held up pretty good, even after we replaced the radiator(because SOMEBODY had to be smart and jump a curb, leaving a crescent shaped dent in in :-[ ).  At some point, I wound up with an '87 Nova, which one of my uncles took over during my short stint in the services.  Got an 87 Dakota from said uncle, which while admittingly I might not have treated that well, I took better care of it than he did(turkey rode the brakes so bad they got replaced every 3 months.  I got my hands on it, the only thing that got replaced on dear old Christine was the AC pump and the alternator.)  Christine(as I called her) wasn't bad, held up to a wreck and other forms of abuse, but for a while, I owned an 82 Capri named Rio alongside Christine.  Rio was an utter jinx; left me stranded lord knows how many times, kept smelling like gas for some reason, which I found out was due to a bad fuel filter.  Given the fact that the sparkplug wires where starting to look like a Christmas tree when the car was running, it's a damn miracle the car didn't explode on me.  And to top it off, when we sold her, the starter died.  I dunno what I did to deserve that car, but damn.  Though I hate to admit it, I'd still own her anyways(don't ask.)  Last "bad" vehicle I had was an 81 Chevette, which my dad got in hopes that I could drive it around college.  Bad idea; the carb kept stickin to the point where I effectively told my dad, "Forget it.  I'm taking Christine to college, like it or not."(Long story why he wanted me to take the Chevette to college.  Not worth getting into.)  My next two vehicles weren't that bad, though my Nissan's clutch went out after a while, and I never got around to replacing it, not to mention all the nails that kept showing up in the tires; I think you could build a carrier with all of them.  Deseri, OTOH, has actually been one of my better vehicles, and for that I'm glad.

[deathshadow]

Oh, this isn't my cricket, but it's a dead ringer (for those of you who have no idea what a Cricket/Avenger is)
http://media.motortopia.com/files/3536/vehicle/48c6ca9ae9288/The_Cricket_03.jpg

This is pretty much what my Dauphine looked like:
http://www.todoautos.com.pe/attachments/f46/261353d1258221867-renault-dauphine-gordini-rdouphinegordini4.jpg

and this is a dead ringer for my Fiat -- right down to the tan interior.
http://www.justacargeek.com/2010/01/1976-fiat-128-2-door-sedan.html

... though that can't be stock paint. the Dark blue factory paint on them faded to this weird mottled purple.

[M-Rex]

Oh, this isn't my cricket, but it's a dead ringer (for those of you who have no idea what a Cricket/Avenger is)
http://media.motortopia.com/files/3536/vehicle/48c6ca9ae9288/The_Cricket_03.jpg

This is pretty much what my Dauphine looked like:
http://www.todoautos.com.pe/attachments/f46/261353d1258221867-renault-dauphine-gordini-rdouphinegordini4.jpg

and this is a dead ringer for my Fiat -- right down to the tan interior.
http://www.justacargeek.com/2010/01/1976-fiat-128-2-door-sedan.html

... though that can't be stock paint. the Dark blue factory paint on them faded to this weird mottled purple.

You know...

...I never saw anything like those in The Road Warrior.

[doulos05]

I had a 2000 Honda Civic which would, on occasion, turn itself off while you were driving, leaving you to execute the following IA drill as quickly as possible before being rear-ended.

1) Engage Flashers.
2) Put the car in Neutral (NOT PARK OR REVERSE).
3) Toggle the key quickly.
4) Drift slowly to the side of the road (No power steering....)
5) Pray.

Until the engine restarted.

I also had a straight 6 1977 Plymoth Volare which had carbuerator problems. I had to break normally until I got below about 5 miles and hour, and then switch to left foot breaking and feather the gas so I didn't stall.

[Grim_Reaper]

for my cars
1st was a Black VW '71 Beetle Convertable
2nd was a '73 Plymouth Valliant (ended up with that mistake because my Stepmom complained the Beetle was an eyesore and forced me to sell it)
3rd was a '86 Yugo
4th a station Wagon with the fenders having a really bad case of rot
5th '74 Datsun B210
stopped driving for a while at that point and used a bicycle to get around for years
when i finally started driving again
Subaru Station Wagon
Ford Windstar (minivan)
and currently drive a '94 Jeep Grand Cherokee LTD

[Jal Phoenix]

I've been okay, really.  None of these are exactly mine, but they're dead ringers. 

1976 Mustang II, black.  First car, 1991-1996, $500



1990 Grand Prix Turbo, red.  2nd car, 1994-1997, $8500



1997 Mustang, green.  3rd car, 1997-present, $17,500.



1976 Corvette, blue.  4th car, 2004-present, $10,000.40.

[Peter Smith]

I had a '90 VW Fox, red, that I called my "No Power" car:

No power locks.
No power windows.
No power steering.
No power engine.

It was stick, four speed, and I had shit for compression on the #3 cylinder. Never tinkered around with it, I don't think Dad was in a mood to tear down an engine at that time.

[Charlie 6]

My "lieutenant-mobile" (most of the newly commissioned/college grad types get a cheap car loan) was a '95 Dodge Avenger with a 15 month warranty.  One month after the warranty expired, Jul '96, my air conditioner control broke and my alternator died.  My steering column would make a popping sound on left turns.  There were a half dozen other issues that reminded me of my frustratingly stupid purchase culminating in a fraternity brother pointing out when seeing the Avenger that it was "clearly your car," dismissively as he climbed out of his fully loaded Saab.

After three six-month deployments to the Med I bought my first of three Volvos (one a lemon) and refuse to buy Chrysler/Dodge again.

S/F

Matt

[Stormcrow]

Three most embarrassing cars I owned were a 1980 AMC Concord with a 4.2L Inline 6. The car ran good but it was green with gold trim and looked like a booger on wheels. The other was an '83 Honda Accord hatchback that was a clapped together piece of junk with a piddly little 85hp engine. Third was a Buick Century Estate wagon that finally gave the ghost after only six months of ownership

[bytor]

My first car was my parent's 1986 Dodge 600 ES 4-door:



It was white with red cloth interior, automatic.  Not a chick magnet, but it did become the local taxi service for my friends, since I was the only one with a 4-door sedan.  As soon as it hit 100k miles, it started to really fall apart: Timing belt snapped right after I came back from a long camping trip at Mt. Lassen, then not longer after that was fixed it started venting black smoke from the exhaust.  I donated it to one of those organisations that takes cars in any condition for a tax break. 

My second car was a early 80's Toyota Tercel hatchback:



Red with tan interior, 5-speed manual.  Again, not a chick magnet.  I got it for $500 bucks in 1996, it had a 150k on it when I bought it, figuring it would be enough to get me around for 6 months at most, and it turns out I had it for 2 years, and put another 100k on the engine.  It was still running great when I used it as a trade in.  Ugly, but reliable. The only drawback was space.  Even with the Dodge I could stuff my music gear in the back seat and trunk.  With the Tercel I could barely get my bass in the back. 

The rest of my cars are fairly standard: '97 Ford Ranger, '02 Pontiac Grand Prix, '08 Mazda Tribute. 

[greatsarcasmo]

Having had nearly 30 cars in my 15 years of driving, I have had some winners. To be fair though, I like old junk.
My first car was a 1971 Chrysler New Yorker. All 27 feet of it. You try parallel parking that for your drivers test... But God was the 440 fun...
1985(?) Country Squire Station wagon. Same thing as a Crown Victoria, but with fake wood. We called it the Big Beaver.
1976 Dodge Dart. White and four doors. Manual four wheel drum breaks and no power steering. Can you say "Death Trap"? I want another of that car so badddd...
1985 Ford Escort. Fun little car, but it was an Escort, so yea...
1997 Honda Civic hatch. Purple with a bright red door. Did get like 30MPG and when you drive 80 miles a day round trip...
1985 Toyota P/U. 225K when I bought it for $200. Sold it for $500 four years ago. Still going strong.
1973 Gran Torino. Bought it when I was 18. Covered in Bondo. Had giant tires in the back that rubbed. If you've seen the Big Lewbowski,  The Dude's Car was the same thing, mine was a metallic green though.
And Ford F150s. Oh Lord have I had some doozies of those...

[OverKill]

My worst car?

1991 Chevy Cavalier. Was that god awful brown/gold color. This was my college car and I beat on it like a red headed step child!

[mathesont]

My first car was a 1958 MG MGA1500.  Theoretically a sweet little car but this one had been battered and abused, and wasn't really designed for someone 6'4".  Did not always want to turn left, could only downshift when at a complete stop and frequently stalled when temperature was above 80.  Wish I still had it.

While at Fort Bragg I drove a 1964 International Harvester Travelall.  Thing rocked, swayed and drifted all over at the best of times.  Loaded with a bunch of drunk paratroopers it was like stearing a boat in a hurricane. 

In college I drove a 1967 Datsun pickup that had a short in the wiring of the horn so every time it hit a real bump the horn would go - quite funny most of the time.  Hit a big puddle and the water would get in the fuse box, killing all power.  Top speed was 56mph. 

As a newly minted 2LT I decided I should have a new car so I bought a 1980 Ford Mustang.  Second day I had it a drunk driver hit and totalled it while parked in front of my apartment.  Have not bought a new car since.

[M-Rex]

My first car was a 1958 MG MGA1500.  Theoretically a sweet little car but this one had been battered and abused, and wasn't really designed for someone 6'4".  Did not always want to turn left, could only downshift when at a complete stop and frequently stalled when temperature was above 80.  Wish I still had it.

While at Fort Bragg I drove a 1964 International Harvester Travelall.  Thing rocked, swayed and drifted all over at the best of times.  Loaded with a bunch of drunk paratroopers it was like stearing a boat in a hurricane. 

In college I drove a 1967 Datsun pickup that had a short in the wiring of the horn so every time it hit a real bump the horn would go - quite funny most of the time.  Hit a big puddle and the water would get in the fuse box, killing all power.  Top speed was 56mph. 

As a newly minted 2LT I decided I should have a new car so I bought a 1980 Ford Mustang.  Second day I had it a drunk driver hit and totalled it while parked in front of my apartment.  Have not bought a new car since.

The Harvester...please tell me it was olive green.  My parents had that exact vehicle.  Olive green, 64 International Harvester Travelall.....the 'cornbinder'.  It operated exactly like you described.

[boilerman]

My second vehicle was a 1986 Ford Ranger mini pickup 2WD with the 2.0L engine.  No guts whatsoever.  Empty bed and just me in the truck and I'd still get passed by semis going up Parley's Canyon on I-80.  That was embarrassing.

[Sharpnel]

First car was a '68 AMC Ambassador SST 2-door coupe. It was originally a nice red color, but after being transhipped across the Atlantic it faded to a apinkish color. I inherited this car when I got my license. Nothing like cruising around in a pink when you're 16

[Doug Glendower]

Bad car? Only one. 1989 Jeep Comanche X with the 2.5 in it. Piece of shit. No power, no reliability... the only good things about it were the stereo and air con, both designed for the Cherokee SUV, and were overkill for the truck. Rebuilt the tranny twice, engine once, had four wheel drums in '89. Crap. Crap. Crap.

The '79 Ford Fairmont and the '92 Geo Storm Wagon were close to crap, but they at least would run, for the most part.

Best Car? 1989 Olds Ciera. (Yes, DS, there's only one "r" in Ciera). 350,000 miles until I blew the head gasket, and some kid bought it, fixed it, and is still putting miles on it.

[Terminax]

My first truck was a 91 GMC Sonoma, but it was a good girl and lasted until 2005 when it was replaced by my current ride.

My first car was an 89 Chevy Sprint and it was anything but a good boy. The three cylinder engine was a piece of junk, had no power and when big trucks went by, the entire car shook like a epileptic coming off a crystal meth high. It lasted me little over a year until it's engine blew out on the way to Ithaca, NY. To replace the engine, new or used would be like seven or four times what I paid for it in the first place. The next car I got was an 88 Buick LeSabre, which cost me all of $500 to buy and looked terrible from peeling paint but I ran that car for nearly four years before it's tranny died on a trip into Toronto. That car took me to Michigan dozens of times, and to Arkansas for my friend's wedding and to Florida afterwords when I stopped by to meet some lady friends from Michigan who were making a go of it as teachers and all it asked me in return was a new water pump and serpentine belt in Alabama. The car was never meant for the Canadian winter, it's heating system was completely inadequate and it rusted out from the salt we put on the road and I probably dropped $2k into it over the years. For a lemon tho, it sure was comfortable.

[Grognard]

I've never owned an 'embarassingly bad' car.
So long as it got me from A to B without sucking my wallet dry, I was ok with it.

First car: 1988 Mercury Tracer s/w
put 90k+ on it. it's problem was the front brakes calipers.  They would drag and cause the car to overheat.

Second car: 1986 Plymouth Reliant s/w
put 60k+ on it.  Rusted the driver floor pan out.  Friends of mine welded a stop sign shaped plate underneath to keep my feet from going thru the carpet and floor.  Ran it until the engine blew and nearly burned the car up.  But I used that car to haul everything from people to mulch and gravel.  That, and the stereo system was screwy: R and L weren't... they were Fr. and Rear.  Made for iinteresting morning radio.

Third car: 1992 Plymouth Acclaim:  great car.  worked great, but didn't have it for even a year before some duemass teenager tried to run a red light while the Acclaim was stopped in front of him.  Less than 40k and straight to the junkyard.

Fourth car: 1986 Ford Taurus s/w, bought it in '98, only had 35k on it.  Great deal, right?  Not when I had to spend nearly $3000 on it to replace all the dry rotted rubber components.  Totalled it with a deer, repaired it and finally sold it for $300 with nearly 125k on it.

Fifth car: 1996 Geo Metro LSi : 45 MPG with a stick shift... power was aenemic, but it was fun to drive.  At least, until a semi proved that the frame was made of layered body steel stiffened with styrofoam.  Amazingly, I walked away.  Only had it 12 days.

Sixth car: 1994 Geo Metro: 38 MPG with automatic.  It was okay.  Everything was so light, it was easy to maintain.  Tires and brakes were cheap, and the timing belt broke, left me stranded.  Once it got home, me and a buddy manhanddled the aluminum block engine out and fixed it.  I don't remember how many miles I had on it when I sold it for $400.

Seventh car: 1989 Buick Regal LS;  the 'Countess'.  Got it from Grandpa.  Odometer was broke, but it had at least 190k on it when I junked it.  The Regal had an awesomely comfortable ride.  Used it to deliver pizza, even nearly rolled it once.  Its major weakness was the electronic everything that controlled the engine, plus, every little part cost a FORTUNE.

8th car: 1998 Ford Taurus SHO; great power, looked great.  CRAPPY transmission.  Had it two years and had to rebuild the tranny.  Then a short time later, the wife whacked a massive buck with it.  totalled it.

9th car: 1998 Dodge neon: bought it with 42k on it for $4500, sold it with 175k for $1500.  it was a blast to drive.  But whatever engineer thought it a good idea to push the sparkplugs thru the valve covers... ought to be SHOT.  after 100k, you could not keep the valve cover gaskets from leaking.  It wasn't much, but it guaranteed a new set of sparkplugs every 10-15k miles.

10th car: NOT a minivan.  a 1992 Mazda MPV 4x4 Light SUV.  The standard MPV was built off the 626 car frame, engine and trans.  The MPV 4x4s were built off the Mazda 2500 pickup frame, engine & trans, and even came with a factory tow hitch.
LOVED that MPV.  handled great, good power.  Problems... all those that a 4x4 pickup will have.  Suspension being the most expensive. (I only took it off road a little bit much)  I really liked the interior... just extremely well designed for useability.
Bought it for $3400, put 104k on it, then sold it for $1700.  The new owner had it for another 3 years before getting broadsided and totalled.

11th car: (current) minivan.  Wife drives it. 2003 Ford Windstar.  Decent enough.  Put a tow hitch on it.  functional.

12th car: (current) 2000 Dodge Intrepid ES.  for a Dodge, it has held up quite well.  Have had the tranny rebuilt and am in the process of replacing the front suspension.  Electronics on it are going to hell.  It came from Norfolk, and the used car people there have a tendency of NOT totalling flooded cars.  They just clean them up and resell.  I hope to make it last until 2012 when I can afford to replace it.

[Fireangel]

Well, my worst car was a burgundy 1980 Chevy Citation hatchback. It was constantly in the shop and grossly underpowered, but got the job done for the few months I had it.

The first car I owned was a 1975 Malibu Classic coupe; it was reliable as all heck, but the floorboards has rusted through, so my feet HAD to be on the pedals at all times or I might get hit by something in the road. When it rained, I'd be soaked from the knees down.

It was badly damaged in a crash (drunk driver plowed into it while it was parked), I sold it for parts; the 350 V8 is still running in a rebuilt Nova.

[greatsarcasmo]

Ohhhh. I don't know how, but I forgot the diesel chevette.  50 MPG  and 0-60 in 15 sec. Every time you took off it emitted a delicious cloud of black smoke. The yuppies in suburban Chicago disliked their Beemers and Benz's getting behind me.  Never saw so many middle fingers in my life.

[M-Rex]

Ohhhh. I don't know how, but I forgot the diesel chevette.  50 MPG  and 0-60 in 15 sec. Every time you took off it emitted a delicious cloud of black smoke. The yuppies in suburban Chicago disliked their Beemers and Benz's getting behind me.  Never saw so many middle fingers in my life.

That story made me smile.

[OverKill]

Ohhhh. I don't know how, but I forgot the diesel chevette.  50 MPG  and 0-60 in 15 sec. Every time you took off it emitted a delicious cloud of black smoke. The yuppies in suburban Chicago disliked their Beemers and Benz's getting behind me.  Never saw so many middle fingers in my life.

I remember in Highschool when the Chevette and the Acadian were THE bomb cars to have. Guys were fixing them up, dropping in clamshelled 15" subwoofers in them (enough to pop the rear windows) as well as adding wide tires on the back. Oh how silly we must have all been back then.