Least liked vehicle(s) you've ever owned? And why.

[Canadian Mountain Man]

1994 BMW R80RT - Completely the wrong motorbike for a early 20s guy. Had all the sportiness and pep of a la-z-boy recliner. It had all sorts of electrical gremlins I never could fix. Every time I rode it I felt like I should be on my way to invade Poland. Was replaced with the '98 VFR800

2001 Dodge Intrepid - It was to the 90's and 2000's as the Chrysler K-Car was to the 80's An utterly insipid car with uninspired styling and completely boring to drive. Didn't actually own it, it was a company car which to be fair made it difficult to complain about it at the time (never say no to someone else paying for your gas & maintenance).

 

[oc_in_fw]

Forgot the year, but it was a Chevy Chevette.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

74 Olds for moi; better half had an 82 Cadillac Cimmaron that was a joke.

 

[Canadian Mountain Man]

better half had an 82 Cadillac Cimmaron that was a joke.

I don't know, the Chev Cavalier wasn't a bad car

 

[Neil-O]

1985 Nissan Sentra similar to this one, but red.

Pros:
1) Bought it new when I was 21 (my first new car)
2) Low payments ($138.97/month for 4 years)
3) More reliable than my first car, a 1968 VW Squareback

Cons:
1) Gutless 4-cylinder engine
2) No radio
3) No passenger side mirror
4) No A/C
5) No hubcaps
6) No side trim
7) No rear window defroster
8) Vinyl seats

Got me around just fine, except up hills. I sold it seven years later after a hail storm beat the crap out of it, and after a timing belt broke and bent up the intake and exhaust valves (oh, you're supposed to change the belt?). I never missed it once I fixed it and sold it, but I still miss the VW which was a much funner car. At least it had hubcaps and a radio!

 

[Macfrommichigan]

I don't know, the Chev Cavalier wasn't a bad car

Baby Caddy was a Cavalier with leather seats, nice paint job, and a 4 speed stick. And it was slower than a slug.

 

[auk1124]

A GMC pickup that must have rolled off the assembly line on the Friday before Christmas. Everything about that truck was bad: it ate alternators and cooling system thermostats like Tic-Tacs, engine seals leaked, radiator leaked, ac system leaked, had weird intermittent electrical gremlins, you name it. The motor finally blew at about 140,000 miles and I was relieved.

It was so bad it swore me off GM products in general for quite a few years.

 

[vacman]

2008 Toyota RAV4. For my tastes, accelerator pedal and brakes way too sensitive. Didn't care much for the steering either. It was my wife's car, and it cost our insurance company well over $10,000 to repair rodent damage caused by the attraction of soy-based (instead of petroleum-based) foam in the seats and elsewhere (all cars today have replaced petroleum-based with soy-based foam to lessen the reliance on petroleum---really stupid in my opinion). Google "The incredible edible car" to read about this travesty. She now has a Jeep Cherokee which we both love. BTW, the rodents entered through a heater/AC duct opening in the firewall which Toyota, in their ultimate wisdom, never covered it with a screen-ate wiring, AC ducts, floor mats, headliner, etc-a real mess!

 

[Rhody]

1980 volvo dl hands down the worst
That engine burned oil like no tomorrow. The "dealer" couldn't remedy the issue they just knew how to charge. Needed many new head gaskets. Constantly needed other repair including shocks muffler catalytic converter battery alternator electrical issues

 

[Jim99]

1987 Hyundai was the worst car I ever owned.

With the sunroof, there was no headroom unless you were shorter than 5’ 8”. The driver and passenger windows had a nasty habit of falling off their tracks, brakes were woefully inadequate and the transmission wouldn’t go into reverse and 5th gear at times. The car was not ergonomically designated and was bizarre from a mechanical design.

It was the biggest *** I ever owned and was followed closely by my 2008 Toyota RAV4.

 

[The Knize]

The best of times, the worst of times. I had a 1976 Triumph TR6. Classic British sports car in terms of reliability and durability, and in seeing more of your mechanic than your girlfriend. Electric system by Lucas, Prince of Darkness. Fun car when the streets were dry. Any wetness and the rear end tried to come up around to the front and the stopping distant long and not straight line. Leaked all over the place in the rain. Great car to drive to the beach except the drive train hump got unbearably hot and the driving position was so stretched out my legs went to sleep. Started rusting out, along the seams along the top of the trunk! I flipped on the left turn and the lever fell to the floor. I cranked the driver-side window and the crank came off in my hand. I essentially put the car fully functioning into a garage. Six months later when I went to sell it, it needed a valve job. Crappy radio. Cracking dash. Parked on the street parts would get stolen off of it. The clutch was stiff to the point of pain and grabby. For a car that weighed nothing but had a six-cylinder, it was not quick. I think the version sold in England had 50% more horsepower.

All of that said, it had its charms.

 

[njpaddy]

1997 Dodge Neon made in Mexico. I will never buy another Dodge or a car made in Mexico. We had previously leased a '94 Neon for my wife which was made in US or Canada (can't remember). The '94 was decent and my wife liked it, so when the lease was up we bought a '97. I didn't notice it was made in Mexico until the problems started. The trunk leaked and water ponded under the spare. Even after it was fixed, my wife complained she should still smell mildew. Worst of all, the head gasket went at 30,000 miles of mostly local, commuting-to-work miles. Even when I was young and drove like an idiot, I never blew a head gasket. Fortunately it was near the end of the warranty and Dodge covered the repair, but my wife traded it in on a Saturn as soon as we got it back.

Another Dodge story. The place where I worked bought 3 new Durangos in 2005. Between 50-55,000 miles a plastic part in the transmission failed on all 3 cars.

 

[Rhody]

The best of times, the worst of times. I had a 1976 Triumph TR6. Classic British sports car in terms of reliability and durability, and in seeing more of your mechanic than your girlfriend. Electric system by Lucas, Prince of Darkness. Fun car when the streets were dry. Any wetness and the rear end tried to come up around to the front and the stopping distant long and not straight line. Leaked all over the place in the rain. Great car to drive to the beach except the drive train hump got unbearably hot and the driving position was so stretched out my legs went to sleep. Started rusting out, along the seams along the top of the trunk! I flipped on the left turn and the lever fell to the floor. I cranked the driver-side window and the crank came off in my hand. I essentially put the car fully functioning into a garage. Six months later when I went to sell it, it needed a valve job. Crappy radio. Cracking dash. Parked on the street parts would get stolen off of it. The clutch was stiff to the point of pain and grabby. For a car that weighed nothing but had a six-cylinder, it was not quick. I think the version sold in England had 50% more horsepower.

All of that said, it had its charms.

Okay not that this is a competition but you win!
The Triumph is a stand alone nightmare car. In the 1980s i worked at a gas station and a customer's triumph tr7 spent more time in the bay than i worked there

 

[The Knize]

If anything the TR7 was worse on reliability than the TR6.

My favorite car review of all time was for the Triumph Spitfire: "You will if you buy this car."

 

[njpaddy]

I had a friend in high school in the 1960's with a TR2. I spent both junior and senior prom nights in his garage helping him rebuild that engine. It was much more fun than going to a prom.

 

[PreachTheWord]

04 Jeep Liberty. Burned oil and gas in equal measure. Ate window regulators for lunch. Needed 2 engines in the space of 100k miles.

 

[Big_John]

I've owned a bunch of cars. Close to 100 at the last count. I've owned a lot of cars that other people said were the worst and had really good luck with them.

The worst car I ever owned was a 1978 Pontiac Grand Prix. It had a habit of breaking at the worst possible times. Broke a lower ball joint once and put the lower control arm through the side of the tire. Christmas day at my parents had a rear wheel cylinder failing without warning while backing out of the driveway. Went through a couple transmissions too. Worst was the engine blew on the way home from my oldest brother's funeral. No warning... Crankshaft broke and took out the engine block. I fixed it and sold it. Looked just like this one.

 

[Rex Razor X]

1987 Hyundai was the worst car I ever owned.

With the sunroof, there was no headroom unless you were shorter than 5’ 8”. The driver and passenger windows had a nasty habit of falling off their tracks, brakes were woefully inadequate and the transmission wouldn’t go into reverse and 5th gear at times. The car was not ergonomically designated and was bizarre from a mechanical design.

It was the biggest *** I ever owned and was followed closely by my 2008 Toyota RAV4.

Same here on late 80’s Hyundai Excel. Standard transmission imploded at 30k miles. What a ***! Only option was to purchase a used transmission. Sold it shortly there after.

 

[pbrmhl]

The car I liked least was a Toyota Previa minivan, circa 1991. We had two small children, and afflicted with the lemming mentality of many new parents, decided we needed a minivan. I believe we owned it for less than two years, and took a huge hit on the depreciation. My advice to all new parents is “avoid the minivan.”

 

[EL Alamein]

1978 BMW 320i. The worst of it was the front brake calipers completely going on me. Thank God it was at a light to which I had already slowed down to 5 mph otherwise it could have ended very badly.

Chris