Have to agree with you on the Vega, never owned one but had a few friends with them. If you got 50K out of the motor it was a freakin miracle, most died before 30K. If the motors did make 50K they were burning more oil than gas and by then most of the body had rotted away. (Upstate NY). By the way, how did the TR6 work out? My experience showed that they weren't much better than the Vega's. My brother bought one with less than 60K miles on it and spent most of the time he owned it trying to keep running. Something was always failing under the hood, the last being the rod that said "I'm out of here".

 

As an owner of a TR6 for the last nine years it is easily the most reliable car I have owned during that time. While I have spent quite a bit of money on it, it has not been to "repair" a problem the car had but to either upgrade something on the car or to restore it to appropriate working order. For instance, the rubber bushings were shot and needed replacing, but the car still worked fine with them. Of course, it helps that a good friend of mine used my car as his test bed for his idea of converting a throttle body side draft carburetor into fuel injection. (www.pattonmachine.com) We installed the system on my car the night before a 5 hour trip to a car show and that is the last time I have adjusted the "carbs"!

 

I can't imagine what your other cars are like, I always lusted after one of those.

 

hmmm.....quick list...Im sure i will forget some

Lancia Deta HF
Turbo Smart
88 euro golf
3-series euro hatch
e30 sedan
mini cooper
e46 325ci
vw touareg v8
01 jetta 1.8t apr stage 3+
RS4 avant
92 5.0gt 500hp
ummm.....theres more...lol

 

Dude, same car. that **** was terrible, till i blew the engine and did one too many mods to it, basically made it an auto-cross conversion XD

 

Maybe not the worse car I ever had but hands down the dumbest 'deal'
In 1961, I traded my 1957 Porsche Speedster which had never given me a minutes problem in nearly 100,000 miles. I traded it for what I envisioned to be the new "American Porsche"!! A new 1961 Corvair Monza. Traded even (Corvair asking $2,500). 8 months later couldn't sell it for $1,200. Last I heard, the Speedster would bring well over 100K...
Worst car (for me) ever was a 60s era Rambler American..small ministation wagonwith a tiny fuel efficient 4 bnger. When It had less that 1,000 miles on it, I departed on a nightime trip from Cocoa Beach Fl. to Mobile AL.. About 500 miles. Checked the oil en route, two quarts low, next fuel stop, two quarts low, bought a case of oil and used it all plus others before limping back to Rambler dealership.
Exhaust pipe clean..no drips under car. After looking it over and letting it idle for 8 hours @ dealership had used NO oil.
I happily drove back to Cocoa Beach SEVEN miles...1 quart low. Topped it off and returned, 7 miles, another quart low.
After repeated trips to dealership they threw up their hands and replaced the engine.
Drove 7 miles home with new engine..1 1/2 quarts low.
Rambler tech flown in to solve problem (which he termed "Impossible")

Upshot: Rambler had a combination fuel pump/vacuum pump. When the diaphram developed a hole, the fuel pump sucked up oil from the crankcase and fed into carburetor, mixed with gas and burned cleanly...(They swaped the old fuel pump to new engine)
They cave me a sharp Rambler Rebel with twin stick...great underrated car!

 

Worst car was a used '89 BMW 325; in two years emptied my bank account.
Not learning my lesson bought a used '87 Porsche 944S but to my surprised in two years required, only required regular oil changes and gas! Sold it for my purchase price.

First car, 1966 Mini 850 Wagon!
Held together with rope, bottle opener helped keeping rad shield from hitting fan blades, heater required in summer to keep from over-heating, In certain gears could watch the roadway rush by and a spirited stopping proceedure could open all the windows!!!(sliders for the young crowd)

 

But, but why didn't you tell me?! Although I would have had to let it sit in the garage until I was old enough to drive, I would have emptied out my bank account for one! Do you still have it?

 

Fiat X/19

 

1995 Acura Integra 4door. All these cars probably aren't crappy...but the one I had was a piece of crap. lol

And a 2003 Chevy Cavalier...crank windows and no power locks. The basiest base model ever. It couldn't get out of its own way.

 

It was owned by my dad when I attended school in Phoenix, so it's not officially on my list, but the 1972 Chevrolet LUV pickup broke down on a monthly basis.

I was asking for trouble buying this 1948 Chevy 5 window pickup! Ran fine when test driving it. Stopped running about 10 miles later. Had a shop try to fix it, made it about 20 miles where it gave up at the first remote exit. The truck kinda needed some work...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/2216153668/

 

I had 2 bad ones. 1972 Ford Pinto, which vibrated like an unbalanced washing machine and 1988 Lincoln Mark VII that had electrical problems. The Lincoln was in the shop 36 times the first year I owned it. Both lemons were bought new.

 

I am a new owner of a 93 BMW 525iT. Its a heap but not that bad. Needs some help but it is not like the Sentra. Also I think everyone in their lifetime should own a $500 car or less.

 

Bought a 86 Mustang 2.3LX from my brother for $200. Before he sold it him and his friends spray painted a bunch of crap on it so I went back over it with some Fire Engine red spray paint from walmart.

The seats were worn out, door seals leaked in the rain. Had no power. Creaked everytime it moved. Auto trans burned ATF alot. When it got low I would lose reverse and have to open the door and flintstone it to back out of spots.

Ended up blowing the motor after a year and sold it to someone who used the body for a race car for $200. So I guess it wasn't that bad of an investment.

 

Mine was a 1966 VW Microbus Deluxe the one with all the windows (21) and the large sunroof. It was rusted so bad around the windscreans that when it rained the water would short out the fuse block.
It was also very temperamental at start-up and if I couldn't get enough out of the 6 volt battery it preferred to be pull started as opposed to push started.
It committed suicide on a highway with both the engine saying it had enough and tranny exploding.

I miss it dearly

 

Funny I thought this meant worst least reliable most money spent thus the 99 VW. I'll never own another VW even if it were free. Heck, I'd buy a MFing fiat before I bought another VW.

But my worst car was a $500 MBG I towed home to get going. Rusted out floorpans. Rusted out trunk and was to find out gastank as well. Funny part though this is 1983 and it was a 1971 it had been sitting in this guy's yard for "as long as I remember". At least 5 years, even 6 or 7. I was little when I first saw it in his yard.
That means it went into not moving under its own power mode within 4 years of being new.

 

Have to agree with the Pinto, my brother had one with the 1600cc motor and 4 speed. The car was absolutely gutless. On time in the PA mountains the best it would do going up the mountain was 45mph and that was only after downshifting to third. BTW a tractor trailer truck passed us while climbing that hill.

 

Agh, I'd have to say it was my 92 Cutlass Supreme S. (random Interweb photo)



Mine's long gone. Dead. So long, sucker. If it's the same car that I saw at the junkyard, it got a Viking funeral. Car was far from reliable... I don't miss it. Was my first car though.

 

Boy some of your worst look pretty good to me.
My worst was an Austin America it was a piece of crap that had an electric transmission. My 1st car, for some reason my Mom thought it would be a safe car for a new driver, I guess if it does not move out of the driveway that is safe.
This had to be one of the worst cars ever made IMO.
http://www.seriouswheels.com/1970-19...in-America.htm

 

I put an Austin America 1275cc engine and an automatic in a '62 Mini, it was a rocket! The only electric thing about the automatic was the backup light! There were early problems with the auto. trans. but it was fixed. It was trouble free as long as I had it.

11 quart oil changes, wer a bit excessive, though! lol

Dave

 

 

Hands down my 1986 Plymouth Sundance. Noisy as hell on the highway and guaranteed to blow a head gasket at 100k.

Although my 1970 Dodge Dart with 4 wheel drum brakes (I'm pushing the pedal, but nothing's happening?!?) and a bottomless trunk came pretty close.

 

1992 Ford Taurus SHO. Impossible to keep running, impossible to work on. Just google up an engine photo and take a peak. I would but the nightmares have only recently stopped.

 

My wife and I have had two of the cars that usually place in the single digits on most of the "worst cars" list.

#1 was a 1974 Mustang II hatchback. What a primitive heap! Noisy and harsh riding, plus rusty to boot. Bought in 1984 and sold in 1988. I sure hope those people discovered the transmission leak before they drove it too much!

#2 was a 1984 Renault Encore, purchased used in 1988 with under 50k on it. Finally, we had purchased a "real" car from a "real" dealer. Thank god they pressured us into getting the extended warranty. From the transmission which almost immediately grenaded on the freeway leaving one of us to hold it in gear while the other one drove and took 3 months to fix (!) to the almost constant repairs to everything else (brakes, tie rods, suspension parts, alternators) it was a real winner. We added it up even before the warranty was over and they had already paid out more than we had paid for the warranty! Add to this the over 20 starters that I/we put in the car for the time we owned it (stopped driving it in 2007). One starter lasted all of six hours! I did rack up over 225,000 miles on it with the engine itself being one of the things that actually did not need any work with the exception of a valve job at 215,000.

Too bad it was such a heap to own as it was great fun to drive. Underpowered with the 1.4 litre engine, it had good handling, got great mileage, was well styled and well appointed and felt "sporty". I got rear ended three times in that car and drove away each time! For a car with such a flimsy reputation, it was sturdy in that respect.

Interestingly enough, both cars were named Motor Trend car of the year in the first year they were made. That didn't affect our purchase, but neither car lived up to that billing.

Val

 

hmm..

worst reliability wise: 1987 Chrysler Conquest TSi. We bought it not running, had its engine rebuilt, and still drove like ****. I think it had mostly to do with the horrible shop we took it though.(now out of business) Still, it was a nightmare. Those cars are known for their terrible reliability.

Worst car in general: 1991 Mitsu Eclipse. Base model with a 5 spd and a fart can. It was my car to "officially" learn stick shift on. (I learned stick when I was 14 in my dads Datsun 240Z) It was extremely slow and extremely loud in the worst of possible ways. I only had it for a few months thank god.