Worst Cars ever?

[tvguy]

My mom had a Gremlin back in the day, what a horrid, horrid piece of junk. We all used to cheer when it got up to 55mph.

Wow, my friends parents had a 1974 Gremlin and had to get rid of it because of all the speeding tickets they got in it. Of course, it was a Gremlin X with a 304 V-8....I drove it once, it was scary fast.

 

[arminnie]

I had an Oldmobile Toronado about 25 years ago. In today's dollars that would be about a $60,000 car. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE.

I thought AAA was going to cancel me. Everything went out on that car and I had to be towed 150 miles on more than one occasion.

It totally turned me off American made cars. And I am someone who grew up in Detroit with many relatives working for the auto companies. The father of one of my classmates was chairman of GM in the late 70s.

I went from someone who would never have bought a car not made in the US to someone who for decades would not touch a US car. I only bought a Pontiac Vibe a few years ago because it was really made by Toyota.

I would consider a US car today though. Those horrid workers from the 80s have all died off or retired. Ask anyone who knows anything about the car industry. The late 70s and 80s had total lemons coming out of Detroit.

 

[tvguy]

OMG we had 3 of those cars in our family!!! My parents had a yellow Ford Pinto wagon & then a light blue one (thank goodness my mom totalled BOTH of them)...and DH's first car was a baby poop brown Chevy Chevette hatchback.

Memories...light the corners of my mind....misty water colored memories...of the way we were!

Pintos were great. I drove mine 16 years until I outgrew it (not a great car to fit 2 baby seats in).
And my mom had her Pinto 27 years.

 

[mouseclick1]

I remember my mom driving a Corvette and then a Firebird. I finally turned 16, got my license, then my parents bought a Chevette. Not just any Chevette, but a Chevette with roll down windows, AM radio, and no air. I'll never forgive them.

 

[undertheradar]

Let's see, anything by Renault and what about Eagle?

 

[tvguy]

I knew it was something with the Vega's engine that basically killed it. We had a 1981 Citation and it was the best car in the snow we ever had.

Ah, the Citation...the car that holds the record for most safety recalls in U.S. history.
Interesting about the driving in the snow, my aunt and uncle in Canada have one that they keep at their summer cabin for summer driving only, my uncle says it is the worst car in snow he ever has driven in his 85 years. The best he says is a Crown Victory with 200 pounds of sand in the trunk.

 

[Nancy]

I loved my Vega. Granted it was a stick shift but that was the only type car we were allowed. We had to learn to drive a shift. I had a Maverick with the shift on the column for my first car. Dsis got a Pinto and she had to carry water with her because it overheated all the time. But we are talking about cars our parents paid $500 for.
Thanks to those cars, I was able to drive anything with a clutch. Grain trucks, pick ups, farm equipment, semi, tow motors. I think I came out on the good in because of it.

That was me, but mine was with a Plymouth Horizon. I bought that car brand new (I ordered it) when I was 19 years old. I hated the car and got rid of it a year later. It either overheated, wouldn't start or if you rolled down the window on the drivers side you couldn't roll it back up because it would come off track all the time. It was the first or second year the car was out. My next car was an MG Midget, I drove that car till it died and I know I was already married at that time. That car even made it through Buffalo winters. I loved that car.

I also learned to drive on a Pinto. Boy I have a lot of good memories of my senior year of highschool with that car.

 

[tvguy]

For my choices, I defer to Lee Iaccoca in his book Iaccoca.
Any Dodge Aspen or Plymouth Volarie.....they forgot to rust proof them at the factory....and they stalled whenever you turned left. And the 1957 and 1960 full sized Ford.
I had a brand new 1979 Aspen as a company car.......dealer never could get the AC to work, some switch kept failing, and so many were failing that Chrysler couldn't keep up with demand for replacement switches..
My dad had a 1960 Ford...he called it the bucket of bolts, because it had so many rattles, and water leaked in in the rain......but ironically, it was the only car that he got 200,000 miles out of.

 

[jlmarr]

I know folks get huge laughs when I say I owned a Yugo but let me tell you that was one of the best cars I've ever had.

Guy goes into an auto parts store and says "Can I get a rear view mirror for a Yugo?", and the guy behind the counter says "Sounds like a fair trade to me."

But hey, if it was a good car for you then that's all that matters.

 

[IDoDis]

I would also have to say the Yugo back in the 80s. Brand new those cars were like $2995.00. Hyndai's used to be cheap crappy cars when they first came out around the same time as the Yugo, but wow, they really got their act together and are now a respected top seller.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

My parents had a few of the cars listed in the OP. Most of them were before my time but I've seen pictures

Current worst car for me is the Pontiac Vibe, we have 3 of them as company vehicles and I despise driving them, no pick up and doesn't handle for beans, not to mention that the check engine lights are almost always on. I feel like I'm sitting on the ground driving those things. I would rather take my own vehicle and pay for my own gas.

 

[Metro West]

Interesting about the driving in the snow, my aunt and uncle in Canada have one that they keep at their summer cabin for summer driving only, my uncle says it is the worst car in snow he ever has driven in his 85 years. The best he says is a Crown Victory with 200 pounds of sand in the trunk.

Well...In Virginia it handled the snow but maybe not in Canada.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

My mother-in-law had a Pontiac Fiero. OMG there was never a more uncomfortable car made. And the engine was so loud. I think it was in the rear and it sat about 3 inches off the ground.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Some that haven't been listed.

Triumph TR 7.
Cadillac Cimarron
Ford Tempo
Maserati Biturbo
Trabant.

 

[Planogirl]

I once read that the Suzuki Samurai was actually railroaded into being a supposedly awful car because it rolled too easily. Independent studies showed that the Fords and GM SUV's of the time rolled even more easily and unlike the Samurai, didn't have rollbars. Interesting stuff.

We once had a Buick Century, bought just because it was well-priced and looked comfortable. That car was a dog.

 

[LBIJim]

For my choices, I defer to Lee Iaccoca in his book Iaccoca.
Any Dodge Aspen or Plymouth Volarie.....they forgot to rust proof them at the factory....and they stalled whenever you turned left. And the 1957 and 1960 full sized Ford.
I had a brand new 1979 Aspen as a company car.......dealer never could get the AC to work, some switch kept failing, and so many were failing that Chrysler couldn't keep up with demand for replacement switches..
My dad had a 1960 Ford...he called it the bucket of bolts, because it had so many rattles, and water leaked in in the rain......but ironically, it was the only car that he got 200,000 miles out of.

I must have had the only good Dodge Aspen Chrysler ever made. Parents bought it in early 1977, but for some trivial reason my mother didn't like it so after a year it was handed down to me.

Now, that wouldn't have been my first choice for a car as a HS senior, but I couldn't complain. Never had any problems with it. My AC worked fine and I don't recall any switch failing. But just about everybody else I knew who had an Aspen hated them.

Before my mom got the Aspen, she had a Plymouth Satellite.....now THAT was a piece of crap with never-ending problems.

Jim

 

[2BigKIdz]

Let's see, anything by Renault and what about Eagle?

I was going to say the Renault Alliance. It was my first car and of the 3 months I owned it I think I may have had a total of 3 days it wasn't in the shop. It literally broke down driving it home from being "fixed" several times. Awful!

 

[wdwmom2]

Some that haven't been listed.

Triumph TR 7.
Cadillac Cimarron
Ford Tempo
Maserati Biturbo
Trabant.

I LOVED my Ford Tempo!!!! I "inherited" it when my mom died back in 1996. It was a 1988, 5 speed manual transmission. Never gave me any issues. Got me through any driving condition that Mother Nature handed me!!! GREAT in snow.

I drove it up until 2009, when I bought my Honda Accord. Sold it to a fellow whose Durango was giving him issues. I still occassionally see it going down the road!!

 

[DeniseinNS]

CHEVY AVEO!!!!!! I thought it was the cutest car when I bought it in 2004 but it turned out to be the biggest lemon I have ever driven (in the shop at least 14 times in the 19 months that I had it) After 2 years it had to go!

 

[mrodgers]

Pretty much everything from GM. I have never driven any GM that wasn't a total piece of garbage.