What's the worst car you've ever owned?

Answer 1

A metallic blue 1986 Toyota Celica GTS.

I called it my "Blue Lemon".

Owned it for five years. I really loved driving the car, whenever it would run, but I finally got rid of it because of the never-ending repair costs.

With only two exceptions, the radio and the motorized driver seat, literally everything mechanical or electrical had to be repaired or replaced.

Even the door locks were replaced because they jammed up six months after I got the car and the hood latch failed not once, but twice.

I bought the car in November, 1985, one of the first ones built.

I should have taken the initial hints: By January, 1986, the engine exhaust pipes had come loose due to rusty brackets.

The rubber supports for the muffler gave up at about the same time, and the muffler fell on the ground.

The car was towed to a dealership and that was when they they discovered the rusty brackets and some other damage.. From the engine gaskets to the tailpipe, the entire exhaust system was replaced.

In February the computer began failing and took six weeks to replace....but before they did that the car was taken to the dealership twice and when it failed while I was in other locations it had to be towed to other dealerships. It was towed three times for the same problem and Toyota sent "specialists" to find out the problem.

This got several other electrical parts replaced, and the car started, but failed again.

After the third tow to the dealership the mechanic replaced the parts recommended by Toyota, drove the car outside and parked it in the dealer's lot. When I got there it would not start.

There were no other cars they could steal a computer module from, so it had to come from Japan.

I drove a rented Buick for a month while they tried to fix my nice, new, car that still had almost no mileage four months after I bought it, mostly because it was living in dealerships. Toyota paid for the rental.

About two months after the computer was replaced, a transmission seal blew, and the oil destroyed the clutch.

The engine saw that, and became envious of the attention given to the transmission, but it stewed over the issue for some time before it blew a main seal.....and took out the new clutch.

Those guys down below could not have all the attention, so the fuel injection system decided to go them one better, and somehow totalled itself, and took along part of the wiring harness so it would not get lonely on its trip.

The dealership said they had no idea it could even happen like that.

Sitting up at the front, and getting a view of all this happening, the radiator became annoyed. Despite being the only component in the engine compartment that had a real fan, its jealousy level got too high and it split.

Unfortunately, jealousy and envy were instigated elsewhere by all this, so the air conditioning system would not allow itself to be outdone. No one seemed to know why it happened that way, but the compressor and another part failed, which caused leaking inside the car, which damaged the internal fan, and affected the wiring harness, so that the electric window would not work.

The window motor saw all that and knew it was not at fault, but by now envy was rampant throughout the car and when the defroster on the rear window began getting attention, the motor got burned right up.


The steering rack failed, reminding me of a problem on my 1978 Ford, that was only resolved when USA folks took Ford to court on a class action suit because so many cars had the same problem. Toyota replaced mine at no charge.

The car began bouncing up and down when the radio was not playing, so I knew it was not the rock music. One front shock had suddenly gone.

On front-drive cars the rear axles never have problems, right?
The axle bearings failed, on both sides.

HA! HA!, said the rear shock absorbers, as they looked down on those poor replacement bearings. They laughed so hard they blew their own seals and tears of oil leaked down their respective cheeks. The tears caught in the wind and got onto the rear brake disks.....


Oh, yes. The brakes....the brake calipers locked up solid, one at a time over a period of four months. After they had to be replaced on three wheels, the dealership decided it would might be a good idea to be pro-active and do the other one.....Toyota agreed.

The other front shock felt overlooked, and managed to get some deserved attention.

I replaced all the shocks with after-market ones at my own expense.

Mr. Bush talks about an "evil axis", but my Celica had evil axles. The front ones are single-piece units, with the constant-velocity joints pemanently attached. Yes, that means replacing the CV joint costs about five times the price of a comparable unit for a Chrysler/GM or Ford component.

By the time the second one was replaced I had learned the rubber shrouds that cover the joints were aptly named, because they had begun dying before they were installed.



.
Fortunately, I had bought an extended warranty, and it paid for most repairs for the first few years I owned the car. I had to pay the deductibles, but the insurer lost a LOT of money.
After that, it cost me money to continue...but it was such a nice car, I kept telling myself, without adding up the total costs.


Over five years, the mechanics at Ken Shaw Motors in Toronto came to know my Celica better than any other car or truck they had ever seen.


When the front axle failed for the fourth time, long after the warranty had expired, I decided to complain to Toyota. I told them of the repairs done under warranty and the ones I had to pay, and told them of the differences between maintenance items and parts that failed.

They asked me to submit the repair orders for the car. I photocopied them and delivered them to Toyota.

The regional service manager later said she expected to see a few copies, but never thought she would get over 200 pages .

Toyota proved very gracious. They did call Ken Shaw to verify this was all true, and hearing that it was, they told me they had never heard of any Toyota having so many problems. ( Me, too. This was my second Celica and my wife had one before that.)

Toyota got the dealer to find a used axle and they sent me a cheque for $500. as a customer service gift. I thought that was very decent of them.

Three months later, the axle on the other side failed.

My own repair bills (not including maintenance items, such as tires, muffler, brakes and shocks) now totalled more than I paid for the car new.

The repairs that Toyota had paid for under warranty was another figure, above that.

I traded in my blue lemon.

Answer 2

The worst thing I ever bought was a Duster Dacia.When I first saw in a car auction I thought who wuold put such a nice looking into a car auction.As the sale was going on I noticed that it was cheap.You ve guessed it I bought it.From the minute I got in it ,Things went wrong as I drove it home.Over the next week or so I replaced the cylinder head and gasket.Repaired the transmission,brakes,Radiator,the list of things I repaired seemed like endless.Prior to taking it out on the road I left it ticking over to chegk if the electric fan was operational.10 minutes later I returned to find it had stopped running.I also noticed a large pool of oil underneath it.On closer investigation I discovered that the engine block had developed a large hole.It had slung a con rod through the block.I decided straight away that I was no longer prepared to spend any more time or money on it.I chopped ti up using a stihlsaw.

Answer 3

A little bitty boxy red Fiat in the late sixties. Quirks everywhere, kinda like a sardine can. Floor gear shift ball would come off in your hand. But one quirk I didn't know until many months of use, not having recently stopped for an oil check or anything, going 55 mph with my toddler son beside me, the hood lets go and flies up hitting the windshield, still on its hinges. Reassuring my son as if he were the only one scared, I pulled over, put the now-dented hood back down and continued on. Despite this, I still love the French language, and one of my lusted-after cars is still the Citroen.

Answer 4

It wasn't a car, rather a 1981 or '82 Datsun King Cab 4x4 p'up truck. Biggest waste of time and money on four wheels!

Answer 5

Chevy Cheveet. My brother tried to give me this car lol I refused

Answer 6

If pick up trucks qualify it was a 1969 ford pick up.It kept me broke and walking.Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!