What is the most unreliable vehicle you have experienced?

Jeep wrangler, Chevy cavalier. Total piles of shit.

 

1979 Dodge Van. Motherf***er would quit running while running while drving down the interstate. Yet 2-5 minutes later it would start right up!

 

Hence why I didn't list a couple of my old cars, like my 83 Monte Carlo. Trans had no 2nd gear when I got it and I lost 3rd a few months later, plus the V6 engine was a slug and burned oil like crazy. That said it was 11yrs old with 140K and I paid $400 so at that one can't be shocked in my book

 

Unless it's a first gen taco... those are bullet proof

 

My issues were with late 80's vehicles in the mid 90's, hardly considered old by that standard, and I never had issues with older civics or toyota trucks.

The jeep and chevy were just total garbage with low miles on each but major issues.

 

Several thread on rust issues and other things would defy that. The 1st gen Tacoma is definitely a reliable vehicle, but shit like the battery, alternator, oil pump, fuel pump, fuel injectors, etc etc will all fail at some point on something that old no matter how reliably built the truck is. It only takes two seconds on the first generation forum to realize that, while the truck is worth more money than other vehicles that old for a reason, it isn't gods gift to people who like to run 15 year old vehicles. They have problems of their own especially when not properly taken care of.

BTW my state was jut in general. There are a few comments with people talking about 90's vehicles like they are new. If you own something from the 90's you should realize that shit is at least 15 years old. Leave a piece of steel outside for that long and you'll see the problem.

 

Meh maybe for those that live in cold climate areas. My neighbor sold his 01 with over 250k miles and no repairs about a year ago. My 99 had just under 200k miles when a shit head tboned and totalled it. Only major repair was the head gasket one time. My 03 has 155k miles and no repairs. I've never seen or heard of a taco in the south with frame rust

 

Also most unreliable vehicle 2001 Mercedes-Benz C-230 Kompressor. This was from the DaimlerChrylser Era so I can only assume it was Chrysler's fault that this Mercedes was in the shop every 2 or 3 months for the 3 years we owned it

 

DaimlerChrylser has got to be one of the worst companies for product reliability.

Thats what my jeep was too..

 

1997 Isuzu Rodeo

 

Exactly, the stuff you listed except oil pump in my eyes is expected work or at least not a total shock. I bitched about replacing the battery in my wife's 2005 Rav4 last winter but it helped a little when I realized it was the original.

 

My wife's 96 had 160K on it when it got bought back in April 2008. Was always a MA truck. That said she owned it 6 yrs and did nothing but maintainence type stuff. It was starting to need a clutch but that's nothing at that age.

By comparison, I owned an 1981 Datsun 280ZX in 1991 and it rotted out. I wasn't thrilled but back then foreign cars in general would do that plus it was a $200 car.

 

I'll add this about the first gens. My dad's 96 has 310k miles and outside of routine maintenance, that truck has been bullit proof. The only issues he has had was a broken rear leaf, he's had to replace the starter twice and the cruise control doesn't work anymore. All in all for a 20 year old truck, not too shabby.

 

I heard the Le Cars were almost as bad. There use to be a joke about how to double the value of a Yugo.

 

2007 Rav4 2.4L I4.

The engine burns oil but not enough to qualify for the special warranty the fixes it.

 

2000 Volkswagen Passat. I had it while I was in college and thank the lord I knew how and wasn't afraid to work on things. Window regulators, switches, abs module, timing belt, turbo, clutch, front suspension (12 control arms!)... you name it and I replaced it. And I did all this on a student budget. I will say, it did get me 30-35 mpg and never left me stranded. Sold it to another poor soul with 190k miles for $1400 and the dash looked like a christmas tree.

 

I had my first on the road failure in my '11 Taco Access Cab yesterday. The left front turn signal bulb failed at 65k miles...talk about reliability! I was turning left, and it failed, AutoZone was on the right a block up...no tools needed to replace.

 

1977 Cherokee Chief. Rust bucket. Intermittent noise problems that sounded like your were going over rumble strips when you braked. Took a year for someone to finally figure it out.

 

Personally owned:
1999 F-150 5.4L
- too thin cylinder head shit out a spark plug
- helicoiled spark plug repair shit out, taking a chunk of the head with it, replaced engine
- ignition coils would randomly quit, had to drive around with a code reader to tell me which cylinder died, spare coil packs, and the tools necessary to change them on the side of the road
- water leaking at the cowl would drip onto the windshield wiper circuit, causing an unintentional "auto-wiper" feature, whether the key was on or not
- transmission started slipping, ball joints started popping, and CV joints started popping all at the same time, traded in for a 2006 Tacoma at a $2,000 loss.

Work vehicles:
2007 Chevy Colorado (from new to its death at 85,000 miles)
- cracked rear leaf springs
- both turn signal housings would randomly pop out of the bracket and swing around like pendulums still attached by the wires at highway speeds
- cracked upper A-arm X 2, you could see the ball joint was actually trying to break away from the A-arm
- replaced battery twice in 5 years
- seat adjustment lever snapped off
- driver side window regulator failed in the down position in the middle of winter 50 miles from home base
- DEATH: electronic 4X4 system randomly engaged 4HI while doing 70 on the highway, grenading front differential, transfer case, and transmission

2005 Chevy Colorado
- some of the issues mentioned above and additionally:
- overheats anytime driving over 50 miles, but only during summer
- base model came without a "chip key" interlock, but the truck was pre-wired for it anyway. On random occasions, when you try to start the truck, it thinks it is supposed to have a chip key and disables the engine. The ONLY way to resolve this issue is to wait exactly 10 minutes and try again. Mind you this is on an emergency response vehicle...

 

Me: 1993 Dodge Intrepid - never ran or drove the same from one day to the next, stranded me once, in shop every other month, totalled at 120k. Went to 1995 Corolla......now own three Toyotas, nuf said
Parents : 1999 Olds Alero or 1986 Cadillac Deville
Friends: 1991 Mercury Sable