What is the most unreliable vehicle you have experienced?

A 1994 Mazda twin turbo RX7..... what a oil burner and gas guzzler but dam when it was running right, what a beast of car to drive. They don't call it the Japanese Ferrari for nothing

 

1960 psychedelic VW bus. Going over the pass to Wenatchee for apple blossom festivals in the early 70's it's top speed was 15 mph and when washed it wouldn't run till the next day... wish i still had it.

 

1979 Jeep Cherokee. Bought it new, complete POS, paint job was laughable. Day I sold it, after 18 months of misery, the fuel cap fell off and we had to jump the starter solenoid to start it. Grand total of 12000 miles, left us stranded twice...

 

'86 nissan maxima 5spd stick... transmission failed twice, rack and pinion failed, suspension was poorly sorted and unstable at speed, ac failed, corroded wiring issues. It was supposed to be the reliable college car, but not so much. Finally it was rear ended and totaled out. i didnt learn tho, and had an '88 pathfinder after that. No more nissans for me...

 

2013 Scion FR-S 6MT

I traded my 07 Tacoma in on it. Only kept the FR-S for 3 months before trading it back in for a 2014 Tacoma, due to: Condensation in tail lights(replaced tails) - shifter rattle(no fix)- Oil leak(replace timing chain cover gasket), 2nd oil leak( replace cracked timing cover and new gasket), 3rd oil leak(replace cracked timing chain cover and new gasket again). This POS was in the shop for almost half of the time I owned it.

 

I've always had pretty good luck despite driving junk.

My Pop bought a AMC Ambassador that hated him, so he traded it on a Gremlin because my Mom liked it.
She could drive either of those cars around the world and they ran fine.
My Pop would go to turn either around in the driveway and something would break.

Pop always swore he'd buy a used Trabant off Leonid Brezhnev himself before he'd touch another AMC product.

 

First page had mine. Chevy sonic. Was in the shop for a transmission replacement at 40k. I had aftermarket springs and the front CVs took a shit from a 1" drop. Front scraped everything before the drop. Wouldn't shift right for shit. Smelled like mildew. Took a 10k hit on trade in value just to get out of that thing.

 

2002 Dodge Dakota 9 years 80,000 it was dead. Body rusting out start on the roof of 4th year, 1st transmission replaced at 45,000 second till 80,000 , AC died at 30,000, and to many parts to remember them all before 50,000 miles bearings, ball joint, calipers, water pump, fuel pump, every hose developed leaks, steering wheel lock would stick and fuel gauge flow in tank would stick.

 

Was the 77 sportster an AMC product? When they took over production of junk bikes began. Some people like them because parts are cheap.....they literally leaked oil on the factory floor.

What do expect when a a bowling company takes on building motorcycles?

What could possibly go wrong?

 

Accidentally started this thread in general discussion, but thought I would share it here. Lots of good stories.

Ohhhh.....Renault! Your engineering team stole the drawing of my 3 year old or any youth trying to draw a car for the first time. You look familiar and friendly.

Long story with this peach. My uncle started his own collection service for banks and repossessed this car. He sold it to me for underarm et value and I'm sure he laughed all the way to the bank. Later I would find out my uncle is kind of an ass.

So for starters the car had to get a tune up and keep the engine going. Once this was done the problems started.in this order
1. Rebuilt transmission
2.new engine
3.new transmission
4.electrical issues
5. Front passenger wheel fell of at the axle
6. Went to dump

Didn't post my story first because I wanted 1st hand stories. This is actually my dad's story that I witnessed and got me interested in finding a reliable vehicle. I couldn't believe the money he dumped into the Renault and it always let us down

 

I have you all beat...

Daewoo.. I had a 2002 or something not worth remembering Daewoo Nubira that was just god awful.

Trunk latch
Power window or 2
Alternator
Remote unlock
CV boot
Axle
Rotors
Horn
Glove box
And even the Rack n Pinyon steering column
This is just what I remember

This all failed before 55k miles. Had it in highschool and it was a POS. That said, I sold it for $1,600 more than I paid, 2 years later.

 

My poor mother bought a new 1985 Isuzu I-Mark. Holy cow, what a POS! Was constantly back at the dealer being repaired until the crappy warranty ran out. I was over almost every weekend fixing something for her. Had the engine rebuilt at 75,000 miles, transmission shortly after and it still broke down. She then traded it in on a new Ford Conture. Another POS! Constantly breaking down and a PITA to work on.
I'm kinda glad she doesn't drive anymore.

 

I remember seeing these new at the dealership, but they were 3 years old. Selling very cheap. I asked why and they said out or business and parts not available, if available ay take a long time to get. What a failure

 

Yes they went out of business and finding parts was a pain in the ass. The last problem I had was the rack and pinyon. Some part of the steerling column would slip and while driving down the road if I hit a bump it would slip, and I'd start slightly drifting to the right. Like the steering would actually be aimed straight, but it would slip and act like I was turning the wheel a bit. Exremely unsafe. Especially on the freeway.

I pulled a part from a junkyard and got it fixed, then sold it locally on a street corner for $1,600 more than I paid myself. And to think I passed up an old Chevy S10 for that thing... is depressing.

 

1995 toyota tacoma. Had a sunroof that went back to the dealer 3 times before they were able to get it to stop it leaking into my cab ... and not just a little drip. The same vehicle had a crappy stick shift that shifted like crap compared to any other vehicle I have had, including an 83 chevy blazer 4 speed.

I know this is a Tacoma website, but I am surprised that no one on this post points out Toyotas failure on these frames rusting out, spring breaking , etc...Lets get real here.

 

Come to think of it.....I also had a 1989 Plymouth Sundance with automatic seat belts (remember those?) Dealer replaced a cylinder due to a knocking sound and excessive oil consption. Chrysler' explanation, "someone at the factory put the wrong size piston in." This was my first clue. The thing did not want to stay running at a red light with the air conditioner running.

And last but not least, 1987 suzuki samurai.an I loved this piece of crap. Heater barely worked after a 30 minute warm up, went 55 mph downhill with the wind, and the big kicker AN ELECTRONIC CARBURETOR. Yes, that's right. For one year only after the carburetor was killed off and before fuel injection suzuki made a complicated fuel system that had many problems and no one could seem to keep running.

It either turned over and ran great, or did not make a sound and would have to sit until she decided it was time to go.

Dealer couldn't figure it out. They drove it twice when I traded it in and it ran flawlessly. Thank god!

 

2008 Silverado. 5 years and 2 months old the cam and lifters shit the bed, only had 66k miles and was only out of warranty a couple months(GM's was 60 month/100k miles). GM told me tough luck because I didn't buy the truck new. Dealer wouldn't go to bat for me and I was stuck with a $3k repair bill. This is after bringing the truck to them while it was under warranty for lifter tick and they told me it was normal.

In this time frame the truck also had new O2 sensors, new exhaust manifold on the driver side(cracked), valve cover gaskets, totally blown shocks, cracked dash, integrated trailer brake controller constantly shorting out, bad window motors in both doors, worn out door latches, sagging extended cab doors.. and a shit load more stuff wrong with it. My 2nd and last Chevy. It was a shame the first one was 20 years old and had 150k on it without any issues other than a heater core and radiator.

 

A...Yugo...sad but true.

 

1974 and 1985 Chevrolet trucks... Total crap... the '74 blew a rod out the oil pan at 12,000 mi.... Gave me only 1/2 the cost to fix!!!!

The '85 had a cracked block at 10,000km... then tranny went south, etc, etc... total garbage... never bot another GM product since..... and I'm very glad about that... they may be cheaper "off the lot"... but you are buying a piece of crap...!!

 

1998 Ford Ranger - I had my share of $500 POS's back in the day, but this one was dollar-for-dollar the worst. Got it when it was 5 years old, and it was constantly at the shop. EGR valve melted, rear window leaked, tranny shuddered on 1-2 shift, constant whines, squeaks, and squeals from all over the place. 4WD NEVER worked right; something on it broke every time I used it.

Honorable mention to my ex's 1989 LeBaron because the camshaft broke driving down the highway. We fixed that, and then the head gasket blew. The American auto industry should have gone under decades ago. Total shit products, especially in the 80s and 90s. I don't know why people still buy them.