What is the most unreliable vehicle you have experienced?

Truth!!!

2002 Dodge Dakota for me. What a hunk of shit (but the V8 was strong, I’ll admit).

 

My first car was a 1989 Ford Merkur. I was 15 when my parents bought it as a present for me for like $500. Since I couldn’t drive yet, my cousin borrowed it to get around. One day there was a huge billow of black smoke rising up on the highway (it could be seen from across town) and I wondered what it was. Turns out my car had blown itself to hell and that’s what the smoke was coming from.



My 2005 SAAB 9-5 Aero Wagon was also pretty bad, but never blew up on me.

 

84 Fleetwood Brougham.

Electrical gremlins out the wazoo. Auto headlights wouldn't work. Auto brights meant no brights. I had to hold the stalk if I wanted lights. Similar issues with the auto wipers. The radio wouldn't work unless I started the car, got out, and pulled out the antenna that was supposed to be motorized. It had no problems retracting on its own however. One of my buddies pressed in a cigarette lighter (one of five, this car was truly a smoker's paradise) and it instantly shorted out everything. Fortunately replacing a few fuses roadside got me rolling again that time.

The engine was a notorious oil burner. When it finally threw a rod I barely even noticed a difference in performance. But when the fluid at the end of the dipstick came back as dull green in color and full of glitter, I knew it was done. I bought it for $600 from a widow who knew it was time to turn in her license, sold it to a junkyard two years later for 300. It had less than 70,000 miles on the clock, and 30 of those were mine. It might have been my worst car where nothing worked but paradoxically it also had the lowest cost of ownership by far.

Coincidentally this car got me pulled over more than any other car I have owned. The friendly state troopers loved it when I was going 5 over the limit, because the car just screamed "search me."

 

Was a VW guy in my younger days. Had a Beetle (original), Rabbit, Golf, Scirocco and a Jetta. The Jetta was the end of the line. Fun to drive but mounting problems including a fuel pump left my wife stranded while I was out of province. Final straw was the alternator. Charged the battery and drove to the Toyota dealership and replaced it with a new "91 Tercel. My wife had an "80 Tercel she bought new as her first car that never gave us a single problem even after being hit at least 3 times. Years later, picked up a PT Cruiser for my son to drive to college. Low k. The boys really pounded the snot out of it. Actually liked the vehicle because of it's uniqueness. While the interior fit and finish was really good, still had those Chrysler mechanicals. Suspension bushings, alternator, timing belt, brakes, rust. The only vehicle to leave the kids stranded. Finally limped it to the wrecking yard and replaced it with a Matrix. My biggest disappointment was with the "04 Celica that my wife purchased new. Mechanically good (except for a broken spring), and a blast to drive but Toyota really missed the QC boat on this one. Interior materials were sub standard (leather seats falling apart), sound system crapped out, and the body was rusting faster than any Toyota we had owned. Traded it for a "16 Corolla S, a far superior car.

Cheers.

 

Ford F150 - two transmissions in 15,000 miles
Chevy Pickup - Multiple starters, alternators, ECU's
Chevy Cavalier - Don't need to say anymore.

Went to Toyota and now I"m good.

 

2001 jetta. after the warranty expired it was a ticking time bomb

 

Agreed, I had a 2000 Dakota and it was a piece of junk from the start. Tranny went at 38K, back window leaked and inside always stunk, lights burned out every month it seemed, had to replace control arms every time I replaced tires...ugh

 

Don’t buy one, or if you just have to drive a bmw lease it and dump it. Sure carbon cleaning is an issue. So is timing chain catastrophe on sub 80k mile cars. Worst internal engine gunk I’ve ever seen in real life under a valve cover. Turbo issues, but it’s cool you only have to replace the entire exhaust manifold. Quality issues, interior parts pealing off themselves. The hardest “leather” you’ve sat on in your entire life. Everything made of plastic!

The i6 isn’t as bad

 

Why do you hate them? You don't have to drive one just fix them for money. Think how much more profitable they are than something like a Tacoma.

 

My very first vehicle, a 1975 Kawasaki F11 250 2-stroke. Ran great when it ran, that thing left me stranded more places...

 

I had a 1982 VW Rabbit (old Golf) when I was in high school. It would constantly break down. All kinds of little things and I grew up in Bishop, CA so I was always breaking down in the middle of nowhere. Grew to hate that car. Funny thing is later in life my wife had an Audi A4 (fancy VW) and it was the same way. I used to be a mechanic and they will talk about the car that ended up making them mechanics because they chose to fix the car themselves instead of having someone else fix it and for me, it was the Rabbit.

 

Didn’t they have a cosworth escort version of this car?

 

My aunt bought a Jeep Renegade not long ago and had to replace the engine 3 times within the first 10,000 miles.

 

I was afraid I was going to come in here and see the 80 series listed as the least reliable haha. Mine has its moments for sure, but never left me anywhere and always still drive-able while broken

 

Anything Chevy.

Seriously. Everything I ever owned of theirs was my biggest displeasure in owning. It's why I went Toyota and haven't looked back since.

Granted, the Toyota has its shortcomings as well, what car doesn't, but nothing as major as leaking gaskets on every major sealing surface at 30K and before and jacked up electronics/ electrical gremlins.

Dodge is another one too, a brand new rental 2016 Ram I had back in the day had a screwed up oil pump 4000 miles in. What a giant garbage heap.

 

Not a big deal...they even made a Cosworth version of the Vega...lol

 

Wow, not surprised by the amount of Chrysler products, but my used '73 Dodge Dart Sport was quite reliable, except for the loose starter that I had to crawl under to shake it to start sometimes.
And my brand new Ford F-150, 300 3 speed manual was quite reliable.

 

Wow lol

 

I was wondering when I’d find these pop up haha.

The main 2 issues are the EGR cooler, and the oil cooler.

I have a 2005 F250 6.0 Powerstroke with 245,000 miles on it. It tows almost daily. Granted it usually only tows 3000-6000lbs.
It hasn’t blown up yet!