what was the worst mechanical nightmare of a car that you owned?

[davidpizzica]

I once owned a 1973 maverick. It looked good when I bought it, but it turned out to be the halves of two cars welded together!! I wa driving one time and I shifted my weight in the seat and the back of the seat fell off while I was driving!! needless to say we took this heap back to the dealership and he gave us a much better 1973 olds omega!

[lizzielou742]

Wow, that is really bad!!

My worst car was my first car. A 1975 2-door brown Chevy Malibu. I paid $125 for it. The doors were rusted and the paint was awful. Some genius had covered the entire driver's seat in duct tape - needless to say it melted in the humid Ohio summer. By the time I got it, I had to drive around with a beach towel over the seat. It was so nasty. The window-roller-downer (??) handles never stayed on, so I kept them in the "center console" (a plastic thing I bought at Meijer) until I needed to roll down the windows, when I'd use them and then put them back in the center console. It came with an 8-track player. The dashboard was completely cracked. Someone had replaced the door locks with little 8-balls. The floor in the backseat was completely rusted through when I got it; you could see the road going by. It caught on fire twice while I had it (a year), and I ran out of gas quite a few times because the gas gauge was broken (and I was 16 and not aware enough of how gas mileage worked). It backfired quite often, and as a high schooler, that was very embarrassing. Strangely enough, it was so bad, all my friends got a kick out of it, and we ended up taking the "Ghetto Sled" everywhere. My dad sold it for me a year after I bought it. He put so many improvements into it while I had it, he sold it for $1,000. But man, I hated that car!!!

[Corinna]

This was not such a bad car but I sure had fun in it. it was the worst looking i ever had. a 1962 chevy nova 2 doof it was in high school .I was working on restoring a 1952 thruck which I would have rather be driving. The nova had been in an accident so the back corner panel was crushed in. It was a god awful white and rust (it had been my faviote uncles car)
I fixed up as only a kid in the 80's could at 16, I had 2 pink and purple stuffed piggies in the back window. I was always the one driving cuse only one other of my freinds had a car and liesence. I was the smallest of my freinds most hit the 200lb mark so try getting 6 heafty gals in to a 2 door it was quite the fun every time we went some where.
Dad kept that poor old car runnung for about 5 years before I got a new car.
oops got to got to work I'll give more stores about the pig mobil later.

[Tonya]

I had two. My first car was a 1979 Honda Accord with pink interior. It ALWAYS broke down. And I kept dumping money into it because I'd think "Well, I've already put $500 into it, just this last $200 and it'll be fixed." "Well, I've already put $700 in it, just this last $900 and it'll be a good car." I was always walking. A few thousand later, I finally cut my losses and sold it.


Then I had a 1986 VW Cabriolet. It was convertible and sooo cute. And then it got stolen. I was in a streak of bad luck as it was. I was working as a waitress, and I looked out the window to see a guy driving away in my car. I broke down.

Well, lucky me, I got it back two months later. It'd been in a high speed chase with the police and GAWD knows what else. I don't remember all the mechanics to it...but it was never the same again. I remember always having to have my foot on the clutch, the gas, and the brake at the same time when I was at stops. It'd stall. It had electrical problems. The axel wound up being bent. The wheel fell off when I went over a railroad track to fast. It was a mess. I couldn't even sell it, it got junked.

*edit* Oh! And something funny about that. When they recovered the car, there was a backpack in it with really cute clothes. I kept a really cute shirt that was in there and wore it for years. That was 1996, this is 2004, so that shirt is 8 years old and I still have it. It has sentimental value, I can't throw it out for the life of me. lol. I like to think that I got over on the thieves because I stole their shirt. hehe.

[jazzcat]

A 1988 Ford Taurus. We had almost everything replaced on it twice. When the manifold broke for a second time we decided enough was enough. I would rather walk than buy another Ford car at this point.

[Samantha Puppy]

I'm still driving my first car - '96 Chevy Cavalier. It's okay. I've had to replace the transmission once, replace the entire exhaust system once, and the brakes have been screwy for a year and no one can figure out why. The windshield wipers won't stay down (if used and then turned off). The two lowest settings on my A/C (fan) don't work so I either am dying of heat or freezing to death (reverse will be true for when the weather gets cold).

Can't wait to get a nice, new, NORMAL car.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Well ummm this is kind of an interesting question....

My first car was a 96 Jeep Cherokee sport. Some genious had decided to custom order a jeep in 2wd. Ok how bloody usefull is that?! Well I decided to build the thing up and race it, due to the fact that it was REALLY lightweight and it had a big motor in it. Good for drag racing! After some minor mods, I, like a total idiot, let my friend park it. I did say PARK, right? Well he crunched the front end so bad that it wouldn't make right turns...goody gumdrop. We managed to get the stupid thing repaired enough to drive and then I (another idiot move) didn't read my specs properly and blew the motor installing an oil cooling system (do'h). The motor got replaced and now dad is using it as the loaner mobile (basically anyone in the family carless drives this thing) Oh and some moron ripped the stereo off and blew half the elecronics in it while we were waiting for the estimites on the motor swap.

My current car (Ford festiva 93) was kind of a wreck when I got it. Total abuse case. Bent up fuel and break lines, almost no exhaust system, failing clutch and a cracked windsheild. The breaks, clutch, exhaust and window have all been replaced and Im working on the fuel system now. It has a whole new electrical system and I took out that gosh awful nasty broken factory sound system out of it This thing was a lemon but I turned it into a cherry!

The car we are TRYING to get on the road is an 83 or 84 Toyota Tercel. Ugly car really but one heck of a off roading machine. We bought the POS for $250. Good body, great interior, gold transmission. The previous owner said it had a slight rod knock . We turned the thing over and it shot a rod through the block....TWICE! Then the jerk wouldn't refund our money even though it blew up as we were trying to get it off the property. Pfft. We crammed a Chevy motor in it though, and the only thing holding the works up is we need to custom weld an entire new exhaust system. But slowly, this lemon is turning into a cherry too.

Ive given up on a few cars though, not all of my wrecks turn into running machines. My husband had a Toyota Camry that got left to rot. The crank kind of well rusted. Time to trash that POS! My MILs 88 Chevy nova got used as parts for the Tercel when its transmission blew. Im a firm believer in recycling whenever possible!

Sigh Ive been way too long winded. I spend too much time on cars Sorry to bore you all

[PJ's Mom]

The car I'm driving now is probable the worst. Two days after we bought it, the transmission went out and it cost $1,200 to fix it. It spends more time in the shop than it does with me. This car has seen the inside of more mechanics shops...

[lizzielou742]

DJ, you crack me up!!!

[DJFyrewolf36]

Originally posted by lizzielou742
DJ, you crack me up!!!

Why, cause I have a neon sign over my house that says "If you have a junk car, drop it off and I'll fix it in a month or two"?

LOL

I almost forgot the Isuzu we have sitting that needs a rebuild on the motor....

[davidpizzica]

Originally posted by DJFyrewolf36
Well ummm this is kind of an interesting question....

My first car was a 96 Jeep Cherokee sport. Some genious had decided to custom order a jeep in 2wd. Ok how bloody usefull is that?! Well I decided to build the thing up and race it, due to the fact that it was REALLY lightweight and it had a big motor in it. Good for drag racing! After some minor mods, I, like a total idiot, let my friend park it. I did say PARK, right? Well he crunched the front end so bad that it wouldn't make right turns...goody gumdrop. We managed to get the stupid thing repaired enough to drive and then I (another idiot move) didn't read my specs properly and blew the motor installing an oil cooling system (do'h). The motor got replaced and now dad is using it as the loaner mobile (basically anyone in the family carless drives this thing) Oh and some moron ripped the stereo off and blew half the elecronics in it while we were waiting for the estimites on the motor swap.

My current car (Ford festiva 93) was kind of a wreck when I got it. Total abuse case. Bent up fuel and break lines, almost no exhaust system, failing clutch and a cracked windsheild. The breaks, clutch, exhaust and window have all been replaced and Im working on the fuel system now. It has a whole new electrical system and I took out that gosh awful nasty broken factory sound system out of it This thing was a lemon but I turned it into a cherry!

The car we are TRYING to get on the road is an 83 or 84 Toyota Tercel. Ugly car really but one heck of a off roading machine. We bought the POS for $250. Good body, great interior, gold transmission. The previous owner said it had a slight rod knock . We turned the thing over and it shot a rod through the block....TWICE! Then the jerk wouldn't refund our money even though it blew up as we were trying to get it off the property. Pfft. We crammed a Chevy motor in it though, and the only thing holding the works up is we need to custom weld an entire new exhaust system. But slowly, this lemon is turning into a cherry too.

Ive given up on a few cars though, not all of my wrecks turn into running machines. My husband had a Toyota Camry that got left to rot. The crank kind of well rusted. Time to trash that POS! My MILs 88 Chevy nova got used as parts for the Tercel when its transmission blew. Im a firm believer in recycling whenever possible!

Sigh Ive been way too long winded. I spend too much time on cars Sorry to bore you all

DJF, I once had a 1968 ford fairlane. god running car, bad electrical system! I could put the parking lights on, put on the left turn signal.(had to be the left), and I could use the radio without using the key! BTW, at a junkyard near me are two ford festivas! Kind of a long drive, huh?

[DJFyrewolf36]

Originally posted by david p
DJF, I once had a 1968 ford fairlane. god running car, bad electrical system! I could put the parking lights on, put on the left turn signal.(had to be the left), and I could use the radio without using the key! BTW, at a junkyard near me are two ford festivas! Kind of a long drive, huh?

LOL what year? Are they missing the front or the rear ends? All of the festivas in the yards around here are missing ends, most of the time anyone junks a festiva its because it got ran over!!

I hate electrical systems. We junked an 84 Volvo because the whole wiring harness died. POS...

[davidpizzica]

Originally posted by DJFyrewolf36
LOL what year? Are they missing the front or the rear ends? All of the festivas in the yards around here are missing ends, most of the time anyone junks a festiva its because it got ran over!!

I hate electrical systems. We junked an 84 Volvo because the whole wiring harness died. POS...

DJF, one looks like a '93 and looks pretty complete, Charcoal gray, and one, looks like a year older, no tires no hood, light blue with a dark blue front end. They are still there because I passed them on the way home tonight!

[davidpizzica]

I forgot to mention that both of these are just about rust-free, which is a rarity in rusty Pennsylvania!!