The subject came up tonight among a bunch of barflys and I thought it was worth tossing out here.

Nothing recent. Stuff that has proven to be rubbish, time tested rubbish, Yugo class rubbish, although I think the Yugo is in a class by itself when it comes to bad.

And please keep it to cars sold in the US or Canada.

My vote is for the first generation Ford Escort, something from the early 80's. Everything about it broke down except for the seats and I think they would have worn out, too, except that the car wore out first at about 70,000 miles.

The Chevy Vega is also on my worst list. I rebuilt a few of those engines and it was like trying to make a toy engine run and last more than 20,000 miles.

And others you can think of?

The Corvair. Hands down.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

My first car the 1960 Simca Aronde with the Flash engine has to rank up there. Short lived engine and fragile transmission had me changing the engine three times and replacing first gear in the tranny only to have it broken almost immediately then driving it three or four more years through college with a chipped first gear. Great ride and handling but mechanically rubbish.

My second car was a 61 Bugeye sprite. It was close to tied with the Simca for worst ever but that perhaps was mainly because it was so comprehensively worn out when I got it....but it was very very fun to drive if you could keep oil in it.

The 66 Corvair with the 110 motor I had later was a lot better car mechanically but the heater was rubbish on it.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Most things made by the French - in particular the Renault 8 / 10 and the Citroen Visa

1970s and 1980s Skodas were dreadful

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Pinto.

I once drove a Vega from Tempe to Longview Washington without ever turning it off. August, heat wave all up the coast, 105 in Mt. Shasta CA and similar temps in Oregon. No AC. The most horrible drive ever.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

I had a Chevy 'Luv' truck, for one day. Returned it the next day.

DMC-12

Well a couple of new Chrysler products drove me into foreign label brands never basically to return so far. The list of poor cars in general would be pretty extensive.

Oddly enough I had a vega station wagon that the engine survived well in. The whole floor pan went out though.

Chuvitte or Vaguely - toss up.

It was the same for my parents. Their first car was a 1982 Dodge Omni with the VW 1.7L carburated four. The carb died at 50,000. The alternator failed multiple times. The car stalled if you tried to make a left turn while accelerating. Stalled if you tried to accelerate uphill. Didn't start if it sat in the hot sun (not a good thing when you live in LA), etc. One time when the alternator died, they were driving from Washington, DC back to Mass. overnight in the rain. It's a horror story. Every trip in the old Omni was an adventure because you never knew if you'd get there.

After that, they bought a brand-new 1990 Geo Prizm five-door notchback that went eight years and 160,000 miles with only one repair that cost $300 before it was rear-ended by a Ford Econoline at 40-50 MPH (some people don't believe in red lights). The Prizm kinda sold them on Toyotas, which is what they've bought since.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

The DS's were/are lovely cars, albeit maintenance-intensive. I'd also love to have a 2CV to play with

Worst: I'd have to add any mid-1980s GM 350 V-8 cars to the list. Neither powerful (choked down with primitive smog equipment, get 150 hp on a good day), nor reliable (father's Olds wagon cracked the heads at 50,000 miles), nor economical (15 mpg on a good day).

I would also love to have a DS to work on. Design wise, they are incredible. I do know that the maintenance is a bit crazy on them with the hydropneumatic system but I think it would be worth it.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I saw a couple of lovely 2CV in Greece.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The first-generation Mercedes ML-Class SUVs.