Smart car 2 seater. Drove it for work for about 6 months. You're a target for bullies, the wind is scary, lorries sometimes can't see you and they can get to 90, which is interesting.
I can live with all that, I've driven vans and lorries that were in much worse condition. I had a Morris van that was so crap it's engine seized trying to do 50.
No, the Smart car was the worst car mainly because I'm 6 6. It was like being a sardine driving it's can. I could do it, but it was not a pleasant experience.
The transmission in those things is an amazing level of suck, too. It's this bizarre automatic manual thing that's just awful to drive.
Porsche measures their automatic gear changes in milliseconds. Smart measures them in geologic time scales.
I truly don't understand why they didn't put a CVT in those 2nd generation cars (the ones sold in North America). It's the perfect application! Small car, not a lot of power, efficiency minded.
If the smart car was made today it probably would have a cvt. But an extremely budget car back then, cvts weren't as common.
Jeep. All of them. Rickety. Not built well. Terrible gas mileage. Bad on highways. Bad on city streets. I literally got bruises on my butt on an off road trail in one of them. Just absolute shit cars.
They're terrible street cars but offroad there's really nothing more capable unless you plan to custom build a rig. If you want a smooth ride offroad it will be way to soft for on the road and vice versa. Jeeps from the factory are designed on a compromise between the two so they're not really good at either.
The build quality on modern jeeps is absolutely terrible though and the majority of jeep owners never use them for what they're intended for so I generally agree with you. But ride in a jeep that's properly setup for strictly offroad driving and you'd be amazed.
Are Land Cruisers not a thing in the USA? Because they are the ultimate off-road vehicle.
I'm sure you have the Hilux and there is no place where I'd choose to take a Jeep over a Hilux.
I don't think they are available in the US but the Suzuki Jimny is the perfect off-road vehicle for me.
It's an extremely fun vehicle to drive!
We call that car the "Sierra" in Australia. Perfect beach/dune car. Not ideal for rougher terrain, though. In fairness, the biggest thing it has going against it is the narrow wheelbase. It doesn't fit right on the tracks made by all the other 4x4's. If all those tracks had instead been made by narrower vehicles, it might not be so bad.
A coworker bought a Jeep and I said "Oh wow, Jeeps are great vehicles! ...unless you drive them on roads."
Nothing more capable provided it's a Wrangler and one of the newer higher spec ones where they actually give you functional equipment like 37" tires and lockers. The old ones were build with crappy parts that needed to be swapped out before they could be truly capable and the entire rest of their lineup is pure garbage both on and offroad.
The only selling feature of any Jeep vehicle is the classic round front lights and the grill design .... it's like owning an Apple product, people just want to be seen in one.
I once had a loaner from a dealer that was a Dodge Caliber. Ugly as sin and the transmission was definitely on its way out. That car was just a struggle. It was a reminder why I will never buy a Chrysler product.
I am not defending that car.
Not good practice to use a loaner or rental as a reference. People drive those like they are trying to break them. And dealers will use a shitbox as a loaner because it is a shitbox
This was an unofficial loaner that was for sale as a used car by the dealer…so they were actively trying to sell it.
Like i said im not defending that car, was meant to be general advice.
I work for an autoparts company processing returned parts. Im the guy that inspects and rejects (if thats even worth noting).
If they were willing to use it at all as a loaner, it was probably a problematic vehicle. Even the highest quality vehicle will have some units that someone didnt put together well. Dodge is not a top quality builder to start.
But that all aside im very happy to hear you wont be buying one anytime soon
The CVT in the Caliber is crap even when it's brand new
I test drove one when they first came out. The salesperson was telling me about the continuously variable transmission, and how revolutionary it was.
"It's a new technology? From an American car company? In it's first model year? Ok, no thank you."
"New technology" is just asking for trouble. Always wait till 3rd or 4th gen if you want all the kinks worked out, especially if it is something expensive like a car.
I got a 2008 Dodge Avenger when it was new and immediately hated it. Everything felt cheap, it had absolutely no ability to get up to speed, and felt all around sluggish.
Everything I hated about that Avenger for the 8 years I drove it were nothing compared to the two Dodge Calibers I got to drive in that time. Every bad feature for a car dialed up to 11. Felt like it was built so cheap it could fall apart on the road.
My parents and my partner both got one. They were both so, so very bad. It's unreal that car ever got sold.
1994 Ford Taurus.
I went over a speed hump at 5mph and the whole engine fell out of the front.
Apparently it's not supposed to do that.
I had a 92 Taurus that made a loud crack when I turned left. Mechanic said engine was about to fall out. Left it parked in front of my house and a cement mixer backed into it and crumpled the front end. Got about 2000 bucks out of a car we were going to scrap.
A fleet/company car. A Chevette. I pressed the accelerator to the floor, the engine went "huh? you want what?"
At least you could brag to people that you drive a 'vette.
A 1971 Chrysler Newport.
The thing was a boat. You’d hit a bump in the road, and the car would act like you crested a wave and bob front to back a few times. It was wider than most pickup trucks and probably heavier. Not only could it not fit in most parking spots, it could hardly fit in some lanes. Required leaded gas, which was getting hard to find at that point. If you needed to go uphill you had to build up speed because you would slow down, even with the gas pedal floored.
The best part is that when I finally brought it in for service, the mechanic came out and said “You’ve been driving that thing??” Three out of four motor mounts had broken and the last one was about rusted through.
It did have an 8-track though, and came with a bunch of Elvis tapes.
I hated Elvis, but did manage to find an 8-track of Peter Paul and Mary.
Mid 80's Bronco. My ex insisted that she had to have a bronco. It had a 302 in it, but holy hell. I am sure it was the fact that they were still trying out emissions schemes but I bet it had less than a hundred hp. It would barely move out of it's own way, and if you got about 6mpg you considered yourself lucky. Toss in an oil leak and it was like driving the Exxon Valdez. I can't decide if the best day of my life was getting rid of the bronco, or her....
Narrator: Both....
I'm pretty sure you could buy one of those with a straight six, I bet they're even more of a dog!
I had an '86 with a straight six that was phenomenal.12 mpg and would go anywhere. It's the only car I hate I sold.
We had a brace of rented Nissan cargo vans at work, the small ones. Those were truly terrible. They had CVT transmissions that just would not hook up. I'd get to the top of an SF hill at a stop sign and just sit there with my foot planted, waiting.
We replaced them with Ford Transits. The CVT in that model is only slightly more usable, but we all still fight over who gets the older model, with the torque converter.
I'm currently driving a Toyota for work. I hate CVT, the whine is headache inducing.
I used to be very anti CVT. Then I bought a 3.6R Subaru Outback. I pull a 5x8 enclosed trailer with it and the biggest giveaway that you're hauling anything is the gas mileage. So they ain't all bad.
Pulled a 6x12 twin axle with a 2.4l turboed engine about 800 miles. Outback was totally fine, though we definitely overloaded the trailer. Got the car checked by a local mechanic and they said it was all good, though we did a fluid flush early just to be on the safe side. I don't mind the CVT, just wish the software in the 2021's was better.
That's fair, and tbh the Toyota is great to drive. It's a bit sluggish overtaking but from stopped it's like firing a gun and it's got a great chassis. The electric motor gives it the kick and actually does sound really cool.
It's the petrol revving that drives me nuts, up and down all the time. I use cruise control a lot but it still does it. On a long drive it gets annoying. I listen to audio books which helps but I can't take much more, I'm starting to think of ways to kill it.
Chrysler 200 as a rental after someone smoked my Civic, and I waited to get a new one.
The car was... Jiggly? Like the suspension was unsettling, the brakes needed getting acquainted with lest you rear-end someone, and the steering had too much play. It wasn't enough play to convince me something was wrong, it was just shit quality.
No power. At all. Getting on the freeway was an adventure in noise and hope. Everything lagged. Fuel economy was garbage too.
Looked stupid. And my Civic si that replaced it, the econobox with a hot engine, had a luxury interior in comparison, which is saying something.
Horrible car to add to a horrible week.
I had a Lincoln mkz for a week after someone hit my car in a parking lot, insurance said I was covered for a premium sedan.
Worst car I've ever driven. Handled like a boat, was all flash but everything felt cheap and "jiggly" when I touched it.
Learning at the time (2012) that this was a 35k luxury car was mind-blowing. You couldn't PAY me to drive that car again. My 20k Prius blew it out of the water in everything but acceleration, and even then it wasn't behind by much...
Nissan Versa, so many weird blind spots.
Ooh man, I’ve driven a lot of rentals for work…
I hated hated hated the Nissan Cube. Thankfully the check engine light came on within two hours of me picking it up so I got to swap it.
But I think the one that takes the cake is actually a vacation rental car. My husband and I rented a car when we went to Belgium. It was an Opel Corsa. It struggled to even reach the speed limit on highways and definitely couldn’t go above it. The funniest thing was that all the Audis and BMWs in Belgium didn’t even bother to tailgate us; they saw us ahead of them and moved over to pass well before they got to us. They knew. That thing was hilariously bad at being a car. I was also a new stick shift driver and it was very difficult. We then went to Switzerland where we got a VW Polo and suddenly I got a whole lot better at driving stick, lol.
Hahaha. A rented Opel was what came to mind for me as well. Followed by Plymouth Crossfire and Chevy HHR.
Thankfully the check engine light came on within two hours of me picking it up so I got to swap it.
And wouldn't you know it, the check engine light was because of a loose gas cap. How could that have happened?
Why would they tailgate you at all if they could pass you? Is this common somewhere?
I guess what I meant was, they were so aware that we were lamely going as fast as we could (not very) in the slow lane that they managed to move over in plenty of time even when they were going way (way) faster than us and had to merge into other traffic. No one ever seemed to get stuck behind us unable to pass. I chalked it up to their very high awareness of our very shitty car, lol.
Ah haha I see
Some people just like being a dick instead of getting on with their lives. My answer to those people is to slow down until they pass, and it's fairly common that I get under 10mph and think I'm actually going to have to stop before they get the hint.
I rented a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander in 2022 and it was amazing how unresponsive it was. It's a small SUV with the engine of a hamster. It has a "sport mode" that really struggled to get me up some hills in Colorado.
Also, the rubber seal for the door, on 3 of the doors, was constantly feel off and could be worn as a second seatbelt.
Chevy Suburban. I volunteered to drive for a university course field trip and it's what I got stuck with.
Unresponsive fatass brick of a vehicle. I mean, come on, a minivan has more cargo space and the same passenger capacity without three light aircraft worth of inertia.
Dashboard sucked. It took me a solid three minutes to find the button shifts. (I know these can be done well - Honda does them right - but the PRNDL was fucking laid out in a thin row at the side of the dashboard. Huh?)
Overtaking damn near anything would redline the (very new, less than 10k miles) engine.
My uncle owned an 80’s suburban. That thing was an absolute tank… and not in a good way. The steering had so much play in it, you had to turn the wheel about 45 degrees for there to be any input.
A fedex truck actually ended up t-boning him, and the truck flipped. He was fine. Suburban wasn’t. Probably for the best.
Overtaking damn near anything would redline the (very new, less than 10k miles) engine.
While this suggests it might have been underpowered, how high the engine revs during acceleration in a modern automatic transmission vehicle is determined by software that operates the transmission and the driver's control inputs, not how old the engine is. The designers of the car probably decided that was the best way to deliver the performance you asked for. They may even have been correct in that assessment.
A Hyundai Elantra, it let me down in so many ways. Financially, spiritually, etc.
Anecdotally, our 2013 Elantra was a fantastic car. It had not one mechanical defect. We sold it to buy an Odyssey, but I believe it would have kept rolling to today.
Chevy Malibu I got at a rental place because they didn't have the type of car I requested months ahead of time. Neither my partner nor I could figure out how the fuck to set the cruise control, which had "get up to speed then step on the brake" as one of the instructions. We're also not frequent drivers.
Fuck that car, driving it gave me a panic attack
A Ford Expedition from a car rental place. It felt like driving around a ten ton brick through molasses. It was the least responsive and awkward shit box I've ever had the displeasure of piloting. It was so bad I literally drove to the nearest rental place to exchange it for a smaller car.
This was my first car. Iirc it had a 5.2L engine with ~160hp.
The brakes were so squishy I thought they were out when I drove it first.
I sold it for $300 when it needed a $1200 tune up.
2021 gmc Sierra, cant see shit in front of you
Some time in 2015/2016, parents had a loaner Ford ecosport. That thing struggled with hills. And by hills, I mean speed bumps and anything not completely horizontal. Nobody even felt like trying to get it on a highway, we knew there was no way it could get up to speed safely.
Rental car for South island NZ, MG Excite. Unfortunately we'd just had a hybrid in North island NZ, and had been spoiled by it's good fuel economy and responsiveness, amongst other things.
This car had a label insisting on 95, not just 91. In NZ, fuel is fucking expensive, let alone premium. It also felt like we were filling up every day or at least every other day, whilst back up in North island we'd filled once every three to four days.
It also handled like a turd, wired android auto was unreliable and crashed all the time so we had to reset the head unit multiple times a day, its driver assist was way too fucking interventionist and couldn't be disabled without being at a complete stop (said it could do it if below the speed limit but always said you were above it??)...
Just terrible.
This is crazy - we also rented an MG Excite in NZ (but on the north island) with exactly the same issues, maybe it was the same car 😆 was yours blue?
Nah black. It was just shit wasn't it??
Isn't 95 the bog standard stuff? I didn't even know they sold 91 RON!
Oh wow dunno where you are but you lot must be spoiled haha... and I already consider ourselves spoiled compared to the States, apparently bog standard there is like 87??
But yeah, Australia and NZ has E10 (didn't quite see this in NZ), 91, 95, 98 (and diesel).
compared to the States, apparently bog standard there is like 87?
That's not quite accurate. Octane ratings in most parts of the world are RON, which tends to be 8-12 points higher than the more difficult MON rating. In North America, the average of the two is used resulting in a lower rating for the same fuel.
The fuel gauge was only loosely related to the fuel level, I ran out repeatedly before learning to use the odometer instead.
The dashboard switches would sometimes disintegrate, springs fly out, when you flipped them.
The electric radiator fan was controlled by a relay that melted if the fan ran too much, and the engine would overheat. I lived in Arizona at the time.
The brake system totally failed in traffic and I had to stop from 40 MPH using the emergency brake. I think that was the most scared I have ever been in a car.
The supposed catalytic converter was an empty shell (I bought the car used, I did not do this) so once a year I would take it to the mechanic, who would tune it to pass emissions, get it tested, and immediately take it back to the mechanic to make it drivable again. The statute of limitations has run out so I can admit that.
Finally, the water pump failed in an incontinent way when I tried to sell it, the buyer had second thoughts after that and I had to fix it and start over selling.
It was cute, cheap, and drove well, but a creation of Hell.
Chrysler grand voyager. It was relatively new, but omg it felt borderline dangerous. It was actually funny for the first 10 mins but I had to deliver this POS few hours away. On a straight smooth road it was like driving a sofa, comfy and soft. Once it entered a corner it turned into a boat, and stopping hard twice in a row had limited success. I asked the dealer where I delivered it too about how it handled. Apparently this is standard behaviour for Cryslers, and in the US it is fine (straight roads, limited hard breaking) and they love soft cars. In the UK we expect cars to stop and go round corners so we notice just how bad the Grand voyager is.
I won't drive a Crysler again.
The US has limited hard braking? What city do they live in?
Hyundai Sonata 2019 seats are hard as hell. Rear view mirror is way to low.
My wife's old 2004 Honda Civic. It was the worst piece of shit I've ever had the displeasure of driving. And it was super unreliable to boot!
It was dangerously slow. Getting on the freeway always required full throttle to get up to speed in time, which was never enough. Some cars egg you on, "Go faster! Let me rev! I love revs! Speeeeeed! Power!" This thing was like Eeyore on Adavan, "Huh? Power? If I have to. Ththrhtbbt. That's the best I can do."
The "top rated" Goodyear tires we put on it were fucking awful as well. The tire compound was super hard, so despite the pitiful power, you could always spin the front tires in the dry. Despite the hard tire compound, they wore out 20,000 miles before their warranty was up. One time while exiting the freeway, the shit box decided it wanted to oversteer (the tail slid out) as I went around a corner at a very reasonable speed. Luckily, I was able to hold the slide and correct it (which was pretty cool). I like to push cars and to go fast, but I've never ever had a front wheel drive car oversteer on me before, especially at super low speeds. This isn't really the car's fault, but the shit tires come with the shit territory.
It had no safety features other than seatbelts and a couple airbags. No anti-lock brakes. No traction control. It had manual windows (fine, I guess), manual mirrors (eww), and manual door locks (gag me with a spoon!).
Despite all these omissions, it had alloy wheels and a spoiler from the factory! Oh, but it's ok, it's the fucking "value package" so all my friends won't know I cheaped out on a car until they have to wait for me to get in the car to unlock their doors!
In the 4 years she had it, the following broke:
The thermostat got stuck closed, which caused it to overheat which required the head gasket to be replaced
The alternator failed catastrophically. Forget not charging the battery, try shorting out, discharging the battery and killing the engine in seconds.
The tie rod snapped, causing the front wheels to be pointed in opposite directions (luckily this was in a parking lot so we didn't die)
The steering rack had to be replaced to fix the steering wheel that was 30 degrees off center to go straight.
Something was wrong with the brake booster, it hissed when you held the pedal down in a certain position, which really inspired confidence.
What an awful car. Still, at least the previous owner left a new condom in the glove box when she bought it.
Eeyore on Adavan
Despite all these omissions, it had alloy wheels and a spoiler from the factory!
Thanks for the laughs
Two I can think of. The van we had to take as teenagers to work at the flea market. Long ass shifter that started at the floor of the car, so hard to drive and had to do precision driving through skinny aisles between tents.
The truck of my FIL, I had to literally stand up on the pedal , ass off the seat, to get the clutch to engage.
Also had a 1967 mustang that broke often enough I had to learn to fix it and believe me, this is not something that comes naturally to me, nor do I enjoy it. It was interesting in a way, had to do things like get the flywheel machined. But when you need a car for transportation and are poor as heck that is scary and uncomfortable.
I have a few shortlisted
My parent's 2010 Ram 1500, the interior is rather comfy but the reliability is just not there. At 100k km the engine blew up, apparently this is still an issue with the current ones as the 5.7L V8 still has the same flaw allowing for some components to drop into the cylinder. There's also been random electrical components that have died relatively fast, and whatever metal was used rusted exponentially even with rust proofing being applied twice a year. It had more rust than their 2011 Toyota Highlander that had greater than 300k km
I also just hated when I had to drive it downtown, but I can't exactly blame the vehicle for that.
2011 Toyota highlander, it went through 3 transmissions, 5 rear wiper motors, and it was about to go on to its 4th transmission when they sold it. The 3rd one didn't even last much more than a year.
2006 Rav 4 (V6), this car also went through 2 transmissions, and then had to have the entire steering column replaced by year 2
~2016 Ford Fusion, this was a rental car for when my Civic was being repaired after an accident and my god was it awful. It handled like a massive boat despite being a medium sized car and the transmission felt significantly less responsive than even the CVT in the honda. The seats also sucked but i think that was how the rental company cleaned them, they made this awful noise every time you sat in them and looked and felt like a "casting couch" with several generations of children dried up in them...
Honorary Mention: my friends Nissan Versa, seemingly unreliable and falling apart but it refuses to ever give up. That thing will survive nuclear winter, and will remind you with every pothole that its existence is torture.
Honestly? I think you’re cursed.
This isn't really that terrible of a car, but it felt pretty terrible in that moment.
My brother and I had to drive to some location in two cars, for some reason. He was driving in his own car and I had to follow with our mum's family car. You know, the kind of car that fits a husband, three children and the groceries for the next month.
When we arrived, my brother gave me shit for driving so slow, that he had to constantly brake and wait for me. I told him, I was flooring it, but the car just wouldn't accelerate faster.
He didn't believe me. So, we switched cars on the way back. Then he did believe me.
Granted I have only driven a few cars, but damn that Kamiq had an absolutely shit gearbox, combined with a terrible start/stop system.
The gearbox refused to shift until the very limits of the rev range.
Driving in the mountains in Andalucia in a rental car with a bad gearbox was spectacular views combined with constant annoyance.
Going to be a toss-up between two of my own cars.
1992 Cavalier convertible Z24 I bought for pennies as my first own car. Had 420,000km on it and grabbed it and it's papers from some sketch dealer.
Looked good enough on the outside for it's purpose of having fun. Roof worked. And it had a v6. But it fell apart fast (and a lot due to my own shenanigans). Stearing became so off that I had to turn left to stay straight. The heater died, I live in Canada. The seat's support broke, so I used an old set of goalie pads propped against the back seat to keep my seat upright. The dashboard lights were blown, so I had a ducked tape flashlight on my headrest to light my dash up. More than ounce, I'd have to pull a fuse and put it back in while cruising on the highway.
Second worse was the off the lot brand new 02 Sunfire my parents forced me to buy to replace the above shitbox due to it's safety. For fuck sakes I despised this car. Despite how bad the cavalier was, it was FUN and quirky. The Sunfire was just a poorly made shitbox with zero power, and non-stop electrical failures the day I took it off the lot.
Chrysler Sebring. Fucking battery.
1993 Geo Metro. Scared the crap out of me on the highway.
I tried to learn how to drive manual on one.
I'm tall.
It didn't go well.
I'm 6'3" and also learned to drive a manual in one. Bonus fact: at around 50+MPH, if you stick your arm straight out the window, the drag from the wind hitting your arm will steer the car in that direction.
I don't know how you got your legs under the steering wheel.
Had one as a rental. It broke down and had to be towed. Got a fancier Oldsmobile but it took a day off my holiday.
I've had 3 (the last two were actually Chevy Metros, after Chevrolet killed the Geo line). Loved 'em. All stick shifts, all base models with .8L, 3cy engines. Top speed was about 80mph with a tailwind and just the driver, 0-60 was 'eventually', didn't ever get warm inside when I was commuting in the winter, the crumple zones ended at the rear bumper, there was no a/c, and all of them died at around 120,000mi. The last one died when the frame rusted through and the wheel collapsed into the wheel well.
...But they were under $12k ea. brand new (the 1st was under $8k), insurance was cheap as hell, and I got 45+ mpg when gas prices were going sky high.
I had a friend with a Suzuki Swift (pretty well the same car) I have no idea how that car lasted as long as it did carrying around nearly 1000lbs of fat asses. Although one day it gave up and dropped the engine and tranny
If he was in the midwest, probably rust killed the frame.
They weren't good cars, but they were great cars for the money. When you couldn't afford a Nissan Sentra, a Metro/Swift looked great.
Also, they were so easy to work on, because they were as simple as a lawnmower. One person could realistically pick up the whole engine and transmission, and there was tons of space to work inside the engine compartment. Unlike the old BMW 540i that I had, where you needed to take off the whole front end in order to get the brake master cylinder off (I think it was the master cylinder; might have been the booster or slave cylinder).
Onterrible Canada, salt in the winter lol. And like I said there was 3 people over 300lbs plus the driver.
I don't know how it lasted as long as it did.
Had a teacher in highschool with a Metro and we would pick the car up and rotate it 90 deg in the spot or take it for a walk down the street
The worst car I’ve ever driven was also the best because it lasted me until I was able to get on my own two feet and afford a new one: Nissan Sentra 97’.
around 200,000 miles the engine literally began falling out from the bottom of the rusted frame. I took it to a mechanic and they ran a wire underneath to hold it in place. Drove it for 5 more years after that!
Driver side window would not stay closed during Chicago winters so I glued it shut.
Dashboard lights burnt out.
Muffler would scrape across the pavement as I courted my girlfriend (now wife) around town.
my uncles old moskvich-412, shortly before he bought a new toyota. was a fun experience though.
Chevrolet Cavalier. A good engine (L61)... but that's all. Literally everything else was ultra cheap and broke.
I have driven and found joy in many cars: Pinto, beetle, 2CV, original 500s, 1940s Ford tractors, beater pickups including a 1949 International, HMMWV, etc. Mopeds (like 1970s Puch), ratty motorcycles. They all make me giggly.
I had to think a few minutes about one that was just terrible, no redeeming points I could find: first (north american) gen Hyunda Excel What a soul-sucking turd.
Years ago I had a 1986 volvo.
I bought it cheap because it wasn't running at the time but knew what the problem was. So off on a bad foot already but I needed a car.
The sunroof leaked in the rain
There was a bad relay that caused fuses to burn out if more than 3 things were on at once
The wiring in the doors was exposed because there was something wrong with the windows that caused you to not be able to roll them down and the previous owner tried and failed to fix it.
The rotors eventually gave out
1994 Toyota 4Runner. It should've been good, but ironically (being a Toyota) it's the least reliable car I've ever owned. The engine loses power randomly and I can't figure out why.
Sometimes u get lemons. Check ur area's lemon laws
I think after 30 years since the vehicle was manufactured, you probably can sue the company for selling you a lemon.
I appreciate the advice, but a 30-year-old truck is no longer subject to lemon laws.
(I'm having these issues now with a truck I bought only a couple of years ago, not describing something that happened in the past, LOL.)
Toyota Echo
I had to rent one one year because my car was in the shop for a while.
I was being cheap and I just needed a car at the time.
There is no seat room or leg room. I'm tall but not that tall and I couldn't get comfortable in this thing.
And who the hell thought it was a good idea to put the instrument panel in the centre of the whole dashboard and not directly in front of the driver. I had a few near accidents before I adjusted myself to where the speedometer was.
Citroën C3, although I have only ever driven in 4 vehicles: Mercedes C180, Mazda MX5 Miata (thanks @EddoWagt@feddit.nl), a RV fiat ducato ..... And the Citroen.
I wouldn't say the car is terrible. But for the same money you could have gotten way better stuff. The best thing about it is the giant front windscreen.
I've driven lots of vehicles and the bloody C3 came straight to mind. I mean it was a brown 4 door so I was never going to like it. But my god is was the most dull bag of bolts I ever drove.
I think it was a 1998-ish Pontiac Grand Prix. I dated two different women that drove that car and so I had to ride around in them and sometimes drive them. Both were just a train wreck of problems. They shook violently sitting at a red light, the brakes always seemed to be failing, and everything that could break was falling off the cars. It’s weird that two women I dated owned the same car but more so that they both had the same problems.
UAZ Cabriolet
It’s clearly the worst car money can buy. Before starting the engine, you need to check which liquids have leaked out and add some accordingly. Pretty much anything and everything can and will leak. Who needs a gym when just turning the wheel is a workout. If you want to listen to hardbass while driving, you need to bring your own stereo with you since this car doesn’t have one. It’s the only car that can be improved by a mechanical failure. When the engine or transmission inevitably dies, you’re finally free from this torment.
0/10, would not recommend
I had to take a van that a baby had thrown up in out in the middle of the summer to diagnose a vibration issue. That was the worst smell I have ever smelt. I still remember it sometimes and it's been a decade since then.
I rented a Pontiac Matiz in Mexico in the late 90s or early 2000s. Small, underpowered, uncomfortable and just didn't feel very safe. I normally like little cars, but not that one. The air conditioner struggled to keep up with the August heat too.
We have a lot of two lane roads where I grew up. My parents used to have this Buick sedan that took diesel. To pass a slower car my mom would make sure there was nobody coming the other way for as far as she could see, then floor it and tell me to pray.
Whoops I guess I didn’t drive that. Worst car I’ve driven personally is probably a Volkswagen scirocco that had been in storage for years. It was a stick so I had to keep the clutch in with one foot and have my heel on the brake and toe on the throttle just to keep it running at a stop sign.
70s chevy nova. Classic car for hot rodding, but drove like a tank compared to my 90s nissan sentra. Ergonomics were not great either.
Dodge Magnum
So little visibility there is about 6" of plastic blocking your view from every tiny ass window and a good so big ya may as well be driving a truck. Absolutely nothing good about that POS
I actually don't know the manufacturer or model.
My childhood friend had a car in the late 90's that was like Fiat Strada, but the style was little more Japanese. My friend had ripped off all insignias and tags.
Car was a nightmare to drive. It had very little power, top speed was about 130km/h and it wobbled oddly in turns. Even the gear stick was bendy plastic thing and it was hard to tell if the gear was really in or not.
A 2018 Nissan Frontier. It was a loaner car while my Pathfinder as in the shop, and because it was brand new I thought it would be nice inside. But it wasn't. It had no power anything, a four speed automatic, and only AM/FM/CD. But the worst part was the floor was so high I was basically sitting with my legs straight in front of me. The ride was bumpy as hell, and the noise was so bad the little four speaker radio could barely be heard.
Honestly, my 2010 Silverado (RIP) was a nicer truck, if only because it was heavier so the ride wasn't as bad.
Easily the Daihatsu cuore 2003-ish.
I've driven a lot of shitboxes, including a couple different daihatsu models, but that thing just isn't build right.
Lexus GS300. Great car to drive. But every fucking thing that went wrong was at least £400. Door check strap? £400. Windscreen wiper? £400. Parking sensor? £400, and all eight of them need doing, and that's £400 PER FUCKING SENSOR. Everything's main dealer only. Merc was no better. £600 for a fucking HOSEPIPE. Also tried BMW (bike). Same problem. Had a CANBUS system. I started calling it a CAN'T BUS cos every tiny thing that went wrong shut the entire bike down. Duff indicator? Sorry, won't start the engine until it's fixed. Yes that means it's got to be trailered to the dealer.
No more fancy marques for me, they can all fuck off until I'm a billionaire. I drive Volvos now.
I'm still not quite over it. Whenever the garage tells me there's going to be a big bill on my Volvo I think OMG how many digits, but then they say something like £150. That's a big bill? Hahahahahahahahaha.
Fuck luxury cars for this exact reason
03 Ford Focus. Terrible transmission, on board computer fried, all kinds of random engine and sensor issues. Finally found an honest mechanic that said it would cost more to fix everything wrong with it than to just take the L and get a new car. Took a loss on the loan and bought a Camry. Best decision I could’ve made. Nothing but Toyota since.
Haven't driven a load, but I've test-driven a Fiat Bravo (diesel). The sightlines were terrible, and it handled like a tractor.
Mid-Eighties Plymouth Voyager minivan. Put the pedal to the metal, and the damned thing would hardly accelerate, the motor just got louder. Probably would have been quicker if I rolled the window down and flapped my arms. And if you look at one spot too long, that part would break.
The only motor vehicle I've ever driven was a lawn mower tractor. It does its job but gets boring after a while.
1994 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme. Gutless and with that horrible 4 speed automatic gave my murderous thoughts. Oh and that god awful rear suspension.
1994 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme
Was it the 2 door or the 4 door model?
We had a 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme SL 2-door model with the 3.4L engine that GM developed with Lotus. That car was a ton of fun. Quick for the time, handled great, and parts were relatively cheap for it. Unfortunately, somebody totaled it when it was parked on the street one night. It was a bit of a pain in the butt to work on because the engine barely fit under the hood and it was a ton of work to replace parts like the alternator since the engine subframe had to be unbolted and lowered to provide access.
Oh it was the 4 door of a clown car.
I may have over simplified. In the UK, especially in Yorkshire, the roads are hilly and twisty. We mostly drive manual cars, so we can ride the engine instead of the brakes when descending long steep hills. The Grand voyager struggled, and while I could lock that slush box of an auto in lower gears, it was not happy about it.
An old Kia Optima. It wasn't really horrible but it was so incredibly bland and boring in every measure.
Thats a little vague. Worst in what way? Most run down? Worst performing? Worst mileage? Worst cost overall? Oldest? Junkiest?
That's the point. Worst in ur way. Worst experience u had. If u narrow down the question, the answers become boring
Smart car 2 seater. Drove it for work for about 6 months. You're a target for bullies, the wind is scary, lorries sometimes can't see you and they can get to 90, which is interesting.
I can live with all that, I've driven vans and lorries that were in much worse condition. I had a Morris van that was so crap it's engine seized trying to do 50.
No, the Smart car was the worst car mainly because I'm 6 6. It was like being a sardine driving it's can. I could do it, but it was not a pleasant experience.
The transmission in those things is an amazing level of suck, too. It's this bizarre automatic manual thing that's just awful to drive.
Porsche measures their automatic gear changes in milliseconds. Smart measures them in geologic time scales.
I truly don't understand why they didn't put a CVT in those 2nd generation cars (the ones sold in North America). It's the perfect application! Small car, not a lot of power, efficiency minded.
If the smart car was made today it probably would have a cvt. But an extremely budget car back then, cvts weren't as common.
Jeep. All of them. Rickety. Not built well. Terrible gas mileage. Bad on highways. Bad on city streets. I literally got bruises on my butt on an off road trail in one of them. Just absolute shit cars.
They're terrible street cars but offroad there's really nothing more capable unless you plan to custom build a rig. If you want a smooth ride offroad it will be way to soft for on the road and vice versa. Jeeps from the factory are designed on a compromise between the two so they're not really good at either. The build quality on modern jeeps is absolutely terrible though and the majority of jeep owners never use them for what they're intended for so I generally agree with you. But ride in a jeep that's properly setup for strictly offroad driving and you'd be amazed.
Are Land Cruisers not a thing in the USA? Because they are the ultimate off-road vehicle.
I'm sure you have the Hilux and there is no place where I'd choose to take a Jeep over a Hilux.
I don't think they are available in the US but the Suzuki Jimny is the perfect off-road vehicle for me.
It's an extremely fun vehicle to drive!
We call that car the "Sierra" in Australia. Perfect beach/dune car. Not ideal for rougher terrain, though. In fairness, the biggest thing it has going against it is the narrow wheelbase. It doesn't fit right on the tracks made by all the other 4x4's. If all those tracks had instead been made by narrower vehicles, it might not be so bad.
A coworker bought a Jeep and I said "Oh wow, Jeeps are great vehicles! ...unless you drive them on roads."
Nothing more capable provided it's a Wrangler and one of the newer higher spec ones where they actually give you functional equipment like 37" tires and lockers. The old ones were build with crappy parts that needed to be swapped out before they could be truly capable and the entire rest of their lineup is pure garbage both on and offroad.
The only selling feature of any Jeep vehicle is the classic round front lights and the grill design .... it's like owning an Apple product, people just want to be seen in one.
I once had a loaner from a dealer that was a Dodge Caliber. Ugly as sin and the transmission was definitely on its way out. That car was just a struggle. It was a reminder why I will never buy a Chrysler product.
I am not defending that car.
Not good practice to use a loaner or rental as a reference. People drive those like they are trying to break them. And dealers will use a shitbox as a loaner because it is a shitbox
This was an unofficial loaner that was for sale as a used car by the dealer…so they were actively trying to sell it.
Like i said im not defending that car, was meant to be general advice.
I work for an autoparts company processing returned parts. Im the guy that inspects and rejects (if thats even worth noting).
If they were willing to use it at all as a loaner, it was probably a problematic vehicle. Even the highest quality vehicle will have some units that someone didnt put together well. Dodge is not a top quality builder to start.
But that all aside im very happy to hear you wont be buying one anytime soon
The CVT in the Caliber is crap even when it's brand new
I test drove one when they first came out. The salesperson was telling me about the continuously variable transmission, and how revolutionary it was.
"It's a new technology? From an American car company? In it's first model year? Ok, no thank you."
"New technology" is just asking for trouble. Always wait till 3rd or 4th gen if you want all the kinks worked out, especially if it is something expensive like a car.
I got a 2008 Dodge Avenger when it was new and immediately hated it. Everything felt cheap, it had absolutely no ability to get up to speed, and felt all around sluggish.
Everything I hated about that Avenger for the 8 years I drove it were nothing compared to the two Dodge Calibers I got to drive in that time. Every bad feature for a car dialed up to 11. Felt like it was built so cheap it could fall apart on the road. My parents and my partner both got one. They were both so, so very bad. It's unreal that car ever got sold.
1994 Ford Taurus.
I went over a speed hump at 5mph and the whole engine fell out of the front.
Apparently it's not supposed to do that.
I had a 92 Taurus that made a loud crack when I turned left. Mechanic said engine was about to fall out. Left it parked in front of my house and a cement mixer backed into it and crumpled the front end. Got about 2000 bucks out of a car we were going to scrap.
https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM
Thank you, I needed that
I knew what video that was going to be before I even clicked on it
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/3m5qxZm_JqM
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
A fleet/company car. A Chevette. I pressed the accelerator to the floor, the engine went "huh? you want what?"
At least you could brag to people that you drive a 'vette.
A 1971 Chrysler Newport.
The thing was a boat. You’d hit a bump in the road, and the car would act like you crested a wave and bob front to back a few times. It was wider than most pickup trucks and probably heavier. Not only could it not fit in most parking spots, it could hardly fit in some lanes. Required leaded gas, which was getting hard to find at that point. If you needed to go uphill you had to build up speed because you would slow down, even with the gas pedal floored.
The best part is that when I finally brought it in for service, the mechanic came out and said “You’ve been driving that thing??” Three out of four motor mounts had broken and the last one was about rusted through.
It did have an 8-track though, and came with a bunch of Elvis tapes.
I hated Elvis, but did manage to find an 8-track of Peter Paul and Mary.
Mid 80's Bronco. My ex insisted that she had to have a bronco. It had a 302 in it, but holy hell. I am sure it was the fact that they were still trying out emissions schemes but I bet it had less than a hundred hp. It would barely move out of it's own way, and if you got about 6mpg you considered yourself lucky. Toss in an oil leak and it was like driving the Exxon Valdez. I can't decide if the best day of my life was getting rid of the bronco, or her....
Narrator: Both....
I'm pretty sure you could buy one of those with a straight six, I bet they're even more of a dog!
I had an '86 with a straight six that was phenomenal.12 mpg and would go anywhere. It's the only car I hate I sold.
We had a brace of rented Nissan cargo vans at work, the small ones. Those were truly terrible. They had CVT transmissions that just would not hook up. I'd get to the top of an SF hill at a stop sign and just sit there with my foot planted, waiting.
We replaced them with Ford Transits. The CVT in that model is only slightly more usable, but we all still fight over who gets the older model, with the torque converter.
I'm currently driving a Toyota for work. I hate CVT, the whine is headache inducing.
I used to be very anti CVT. Then I bought a 3.6R Subaru Outback. I pull a 5x8 enclosed trailer with it and the biggest giveaway that you're hauling anything is the gas mileage. So they ain't all bad.
Pulled a 6x12 twin axle with a 2.4l turboed engine about 800 miles. Outback was totally fine, though we definitely overloaded the trailer. Got the car checked by a local mechanic and they said it was all good, though we did a fluid flush early just to be on the safe side. I don't mind the CVT, just wish the software in the 2021's was better.
That's fair, and tbh the Toyota is great to drive. It's a bit sluggish overtaking but from stopped it's like firing a gun and it's got a great chassis. The electric motor gives it the kick and actually does sound really cool.
It's the petrol revving that drives me nuts, up and down all the time. I use cruise control a lot but it still does it. On a long drive it gets annoying. I listen to audio books which helps but I can't take much more, I'm starting to think of ways to kill it.
Chrysler 200 as a rental after someone smoked my Civic, and I waited to get a new one.
The car was... Jiggly? Like the suspension was unsettling, the brakes needed getting acquainted with lest you rear-end someone, and the steering had too much play. It wasn't enough play to convince me something was wrong, it was just shit quality.
No power. At all. Getting on the freeway was an adventure in noise and hope. Everything lagged. Fuel economy was garbage too.
Looked stupid. And my Civic si that replaced it, the econobox with a hot engine, had a luxury interior in comparison, which is saying something.
Horrible car to add to a horrible week.
I had a Lincoln mkz for a week after someone hit my car in a parking lot, insurance said I was covered for a premium sedan.
Worst car I've ever driven. Handled like a boat, was all flash but everything felt cheap and "jiggly" when I touched it.
Learning at the time (2012) that this was a 35k luxury car was mind-blowing. You couldn't PAY me to drive that car again. My 20k Prius blew it out of the water in everything but acceleration, and even then it wasn't behind by much...
Nissan Versa, so many weird blind spots.
Ooh man, I’ve driven a lot of rentals for work…
I hated hated hated the Nissan Cube. Thankfully the check engine light came on within two hours of me picking it up so I got to swap it.
But I think the one that takes the cake is actually a vacation rental car. My husband and I rented a car when we went to Belgium. It was an Opel Corsa. It struggled to even reach the speed limit on highways and definitely couldn’t go above it. The funniest thing was that all the Audis and BMWs in Belgium didn’t even bother to tailgate us; they saw us ahead of them and moved over to pass well before they got to us. They knew. That thing was hilariously bad at being a car. I was also a new stick shift driver and it was very difficult. We then went to Switzerland where we got a VW Polo and suddenly I got a whole lot better at driving stick, lol.
Hahaha. A rented Opel was what came to mind for me as well. Followed by Plymouth Crossfire and Chevy HHR.
And wouldn't you know it, the check engine light was because of a loose gas cap. How could that have happened?
Why would they tailgate you at all if they could pass you? Is this common somewhere?
I guess what I meant was, they were so aware that we were lamely going as fast as we could (not very) in the slow lane that they managed to move over in plenty of time even when they were going way (way) faster than us and had to merge into other traffic. No one ever seemed to get stuck behind us unable to pass. I chalked it up to their very high awareness of our very shitty car, lol.
Ah haha I see
Some people just like being a dick instead of getting on with their lives. My answer to those people is to slow down until they pass, and it's fairly common that I get under 10mph and think I'm actually going to have to stop before they get the hint.
I rented a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander in 2022 and it was amazing how unresponsive it was. It's a small SUV with the engine of a hamster. It has a "sport mode" that really struggled to get me up some hills in Colorado.
Also, the rubber seal for the door, on 3 of the doors, was constantly feel off and could be worn as a second seatbelt.
Chevy Suburban. I volunteered to drive for a university course field trip and it's what I got stuck with.
My uncle owned an 80’s suburban. That thing was an absolute tank… and not in a good way. The steering had so much play in it, you had to turn the wheel about 45 degrees for there to be any input.
A fedex truck actually ended up t-boning him, and the truck flipped. He was fine. Suburban wasn’t. Probably for the best.
While this suggests it might have been underpowered, how high the engine revs during acceleration in a modern automatic transmission vehicle is determined by software that operates the transmission and the driver's control inputs, not how old the engine is. The designers of the car probably decided that was the best way to deliver the performance you asked for. They may even have been correct in that assessment.
A Hyundai Elantra, it let me down in so many ways. Financially, spiritually, etc.
Anecdotally, our 2013 Elantra was a fantastic car. It had not one mechanical defect. We sold it to buy an Odyssey, but I believe it would have kept rolling to today.
Chevy Malibu I got at a rental place because they didn't have the type of car I requested months ahead of time. Neither my partner nor I could figure out how the fuck to set the cruise control, which had "get up to speed then step on the brake" as one of the instructions. We're also not frequent drivers.
Fuck that car, driving it gave me a panic attack
A Ford Expedition from a car rental place. It felt like driving around a ten ton brick through molasses. It was the least responsive and awkward shit box I've ever had the displeasure of piloting. It was so bad I literally drove to the nearest rental place to exchange it for a smaller car.
This was my first car. Iirc it had a 5.2L engine with ~160hp.
The brakes were so squishy I thought they were out when I drove it first.
I sold it for $300 when it needed a $1200 tune up.
2021 gmc Sierra, cant see shit in front of you
Some time in 2015/2016, parents had a loaner Ford ecosport. That thing struggled with hills. And by hills, I mean speed bumps and anything not completely horizontal. Nobody even felt like trying to get it on a highway, we knew there was no way it could get up to speed safely.
Rental car for South island NZ, MG Excite. Unfortunately we'd just had a hybrid in North island NZ, and had been spoiled by it's good fuel economy and responsiveness, amongst other things.
This car had a label insisting on 95, not just 91. In NZ, fuel is fucking expensive, let alone premium. It also felt like we were filling up every day or at least every other day, whilst back up in North island we'd filled once every three to four days.
It also handled like a turd, wired android auto was unreliable and crashed all the time so we had to reset the head unit multiple times a day, its driver assist was way too fucking interventionist and couldn't be disabled without being at a complete stop (said it could do it if below the speed limit but always said you were above it??)...
Just terrible.
This is crazy - we also rented an MG Excite in NZ (but on the north island) with exactly the same issues, maybe it was the same car 😆 was yours blue?
Nah black. It was just shit wasn't it??
Isn't 95 the bog standard stuff? I didn't even know they sold 91 RON!
Oh wow dunno where you are but you lot must be spoiled haha... and I already consider ourselves spoiled compared to the States, apparently bog standard there is like 87??
But yeah, Australia and NZ has E10 (didn't quite see this in NZ), 91, 95, 98 (and diesel).
That's not quite accurate. Octane ratings in most parts of the world are RON, which tends to be 8-12 points higher than the more difficult MON rating. In North America, the average of the two is used resulting in a lower rating for the same fuel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Measurement_methods
A 1980 MGB.
The fuel gauge was only loosely related to the fuel level, I ran out repeatedly before learning to use the odometer instead.
The dashboard switches would sometimes disintegrate, springs fly out, when you flipped them.
The electric radiator fan was controlled by a relay that melted if the fan ran too much, and the engine would overheat. I lived in Arizona at the time.
The brake system totally failed in traffic and I had to stop from 40 MPH using the emergency brake. I think that was the most scared I have ever been in a car.
The supposed catalytic converter was an empty shell (I bought the car used, I did not do this) so once a year I would take it to the mechanic, who would tune it to pass emissions, get it tested, and immediately take it back to the mechanic to make it drivable again. The statute of limitations has run out so I can admit that.
Finally, the water pump failed in an incontinent way when I tried to sell it, the buyer had second thoughts after that and I had to fix it and start over selling.
It was cute, cheap, and drove well, but a creation of Hell.
Chrysler grand voyager. It was relatively new, but omg it felt borderline dangerous. It was actually funny for the first 10 mins but I had to deliver this POS few hours away. On a straight smooth road it was like driving a sofa, comfy and soft. Once it entered a corner it turned into a boat, and stopping hard twice in a row had limited success. I asked the dealer where I delivered it too about how it handled. Apparently this is standard behaviour for Cryslers, and in the US it is fine (straight roads, limited hard breaking) and they love soft cars. In the UK we expect cars to stop and go round corners so we notice just how bad the Grand voyager is.
I won't drive a Crysler again.
The US has limited hard braking? What city do they live in?
Hyundai Sonata 2019 seats are hard as hell. Rear view mirror is way to low.
My wife's old 2004 Honda Civic. It was the worst piece of shit I've ever had the displeasure of driving. And it was super unreliable to boot!
It was dangerously slow. Getting on the freeway always required full throttle to get up to speed in time, which was never enough. Some cars egg you on, "Go faster! Let me rev! I love revs! Speeeeeed! Power!" This thing was like Eeyore on Adavan, "Huh? Power? If I have to. Ththrhtbbt. That's the best I can do."
The "top rated" Goodyear tires we put on it were fucking awful as well. The tire compound was super hard, so despite the pitiful power, you could always spin the front tires in the dry. Despite the hard tire compound, they wore out 20,000 miles before their warranty was up. One time while exiting the freeway, the shit box decided it wanted to oversteer (the tail slid out) as I went around a corner at a very reasonable speed. Luckily, I was able to hold the slide and correct it (which was pretty cool). I like to push cars and to go fast, but I've never ever had a front wheel drive car oversteer on me before, especially at super low speeds. This isn't really the car's fault, but the shit tires come with the shit territory.
It had no safety features other than seatbelts and a couple airbags. No anti-lock brakes. No traction control. It had manual windows (fine, I guess), manual mirrors (eww), and manual door locks (gag me with a spoon!).
Despite all these omissions, it had alloy wheels and a spoiler from the factory! Oh, but it's ok, it's the fucking "value package" so all my friends won't know I cheaped out on a car until they have to wait for me to get in the car to unlock their doors!
In the 4 years she had it, the following broke:
What an awful car. Still, at least the previous owner left a new condom in the glove box when she bought it.
Thanks for the laughs
Two I can think of. The van we had to take as teenagers to work at the flea market. Long ass shifter that started at the floor of the car, so hard to drive and had to do precision driving through skinny aisles between tents.
The truck of my FIL, I had to literally stand up on the pedal , ass off the seat, to get the clutch to engage.
Also had a 1967 mustang that broke often enough I had to learn to fix it and believe me, this is not something that comes naturally to me, nor do I enjoy it. It was interesting in a way, had to do things like get the flywheel machined. But when you need a car for transportation and are poor as heck that is scary and uncomfortable.
I have a few shortlisted
My parent's 2010 Ram 1500, the interior is rather comfy but the reliability is just not there. At 100k km the engine blew up, apparently this is still an issue with the current ones as the 5.7L V8 still has the same flaw allowing for some components to drop into the cylinder. There's also been random electrical components that have died relatively fast, and whatever metal was used rusted exponentially even with rust proofing being applied twice a year. It had more rust than their 2011 Toyota Highlander that had greater than 300k km
I also just hated when I had to drive it downtown, but I can't exactly blame the vehicle for that.
2011 Toyota highlander, it went through 3 transmissions, 5 rear wiper motors, and it was about to go on to its 4th transmission when they sold it. The 3rd one didn't even last much more than a year.
2006 Rav 4 (V6), this car also went through 2 transmissions, and then had to have the entire steering column replaced by year 2
~2016 Ford Fusion, this was a rental car for when my Civic was being repaired after an accident and my god was it awful. It handled like a massive boat despite being a medium sized car and the transmission felt significantly less responsive than even the CVT in the honda. The seats also sucked but i think that was how the rental company cleaned them, they made this awful noise every time you sat in them and looked and felt like a "casting couch" with several generations of children dried up in them...
Honorary Mention: my friends Nissan Versa, seemingly unreliable and falling apart but it refuses to ever give up. That thing will survive nuclear winter, and will remind you with every pothole that its existence is torture.
Honestly? I think you’re cursed.
This isn't really that terrible of a car, but it felt pretty terrible in that moment.
My brother and I had to drive to some location in two cars, for some reason. He was driving in his own car and I had to follow with our mum's family car. You know, the kind of car that fits a husband, three children and the groceries for the next month.
When we arrived, my brother gave me shit for driving so slow, that he had to constantly brake and wait for me. I told him, I was flooring it, but the car just wouldn't accelerate faster.
He didn't believe me. So, we switched cars on the way back. Then he did believe me.
Which vehicle was it though? Like make and model
Oh, this bad boy, the first generation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Meriva#First_generation_(2003)
A Skoda Kamiq with an automatic gear box.
Granted I have only driven a few cars, but damn that Kamiq had an absolutely shit gearbox, combined with a terrible start/stop system.
The gearbox refused to shift until the very limits of the rev range.
Driving in the mountains in Andalucia in a rental car with a bad gearbox was spectacular views combined with constant annoyance.
Going to be a toss-up between two of my own cars.
1992 Cavalier convertible Z24 I bought for pennies as my first own car. Had 420,000km on it and grabbed it and it's papers from some sketch dealer.
Looked good enough on the outside for it's purpose of having fun. Roof worked. And it had a v6. But it fell apart fast (and a lot due to my own shenanigans). Stearing became so off that I had to turn left to stay straight. The heater died, I live in Canada. The seat's support broke, so I used an old set of goalie pads propped against the back seat to keep my seat upright. The dashboard lights were blown, so I had a ducked tape flashlight on my headrest to light my dash up. More than ounce, I'd have to pull a fuse and put it back in while cruising on the highway.
Second worse was the off the lot brand new 02 Sunfire my parents forced me to buy to replace the above shitbox due to it's safety. For fuck sakes I despised this car. Despite how bad the cavalier was, it was FUN and quirky. The Sunfire was just a poorly made shitbox with zero power, and non-stop electrical failures the day I took it off the lot.
Chrysler Sebring. Fucking battery.
1993 Geo Metro. Scared the crap out of me on the highway.
I tried to learn how to drive manual on one.
I'm tall.
It didn't go well.
I'm 6'3" and also learned to drive a manual in one. Bonus fact: at around 50+MPH, if you stick your arm straight out the window, the drag from the wind hitting your arm will steer the car in that direction.
I don't know how you got your legs under the steering wheel.
Had one as a rental. It broke down and had to be towed. Got a fancier Oldsmobile but it took a day off my holiday.
I've had 3 (the last two were actually Chevy Metros, after Chevrolet killed the Geo line). Loved 'em. All stick shifts, all base models with .8L, 3cy engines. Top speed was about 80mph with a tailwind and just the driver, 0-60 was 'eventually', didn't ever get warm inside when I was commuting in the winter, the crumple zones ended at the rear bumper, there was no a/c, and all of them died at around 120,000mi. The last one died when the frame rusted through and the wheel collapsed into the wheel well.
...But they were under $12k ea. brand new (the 1st was under $8k), insurance was cheap as hell, and I got 45+ mpg when gas prices were going sky high.
I had a friend with a Suzuki Swift (pretty well the same car) I have no idea how that car lasted as long as it did carrying around nearly 1000lbs of fat asses. Although one day it gave up and dropped the engine and tranny
If he was in the midwest, probably rust killed the frame.
They weren't good cars, but they were great cars for the money. When you couldn't afford a Nissan Sentra, a Metro/Swift looked great.
Also, they were so easy to work on, because they were as simple as a lawnmower. One person could realistically pick up the whole engine and transmission, and there was tons of space to work inside the engine compartment. Unlike the old BMW 540i that I had, where you needed to take off the whole front end in order to get the brake master cylinder off (I think it was the master cylinder; might have been the booster or slave cylinder).
Onterrible Canada, salt in the winter lol. And like I said there was 3 people over 300lbs plus the driver.
I don't know how it lasted as long as it did.
Had a teacher in highschool with a Metro and we would pick the car up and rotate it 90 deg in the spot or take it for a walk down the street
The worst car I’ve ever driven was also the best because it lasted me until I was able to get on my own two feet and afford a new one: Nissan Sentra 97’.
my uncles old moskvich-412, shortly before he bought a new toyota. was a fun experience though.
Chevrolet Cavalier. A good engine (L61)... but that's all. Literally everything else was ultra cheap and broke.
I have driven and found joy in many cars: Pinto, beetle, 2CV, original 500s, 1940s Ford tractors, beater pickups including a 1949 International, HMMWV, etc. Mopeds (like 1970s Puch), ratty motorcycles. They all make me giggly.
I had to think a few minutes about one that was just terrible, no redeeming points I could find: first (north american) gen Hyunda Excel What a soul-sucking turd.
Years ago I had a 1986 volvo.
I bought it cheap because it wasn't running at the time but knew what the problem was. So off on a bad foot already but I needed a car.
The sunroof leaked in the rain
There was a bad relay that caused fuses to burn out if more than 3 things were on at once
The wiring in the doors was exposed because there was something wrong with the windows that caused you to not be able to roll them down and the previous owner tried and failed to fix it.
The rotors eventually gave out
1994 Toyota 4Runner. It should've been good, but ironically (being a Toyota) it's the least reliable car I've ever owned. The engine loses power randomly and I can't figure out why.
Sometimes u get lemons. Check ur area's lemon laws
I think after 30 years since the vehicle was manufactured, you probably can sue the company for selling you a lemon.
I appreciate the advice, but a 30-year-old truck is no longer subject to lemon laws.
(I'm having these issues now with a truck I bought only a couple of years ago, not describing something that happened in the past, LOL.)
Toyota Echo
I had to rent one one year because my car was in the shop for a while.
I was being cheap and I just needed a car at the time.
There is no seat room or leg room. I'm tall but not that tall and I couldn't get comfortable in this thing.
And who the hell thought it was a good idea to put the instrument panel in the centre of the whole dashboard and not directly in front of the driver. I had a few near accidents before I adjusted myself to where the speedometer was.
Citroën C3, although I have only ever driven in 4 vehicles: Mercedes C180, Mazda MX5 Miata (thanks @EddoWagt@feddit.nl), a RV fiat ducato ..... And the Citroen.
I wouldn't say the car is terrible. But for the same money you could have gotten way better stuff. The best thing about it is the giant front windscreen.
I've driven lots of vehicles and the bloody C3 came straight to mind. I mean it was a brown 4 door so I was never going to like it. But my god is was the most dull bag of bolts I ever drove.
I think it was a 1998-ish Pontiac Grand Prix. I dated two different women that drove that car and so I had to ride around in them and sometimes drive them. Both were just a train wreck of problems. They shook violently sitting at a red light, the brakes always seemed to be failing, and everything that could break was falling off the cars. It’s weird that two women I dated owned the same car but more so that they both had the same problems.
UAZ Cabriolet
It’s clearly the worst car money can buy. Before starting the engine, you need to check which liquids have leaked out and add some accordingly. Pretty much anything and everything can and will leak. Who needs a gym when just turning the wheel is a workout. If you want to listen to hardbass while driving, you need to bring your own stereo with you since this car doesn’t have one. It’s the only car that can be improved by a mechanical failure. When the engine or transmission inevitably dies, you’re finally free from this torment.
0/10, would not recommend
I had to take a van that a baby had thrown up in out in the middle of the summer to diagnose a vibration issue. That was the worst smell I have ever smelt. I still remember it sometimes and it's been a decade since then.
I rented a Pontiac Matiz in Mexico in the late 90s or early 2000s. Small, underpowered, uncomfortable and just didn't feel very safe. I normally like little cars, but not that one. The air conditioner struggled to keep up with the August heat too.
We have a lot of two lane roads where I grew up. My parents used to have this Buick sedan that took diesel. To pass a slower car my mom would make sure there was nobody coming the other way for as far as she could see, then floor it and tell me to pray.
Whoops I guess I didn’t drive that. Worst car I’ve driven personally is probably a Volkswagen scirocco that had been in storage for years. It was a stick so I had to keep the clutch in with one foot and have my heel on the brake and toe on the throttle just to keep it running at a stop sign.
70s chevy nova. Classic car for hot rodding, but drove like a tank compared to my 90s nissan sentra. Ergonomics were not great either.
Dodge Magnum So little visibility there is about 6" of plastic blocking your view from every tiny ass window and a good so big ya may as well be driving a truck. Absolutely nothing good about that POS
I actually don't know the manufacturer or model.
My childhood friend had a car in the late 90's that was like Fiat Strada, but the style was little more Japanese. My friend had ripped off all insignias and tags.
Car was a nightmare to drive. It had very little power, top speed was about 130km/h and it wobbled oddly in turns. Even the gear stick was bendy plastic thing and it was hard to tell if the gear was really in or not.
A 2018 Nissan Frontier. It was a loaner car while my Pathfinder as in the shop, and because it was brand new I thought it would be nice inside. But it wasn't. It had no power anything, a four speed automatic, and only AM/FM/CD. But the worst part was the floor was so high I was basically sitting with my legs straight in front of me. The ride was bumpy as hell, and the noise was so bad the little four speaker radio could barely be heard.
Honestly, my 2010 Silverado (RIP) was a nicer truck, if only because it was heavier so the ride wasn't as bad.
Easily the Daihatsu cuore 2003-ish.
I've driven a lot of shitboxes, including a couple different daihatsu models, but that thing just isn't build right.
Lexus GS300. Great car to drive. But every fucking thing that went wrong was at least £400. Door check strap? £400. Windscreen wiper? £400. Parking sensor? £400, and all eight of them need doing, and that's £400 PER FUCKING SENSOR. Everything's main dealer only. Merc was no better. £600 for a fucking HOSEPIPE. Also tried BMW (bike). Same problem. Had a CANBUS system. I started calling it a CAN'T BUS cos every tiny thing that went wrong shut the entire bike down. Duff indicator? Sorry, won't start the engine until it's fixed. Yes that means it's got to be trailered to the dealer.
No more fancy marques for me, they can all fuck off until I'm a billionaire. I drive Volvos now.
I'm still not quite over it. Whenever the garage tells me there's going to be a big bill on my Volvo I think OMG how many digits, but then they say something like £150. That's a big bill? Hahahahahahahahaha.
Fuck luxury cars for this exact reason
03 Ford Focus. Terrible transmission, on board computer fried, all kinds of random engine and sensor issues. Finally found an honest mechanic that said it would cost more to fix everything wrong with it than to just take the L and get a new car. Took a loss on the loan and bought a Camry. Best decision I could’ve made. Nothing but Toyota since.
Haven't driven a load, but I've test-driven a Fiat Bravo (diesel). The sightlines were terrible, and it handled like a tractor.
Mid-Eighties Plymouth Voyager minivan. Put the pedal to the metal, and the damned thing would hardly accelerate, the motor just got louder. Probably would have been quicker if I rolled the window down and flapped my arms. And if you look at one spot too long, that part would break.
The only motor vehicle I've ever driven was a lawn mower tractor. It does its job but gets boring after a while.
1994 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme. Gutless and with that horrible 4 speed automatic gave my murderous thoughts. Oh and that god awful rear suspension.
Was it the 2 door or the 4 door model?
We had a 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme SL 2-door model with the 3.4L engine that GM developed with Lotus. That car was a ton of fun. Quick for the time, handled great, and parts were relatively cheap for it. Unfortunately, somebody totaled it when it was parked on the street one night. It was a bit of a pain in the butt to work on because the engine barely fit under the hood and it was a ton of work to replace parts like the alternator since the engine subframe had to be unbolted and lowered to provide access.
Oh it was the 4 door of a clown car.
I may have over simplified. In the UK, especially in Yorkshire, the roads are hilly and twisty. We mostly drive manual cars, so we can ride the engine instead of the brakes when descending long steep hills. The Grand voyager struggled, and while I could lock that slush box of an auto in lower gears, it was not happy about it.
An old Kia Optima. It wasn't really horrible but it was so incredibly bland and boring in every measure.
Thats a little vague. Worst in what way? Most run down? Worst performing? Worst mileage? Worst cost overall? Oldest? Junkiest?
That's the point. Worst in ur way. Worst experience u had. If u narrow down the question, the answers become boring