What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

[TilliamWe]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Not only that, but the restraint that attached to the door was only the shoulder belt. As long as you put on the lap belt(had to do that manually), you weren't getting thrown out of the car even if the door opened.

Bruce, I think you are confusing Ford's motorized shoulder belt/manual lap belt with GM's entirely door mounted system. The idea on the GMs was that you left the belt buckled, and you could get in and out of the car, since the whole thing opened with the door. The dealers "had" to leave them buckled on the showroom floor, to help perpetuate this myth. I assure you, you could not get in a 90 Cavalier coupe with the belt buckled, without considerable difficulty. (multiple hands required, shoes touched the lap belt, etc. It was a bad idea. And at least in one instance, possibly a fatal idea?

 

[ngt]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Mine looked almost just like this one:
View attachment 174919
QUOTE]

I always wanted a car with T tops. That would have been a hot car back in the day.




My 89 Chevy Beretta with the 2.8 Liter v6/5 speed was my very first actual fast car. I loved that thing until someone about my age locally with the identical car was killed by the Beretta's massive safety flaw. Basically the seat belts were attached to the door inestead of the floor so in a rollover if the door opened, you slid right out of the seat and the car crushed you. I think the idea was that you always kept the belts buckeled and you just slid under it when you opened the door sort of a passive safety feature that ultimately killed you.

yeah, that doesn't sound good.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Ill win this one easily I bet...
73 Jensen-Healey
75 Lancia Beta coupe
74 Opel Manta
Now how's that for some crappy iron!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

I haven't even heard of those!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Bruce, I think you are confusing Ford's motorized shoulder belt/manual lap belt with GM's entirely door mounted system.

I knew the shoulder was on the door but thought the lap was separate. You are correct that the lap was also on the door. Not a very good idea.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

I knew the shoulder was on the door but thought the lap was separate. You are correct that the lap was also on the door. Not a very good idea.

It wasn't a terrible idea, though. It was easy to reach down and grab the male end when you were putting them on. Didn't have to reach behind or down low, it was next to your hip!

 

[kahuna123]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Jeep Cherokee who EVER came up with the idea that the clutch slave cylinder should be inside the bell housing should find a new line of work. Everything on that car was hard to work on everything leaked.

Jeep Commander. EVERY one of them the front windows broke. $400 a door at the dealer. Fly by wire throttle. Wheel sensors are built into the front hubs. $300 plus labor. All of them the evaporator core went bad. You have to remove the entire dash, console and the steering to get to it. At least a grand. This is in the last year. 14 miles a gallon down hill.

The rest I have really no complaints with. Although I will agree anything American and late 70 early 80's was crap.

 

[JoLin]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Ill win this one easily I bet...
73 Jensen-Healey
75 Lancia Beta coupe
74 Opel Manta
Now how's that for some crappy iron!

What- no Yugo? I thought all of the cars on your list were pretty cool when they were new and I was 20 years old. Belonged to the national Fiat-Lancia owners club (FLU) for several years when I owned my Fiat and saw a bunch of Betas and Scorpions. I like them. I've owned my own oddballs over the years...

1964 Triumph TR-4
1972 Triumph Spitfire
1980 Fiat 2000 Spider

 

[nwcove]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Ill win this one easily I bet...
73 Jensen-Healey
75 Lancia Beta coupe
74 Opel Manta
Now how's that for some crappy iron!

surprised you didnt own an amc pacer!! lol

 

[ondarvr]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Late 90s Chevy Express conversion Van, the conversion part was good.

3 transmissions (no towing)
1 torque converter
Fuel pump
Air conditioner
Brakes and rotors
Instrument cluster
tail lights filled with water
Fuel gauge

We traded it in with 500 miles left on the warranty.

 

[greenbush future]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Dodge Intrepid was a real pile of crap
Dodge Durango wasn't far behind
Dodge Sport was old and cool looking, but still A pile of junk.

I leased 2 of the above piles, the third was only $300 when I bought it. Not much has changed with this company IMO.

 

[Andrewsmith1]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

New member and first post here. I love these type of car threads. At 34 years old I have only owned 3 vehicles and looking back I have had pretty good outcomes with all of them. The one I complained about the most was my first car. A couple of weeks after turning 16 I convinced my parents to let me check out a 1990 Mustang GT. When we started it the whole electrical system went up in smoke. On the way home while being disappointed about not getting to buy that sports car my father spied a 1972 VW beetle in a field. Two days and $500 later it was parked in the driveway. My great grandfather came over one day and decided it was time to sand the rust off the body panels. After sanding the rust out and taking a bunch of the paint off down to the metal we were pretty much forced to finish the project and repainted the whole car. We replaced some interior parts as well. A few months later The engine blew and we put in a new one. A few months later it allowed me to walk away with only aches and pain when someone hit me head on. We bought a new body and frame for $100 and took the time to do a full body off restoration with the new engine and transmission from the wrecked car. For some reason we could never get the carb adjusted to get it to idle properly and the throttle would occasionally stick wide open. I probably could have fixed that for less than $100 but I found a buyer and sold it for a huge profit. I hated that car when I drove it but a few years ago we rented one to drive around Mexico and I realized how fun they can be to drive. Now I want to get another one to restore.

I used that money and bought an 86 Celica and spent some of the leftover money for a big stereo system. I sold the Celica at 200K miles and the only thing I did to it was replace one battery, One alternator, change the oil and throw a new set of tires on it when needed and a new timing belt and water pump every 60K miles. I sold it to my Ex-sister-in-laws boyfriend and he is still driving it today.

I now have a 97 RAV-4 and it has only required tires, oil changes and a timing belt every 60K miles. I have had extremely good luck with my Toyota's.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

The good side

Mits Stealth. As a salesman I drove it 200k. One transmission. Never changed so much as a light bulb. Sold it and EVERYTHING still worked like new.

1976 Datsun 280. Best car I ever owned. One evaporator. I was a route salesman. Stopped and started that car 20 times a day 4 days a week for years. Had 200k when it was totaled in a hurricane. OH yea pulled my glastron CVX16 like it was a toy.

Forgot about another worse. ANY early model remake of the GM V6. You guys don't want to know what we did to them in new car get ready in the late 70's to get them out the door. Any early model GM V8 "converted" diesel. It has taken Cadillac a decade to recover from that mess.

 

[jkust]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

I used that money and bought an 86 Celica and spent some of the leftover money for a big stereo system. /QUOTE]

I was ashamed admit this but I also owned an 86 Celica GTS and a whopping stereo system back when subs and high end car audio was just introduced in MN. Ignoring the fact it was sold almost exclusively to girls it was a cool car back in the day. I bought it from my sister who could no longer make the payments so I bailed her out and took it over. Of course the reason she could no longer make the payments was because she went and bought another new car so had two payments. I loved the car but it used about 2 quarts of oil a week at like 80,000 miles but other than the leak and one CV joint it was ok. It actually had some neat features that cars all still don't have today.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Any gas pot 5 ton with a gas motor and a 5+2 transmission!!! POS.

Agreed! You needed four arms and three legs to drive one of those things. You spent half the time with your left arm draped through the steering wheel to work the "other" stick.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

1976 Datsun 280. Best car I ever owned. One evaporator. I was a route salesman. Stopped and started that car 20 times a day 4 days a week for years. Had 200k when it was totaled in a hurricane. OH yea pulled my glastron CVX16 like it was a toy.

.

I also had a 76 280Z. The last year without Cat. convertors. You're right, the powertrain was indestructible but it suffered from rust almost as bad as the Datsun pickup. I also had the Evap Core go out. Oh what a joy that was to replace! I hit a deer with mine. The rust had gotten to the subframe that I didn't know. The insurance company totalled it. That was a blessing in disguise.

Quite a bit of talk about T-tops. While I agree they were cool, they were as effective at keeping weather out as a screen door. The ones in my 77 Olds Cutlass could not be sealed. i replaced the weatherstrips at least twice. Other than the T-tops, that Cutlass goes on one my Best list. A great driving and riding car. Very reliable.

 

[jkust]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

Quite a bit of talk about T-tops. While I agree they were cool, they were as effective at keeping weather out as a screen door. The ones in my 77 Olds Cutlass could not be sealed. i replaced the weatherstrips at least twice. Other than the T-tops, that Cutlass goes on one my Best list. A great driving and riding car. Very reliable.

I had a 78 and 79 Cutlass then an 82 Grand Prix which was basically the same body but a lot fancier with the equivalent dog of a v8 engine. Even back in the day, it wasn't easy to find any of these with T-Tops. Do you remember the Cutlass Extreme? Every now and then you'd see one one the road. Basically a Cutlass Supreme with a stainless steel roof.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

I had a 78 and 79 Cutlass then an 82 Grand Prix which was basically the same body but a lot fancier with the equivalent dog of a v8 engine. Even back in the day, it wasn't easy to find any of these with T-Tops. Do you remember the Cutlass Extreme? Every now and then you'd see one one the road. Basically a Cutlass Supreme with a stainless steel roof.

I don't recall those unless it was the black ones with the Stainless "targa" band on the roof?

78 is when the Cutlass (GM A Bodies) downsized. My 77 still had the venerable Olds 350. While not the quickest of GM 350's it was probably the most durable. The only issue with that engine was external intake manifold leaks. They usually popped once in the life of the car. Easy and cheap fix.

I wish I still had that car. It was decked out nice with: buckets, console, guage package, factory mag wheels. It was metallic red with a white half vinyl roof. Red interior. And-T-tops! If you drove it today, you'd have to wear a loud shirt, gold chains and a mustache!

Mine was "Ziebarted" when new so it was rust free. Remember Ziebart? That stuff did stop rust but you had to be REALLY careful with a torch under the car! Fire extinguisher handy.

I drove it for a couple of years and sold it for what I paid for it. It was a very nice looking car.

The only old cars I liked as much were my 1970 Buick Gran Sport 455 and a 1972 Ford Ranchero GT with a 429. The "Chero" would haul anything that you could hook to it. What beasts! They were basically trucks with car bodies on top.

Those old cars have fond memories but I wouldn't trade today's technology for that old stuff. At least not as a daily driver.

Now, here I sit with only one antique. A 1980 Jeep CJ-5. I know EXACTLY why AMC went out of business. It's a conglomeration of everyone else' parts bolted together poorly.

 

[jkust]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

I don't recall those unless it was the black ones with the Stainless "targa" band on the roof?

78 is when the Cutlass (GM A Bodies) downsized. I know EXACTLY why AMC went out of business. It's a conglomeration of everyone else' parts bolted together poorly.

I just did a quick google search and found no real explanation or pics of the Cutlass Extreme. I only saw one a few times back then. Im sure it was an option package. Yeah the 78 and 79 were pretty crappy in most respects and I had them because they were dirt cheap transportation in about 1989 when I started driving and had to buy all my own cars. The 78 had a supposed remanufactured engine in it which started knocking soon after I bought it so bought the 79 as a donor for 200 bucks but it was way nicer all the way around so just junked the 78 and kept the 79.

As for AMC, one of the winner cars my folks had was an AMC Eagle woody wagon. I was little but i even remember how junky it was. If they had it, it must have been cheap.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: What are the worst 3 vehicles you have ever owned.

I just did a quick google search and found no real explanation or pics of the Cutlass Extreme. I only saw one a few times back then. Im sure it was an option package. Yeah the 78 and 79 were pretty crappy in most respects and I had them because they were dirt cheap transportation in about 1989 when I started driving and had to buy all my own cars. The 78 had a supposed remanufactured engine in it which started knocking soon after I bought it so bought the 79 as a donor for 200 bucks but it was way nicer all the way around so just junked the 78 and kept the 79.

As for AMC, one of the winner cars my folks had was an AMC Eagle woody wagon. I was little but i even remember how junky it was. If they had it, it must have been cheap.

To AMC's credit, they had something way before their time. AWD/4WD in passenger cars. Long before the term "crossover" was coined.

The 4WD Concords/Eagles, etc. were pretty good in bad weather. The drivetrain was OK just the rest of the car was total rubbish.

AMC="Ain't My Car". Rest in Peace.