This one was mine, a 1998 Mercedes W208. The nice things about it were the cool Mono-Wiper, the engine (supercharged 2,3L M111) and the seats that were perfect for my height. It had a terrible ASR system but came with a LSD, so it was lots of fun in the winter.
The not-so-nice things about it were that the ignition randomly would not recognize the key, a missing catalytic converter, two fist sized rust holes in the front control arms, rust all over the underbody and the absolute worst 6-speed manual transmission I have ever used.
It also had multiple alignments but it didn’t take long for the steering-wheel to be off-center again. You could see the tail end “crabbing” in the rear view mirror. There was something very wrong with it, which can probably be attributed to one of the 7 previous owners.
This isn’t even counting all minor annoyances like the frameless windows not lowering themselves when you open the doors (that was only a thing after the 1999 model year), the wind noise, the awful interior materials, the broken seat latch in the rear, the trunk lock not working… I could go on for an hour like this.
So anyways, what is the worst car YOU have ever owned?
My first car, a 1976 Chevy Malibu, that I inherited from my Grandparents. It looked awful. Was amazingly underpowered. Handled poorly. But my biggest complaint was the butterfly valve on the carburetor. When the temperature got “cold” the valve did not contract as much as the housing around it. Consequently, the valve would stick causing a bad air-fuel ratio that would make the engine stall. I put cold in quotes above because I lived in Houston at the time and the weather is never actually cold. GM took 700 lbs of weight out of the Malibu in the two following years without making the car any smaller. The huge V8 engine only developed a nominal 160 HP (or something like that) and only managed 12mpg. The plastic pieces on the interior cracked and flaked off.
Modern cars are so much nicer and more reliable. I almost feel grateful for that heap because it helps me appreciate the improvements we have achieved.
I don’t beleive my worst car is anywhere near as bad as some terrible cars I’ve driven/borrowed/rented. Background: I’ve been driving since 2008 and have owned 7 vehicles with 4 wheels between my y wife and I. And it is a diverse range of slow, small, unequipped, unreliable, and unattractive. But almost everything was bought for the purposes they exceed at so I don’t complain about informed decisions.
The only car I didn’t really choose was my first car, a 98 Taurus inherited from grandparents. I could call it the most boring, or the most mediocre when weighing all metrics, but not the worst I’ve used for at least an hour. I had it for 10 years before rust made it too risky for a long commute. The cheap leather seats were durable enough, the power was enough (faster duratec), the interior was roomy enough for 4, the trunk as normal, and the wind noise was low (slippery dickens aero design). The appearance was a distinct product of its time, out of place by time I owned it - they went TOO round. Parts supply wasn’t great on some key critical areas that did change over the years, such as coolant and transmission tubes. I could handle it now, but it’s long gone.
The one that would resemble OP’s situation remains my favorite, a Lincoln LS. Knowledge is what makes this one tolerable when it fails (by recognizing symptoms before catastrophic failure) and keep the memories net-positive. The handling is superb, as Ford/JLR sought to directly compete with BMW with this car and the Jaguar S-type (same chassis). Power was good for 2000 but didn’t inflate to stay good by 2006, but the good noises offset the actual performance for me. But these things are notorious for misfires (which get misdiagnosed), overheating (which gets misdiagnosed), transmission issues (which get them replaced when they can be maintained better and fixed easier), need more frequent suspension rebuilds like a real BMW, and have a slew of unique parts because this is closer to a Jaguar than a Town Car. But every time I drive it, there’s just something special about it.
A short version of what many consider terrible is a Geo Tracker and a 4cyl 90s Ranger. People call the Ranger way too slow. I’ll tell you what’s slow, a Geo Tracker. The Tracker works just fine, you just have to crank it out on on-ramps and hope no one jams your flow by merging at 20 under. But it’s tiny size (smaller footprint than a Miata) is a treat to maneuver, the 4x4 is realer than a common modern suv, the convertible top masks the mediocrity with summer thrills, and the heater is one of the strongest I’ve ever owned for the “cold winters in a soft top”. Meanwhile, the Ranger is a little quicker, happier to cruise on the highway, has more than enough power for a competent well-planning driver, and hauls bulky stuff the same as a bigger engine/pickup. I’ve had 800lbs of plywood and barely noticed a difference. I’ll take the improved MPGs.
So what’s the worst car I’ve driven for at least an hour in town, city, and highway? My dad’s 2011 Hyundai Sonata. I don’t know what went so wrong, but I just hated everything about it. I did my best to adapt and get comfortable, but it was just a terrible experience. It exceled at mediocrity. The interior materials were 20 shades of hard gray, the displays were uninformative, the doors closed with the sound of a door 30 years older, the buttons were unfriendly, the visibility was lacking, the front is hideous, the headlights are atrocious, it eats tail light bulbs, the arm rests are all wrong for me, the dash buttons and indicators all used deep blue LEDs for illumination which is atrocious to see at night (too much UV intrusion and blurring), and despite already being familiar with an 80hp Geo, this Sonar felt more underpowered with its vague automatic transmission and polite engine noise.
My first car, a 1997 VW Jetta, the engine exploded and caught fire on my way to work one day. Can’t say any car I’ve had since has been as bad.
I actually kinda like the looks of this generation of Jetta, but catching on fire and exploding has to be up there for worst car experiences lol
It wasn’t until after that, I found out the 1997 model is one of the worst Jettas ever made. I shoulda got the manual 98 the dealer had instead. The fact they had so many 97s shoulda been a red flag.
It’s still so crazy to me how these generations of Jettas were either some of the most bulletproof cars ever made, or some of the most average ones. The mk4 ones with the 1.9TDI and the manual transmission that I see on marketplace all have AT LEAST 400 000km on them and un-matched body parts.
It’s a shame that they are all so worn now because they are truly amazing to drive. I drove my uncle’s mk4 with the 1.9 + manual and wow, the visibility in this thing is insane. His has ~200k km I think and it felt so tight for a 20 year old car. We had one with my family earlier too, but a burglar stole it and couldn’t drive manual and it was kinda wonky after sadly. The car was found a few days later at a Tim Hortons parking lot. These also look great in my opinion.
Mine was both the most fun car as well as the worst car I owned.
It was a Nissan 200SX S14. It was around 320bhp SR20 with uprated turbo, external waste gate, screamer pipe that vented upwards out of the bonnet and would occasionally spit flames through, solid engine mounts, welded diff, stripped interior among other similar supporting mods.
It was well built and was an absolutely visceral driving experience, it was insanely fun and also scary at times to drive and I fucking loved it when it was working.
However the Nissan immobiliser would just randomly decide when it would and wouldn’t kick in. Sometimes it would start no problems at all and other times it took me and hour or more of cycling the ignition on and off. I got stranded places a few times where it would just refuse to start then I would have to return the next day and it would start first try no problems. It just had those electronic gremlins that I just couldn’t figure out the actual issue and it was insanely infuriating.
It was the epitome of a love hate relationship and without those starting problems would have been one of my favourite cars but I just never figured it out and ended up selling it on never having solved the issues. Was such a shame.
Whoever reprogrammed the engine management probably fucked the security system.
The Nissan NATS system could be an absolute bastard, yeh xD
It’s a pity we often cannot maintain our machines, not because we don’t want to, the OEM have made them impossible to modify or repair. Anything with software in it is becoming an absolute nightmare.
I mainly worked on 90s Japanese cars, I primarily had MX5s and 200SXs which were mostly alright to work with as they did have minimal electronics. However still getting into the world of management and ECUs was always more complex.
I’ve been out of the world of cars for more than 10 years now as I simply can’t afford to run a car and also afford rent / to eat these days which I have come to terms with but I would never want to work on these horrible modern cars where everything has so many sensors and electronic dependencies.
2003 Chevrolet Cavalier. For non-Americans, this car was not available outside the USA.
What worked great: The engine (Ecotec L61)
What didn’t: everything else
Mid 80’s Ford Bronco. My ex insisted she had to have this thing. It leaked oil, was the most anemic thing I have ever owned and got maybe 4 or 5 mpg. We had no money to begin with, and she also insisted that we spend our tax refund on a set of rims. So at some point it had rims on it worth more than the truck, in my opinion. She spent sooo much money on gas. It was by far the worst car I have ever owned.
2012 Hyundai Tucson. What an absolute piece.
Body roll like a guy on a unicycle. Suspension as smooth as a jeep, as strong as a yugo. Acceleration like a 70s VW.
The wife really liked it.
Punto sport 16s
Pro : short gear, 6 shift Cons : generic aleatory default on the assisted direction… (electric jacks).
I haven’t really had a “bad” car yet. My oldest car was my first, a 2003 Ford Taurus. Wearables needed to be replaced but outside of that, the only thing I can say that would make it the “worst car” is that the cruise control lever broke and got stuck while I was driving it, so essentially my throttle was stuck open while I was going about 70 MPH. I tried not to panic, and shifted into neutral (it was also an automatic) so I could shut the car off and then coast to safety.
Doesn’t cruise control deactivate when you press the brake?
It would, yes, if the physical mechanism for controlling wasn’t stuck. After I pulled over I looked in the engine bay and noticed that the plastic bit that was mounting it snapped and the wire was stuck.
That sounds scary AF. Props to you for maintaining presence of mind and avoiding a catastrophic accident. I heard similar runaway vehicle stories from Ford owners when electronic throttle bodies were first introduced.
Same. My grandma had a Taurus and that thing ran forever. She sold it to a teenager when she could no longer drive and they immediately wrecked it the next week.
You still see the Taurus on the road even though they quit making them years ago. There’s a reason it was one of the best selling cars, and a reason why they quit making them (because no one who bought one needed a new car or any service).
Was it a pre-96 boxy taurus? Those were excellent for the time and very reliable because they had to be to be competitive. 96 brought the doughy redesign that triggered a decline. It held the top sales figure a little longer, but mainly due to continued fleet sales. The transmission was a weak point, the fuel economy was lacking, and “Taurus” was kind of your father’s brand. The redeeming benefit was that the 2000 redesign only changed half the car, so they were quite repairable by having a 10 year run. The door skins are identical for the 3rd and 4th gens.
99 Corolla was a pile of crap. I bought it at 80k on the basis of a report that it was the car that has the fewest MOT failures on record. The doors clanged when I shut them, it felt gutless and cheap generally. I could live with that but the water leak into the passenger footwell had to be eliminated. Spent months searching for the ingress point, finally tracking it down to a poorly sealed door hinge. Around this time I was alarmed by the unusually high oil consumption, it required topping up between services. I asked Toyota and they said it’s normal to consume a litre of oil per 1000km 🤣 Needless to say, the engine expired a short time later with failed piston rings on cylinder 3 at 100k.
2nd1st Gen Durango.Every electrical accessory died. The window motors, the instrument cluster, the radio, etc. The drivetrain was solid, but the water pump failed 3 times while I had it. It wasn’t even an abnormal example, they all were like that.
I will never buy a Dodge again because they have gotten worse; newer dodges are blowing engines and transmissions at low miles.
One word: Stellantis. Dodge and Jeep must be in a close race to being their most unreliable brand.
I had mine long before they bought Dodge.
My father in law was very loyal to the Jeep brand for many decades. He would buy a new Jeep every 3-4 years. His most recent purchase to all of our surprise was a Ford pickup. My last car was also a Jeep and I just bought a Prius. The quality really has tanked and the features people liked have slowly slipped away.
I have a 2019 Opel Corsa 1.4, the last one under General Motors. I haven’t had too much trouble with it during the past 120.000km. It broke down the first time last summer due to a problem with the throttle body, I got a new one for €130 and now it’s fine again.
My next car won’t be an Opel because of Stellantis. Their engines are pure crap. My brother in law had a Grandland as a leasecar and had a lot of trouble with it. My mother’s side of the family was loyal to Opel for more than 60 year but now I’m the last one who still drives one.
Our first new car was a 1999 Dodge Durango that we babied. We had both front door skins and rear gate replaced because it was rusting out with 15k miles on it (garage kept).
Went all the way through arbitration trying to get it replaced without success. First and last Chrysler product we owned. Put it up for sale and never looked back. Giant POS.
I agree the drivetrain was solid, the 5.9L was strong. But made with the worst steel available.
Yeah the rear gate on mine was rusted through too.
What is wild is a guy with a 2001 would come into my work and his was immaculate, no idea if he replaced panels or what. Only problem it had was the rear heater core and evaporator got leaks so it had to be bypassed and blocked accordingly, which made bleeding the coolant after water pump replacements a pain in the dick.
2013 Mini Cooper S
Spent more time in the shop than on the road. Traded-in that POS before the warranty ran out.
I’m on my third modern mini, other than brakes, tyres, and a couple springs, never had a thing go wrong. Love the things and they make the ball road drives for work so much fun. Now, the '92 mark IV Fod Escort I had was so far beyond redemption it was laughable for the year and a half I owned it.
I wish I had the same experience. Fucking thing drove like it was on rails. Absolutely one of the most fun drives I’ve had. Shame I had a lemon.
Fiat panda, it is literally a cardboard box with wheels.
i owned a very abused 09 civic si sedan.
it was obviously in a front end collision on the driver’s side that was covered up by the previous owner. i know this because the headlight mounts on that side were busted and that light pointed way up into the sky. it also darted all over the road because the front wheels were pointed towards eachother. it was so bad that it wore through the rubber down to the metal belts so i had sharp wires sticking out of tires and i cut myself taking the wheels off:(
it had trouble starting because the starter motor was barely holding on by 1/3 bolts and it was for a different model civic. when i got it home i wiggled the starter motor and a bolt fell out.
the clutch master failed while i was on a road trip. i heard a loud ping like a bolt snapped and was bouncing around my engine bay then the clutch pedal went to the floor and i couldn’t put it in gear.
everything the previous owner said he fixed on the car failed within a year of me owning the car because he did a lousy job and bought the cheapest no-name parts.
oh and the rear sway bar was fully disconnected and doing nothing.
An early 2000s Jetta my fiancee bought shortly before we got married. The electronic sensors kept dying throughout the warranty and after and were expensive as hell to replace, a pain in the ass to install becsuse I had to take off 6 parts to get to them, and it had horrendous handling in snowy/icy weather. Got rid of that lemon a year after we were married and replaced it with a 2005 Camry that was super reliable and cheap to maintain for the next 18 years.
The Canrywas still going strong when I traded it in for a truck due to changing needs. Literal opposite of that stupid Jetta.
