<![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased? - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased? - Jalopnik Comments]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A 1991 Buick Regal Custom.. paint falling off, couple scratches, dents, whatnots, but send in the ROT.. you'd think that the body would go, or the engine would go, but NEVER the FRAME!!! my engine mounts decided that the engine was too heavy and there was to much rot, so SNAP!! down fell the engine, and as such, the steering went out.. (while I was driving) now, with a broken tirod, bent axle, and engine resting on the ground, the insurance company HAD to total it. All I got to replace it with from them, was $550. TERRIBLE. where can I find a decent car for that.. oh well... live and learn..

FallenEngine

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> sorry ...
but the worst car of all time was

THE VEGA!
it had the whole alum block/steel piston ring thing, so burned oil at ANY time..
20,000 miles on it
Burnin oil
!!
i had this girlfriend, and her dad had given her THREE vegas he bought for $300... all of them "low" miles (like 30K miles) and nice bodies...
but all smoked soooo bad people would SHAKE their FISTS at us on the freeway
how much oil, you ask?
i bought half a CASE of oil to drive from NM to SF and back... 1600 miles total...
and i had to buy MORE on the way back... 12 quarts only made it 1300 miles

EVIL !

wheels OF satan!

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1983 Mercedes 380 SEC with an AMG bodykit. I'm a child of the '80's and thought Crocket and Tubbs where the 2nd coming of Christ. It's history was shady, and the previous owner didn't drive it ...much... Everything that should have been replaced in the 20 years that it roamed the earth before I bought it didn't get replaced/repaired. So when I bought it...it was time to pay the piper all at damn once.

Jayel

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> First car, '82 Cadillac Cimarron with rust holes in the sides and floor. I wanted the dented '86 Isuzu I-Mark, but Dad said no. Curses!

EJ from upstairs

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @junkman:

"1977 Leata Cabalero. Don't ask."

A Caminoized Chevette with a mock-vintage nose and a tacked on rear subframe?

You are a god. A great, shining god.

thatguy01

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @beercheck:

But you still have the Impala, right?

thatguy01

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Hands down, the 1981 Fiat Spider 2000. I named the car 'Persephone', because it had to spend 6 months of every year with the mechanic. I dropped 3 grand on a complete engine overhaul, had it back for 2 weeks, and then the auto trannie went kablooie. I had it towed back to the same Fiat guy who had just done the overhaul, handed him the key, and said "Keep it. I'm done."

LA_Longhorn

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I've got a couple...

1977 Celica GT Coupe. Bought almost 3 years ago for $1000, i've never seen it run. Sat in a barn for 10 years prior. I stripped the bejesus out of it, yanked the drivetrain, did all the bodywork and primed the body, inside and out. And now... it sits. A rolling chassis, with a roll cage, and nothing else. Someday i will get back to it, hopefully this coming fall.

1993 Celica GT Coupe. I don't know why i don't get rid of this thing. Maybe because it's so jalopnik and the potential for insane hoon is there. The body has 237k miles on it, the majority of that spent in New England. So yeah... rust? You got it. Rattles? You got it. Disconnected sway bars due to center brackets rusted off? You got it. Stock all original suspension? You got it. The kicker:

382whp 3sgte swap with V6 Solara E153 tranny with TRD Japan LSD? Check.

Stupid scary pile of shit? Definitely, sir. Is it driveable right now? No, i keep grenading engine mounts, i can't imagine why.

I just picked up a 1993 Celica GT Hatch, no rust, no dents. The logical thing would be to swap the drivetrain, but i like the coupe better. The hatch is set to receive a 1mzfe out of a late-model Avalon.

The daily drive i have is dumb, too... 1991 Saab 900 Turbo 5-speed. Bought it for $1100, with the intention of just driving it as is, as a nice daily. $1500 in aftermarket parts later, i have a torque-steering, tire smoking nightmare. It's perfectly docile and easy to drive in any weather, if you can stay out of the boost, but the inner hoon will not allow.

Do not merge on a highway next to me in this thing, i WILL fly across three lanes in a 3rd gear pull.

93celicaGT2

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @dolo54: I forgot the mention that the Plymouth Breeze earned a nickname......"The Ill Wind"

Thank you, and please tip your server.

Scroggzilla Raids Again!

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1982 Commercial Chassis Cadillac Limousine. This is the one that is about a foot longer than the stock fleetwood.

When I bought it it had no keys (stolen by a former employee of the car lot) and the starter & battery were bad.

I paid $200 and they agreed to re-key it. Well after two weeks they'd managed to put a new ignition cylinder in it and destroy the turn signal assembly & ignition switch in the process, and damage the passenger door.

Even with a new starter and battery I could only get it to weakly crank by jumping it with a pickup (with the p/u's engine running at 3000rpms to push enough amps. Never once got it to fire.

After a month of near-daily trips out to the back of the car lot to try and get it working I determined the entire electrical system was a hacked up mess than would never work without a complete rewiring from bumper to bumper. About this time the lot told me that if I didn't move the car they'd start charging me $50 a day in storage. So I removed every new part I'd put on it, and left it there. It never moved an inch in the whole time I owned it.

Pixel

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Got a 1990 Hyundai Pony last summer. It was for a very specific purpose, a banger rally, where the maximum price paid for a vehicle could not exceed $200. To say the car was not in stellar shape is putting it mildly. It did get us from Calais to Casablanca in 4 days, though and to 3rd place. It also made it about halfway back, before the alternator went in Nimes. A new one would have been more than the car was worth, finding a used one was not an option time-wise, so the mechanic took it and disposed of it. Ownership lasted just short of two weeks, then :)

KMII

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 2000 Ford Focus that I bought in a hurry after my old car got totalled. In addition to being a Ford Focus LX, the previous owner had put in some tint (which I promptly removed) removed part of the fuel vapor return system, causing the check engine light to pop on almost immediately after I took it off the lot, and tires that had apparently only ever been rotated once (the rears were nearly bald). It really sucks to have to replace a car immediately after you moved over a thousand miles away and you don't know anyone to give you a ride and you're in too much of a hurry to shop around.

BrianDangerHicks

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Having owned a LeCar, you'd probably think that would be tops in my hall of shame. However, I bought a 1985 Subaru GL wagon (2WD!) for use in the upper peninsula of Michigan. All the quirks of an 80s Subbie without the one redeeming feature that make a Subaru useful. Duh!

Pinkerton

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A '77 T-Bird. Why did I buy it? I was at Carlisle and I had just had a car wrecked by an idiot truckdriver so I was car hungry. It was there. It was cheap. It had a new paint job and looked cute in a 70's sort of way. I have a weakness for trashy 70's cars. Done deal.

Problem was, all of the problems arose after you lived with it for more than a half hour. It pinged. It never stopped pinging as long as I owned it. The gas mileage sucked. The thing was slow. Worst of all, the seat and driving position were so bad that I got nasty back pain if I drove it more than half an hour. Not a good thing when I was still recovering from having my back knocked out of whack in the accident which killed my previous car. Never again.

MadHungarian

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> '94 Ford Escort. Well that ended up being more reliable than the janky '95 Probe GT. Felt like worlds apart when I bought the '95 Civic which still hasn't developed any problems since then.

superbmtsub

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Considering what the two 40DCOE Webers alone are worth today I suppose it wasn't a dumb purchase, but the first car that I bought was a 10 year old 1966 Lotus Elan. I liked sports cars but having worked on my brother's Mini and Lotus Cortina, figured at least the Lotus wouldn't rust. I still own it, in pieces. After purchase from a guy who imagined himself to be a Lotus mechanic, I discovered the big crack in the rear of the car and the bondo up front. I decided to take the head off the Twin Cam when the thing was disgorging oil from an improperly installed rubber oil drain between the Lotus head and Ford Kent block. Someone tried to cover up the bad work with silicone. When I had the head open I discovered a broken cam bearing cap bolt. Those can only break when being torqued. So not only was it a mid 60s Brit car, it had been really badly treated by an inept mechanic.

OTOH, once I got everything more or less in order it was a reliable car and started every day. Eventually I thought I'd restore it and took it apart. Sold it to my dad when I needed money for a business. I think he had all all the machining work done on the engine and it just needs reassembly (with a modern water pump setup). Got it back after he died.

Like I said, even if it was a dumb purchase, in fact I own a piece of automotive history. The Elan was Colin Chapman and Lotus' first real successful road car and not only a great performer for it's day but with 70s vintage radials could pull .9G on the skid pad so with modern wheels and tires it'd keep up with modern cars on a road course. It also had over 1HP per cubic inch, a twin cam engine, composite body, IRS in the back and disk brakes at all four corners. In 1962.

bozoerrebbe

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I buy & sell cars for a hobby. The worst was just recently when I bought a '90 toyota lite ace auto & sold to a friend. He phoned me within 3 hours to say it had broken down. (no fuel in carby) It went on to stop at least 3 times per day for the next 4 weeks. Pour fuel down the carby & it would go again. I replaced everything. I eventually resold it to a french backpacker & felt really bad.

tad49

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> My 1995 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD. Tons of fun, but after this summer, I'll be close to a full rebuild on the suspension after rebuilding the tranny from the abuse it suffered in a previous life. I've got to get it ready for my abuse this spring and summer...

I knew I should have walked away from it, but somehow I think I was looking for my own daily driver hell (DDH) car.

Turboner

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1977 Leata Cabalero. Don't ask.

junkman

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I probably count one of the four cars I've owned as a good purchase - out of the combined $6000 I've spent (not including repairs, which I know are almost as much), I've gotten back just $200.

But the highlight of the three was a '91 Ford Probe. I stumbled across it for $100, and figured there was no good reason to pass it up, even if it didn't run at the time (which just turned out to be no fluid in the transmission at the time). While towing it home with a U-Haul truck and trailer, I accidentally clipped the bumper on a parked Aerostar, which turned into a $1000 repair, out of my pocket. After I got it running, I drove it around for a couple days with a temp permit before the exhaust pipe split, and I parked it permanently (I had another car at the time). In the end, it got towed after I moved and had nowhere to store it.

But I'm not happy just making bad automotive decisions, I've made them with motorcycles too! My bike (which I admit I knew would need work going into it) ran for the first afternoon I had it before dying, and I haven't got it running since.

Maymar - now with 37% less anonymity

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I'd purchased an '89 Firebird Formula at night, in the rain. Needless to say it was a disaster, had some sort of awful rear end problem, all the coolant lines were rotted, I broke most of the wheel studs trying to get the tires off. Just wanted it gone. Put an ad in the paper, kid looked at it when I wasn't home, said he wanted it, just had to sell his car first. "Whaddaya got?" I said. He told me, I figured I could use a daily driver what with my V6 Contour in need of some work. I had him drop the car off and take the Bird away. Never did meet him.

What he left behind was an '89 Cavalier 2dr (bury that lede!). It did not have an ignition key. It had a toggle switch to turn the juice on, and to crank the starter you flicked a light switch. Yes, a regular old house light switch. Turn it back off when the car's running. The fuse box smoked and melted about once a week, I actually had to replace 66 fuses in the course of four months. Opened the door locks with a butter knife, bad head gasket so it overheated in traffic.

I got hit by a nun in traffic. She was at fault, but tried to pin it on me. A cop saw the whole thing and called her out on it, callin' her a liar. Ended up between the insurance check and what I sold it for making back every cent I paid for the F-bomb.

unemployedjournalist

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> '79 Triumph Spitfire
When I turned 17 (in 1987) my dad gave me $5,000 to purchase any car I wanted.
I always wanted a British convertible and found someone selling this Triumph.
The first sign of trouble was that the guy couldn't show it to us for a few days. He said he was going to be busy......I now think he was busy trying to get the thing started.
I think we purchased it for $3800 and put the rest aside for repairs.

The car was fun but not the ideal everyday driver for the Midwest.
The roof leaked, it broke down every other week, the floor boards where so rusted out that when it rained the seats would absorb the rain water and soak the bottom of your pants.

I blew through the $1200 budgeted repair money rather quickly and I'm sure my dad spent thousands more. My dad had to take me to the only british car repair shop so many times he became friends with the mechanic. Even going so far to recommend vacation cruises to the Bahamas. The mechanic even came over to our house for dinner and we had to look at his photo album of the wonderful cruise that we funded.

I finally had to sell the car when I left for college for thousands less than we put into it.

I ended up buying a 84 Ford Ranger pick up truck and a Mt. Bike (I think the Mt. Bike was more expensive than the truck).

I think the truck ended up being my 2nd dumbest car purchase. The rear main seal blew and the repair was more than the truck was worth. I used to keep a case of oil in the bed and just kept pouring oil in it every time I need to drive it.






fooler

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1983 ford escort AUTOMATIC.

bdon

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> My second Range Rover. "Fool me once" and all. But at least I enjoyed it - so perhaps I should really say: the 1986 Chevy Celebrity. What?! WHY?! I don't know. I went to check out a Prelude SI and my wife talked me into the Celebrity. Later she regretted it and said "I will never recommend a car again."

But really, perhaps it was the 1992 S10 with the spun main bearing? Traded it for a 1994 that had the nastiest interior ever. Dog slobber and hippie grease.

Oh, I don't know .. I could go on and on, but really I think the Celebrity is it. At least I enjoyed the rest. (Well, mostly just enjoyed rebuilding the engine on the S10.)

dculberson

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> mine was the highly acclaimed 1988 Buick Reatta.

relmone

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A TR3A

smokeydog001

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1961 Renault Caravelle

sofong

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> being somewhat young and perpetually in school, i have not had the pleasure to make a bad car buying experience. although to get a glimpse of the mayhem ahead, i was searching eBay for 80's Ferraris, Masers, and Loti (plural of Lotus). Pay attention, one of the PCH's in the next 4 years could affect my purchase.

So I offer two purchases by my parents. Less entertaining is the 97 Grand Am my dad bought from a friend's dealership because "there seemed to be a lot of Grand Am's on the road, so i thought that meant they were good". Twice the vehicle's purchase price later, it still runs, but we're just holding our breath to sell it now that I walk through the lovely streets of Motown (I think I'm the only one in this state w/ out a car).
While my mom's '92 Grand Caravan wasn't initially bad, and the transmission never gave out like every other 90's Chrysler, it eventually committed suicide via random engine bay fire Halloween 2000. Awesome.

mikedrawcar is back! (limited time only)

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> White Austin Allegro with black vinyl roof. When you opened the glove compartment, the entire dash fell off.

13thfloorelevator

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I just bought mine, unfortunately.

1977 Lincoln Continental. 5500 lbs of malaise era engineering.

4 Doors, 4 ashtrays, 460, velour seats, opera windows, and rust. Lots and lots of rust. My current personal PCH has me installing all new brake lines, fuel lines, and chasing an ungodly number of vacuum leaks from an incredibly complex rats nest of hoses. lines, and diaphragms. Plus the freeze plugs are shot.

Did I mention the rust? And that it sat for 3 years?

So why did I buy it?

Greek temple grille, 4 ashtrays, 460, opera windows, and sheer bulk. How couldn't I buy it?

DonModro

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @Scroggzilla: Like the nicknames!

dolo54

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Traded my Tacoma PreRunner for a 84 BMW 318i, with the 5 speed. It was fun zipping around Texas in the little go-kart, almost driving under F-350s and 18 wheelers. Then came the electrical woes. Then the exhaust rotted through, followed by a serious engine knock. Final straw status achieved in a wreck off of HWY 59. After missing one slowed car, was struck in the rear quarter panel. 1080 degrees later, I was facing on-coming traffic. It qualifies for dumbest just because I had the most indestructible vehicle on the face of the planet, traded it, and then spent $2500 on a car I finally sold for $150.

TX Law

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> '75 Saab 99LE. Bought in early 90s for $150 with a dead transmission, found and swapped that, drove for a while. Went through clutch slave cylinders on a regular basis (got very proficient in starting in 1st gear, clutchless shifting), then water pump seized, stripping the idler shaft gears that drive said water pump. Hello, tow truck!

Not knowing squat about ancient Saab B-engines before that, I replaced the timing chain and a bunch of other stuff (SeanHotkay, *that* is how I was able to wrench confidently and almost competently on your 99). After all that, figured out that it was the idler shaft that stripped, so it sat next to my garage for a year or two, as I had bought an actual reliable car to drive for work. My not-soon-enough-to-be-ex-wife at the time didn't let me forget what a bonehead I was.

Eventually I sourced an electric water pump and plumbed that in. My younger brother bought the running car for not much more than I originally paid for it, drove back to Minneapolis, never titled and licensed it, eventually leaving it to me to prove to the police up there that all the tickets he racked up and never paid weren't mine. The front suspension eventually broke, and he thankfully yanked my old plates and abandoned it on some street there. Good riddance.

Honorable mention: '86 Pontiac 6000STE. First "nice" car, post-college, went through a couple transmissions, then there was the break-in through the glass sunroof on a night it rained 1". Insurance tab from hell, post-claim, sold for about what I paid for it, so I could buy a series of sub-$500 beaters.

PaulE

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Ooooh. Heaps-O-Junk, eh?

I've got three.

In order POS-wise, and ironically, also in the order they were owned.

1. 1980 Ford F-100. Monkey-shit brown, three-on-the-tree (and the linkage hung up on the way home when my father bought it, new), no radio, no bumper, vinyl bench seat, long-bed with the asthmatic 300 CID 6-cylinder could barely haul around when empty.

In 135K miles, total miles from the dealer lot, it had 7 clutches break (the springs in the disc broke, or a finger on the plate bent, or a throwout bearing disintegrated...and I was ultra-gentle with it knowing it's history), six windshields cracked randomly, one engine meltdown, one transmission seizure at 65 MPH, one 100% steering disconnection while still going about 15 MPH on a busy city street, the dipstick's oil pan mounting plate's rivets worked loose, resulting in losing about 4 oz of oil on every right-hand turn, the fuel tank never took more than 2 gallons at a time, waiting about 45 seconds between pump shutoffs, which only got worse the colder it was...the list goes on, but I've exorcised many of the painful memories over the last 20 years. I almost jumped for joy when I was T-boned by an '86 Topaz in the rain.

2. 1983 Lincoln Continental. Nice car, let my GF, now wife, buy it to replace the '81 Mercedes 240D she was sick of looking at, and the car was a mess. A nice looking mess, but it had been overheated, repeatedly, in the past, and every time we took a trip of long than 120 minutes in it, the 'sludge' built up on the inside of the engine would flake off, gather in the oil pan, and plug the oil pump intake screen. The first time it happened, I though it was a one-off thing. The second time, after fixing it, it went up for sale immediately. Oh, and said car's aircon was never particularly reliable.

3. 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara JLX+ 5-speed. The only car I've bought new, and likely the last one. It was riddled with squeaks, rattles, broke 4 rear differentials between 55K miles and 76K miles, three failed wheel bearings (one front, two rear...one on each side), two failed rear axle seals, the aircon was worthless (until I replaced the "new style" condenser with the old tube-and-fin style, then it cold as all get-out), the gearshift felt like it was in molasses about 30% of the time but would clear up when at the dealer to fix it, and other stuff wrong with it. One thing which drove me positively batty. The hood squeaked when closed, over every bump/hole larger than a human hair. Hell, wind would do it if it were strong enough. The 'solution' was to leave the hood released from the latch, but then it rattled. I adjusted the bump stops, siliconed the hood gaskets, adjusted the latch, nothing...played with that bastard for years, never made it better. Also, the interior plastic was so delicate, looking at it caused it to scratch. The OEM speedometer/odometer error was over 5%, in the factory's favor, of course. When I took it in to have an air bag sensor replaced so the light would go out when ambient temp was below 37F, the dealer returned it with an obviously broken dashboard, but didn't mention it until I called 'em on it. Um, boneheads, they're ALL the same dashboard color...why haven't you yanked one out of the 30 sitting on your lot?! I was met with blank stares. Oh, and the factory's alignment specs guaranteed the front tires would both wear unevenly AND it had a shaking in the front-end, even on glass-smooth roads, between 42 MPH and about 70 MPH. Like it was out-of-balance, but it wasn't. Took camber adjustment bolts and application of trigonometry to fix it properly.

Needless to say, I'll never own another Ford or Suzuki, again.

Kelly

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 2001 Saturn L200

The SATURD!

My god, when it was totalled, I was happy.

TexanIdiot25

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 2004 Chevrolet Venture. More problems then all the Ford's and Dodge's we've had put together.

Ford Tempo Fanatic

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Oh, geez.

One 1990 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II, 90K, for $6,500 in 2001. Blew the engine up six months after buying it, let it sit in my mom's garage for a year, rebuilt the engine myself and then sold it for a huge loss. Stupid (but fun).

The 1988 Saab 900S that I bought for my first car would take the cake, with a blown tranny, bad exhaust, ad nauseum, but I only barely lost more money on the RX-7.

thomasrz

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A 1980 300SD "just needs a muffler".

gagray

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Renault Fuego- nuff said.Don't hate the Player...hate the Game.

SLR_BlowerMania

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1974 Volvo 142S. I would later name it "The Car That Wanted To Die." Eventually it got its wish.

Bluegoose

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1985 ALFA Romeo Spyder.... Bought it in September of '06 and in that time it has been driven about 5 times with only one of those times not being to the mechanic since me and my dad had already replaced or removed and cleaned most of the fuel system already. So after replacing both the ECUs, the fuel injectors, the air flow meter, fuse box, tracing all the wires, etc it still doesnt run.

amanz

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A 1988 Saab 9000 Turbo 5spd hatchback. Sounds cool no?

No.

Combine that car with my inability to ever cut my losses and you have a car that hasn't been driven in two years, has taken up unspeakable thousands of dollars and still is a pile of junk... in separate parts of my garage. In fact, when I moved from an apartment to my house... the car and the engine arrived separately.

Ugh.

laughing_guitarist

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1971 Triumph Stag bought from a used car lot on a lark as a summer beater. Drove it almost 500 miles before one of the rods let go, though. The real dumb move was spending as much as I originally spent on the car, this time on the stuff to put either a 2.3L turbo or 302 Ford in it. Finally came to my senses and dumped the carcass on some poor besotted Stag lover for a huge loss.

At least I didn't spend the wonga on rebuilding the POS Double-TR7 V8. But overall I should have put all the cash into cheap whiskey and ugly hookers - would have been much less painful and embarrassing to live with.

HoubaHouba!

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Not my purchase, but I suppose I should mention it: My father had a Peugeot 404 that lasted for 350,000 miles (yeah, I mentioned this on Friday--I have a limited number of stories to tell) and my mom had a 504 that went for 250,000 miles. So just before I was born, they bought a brand-new 505 STI. They loved it--nice seats, nice suspension, five-speed, relatively peppy. Within two years, it had suffered several failures of a catastrophic nature, and Peugeot agreed to give my parents a discount on a new car. Dad picked a 505 Turbo. It was a good car for our young family, and fast enough to surprise an unwary BMW 635csi... until the turbocharger exploded.

Armand Bengle

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @harumph: No, I found out it A) only covered 90-94, and B) mine was a Canadian gray market one (the only indicator of which was that the gauge cluster was from a non-SR5 truck, because the SR5 was supposed to have the gauges to tell you how slanty you are).

DAMN CANADA. DAMN THE 1980s.

Paul Y. -- Now With More Sodium!

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Project Car Hell, apparently, is in the eye of the beholder.

Armand Bengle

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Brand new 1980 Fiat Brava. I need say no more.

Amscram

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I've got a few that were just disasters.

1986 Fiero, 4cyl, 5spd. Owned that little cash vampire for about 6 months before trading it disgust. For...

1983 Thunderbird. The car broke down so often I think it could've hooked itself up to the tow truck. Also it seemed to be equipped with large magnets under the body panels. People ran into that car every 4-5 weeks, just never enough to kill it. I got pretty good at doing body work because of that car.

After a short break of owning a good car I purchased a 1986 Escort 2 door hatch for $430. It leaked in the rain, blew smoke like it was cropdusting, and slowly digested its own gearbox. The car's crowning glory of beatertude was my roomate asking as it shuddered and shook down the road: "Dude, does ANYTHING on this car work right?"
"The radio."
The radio died 5 minutes later.

2002 Nissan Frontier. Bought brand new. At the dealer for computer/electrical issues constantly. I did manage a few dates with the girl at the Enterprise counter, so it wasn't all bad.



JayP71

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1972 Volkswagen 411 squareback. Pinion bearing froze while driving on main street in town, then the flex plate broke on I-40. Color was Texas Gelb, it only needed Sunkist stickers.

okvol

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Got to be the '79 Ford Thunderbird I chose over a '76 TR6 as my first car. The T-Bird was a nightmare. The frakkin paint came off the car when I brought it home and waxed it. The tranny dropped out of it 3 months later (the first of THREE transmissions I put in the car in 4 years of owning it). The engine burned oil, and the interior decomposed under my ass as I drove down the road... but it had some cool headlight covers that worked off a vacuum that raised up. Those made it all worthwhile...right....

waynecramp

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> '91 Cavalier coupe, I4, 5sp. Purchased for $1000 in '97. It had obviously been in a front-end collision as the paint on the front half of the hood was definitely an amateur job. It tracked straight and there wasn't anything obviously wrong with the car, so I bought it.

It really wasn't such a bad car besides the obviousness of being an early '90s compact from GM. However, this particular example acquired a bad habit of stalling intermittently due a head gasket leak on the BACK side of the engine causing coolant to drip on the electronic ignition module. Until I was able to diagnose it properly, I just lived with it. But one of the ultimate side effects was that unburned fuel got into the exhaust and into the catalytic converter. I'll give 50 points to whomever guesses correctly on the outcome of that event. Hint: it wasn't kittens and rainbows.

Fixed both problems just to have an overheating issue crop up days later. I had the car back to the shop that fixed the head gasket and ignition module for the warranty repair but they stiffed me saying the overheating issue was unrelated. Unfortunately, I had to have it fixed so I ate the repair cost. That day I resigned myself to learn as much about cars as I could from that day forward.

Then I sold it to a friend of mine for $1000 in '99. He continued to have an overheating problem, but wound up having issues with the clutch about 5 months later, as well.

He donated it to some charity that hauled it off his driveway for free, never to return again.

racermd

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Hmmm - I have three that could make the cut. First, my parents decided that I needed a car (which I did) in college, so they bought a '73 Chevy Vega, christened the "Veg-o-Matic" by my frat bros. While the Vega did take me to Cali and back one summer, the engine expired at 49,995 just as all of them did. The second (mentioned in another post) was a '70-something Fiat 124 Coupe that is now slowly rusting away somewhere in New Mexico. The last is an '84 Plymouth Colt that somehow managed to rack up over 110,000 miles before losing compression in all four cylinders. I also replaced both front fenders as they were getting all rusty.
Actually - I have a fourth - a 1990 Eagle Premier. Great on paper and not really a bad car, but AMC/Renault/Eagle seemed to suffer from a latter-day version of British Leyland-like quality. The first time I washed the car, blue paint started flaking off of the top panels. Every service call, the dealer wanted me to replace the tranny (ZF 4-speed auto) since they had no rebuild kit. The heater core blew - sending antifreeze all through the interior, and my ex-wife managed to get the driver's side bashed in when the car was parked. I finally sold it with about 120,000 miles on it, but the new owners totalled the car within a year.


axafgoob99

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> '74 Lincoln Continental Town Car in primer with 54k original miles. The jury's still out on how stupid it was, but I have a nagging sense that I might end up in PCH.

zsvdkhnorc

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @nosirrahg: Who the heck put a 390 in a 1982 Ford? Ford hasn't used that engine since the early 70s.

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I've been stung by '80s-'90s GM V6 FWDs enough times by now that "Buick" is a swearword to me, and I'll never buy another one.. I also gladly handed over $100 for an '81 Mustang with a 200 straight-6. I liked that car alot, for about six months until the rotten rear swaybars disattached themselves.. Powerbraking became significantly easier, but cornering suffered. But probably the all-around dumbest car was an '82 Fairmont. It only weighed about 2600 pounds, but the (Mazda reject?) 2.3 liter 4-cylinder made it feel like 4600. Once, I even got thoroughly schooled while "racing" an '87 Omni..

slantsick- leaning 30* towards awesome

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 69 Lincoln Cont. Coupe. Sat in an outdoor storage yard for 10-13 years, sold to me for 200 bucks. Ran one night never ran again. Sold it for 20 bucks.

Froggmann

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Dodge Daytona, battleship gray. Ugh! I still get nightmares and that was back in 1992!

CarMaxChris

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1960 Chrysler New Yorker 4-door sedan. Factory air, 413 big-block, push-button transmission, "space pod" electroluminescent dash, power windows and seat, restored interior, almost rust-free, beautiful fins, what looked like a rebuilt engine... i drove it less than 50 miles in a year, and had it towed 3 times (not counting hauling it home from Georgia). After about $2000 in repairs and upgrades, the engine spun a bearing. Sold it to a guy in the Netherlands for less than i paid for it originally. Expensive lesson in PCH. Worst part is, i'd still buy another one.

lanispet

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Maybe next week: Dumbest car you ever sold/got rid of?

OrangeBeers9

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> The list is long and distinguished. You don't have enough room here.

lemondriver

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A 1996 Ford aspire. Manual steering, no anti-lock brakes, no rear window defroster, cassette deck. I bough it in 2002 sold it in 2003. I thought it was a great car. My wife cringes every time I talk about it.

solareclipse2

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Technically my El Camino was a gift, so I suppose the dumbest purchase was a 1982 Ford F350 I bought 6-7 years ago. I convinced my wife I "needed" a truck, and was willing to spend about $2k. I could find lots of beaters in that price range, but nothing with working AC (which is more important than paint in the South). Noticed this tan/brown truck with a sign in a neighbor's driveway, and stopped to inquire. I didn't know it was a 1-ton initially, just noticed it had over-sized off-road tires that made it look extra manly, and the AC worked. It was actually very clean with minimal surface rust, so I bought it. Of course it hadn't been driven much for several years (though it had about 170k miles on it overall), so all the usual things had to be replaced...including seals in the rear end, but not before they managed to foul up the rear brakes too. With the 390-V8 I initially only got 8MPG, but after replacing the fuel pump (leaking), a tune up, and a carb rebuild, I got it up to 11 MPG (which doesn't sound like much, but cutting your gas bill by 40% makes a big difference). Fortunately I only really drove it on weekends, but even then the cost of insurance was more than it would have cost me to go rent a U-Haul for the few times I actually "needed" a truck...though I did haul 4 yards of mulch in the bed once with no complaints. Eventually a kid from my church begged me to sell the truck to him, so I took a loss and let him have it for $1,200 just to get rid of it. I'll end up losing more than that if/when I ever get rid of my "free" El Camino; once that's gone I think I'll take up something less expensive like golf or maybe buy a couple of horses...of course, then I'd need a truck AND a trailer.

nosirrahg

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A '63 Fairlane with a 223ci I-6 and three-on-the-tree... sadly, it came with neither front floors nor rear window, and the gas tank rust holes prevented containment of anything over 3 gallons.

But that little six ran really nicely and the clutch was in great shape!

OrangeBeers9

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @Duffman:
"..@josch: An fj 40 for a cutlass! Shame on you Shame!..."

The disgrace haunts him to this day, I am sure.
Let's never speak of this again.

DoctorNineTenths

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> My first car was a 77' Pontiac Ventura....The Thinking Man's Nova! Headliner fell down on it 3 times, Engine mounts cracked on it 4 times....FUN! I replaced it with a brand new 89' Chrysler LeBaron HardTop! All the dorkiness of a LeBaron without the chick getting option of a convertible!

Indiana Bento and the lost Temple of Citroens

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> All the Ford products I've ever owned! Sables, Tempos, Galaxies, Fairlanes, all except one 65 Mustang convertible - all horrible!

jmagay

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Worst? '76 Dodge Charger. In the same breath, Ill say the best. Its a nice cruiser, some people really dig it, some people really hate it. I hate it becaue itll never be worth anything no matter how good a shape i keep it in, but at the same time its a fun car to drive and periodically take to the track... especially with the hot 371 Small block in there.

danio3834

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I wasn't going to comment but the guy with the Ford Taurus made me 'cause we had all the same problems twice. First with an '88 then with a '91 both given to us. CV joints (two or three times each) power steering, radiators and AC condenser all went out at roughly the same mileage. We'll never own another Ford either. And you would think my choice would be the '74 Vega or the '71 Renault 10 or even the '71 Opel Manta - at least they had some kind of style - ok not the Vega

sheehaneil

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1980 Chevrolet Monza notchback with a vinyl roof and a bent frame.

Vipper Of Vipp

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> First Car: 1962 Ford Falcon, 4D Robins egg blue
Second Car: 1967 VW Bug, red
Third Car: 1972 Fiat 124 TC Special, 4D light blue
Fourth Car: 1973 Datsun 510, 4D hunter green with black vinyl top.

Best of the first four was the Fiat 124, twin cam dual webers, it flew, next was the Datsun, I bought it new after T-boning a Pontiac Catalina in the Fiat going about 50mph. The Datsun was sooo nice at the time, fast and a good handling car but I got hit by another big Ponitac that ran a stop sign. After that I bought a nice 1968 Ford Mustang GT. The Falcon was fun but sucked, wish I had it now for the collectible value, heck, I wish I had every car I've ever owned.




gp5548

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1994 Chevy Corsica

Blew off the Radiator Cap on the way to "Enchanted Forest Water Safari" and went downhill from there.

I will say that the stock stereo that came in the car was pretty amazing considering how much attention was spent on the "interior". That was key because it was always making a noise for one reason or another.

skaspy

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> My dumbest car turned into the best decision I ever made. When my then girlfriend left me behind for grad school in 1992 I found a "clean" 1986 IROC-Z. 305 4-bbl, 5-spd. 165HP never felt so bad. Black, just detailed. Good price. I paid $4500 and drove her home. It actually wasn't a bad car mechanically but I eventually discovered that it was in a semi-serious wreck. You'd think the bent steering wheel (!) and blown hood struts would have tipped me off. But, I had to have it. For about 6 months.

I sold it for what I paid for it and promptly followed my sweetheart to Ann Arbor. Still together, 20 years this year.

CardiffGiant

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> My SHO from a used car dealer for $8500. Was in a previous accident and had an auto tranny made of glass. All because I wanted/desired/needed one and thought they were rare.

After I bought it, I noticed them all over the place. And then noticed what needed to be done to it -- 60k service: water pump, timing belt, valve adjustment, plugs, plug wires, CPS. Also a broken strut, grenading transmission, wheel bearing, brake pads, tires, two alternators and starters and a battery. I sold it for $1500 after 3 years.

newfmike

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A 76 Cosworth Vega as a daily driver. When it ran it was absolutely great (my dad's comment was, this car gets really fun over 70), but that was the problem. When it ran. The FI was horrible to repair and had no adjustment. It will be my PCH in a few years. Sat for 10+ years but thankfully only some surface rust.

42Fordtrucks

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Has to be 1981 Rabbit Diesel. When I held it wide open as you do with a diesel it would start burning oil from the oil pan some how and get stuck wide open with the most spectacular smoke cloud.

Duffman

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @josch: An fj 40 for a cutlass! Shame on you Shame!

Duffman

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Easy. 1988 Ford Taurus L. 72K, bought form the original older owner. Within 1 year, the CV joints, A/C, and power steering pump.

From then on, we just topped off fluids. By that I mean it leaked coolant, brake fluid, tranny fluid, oil, power steering fluid, and probably fuel.

It also had this tendency to go by itself. Lift your foot off the brake and it would smoothyl accelerate to 45 mph all by itself.

The A/C never did work. After that, my wife will never CONSIDER a Ford product again. Absolutely the worst automobile I've ever owned.

Honorable Mention:
1995 Alfa Romeo 164 Quadrifoglio. One of 30 imprted in Alfa's last year, and for good reason. These 24-valve Alfa V-6's had a nasty tendency to jump timing and eat valves. Very expensive Italian valves. And Steering racks. And electronic adjustable shocks. And cat converters. And $60 coils (You need 6). And tires. And Climate Control Units ($1,600). And Clutches.

But that car, when it ran, was SHWEEEEET. Beautiful as only an Italian mistress can be. Very fast.

Best time: Racing a 328 GTS from an 80-mph start. The look on his face as I swept by at 125mph in my 4-door, listening to The Ramones, can never be duplicated.


Zarba

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> The car I most regret buying was a 1994 Ford Taurus SHO.
220 horses and an open dif transmission + FWD = total dissapointmet.

I payed 2600$ for it and found a fair bit of rust under the rocker trim plus if that car needed anything enginewise I would have been SOL in the fixing it department. never ever ever again will I buy something so new and complicated. Since that day the PCH gods have frowned upon me and kept me from making any stupid decisions.

TheAstronot

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> lol and that was all in about 5 months

inkedfusion

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Ok so its a tie... between a 94 Pontiac Firefly Hatchback and a 84 Dodge 600 Convertible with a 2.6L mitusbishi Engine

The firefly .. Had to replace the battery cause it wasnt charging then found out it was the alternator because the Cam seal was leaking a litre of oil a day and smothered the alternator. Then on Xmas eve the resonator Pipe broke so xmas day i was under the car trying to patch it together temporarily with a soup can and exaust tape lol. Then I had to get new tires cause they were so bald that I couldnt get down the road to my cottage. While the mechanic was replacing that he told me that I will MAYBE get 400 more KM out of the drivetrain axel cause it was knocking when I turned. Then I repaired that and the resonator pipe and the converter went the same day. Got that fixed and was driving out of a parking lot and hit a dip that was covered in light snow and that knocked a bolt out of my control arm so i had to drive 40 km to the nearest mechanic holding the wheel as far left as i could so the car wouldnt take off right and while the mechanic was looking at it he told me he could fix it but only because the top of the frame was rusted out and he could fit his hand in there.. That was the end of that!

inkedfusion

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I bought a '91 T-Bird after my GTI was totaled as a stopgap measure. Worst fucking car ever. I ended up selling it to my mom's neighbor's kid for $50.

PeteJayhawk

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Geez, I almost forgot the Lancia! A rotted Beta Coupe with 1 strut so loose in the upper mount that you could move it back and forth by hand and that caused the whole assembly to shake going around corners. The front subframe had rot holes and was pulling off the body shell. Brakes worn out past the pads when I bought it and so rusted through that it never would have passed a British MOT safety inspection. But it had leather seats, 2 liters of twin overhead cam goodness and a 5-speed. The wrecking yard agreed to buy it from me for the price of the remaining tax stamp value.

NatefromOgden

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @paul_y: toyota had a headgasket recall on 4 runners, i can't remember for sure if it covered 89's but i think it did. they would have replaced the engine, i saw them do that with a few cars. i was working for them when the recall was going on and got very good at doing that job.

harumph

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A 1960 Corvair Greenbriar van. A pretty little thing, fire engine red, lotsa glass and a beautiful interior. Its siren song suckered me in within a matter of minutes. Sure, a 35-year-old (at the time) bizzaro orphan vehicle would make a perfect daily driver! Parts scarcity? No problem, I can fix anything! Ah, youth and ignorance.

The thing hemorrhaged oil like nothing I've owned before or since. No amount of oil pan straightening, multiple gaskets or space-age adhesives would staunch the flow. I kinda didn't notice the lack of seatbelts, something I really noted later when the laboriously rebuilt yet abominably shitty brakes nearly pitched me out of the windshield during a panic stop. What finally tore it was the gas chamber device masquerading as an exhaust system. Despite hundreds of dollars of new parts, careful hand fitting and who the hell knows how many hours, the interior would fill with carbon monoxide. The skull-splitting migraines that resulted were my final, not too subtle cue to ditch the lovely Greenbriar before I lost any more higher brain functions.

I sold it to a roving clan of hillbillies, fresh from Dogpatch, who came en masse in a panel van. The whole fam damily was loaded in the back, one guy had his fly down the whole time. But, they paid in cash and drove it away. Good luck, my friends.

Five years later, I got an impound notice from a towing company in a neighboring state. Seems that the hillbillies never titled the damn thing and then left it to rot on the street. The bastard pirates at the tow company tried to stiff me for $350 in impound fees. After a few phone calls, I found a legal way to ignore the notice, but I learned my lesson: I ALWAYS make sure I release interest in a vehicle after I sell it by contacting the state DMV, just is case the person I sell it to is a deadbeat who will never change the title over.

powerpig

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Maybe my 66 Plymouth Fury. $500 in 1976. Drove it for 10 years, never a serious repair of any kind. The dumb part? If I had taken a little more time to look I might have found a wagon or a sport Fury III instead and still be driving it. But I did dearly love it.

NovaloadMissesPolar

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @TurboBrick:

It's both. You get a new part, fix that problem and now with that system working right it causes something else to break.

Then you fix that, and now that it's working the piece you just put in last week breaks because a system it was attached to now has problems.

The best was when I got all the vacuum leaks fixed. The engine's finally humming along, the oil pressure's finally where it should be...and then a dozen oil leaks show up just because the lines are finally pressurized.

Then of course, the oil leaks eat through the transmission gaskets so now I've got a transmission leak to fix.

I can't tell you how awesome it is. It's like Chinese water torture...delivered by a naked supermodel. you just can't say no.

b.borrman

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Two actually; My college car was a 1997 Honda Accord LX Coupe. It was sold at a used car lot and I was lied to. It had a salvage title. Apparently the front of the car is manual and the rest of the car is automatic. They were welded together. I spent more than $3000 to fix it before finally giving up.

The second worst car I got was a 1993 Infiniti J30 that looks like a cloud. The back is so hideously ugly but the interior is a dream. Plenty of power and luxury at the cost of 19 mpg (91 octane too).

Then problems start creeping up: leaking suspension, dead dashboard backlight, sunroof that got stuck, crack in the driving rod (the rod that transfer power to the rear wheels).

so glad that I could sell it and got my new Civic EX.

SDE

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1963 Studebaker Lark. Rings in the rear cylinder were so loose you could move the piston back and forth. Ran heavy weight oil, put a hotter plug in that cylinder, sold it as soon as I was able. Next to that it would probably be a Taurus that just came off lease, when my daughters were learning to drive. POS car...must have replaced the motor-mounts at least 5 times.

Texas_technoman

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I would say the rusty Fiat 850 that I bought and drug home from Kentucky to Georgia, but I think I made about twice what I paid for it parting it out. After giving up on the idea of fixing it.

P161911

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I didn't buy it, but in high school, three of my friends pitched in together and purchased an non-functional rustbucket that was once a '72 Eldorado, containing what used to be a 500-cube V8. They paid $900 for it. After killing the grass beneath it in one of their backyards, the hulk was towed away, and likely ground up into Chinese toothpaste.

bmoredlj

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @ Littlecarrot- My Pacer wagon was a car that I should have kept even longer than I did. It worked all the time and ran well. After I stripped off the fake woodgrain and painted it silver over gunmetal, it even looked pretty good.

NatefromOgden

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> My first car was an 89 4Runner. I didn't actually purchase it directly, so much as the title was given to me by my then-neighbor, who was friends with the owner, with the understanding that it needed a clutch and brakes (it has four-pot calipers!). I sunk $1500 into it before it died of massive head gasket failure 5 months later.

I loved it dearly, and I'd buy another in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself.

I sold it for $75 with the engine completely disassembed and strewn about the back to a guy that wanted to put an SBC in it.

Paul Y. -- Now With More Sodium!

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Bought a 1967 Chrysler Imperial convertible in 1999 for about $2000. It was rusty, very rusty. I thought I could fix it up just enough to look descent and have some fun with it. Stopped at the gas station after buying, found out about the hole in the gas tank. Got it home and noticed the clanking the the hubcaps. Found out that when the previous owner took it to Pep Boys for the 4 for $99 tires that with enough force and determination you can actually get SOME right hand threaded lugnuts onto lefthand threaded studs. Bought a 67 4 door parts car out of a junkyard for another $900 or so. Actually drove the convertible for a couple of summers after fixing the lugnut/stud situation and installing a new brake system. The 440 started everytime. Had the whole lot sold over the internet. After sitting for 5 years we drove the convertible on the trailer. After seeing just how rusty it really was (didn't know it could rust THAT much more in 6 years) had to renegotiate the price. At least they were gone.

P161911

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Heh- almost everything I've ever owned was stamped "Made In France" and you're asking me about dumb purchases? Well, then there was the Triumph 2000, the RX4, the '56 Chevy 150...

Hotrodelectric

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> That's a toughie, I've owned so many bad cars. Probably the worst was the 82 Skoda 1200 that had a connecting rod hanging out of the block when I bought it. The Citroen CX2200 mentioned the other day was pretty bad but not as bad as the another purchase made during my time in England- a Commer Caravan.

Think VW bus with a pop-up top, stove and bunks but with a 4 cyl motor stuck between the seats. Bought from a buddy that ran a wrecking yard, it was rotted out above the windshield so the air pushed the headliner down on your head at speed until I filled the gaps with some plastic filler. The fuel tank leaked at the rotted seam so could only be filled half full and it had been painted battleship grey with a brush. The heater had a shut off valve under the engine cover, 1 speed and metal doors that had to be kicked shut to get any air through the defrosters.

To its credit, the Commer did carry home a couple Skoda engines while I struggled to make that Chech POS work.

NatefromOgden

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1975 Jeep Wagoneer. It had been my brother-in-law's frat-house car in college: a hand-me-down from his uncle. My Ranger had just been totaled, allowing me to escape the last 3 years of payments. I was going to be "smart" and pay cash for a used car that was rugged and "easy to work on". Right . . . .

Beluga

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Was in Japan and bought an older Silvia with the non-turbo 4 (97kW) instead of a newer one with the turbo (164kW). Don't ask me why I was trying to save money. Learning to drive/shift/drift the RSD manual was fun, but who knows what kind of craziness I could have gotten into with the turbo.

DoctorNineTenths

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I have only owned two cars and neither one of them were smart automotive choices, but both were great satisfiers of a need at the time. My first car was a 1989 Subaru DL 5 Speed with the only option on it being arear window defroster. No air conditioning meant that the 92 HP Boxer motor could very, very quickly propel the 2800 (prox) pound car very quickly which made it the best, most "hoonable" car I have ever owned. Combine that with 13" tires and wheels plus the interior room of an 89 Ford Taurus and this was a great car to take a friend out and melt some donut tires in the summer time.

The only problem with this car was that it was front wheel drive which is slightly forgivable considering that the H4 was mounted longitudinally in the car. But, because it was front wheel drive with an independent rear suspension and no rear sway bar made it a real trick at high speeds on curvy mountain roads. Not quite as bad as the suicide Jeeps of the Vietnam era, but still lots of unexpected fun.

I guess after this trip through memory lane I am getting much, much closer to purchasing another Jeep.

cgarison

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 86 Bronco II. bought for $900 from a friend. Needed a tranny as soon as I got home. needed brakes and shocks too. I had it for 2 years and only put 300 miles on it (and 2 tanks of gas. Later found out it had an electrical fire at one point and the harness was fried. solf it for $300 when it wouldnt run anymore.

I dont talk to that friend anymore.

jaydez

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> A '78 Rabbit, as it was the only "car" I could find in my price range at the time (low 3 figures).

Once I got home, realized the presence of the owner in the passenger seat during the test drive had masked an alarming tendency dart from side to side. Discovered later the right side ball joint was eating itself under stress from the engine. In its defense, the right side motor mount was mostly missing, so the stress was understandable. After replacing (and promptly destroying) the ball joint, I gave up and put about 170 pounds of rock in the passenger footwell.

Over time I lost the starter and had to make sure I parked on a hill to facilitate the bump start. Then 3rd gear migrated into the same plane as 1st, so it became a 50/50 shot of either driving away or stalling at every red light (except the time the clutch cable snapped, that was pretty much 100% not moving). If it idled for more than a few minutes it would overheat, so it was a good time to play with the "naked" horn (i.e. touching the end of a wire to metal, as the steering wheel cover had fallen off).

We eventually bought a case of beer, rented a reciprocating saw and cut the roof off. I spent a summer driving my "cabriolet" mostly at night. Non-factory options included a heavy blanket over the back seat to cover the broken safety glass, hand-laid duct tape over the jagged remnants of the b and c pillars, and a free lesson in chassis rigidity when someone was dumb enough to open a door. Then we got pinched in daylight for the rejected inspection sticker. I avoided an impound charge by swearing the car would never, ever touch public roads again, and allowing the cop to have the wrecker swing by the police station so he could take pictures ("The wife'll never believe this thing!").

For some strange reason my parents called a salvage yard and had it towed away when I was at school.

jalexei

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> There are several examples of dumbest = bestest here...PCHs of our own choosing

Al Navarro

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @b.borrman: I'm just curious here; is it something different that falls apart on those Jags every time or are the replacement components "OEM quality" as well?

TurboBrick

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I owned a bunch of pos's. a 84 LTD, a 97 Plymouth Breeze, but the worst of all has to be my 76 Fiat X 1/9. I can't tell you how much I spent repairing this car over the years. When I would turn on the lights one would stay up the other would go up and down. The carburator cooling fan would always break. Thrust bearing went out one time I had to wait WEEKS to get the part. I even had a couple of mechanics refuse to work on it, said they could never get the car to work right no matter how much they worked on it. I heard more than a few times what Fiat ment... " Fix It Again Tony" or F*****g Italians Attemping Transportation. But I have to say when it ran right it was a blast.

creigs9

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Oh, all 3 drove like pigs as well.

Scroggzilla Raids Again!

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1976 AMC Pacer. Beat that. Because I still own and drive it--I should win the
"Moron of the Year" award.

Littlecarrot

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1983 Honda civic, that car had never ending problems, head gaskets, clutch, and other stuff, also the 1988 Dodge colt my mom had also had all sorts of problems, she would be sitting at the stop light and then all of the sudden you couldn't see anything because there was a huge cloud of smoke around you. I just want to say the best vehicles I have ever had were the 1994 F-150 155,000 miles and not a problem yet except the rust, because it came from Canada where they use salt on the road. Another smart purchase was 1989 Ford Aerostart 235,000 miles and a water pump and valve cover gasket under warranty. The final smart purchase was 2001 Focus 125,000 miles and fuel pump and valve cover gasket got replaced under warranty and it has been an awesome car.

builtfordtough13

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I think I win; back in my college days I bought not one but two postal Jeeps for $350 that looked exactly like this one in the same baby blue color. The second one was for parts of course, of which I needed aplenty. The first one was running, and I loaded it up with parts from the second and started my 40 mile drive home. Of course it didn't make it there, and I ended up getting a tow. With a lot of sweat and grease I did manage to get it running for a while, though I had to put it up on 3" lifts to get the wheels to clear the dent in the rear quarter which made the whole thing a ridiculous contraption. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I loaned it to a friend over the summer and it caught fire and I had to ditch it.

weatherman

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> The first 3 cars that I owned, 2 used and 1 new, were awful. The first was an '83 Ford Tempo, which blew a rear main seal within 10 days of purchase and proceeded to get worse from there. It was subsequently known as the Tempo of Doom. The second was an '89 Dodge Colt, which had been wrecked, a fact not disclosed by the skeevy used car salesman that sold it to me. In addtion to its constant need for alignment and appetite for tires, it leaked oil like the Exxon Valdez and sucked up timing belts with clock like regularity. It was known as "the Thrill-Kill-Colt". Finally, there was the '96 Plymouth Breeze. Chrysler build quality, coupled with 1st year production issues created a memorable ownership experience comparable to hemorroid surgery without anesthesia.

Scroggzilla Raids Again!

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 2000 Ford Mustang - now don't get me wrong here, from a mechanical standpoint the car was brilliant. Aside from two battery replacements and the Ford 3.8L oil breathing problem, it ran perfectly for the entire 5 years that we owned it. The problem was that I had to sell it, and I weep every time I think about how quickly did the resale value plummet and how much it cost me in the end.

TurboBrick

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1986 Pontiac Grand Am. I needed a basic transportation, and as a college kid, I didn't have a lot to spend. The car seemed like a good deal because it had low mileage for its age. I paid $2,800 for it and probably spent twice as much to keep that shitbox running.

Within the first month, the heater core exploded and flooded the passenger footwell. The oil pan developed a good size leak. Within two years the tranny went out.

BMRFILE

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I bought a 1957 Berkeley with a seized engine. I told myself that I was going to restore it and I worked on it steady for about two months, but problem after problem appeared and I finally gave up hope. For another year, my English patient just sat in the garage, silently poking fun at my procrastination, mechanical ineptitude and weak will. Eventually I couldn't take it any more. I traded it for an Xbox and $400. Now it's somebody else's two stroke nightmare.

Andrewpetty

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> These are the threads where being a British car fan finally pays off.

Objectively, my '77 XJ6L is the dumbest purchase I've ever made of something with wheels.

- Twin SU carbs
- Lucas electronics
- Leyland materials and cost cutting brilliance
- The finest of British 1970s union workmanship

All that said, I love the giant cat to death. And even the most recent failures (all four mufflers, the right front suspension, the steering pump -- all in the space of two weeks) I can't give it up.

Which is why I see a therapist every Sunday evening.

b.borrman

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 2005 CTS V. Bought it in October of 07, with 908 miles. My first car payment ever. It currently has 5000 miles. Radiator leaks worse than and excited puppy. Howling rear, sunroof quit, accelerator pedal replaced due to a "Reduced Engine power" message. I've never sidestepped the clutch or smoked the tires, but they're all bald. It stumbles randomly unless it's on a tow truck. But those 3 times it was running right were a hoot! I love this car!

Macgyver

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> Back Story: One must realize that my Grandfather is the kind of person that'll give you the shirt off his back if he thinks you need it, whether you want it or not.

With that said, my only real regretfull cars were ones either purchased by, or split 50/50 with Grandpa.

First one, 50/50 split on an 86 Dodge Aries, Automatic 2.5L, 4 door. Bouth at auction, old Washington State Gambling Board fleet vehicle, still had old pull tabs under the seats. We had been at the auction all day and nothing was going for any ammount we wanted to pay, and this was one of the last cars that we would have been ok with if it was cheap. Well, Grandpa got excited and kept bidding, up to $1800 (in ~1999.) I really didn't want to put out the $900 share, but I was stuck. Now, this was my 3rd "K" car. The previous 2 were 2.2's, one got wrecked (parked, hit buy a guy having a seizure) and the other had leaky heater core then over-heated, then engine swap from wrecked one, then tranny went out. For the most part they were decent transportation so I was ok with the Aries. Now, with my old 2.2's I could get 'em up to an estimated 115MPH, the speedo stopped at 70, so I figured the 2.5 would be better. Boy, was I wrong. Little did I know it leaked oil, so a few weeks in to driving it I'm getting on the freeway, on-ramp is an uphill tight curve, towards the end, at the upper end of 2nd I see the oil light come on, I let off the gas, too late. I hear a faint clicking that quickly turns in to a clanking, then a full fledge clunking. Spun bearing. Luckly we knew a guy that had a wreck 2.5 witting around his shop, put that in for $600 (could have been some other family bartering that I didn't know about as well.) That worked for about a month, same thing happens on the same on-ramp.

I think Grandpa felt bad about that or something, he calls one day and asks if I want to look at a car he found. At that point I think I had an 84 Accord and an 84 CRX, so I don't think I was in a huge car bind, but sure, I'll look. He probably thought I was in a "Family Starting" mode and I need a family car because he had found an 89 Mercury Sable Wagon that he decided I needed, so he bought it. 3.8 V6, it got going pretty decent, untill it didn't. Radiator went out pretty quick, leaky plastic on the top (plastic sides holding hot water in a radiator, thanks Ford.) Fixed that, then head gasket went. We also figured out later that it had been in a wreck and visually patched up.

I mean, I've had odd and crappy cars, but were decent in their own way, 80 gas automatic rabbit pick up, 70-something VW Bug Autostick, 89 Olds Cutlass Sierra (3.3V6, quite peppy really, and comfy) and a 2001 Kia Rio, all pretty crappy in their own ways, but Granpa seems to just have a knack for finding the real bad ones.

On the other hand, some may say the 91 Trans Am GTA that I bought and had within a year, issues with vaccume leak, water pump, transmission twice (bad re-build, they never fixed the actual problem), ingnition module, back hatch latch, head liner, pop up head light, and EGR would be a bad car, but damn it was fun.

matguyy

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1998 Dodge Durango
Bought it from my now fiancee, she bought it and then realized she couldn't afford to drive it, so it sat for a year. At the time I wanted a big 4x4, and the D fit the job nicely. Well, the first thing I had to replace was all the tires due to dry rot. Not that big of a deal, considering the price I paid for it. After a few months of driving I noticed some strange noises in the front suspension... That's when I found out that all 4 ball joints were within mere minutes of failing. Ended up replacing 4 ball joints, two tie-rods, and a front wheel bearing assembly. I guess sitting rotted the seals on the ball joints then the road salt did the rest. After that there were a cascade of engine and tranny issues. I got the tranny flushed and refilled and while it was shifting properly I unloaded it at a pretty big loss. I'll never buy a car that has been "in storage" ever again.


ganzhimself

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1980 Triumph TR7 Spider convertible. Such a beautiful car for the 15% of the time it actually ran. I was a dumb kid who thought it would be a great project car.
The best was when the mechanic showed me the pinhole in the fuel line up under the hood and said, that's probably what caused the engine fire that happened and melted the wires.
Fire?!?!! The previous owner never mentioned anything about a fire (Oh, imagine that.)
The silver lining is that owning that car taught me that I'm not all that good with wrenching on a car. There'll be no basket cases in my future, if I can help it.




SundaySunday

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> '82 Pontiac J2000. Actually the car wasn't dumb - I was - for buying the POS.

Oldcarguy

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> I have had not 1 but 2 Ford Probes. A 91 GL (slow) and a 95 GT (fast but unreliable).

rawtoast

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> @Atlien: Hey now; I had a '72 VW Fox, and thought that was a right handsome car. I could use a lot of adjectives to describe it, but ugly wouldn't be one of them.

thunder

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> $800 fiat, i win.

Larry Forney

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 84 toyota van. it was a $150 car that wasn't running when i bought it. i tried to fix it up and it would be nice for a period of time but whenever i let my guard down it would screw me in the most vicious way possible.
the worst part was when i drove it over the border from vermont to canada, there was a big phish concert happening nearby and they lumped my toyota in with all the vw vans around and i got sent into secondary inspection at the border, looking for weed or mushrooms or something. i was there for over an hour. i was so incensed they thought i was coming from a phish concert.

harumph

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> This was actually a 2003 Honda Accord that my wife bought factory new. Within a week she was telling me that here was a thump in the steering. I told her that she was imagining things, this was a brand new Honda. Until I drove it and sure enough there was a pulsing going through the steering arm. I checked to see if the air pressures were off in the tires.

Surely, there couldn't be anything wrong with a brand new Accord!

Tires were OK but the pulsating kept on going. I took it to the dealer and had them check it out. There was a leak in the rack and pinion steering gear. Parts were ordered, days went by, No parts available! Parts on backorder in the States and Japan. Took the dealer seven days to fix. They had to take the rack and pinion from another Accord to get ours up and running.

Dollarbill4

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> It'd have to be the Plymouth minivan the wife drives now. We bought it the day we left to pick up our kids from a camp 1600 miles away. We had a Ford Aerostar that had some front end problems and was in the shop, but the mechanic needed a part that he couldn't get for three days. We were planning on replacing the Aerostar, so we figured we'd step up those plans a bit. What a stupid, stupid thing to do.

We went to a dealership and drove several that they had on the lot. The Voyager had about 80k on the clock and was in pretty decent shape. It had a little rust on one of the rocker panels, but it didn't look too bad; we paid for it with a Visa (later covered by a regular auto loan), drove it home, packed for the trip and hit the road. And things went great, except I noticed that it started to pull to the right a little bit on the return trip. Hmmm.

Well, that little bit of rust I thought I could fix easily enough turned out to be from a slightly buckled rocker panel, which was only one of the evidences that the thing had been driven through a ditch and hit some low obstacles at some point, suffering some serious underbody damage. In the five years since we bought the thing, I've replaced most every suspension part on the front left side of the vehicle, and it still pulls to the right. To top it off, the left strut tower is nearly rusted out; I'm afraid the thing is going to come shooting out the hood every time it hits a bump.

The good news with it is that the engine & tranny are strong; I've only done regular maintenance on them and it runs great (knock on wood.) I'm already shopping around for a replacement for it, hoping to have something more roadworthy before summer. I was hoping for a G8 Wagon, but that dream has been shattered.

thunder

]]> <![CDATA[What's the Dumbest Car You've Actually Purchased?]]> 1974 Mercedes Benz 240D. I should have known better than to buy a NY car. We drove up from Baltimore to pick it up, and drove it back. The alternator quit on the way back, but it was a diesel, so we just never shut it off and it made it back. The clutch slave cylinder froze- twice. The rear brake caliper was seized to the rotor. The body actually looked good...but then there was the frame. Or rather, there wasn't one. There were rust holes in the frame behind the rear wheels, over the rear wheels, under the passenger compartment, under the radiator...and the best, the entire right front inner fender and shock tower had completely separated from the rest of the car. I found this out when diagnosing a weird clunking sound on the drive back from Raleigh, NC to Baltimore one night. The car was literally about to fall into several pieces.

It seems anticlimactic to mention, but the seat foam had completely disintegrated, too, which meant sitting on springs with a thin layer of MB-Tex between them and your jeans. But, at least the car got 30mpg, and I sold it for what the eBay auction had ended for. But before I could deliver the car after selling it, the transmission front bearing froze, the clutch support cracked off, and the starter motor ate itself up when the engine started but the gears remained engaged with the flywheel. So I had to fix all _that_, too. 6 months of ownership and I still curse the P/O who listed it on eBay.

mechimike

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