These Are The Least Memorable Cars You've Ever Owned
Sometimes base models don't come with bonus character.
Look, not every car is a winner. But out of those that aren't, they aren't all losers either. There's always a middle ground, a gray area: Cars that are just forgettable. Yesterday, we asked for the most forgettable cars to ever join your stable, and today we're walking through your answers. Let's see what you said.
Home on the Ranger
1998 Ford Ranger. It came in between my '91 Corvette and my '63 Corvair. It was a bare-bones Ranger with the 4-cylinder and a 5-speed. It looked like it had been used as a landscaper's work truck before I got it – when I removed the bedliner I found about three inches of packed down dirt in the bed. It was actually a really fun truck to drive, but it was also a little too boring for my taste. I really only got it because my timing for selling the Corvette was terrible nobody would bite, so I managed to engineer a trade for something more marketable, which – believe it or not – this Ranger fit perfectly. Was able to clean it up and sell it not too long after and begin my ill-thought-out Corvair adventure.
See, at least this was a good era for pickups. The pre-cancellation Ranger was the ideal pickup truck size, and we should return to such constrained proportions.
Acura Integurl
This is probably sacrilege. But, a 1991 Acura Integra sedan. With the automatic. I bought it because I was in a pinch and needed a car. It was great at being a car, mind you. But, it was truly boring with the automatic. Even with the "sportmatic" or whatever they called it where you could push a button to go from fourth to third or keep it in gear. I don't remember a thing about it other than the time I did a complete 360 while driving it in the snow and the guy in the other lane ahead of me gave me a celebratory 'toot-toot' for keeping it on the road.
I feel like this is a good example of how people's memory of the Integra is massively different from the Integra's reality. Most of them were perfectly competent sedans. They weren't all Types R.
Tempo-rary
his fucking guy.....2.3 NA, 3 speed auto...mega Meh!
What if you just said it's not like the others? What if you said it's not just another one of your plays?
Gotta Jett-a
1992 VW Jetta GL. What a turd that turned out to be.
See, the problem is that you forgot a letter. You needed the GLI, not the GL, to make things truly memorable.
Cheers, Love, The Cavalry’s Here
My fourth car, a teal 1998 Mercury Tracer. the one pictured ain't mine but it may as well be. Weirdly it was also maybe the best car I owned. Lowest mileage at 130k, least rusty, had the best condition interior and the only problem I had in there was bad stereo wiring but with one or two Fonzie whacks on the side of the console it would come thru all speakers just fine. I had it for four years until a blown head gasket cracked the engine block, until then the only mechanical failure was the alternator.
But I couldn't tell you a single thing about what that dash looked like, or the center console, or the seats and doors, or the engine, or anything really except that it was teal. It had a trunk, sometimes I put stuff in it. All I can remember about the driving dynamics is that it drove. Also, parts were cheap. Honestly even my current beater Prius has more character (can't lie though it would be better if it were 90s teal).
Hopefully the Tracer at least helped you trace a path towards a better car. That was bad, I know
I Dream of Evo
I can't remember!
No, I take that back, I do vaguely remember owning a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer. I think it was white and a former rental car. It drove places, ran on gasoline, and even had a stereo and A/C. Other than those few basic facts you could find on Wikipedia, I can't recall a single thing that stood out about it. What's worse is it wasn't even the poor man's EVO "OZ Rally Edition", so hubcaps and an unadorned trunk lid is all I got.
It's always a little disappointing to buy a car that looks like the top performance trim, without actually being the top performance trim.
Oh Like the Film Festival
Car itself wasn't very memorable, its problems from its earlier abuse, neglect, and deferred maintenance as well as its ending were memorable though. My very first car a 1987 Plymouth Sundance coupe, white, burgundy interior, 3 speed auto, hatch struts didn't work, but it did have alloys at least (tires were the wrong size but it had alloys damn it).
The car itself just didn't make any strong memories, but the problems it had and its demise made memories. Like when it dumped all the brake fluid one dayand I slid to a stop on the shoulder just shy of the intersection with the foot operated e-brake and then limped it to the parts store with the e-brake. The headliner was ratty and sagged like crazy so just cut it off. The headlights were aimed wrong and due to housing damage couldn't correct. It ran and got me from A to B and as a desperate teen take what you can get/afford.
It was valiant in its demise, as a Plymouth should be. On the way to my junior year final exams a senior decided to have too much fun with their brand new graduation present. They rammed into the back of the shitty little Sundance hard, my cassette left the player and migrated to the back seat, my neck snapped hard and I hit the brakes (working at that point) to not hit the car I had been accelerated towards. I limped it to the shoulder as not sure how bad damage was, looked back as the steam was clearing and saw the freshly demolished new car, front end was obliterated, airbags had gone off, and they were climbing out to yell at me that I wrecked their car... right... My bumper was at a 90 degree angle, the engine was smoking a bit, but I was able to drive it away and avoid a towing fee, went to my final and was late but a receipt for a police report was accepted as a good excuse, did great on my finals, felt fine until the adrenaline wore off, then the whiplash hit. Made it through the day, headed home, car was running worse but running so got home. I limped it to a shop next morning, the diagnosis was fatal, block had cracked in the accident (again, it had a really rough life before me), which was surprising as I didn't expect that after a rear-end collision, alas it went off to the scrap yard where it had long belonged and I didn't think about it nor lament its passing.
I took zero pictures of that car, it inspired no enthusiasm, all I have left is the basic description and the multitude of problems and incidents it had for memories.
I know you tried to hide that Valiant pun in there. It didn't work. I'm pointing it out to all the readers, it's not hidden any more.
It’s No DJ Shadow
1988 Dodge Shadow. It was... fine? 3spd auto mated to the 2.2 meant that it usually moved you from point A to point B. And that was about it. Had the AM/FM radio with no tape deck. Coupled with two classic rock stations in my hometown leading to a deep hatred of Led Zepplin is about the most exciting thing I can say about it.
I often forget I even owned the thing. It was my 2nd car, but looking back it did force me to learn a lot about car maintenance. I was too broke for pay someone to fix things for me, but had just enough money to buy parts, so yay?
My next vehicle was a 1988 Mitsubishi Mighty Max with extended cab. I freaking loved that truck.
Shadow is a hard name to live up to. It's just not for everyone. Also, fun fact: When arranging these slides, I didn't know the Sundance and Shadow were the same car. Them being next to each other is a complete coincidence.
Unfocused
Ford Focus. It was an automatic SE Wagon, but that didn't stop it from being completely forgettable. I had just come out of a '92 Saab 900 Turbo 16v, and it was a night and day difference. It was cheap transportation when that's all I needed out of a car. I don't even have a picture of it, and even back in 2012 when I had it, I took random pictures of my cars just because. Got rid of it and replaced it with a '93 Benz 400E just to feel something again.
Wagons are great, but they aren't necessarily always memorable. They're workhorses, meant to carry the most stuff in the smallest exterior footprint.
S10, Not S-Tier
I have to nominate my 1994 S10 pickup truck. Unlike the older S10's with the sharp boxy styling, this one looked like a melted candy bar. Despite having less than 100k, it already had a floppy seat which was monumentally uncomfortable. Everything worked in the truck, but all working in a weak, mediocre way. When you pressed any of the buttons, you got a mushy squish. Everything was like that- plasticky and mushy. The V6 engine sounded horrible, made little power and only got maybe 18mpg. So the entire experience was dread and boredom. On top of that it seemed like most GM cars of that era had an unpleasant smell.
I had a '92 Ford Ranger with the base 4cyl and 5sp trans, and that truck, by contrast, was a great truck. The engine rev'ed nicely and the truck drove really well. It was slow but it felt fast. The interior was spartan with no headliner or floor carpet; no AC or power window. But somehow it looked and felt purposeful and not cheap.
Speaking of reliability and practicality over memorability, we have the S10. It's possibly the perfect truck, and possibly the least memorable for it.
Boring Practicality
In 2006, I decided I should be a bit more responsible and sold my 2001 Mustang GT convertible for something more sensible and economical. I ended up getting a new 2006 Fusion SE with the Sport Appearance Pkg. 2.3L 4cyl with a 5spd manual transmission. It handled well and got great gas mileage on my commute to/from work. It was super reliable as well, never went back to the dealer for anything wrong with it.
But that was it. With photography being one of my other passions (along with cars), I take tons of photos of my cars. I only took two photos of this car in the 2 years I owned it. About 2 years, I sold it to a friend who had it for many many trouble free years and I went back to a Mustang GT convertible.
One of the two pics I have of the car.
You know a car truly tugs at exactly zero of your heartstrings when you, a photographer, never photograph it. It's sad.
An Car Indeed
Easy one for me – 2005 Ford Escape. It wasn't necessarily bad and I got it new as a company car, it just...was...
It was the only car I ever owned that left no impression and I felt nothing trading it in after I bought it out. It was decently loaded with leather, V6, 4WD, and class D tow hitch so it was plenty capable but driving it was just... eh...
It was an car. I can picture anyone that bought one new giving so little of a crap about what they drove when asked they responded with the color, then muttering something about 'I think it's a Ford??'
It's fine! It gets you from point A to point B. It hauls things and people. It is An Car.
Not Living Up To The Name
Both the most and least memorable.
Least as a car, as it was a red Cavalier. It was adequate. It was known as the Crapalier.
However, it's time with us came to an end when the police were chasing a stolen, frozen chicken delivery truck the wrong way up the cross street near our house. The truck hit a car in the intersection, which careened into the line of cars parked on our block. The car in front of the Crapalier was driven into it hard enough that the Crapalier was shoved 5 feet backwards into the car behind. Needless to say, it was totaled. And a picture of it was in the local paper.
This all lead to an Outback Sport, which was one of the best cars I've owned.
A Cavalier should be a bit wild, a bit of a thrill. The Chevy Cavalier was just transportation.
Submitted by: emilminty drives an E30 and the Fiero is mostly fixed
A Distinct Lack of Doritos
This is though to answer because some objectively unmemorable cars come with a lot of memories that you make with them – good and bad.
For me it would be my grey-blue 2015 Mazda 3. A fine enough car. Fun to drive, efficient, practical and nicely styled. But still a very predictable, capable, inoffensive, economy car that I owned it at a time in my life when not a whole lot new was happening – I was single in a Civic / CRZ, and married in a Golf, and had our first kid with a Fit. I sold it for a mundane reason (moving into a one-car condo – and we also had a Volvo wagon) and spend most of my time driving it commuting to and from work. Unless I had responded to this QOTD, I probably wouldn't have actively thought about it for months.
That's the secret, Mazda: Put a rotary in everything. It'll be remembered.
Reading This in Marisa Tomei’s Voice
I had a Buick Skylark 4-door. The little X-body, front wheel drive appliance in the late 1980s. I bought the car for cheap when my other car needed repairs, because it was cheaper than a rental. Kept it for about a year. It was the ultimate in bland transportation.
With its optional v-6, it had marginal performance, got mediocre fuel mileage, passable handling and adequate ride comfort. When I finally sold the car, I drove it out to a junkyard where the buyer disposed of his junky old Subaru. He said "This is a nice car. Aren't you going to miss it?" I handed him the keys and replied, "Not in the least."
But did it have positraction?