MG MGB and MGB GT Tech Talk
I don't usually post OT, but I am curious what is the worst car you ever owned. The criteria is completely up to you.
My worst car was a 1980 Audi 5000S. The car was a financial nightmare. I bought it used in 1984, and spent about 1-1/2 time the purchase price over the next 2 years keeping it on the road. It was like a Ponzi Scheme, fix 1 thing and 2 break, fix them then 4 break, then 8....
My 'bought new' '82 Reliant wagon was falling apart after only two years. I dumped it. My 71 AMC Ambassador ate Delco electronics like a shark in a school of pogues.
Hmmm....
Probably my 1995 Plymouth Neon. Number 212 off the assembly line and a piece-o-junk (got 13 mpg from the day I drove it off the lot).
Or my 1984 BMW 316i.
ive only had a chevy celebrity, and an MGB. id say parts/money wise they are even. counting parts/money/fun?
you know where im goin with this...
My mom's 1983 Peugeot 505s with her initials on the side. I took my now-wife on our first date in it. It blew "stuff" out of the A/C. It was horrible.
by the way, this is an amazing question to ask, very entertaining...
Worse car I ever owned, but actually loved...
1993 Mazda Miata. Love the car, but it just kept getting hit or damaged.
1. Two Weeks after purchase - Rear Ended
2. Four Weeks after purchase - Backed in to
3. Two Months - Damage to roof, interior from paint overspray - New Interior/Roof
4. Six Months - Door dented in a parking lot.
5. One year - Attempted theft - Roof and dash destroyed. New Dash / Roof
6. 18 Months - The car was ran over by a jacked up 4x4 while filling it up with gas. Driver never even saw me at the pump. His front wheel was in the drivers seat.
Believe it or not, the market in 94 was so hot for Miatas, I TRADED it for 12K damaged, and kept the repair dollars to by a really great car. 1995 Acura Integra GS-R. A friend of mine now has it. 198K miles. Only has needed Oil, Tires, and Pads.
Absolutely dead on the mark ditto on the Audi 5000S.
Had one, ran great, handled fine, looked good, but was the biggest POS I EVER owned. After that I wouldn't let them in my shop. The parts were flimsy and cost twice what the same part would cost for a Benz. Yada, yada, yada!
Ever wonder why they had to go to a cradle to grave warranty just to sell them?
Jack
Actual worse car - 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
$500 a month in repairs for 6 months straight. Bought a Honda Pilot, have had it for 3 years, and never one single problem.
My MGB-GT though - Still in parts, and spending $500-$1000 per month for the last 3 months. Still in primer on axle jacks...
Jim in Allen
I'll tell ya guys most anything, but sorry, I refuse to admit this one in public. I really can't remember a car we've had that nickel & dimed us to death or was just basically a POS, but I do have one that I'm ashamed to admit I owned.
:D
1986 Honda Accord LXI.
Bought used with 16,000 km on it. At 86,000 km- Tanny Kaput, at approx 90,000km Sunroof would not close (couple hundred dollars for repair) Shortly after that, both drain plugs for the sunroof plugged up.. car filled with an inch of water over night... Paint cracking, chipping, fading, three exhaust systems. Four brake jobs... This was all up to 160,000 km when I gladly ditched it to a kid who thought Honda's were a gift from God.
Paul
The one that gave the most trouble of any is my Jettup. Mostly because of the failure of a rebuilt cylinder head I put on it. It kept causing strange little problems until it finally let go. The next problem it caused surfaced after I'd installed a brand new head and that cost me a set of pistons after I'd driven it a month or so; nothing is cheap on a turbo diesel engine, even a little one. I got so damned mad once I dropped the insurance and just let it sit for 6 months. No car has ever beaten me yet and this one didn't either. I'm now enjoying a little truck that feels like a little car and savoring 50 MPG at 60 to 65 MPH and knocking right on 50 at 70 MPH.
1983 Olds Cutlass Supreme, following the 1983 Olds Cutlass Ciera we swapped for it. Always garaged at night (and about half the time during the day) the paint began to come off after about 2 years. It leaked air around the windows (whistled at highway speeds), had to have carb rebuilt after about 25K when it started dying at idle. The dealer's "best" carb man never could get it fixed quite right, and when we got rid of it, it was beginning to have a groaning noise coming from the area of the tranny every time I gave it the gas. Kept it 3 years, 35K miles, suffered $8K depreciation. These two my first and my last GM vehicles. I know they're better now, but the way the regional rep talked to us at the time, I'd be hard pressed to do business with them again. A really arrogant sob.
jaybird Wrote:
Jack, let me guess - it was silver, right?
Nah, I bet she owned a Pacer!
You have to define "worst". I have had some of the ungodliest rides ever which were just what was needed at the time and made me a bunch of money. Some have been downright needy. Others were underpowered or gas guzzlers, usually not the same cars.
My pic without definition would be a 1959 Plymouth s/w with valves so burned, the backfire was coming out of the carburetor. That allowed me to beat an excessive noise ticket.
Come on Janel, give it up. Repeat after me, "Hi, my name is Janel, and I used to drive a ....................
A close second to the Audi from Hell, was my '76 Chevy Silverado Stepside Pick-up. The day I got it the AC compressor froze and the pully sheared and went flying around under the hood slicing hoses and wires. And about a month later, while closing the hood, the right hinge froze and I ended up with one of those bowed hoods which were some common in the late '70's. It had 3 on the tree, and every week or so I had to crawl under neath and unjam the shift linkage. What a POS..
Nope, you all will have to guess. IF you get it, I'll tell. If not, you'll have to tie me nekkid in a bed of fireants and make me eat mushrooms before I talk.
1985 Mazda 626 coupe (MX6 in the US). Real junk, engine blew up on the way home just after I bought it. Found another engine that was also bad. Threw thousands at it and eventually gave it to a friend who needed a car. He threw a few more thousands at it and then eventually scrapped it.
I'll send you a box of fire ants. Chuck has to do the other stuff! Jack
Why is it that the best body designers and the best engineers can never find a way to work under the same roof? :-) Jack
jaybird Wrote:
Datsun B-210. 4-door. Automatic. Air. Actually, my older sister bought it new and I bought it from her a couple of years later. Shows ya how much I love my sis :D
Janel - you know the diff between nekkid and naked? (Nekkid is when you're naked and up to something)!
No the Cutlass wasn't silver - it was burgundy. And that's another thing - with that color the A/C couldn't keep up with the temp in sunny, hot weather.
I never owned a car I didn't like. But like Jim, I've had a car that had a bullseye painted on. The car was 1987 Jeep Cherokee. I loved that old heap and put many miles on her. The problem was the bullseye. I had this car in the mountains of NC while attending ASU. The problems started early.
1. 2 weeks before going off to school......hit a deer in the middle of RM. Definitely not a place one would be worried about deer crossing the road.
2. Parked on the side of the road, attending classes, police man looking for me to tell me the tandem wheels off the back of a NCDOT dump truck had come off and creamed the rear end of the Jeep. A little cosmic foreshadowing seeing how that's my current employer.
3. Cruising one afternoon on down this dirt road to the Colony Rocks minding my own business when a young man comes fishtailing around a corner and smacks the drivers side a pretty good whack.
4. Cruising down another dirt road to Elk Park Falls when a young man, kissing his girlfriend no doubt, hits me head on doing about 50 mph. I will never forget the look on that guys face when he came up for air just in time to say hello to my front bumper. That one should have done her in but the insurance man says no. 4 months later I get the car back and have to immediately return it for a new front axle. It was never the same and we parted company soon after.
Throw in the numerous cracked windshields thanks to snow plows, big trucks, etc. and that Jeep had one serious history. Replaced her with a new Chrysler made Jeep but it was never the same as the old AMC.
I don't know Jack, but if you figure it out GM would like to know before they file their CH 11 Bankruptcy. Remember when Lee Iacoca testified before Congress that forcing auto makers to install airbags would bankrupt car makers?
Paul,
You do the paint job on that one? That migh go well on the B ;^)
The Wiz Wrote:
Jack,
There is one exactly like this in town here. I have had that on my computer for a while. Why? I don't know, but I am glad I missed that era. :)
1972 Cadilac I got from my parents in '98. It was the nicest riding car I ever had, but it was getting so old that by the time I got it it was developing a lot of problems and the engine compartment was so packed that I couldn't get in to fix anything.
Lonnie
Oooh baby,I have stories about VW microbuses...
:D
alabbasi>>>Mike's from England, he's a transplant here in the states.
jaybird Wrote:
I didn't own a Pacer, didn't know anyone that did actually.
KLUTZ Wrote:
Ahh that would make sense, those cars sold well in the UK during the 80's. My father even considered one once. There was a dealer down the road from me in Ealing that sold both Lada's and Skoda's. It's hard to believe but I think they're still in business.
Skoda makes pretty decent cars now, they got bought by VW and build a pretty nice looking car on a Jetta platform.
JackMG Wrote:
We're having too much fun here, but it's after midnite in SC and I'm going to bed. G'nite all!
'78 Fiat station wagon. Had lug bolts instead of nuts - one wheel came off at mile 62 of the Seward Highway one February. I scavenged a bolt from the other 3 wheels and made it home to Seward. Sure looked odd in the rear view when I saw the right rear wheel and brake drum roll off the road!
'70 something Ford Pinto. There, I've said it. You're next, Janel.
Easy one,
1976 Chevy Monza hatchback in yellow. Looked like and was a lemon.
It is the reason there will NEVER be another Bowtie residing in my yard......
unless a C5 or C6 Vette Convertable comes around for a real good price :)
Paul
My wife had a Dodge Omni. When you turned a corner in it the thing felt like the chassis was buckling and the thing was going to flip.
She refuses to believe there was any problem but it was just as bad as the Plymouth Horizon we got from her father a year later.
The 'worst' car I have owned personally was a SAAB 9000 Turbo which was a great car, only problem was that mine had done 250,000 miles in five years before I bought it.
I tried to buy a 9-5 to replace it, so I drive up to the SAAB showroom in the 9000 and try to find a salesperson interested in selling me one. Not the slightest interest in talking to me let alone selling anything. You would think that a person who steps out of a 5 year old model was the ideal prospect.
After that we drove up to NH in the Omni to the Jaguar dealership where they completely ignored the fact that I looked like I was 20 and drove up a car with a buckled front fender painted in Bondo. We would have taken the SAAB but we really didn't trust it to make it that far.
The first new car I ever owned, 1978 El Camino SS. It was a 305 w/2bbl carb, 4 speed tranny. Didn't have enought power to get out of its own way, rattled like I don't know what, new clutch @17k. Sure did look good though.
A 1967 Rambler American. I actually owned two them. The first one was a great car. I bought it for $100 and it ran great until it was totaled in a chain reaction collision that happened right in front of a junkyard. I got out of the car, walked into the junkyard and signed it over to them. About a month later I saw another one for sale for $200. The guy had service records for it and bills for all the parts that had been replaced. Sounded like another good one but within 6 months I had to replace virtually every part the PO had done. Then one day I hear a constant thump from the left front wheel. I stopped and discovered that I was moments away from throwing the wheel. I never drove it again.
blue64 Wrote:
A 1976 Plymouth Volare....Car rusted out in no time, went thru several starters and other electronic problems.....have not bought a Chrysler product since ! That car was an absolute nightmare and for a guy with a new family.....Did not need that crap from an American car company....That was a real case of planned obselesence.
Worst car for me was a 1984 Pontiac Fiero. Wish I had had the head gasket concession for Pontiac. Fiero owners used to hold up fingers at each other. I finger 1 head gasket, 2 fingers, meant they were on their 2nd head gasket. After a while we stopped waving, because we had to keep at least one hand on the wheel. My only regret is not keeping the seats for a transplant into an MG.
A 1976 Chevrolet Scottsdale half-ton pickup. Plenty of get-up-and-go with the 350, but plagued with carberator problems, starter kept eating the flywheel, hood hinges buckled, creating the hood crease, flimsy tailgate bucked when I loaded a motorcycle, door hinges were total crap, lots of rust, etc, etc...will never own another Chevy or other GM product again. I can't understand understand the strong owner loyalty some people have for GM products after having continously feeding their vehicle(s) replacement parts. I have owned a 6 cylinder Ford for 11 years and have only replaced the alternator at 92K...much better truck; maybe I've been fortunate. The new Nissan Titan might be worth looking into.
Re: Pinto/Mercury Bobcat: I worked in a Burn Unit in Indiana in 1976 when 3 girls from Elkhart were rear ended in a Pinto, causing the fuel tank to explode. The three barely lasted the shift I worked as they were almost 100% burned. Attorney General at the time Theodore Sendak filed suit against Ford for negligent homocide, charging that Ford knew about the design flaw, and could minimize the problem for less than $1.00 per car. The State of Indiana of course lost.
Therefore, I suggest that the Pinto/Bobcat are among the worst cars ever, though I didn't own one.
alabbasi Wrote:
Back in 1978 my girlfriend (now wife) purchased a new 1978 Chevy Malibu. The car was grossly overweight and underpowered. I hated this dog, but never said anything to my wife. 5 years after she purchased the car, I was driving it down the highway and the back wheel and axle separated from the car and I went into a spin and hit the guardrail and ended up in the median.
I was smiling so hard that the State Police thought that I was drunk; I was finally rid of that car.
But the garage that they towed the remains to talked the insurance company into saving this “Classic”. The insurance spent $4300 dollars to save a car worth $5000 and I was stuck with the car for 3 more years.
-bcw
Our worst cars, a '92 Volvo 940 turbo wagon, for a car that was designed in the great white north, it handled like a saucer sled in the snow. Another was a 2000 Audi A5, spent more time on a flat bed than on pavement. We complained for 3 years that it wouldn't start when cold and were told nothing was wrong with it. A month before the lease was up it was recalled for a intake temperature sensor, imagine that.
I'm going to have to chime up though, and say the Pinto / Bobcat were some of the best cars I owned. My brother bought a new '70 pinto, 2 liter 4 speed when he was 18 (never driven hard right?) My dad bought it from him after I totaled our '66 Mustang, so it was driven to work daily and abused by me at night, 4 other brothers / sisters learned to drive on it. Finally gave up the ghost after 140k miles.
My first new car was a 78 Bobcat, ran & handled good (for a 70's vehicle), had it for 80k miles until the firstborn arrived. I don't think I did anything to it except change oil & tune ups.
Luckily I was never rear-ended in it.
1978 (I think) Ford Fairmont station wagon. White woodie.
I can't believe I said that outloud.
~hangs head in shame~
I really hate to admit this but my worst car was a 1971 Vega, not only purchased new but 'ordered'. That car is why I will never read a Motor Trend magazine again! The Vega was Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 1971. At the time I also had a 1967 Rambler American, that car was great! I paid $1000.00 for it, put 150K miles on it and then sold it for $800.00.
Then there was a 69 GT-6+ that shorted out and burned to the ground. And the one that got away, my 1971 MG-B purchased new that the wife took with her when we split up. and on and on .....
bob g
A brand new 1967 Envoy Epic SL90. When I picked this car up from the dealer it didn't even get me the 3 miles to my house.
The furthest it went without leaving me stranded was 250 miles.
I wasn't worried as it was financed thru GMAC and I could always stop paying and they would take it back. After 3 months I stopped payments and found that GMAC had sold all their loans for Envoys to a finance company.
It ended up the dealer gave me all my $$$ back as a good will gesture after the local media got in the act.
Worst car for rust ~ 1960 Fiat 600
Worst handling ~ 1953 Chevy pickup, 1961 Triumph TR-3A
Worst materials ~ 1981 Chevy Citation (watch the plastics rot before your eyes!)
Worst for Maintenance costs ~ 1985 Audi 5000s (better have deep pockets when even minor system components go to hell)
Worst brakes ~ 1961 Pontiac (my first car - they would lock on you without much effort)
Worst gas Mileage ~ 1961 Pontiac
Least enjoyable ~ 1953 Chevy PU (But it looked great! LOL)
I haven't really had any lemons but the worst one I had was a 76' Ford Pinto , the kind that blew up when you got rear-ended . The Pinto was my first car , I didn't want it but my dad said I was buying it so I did , $300 wasn't to bad . I wrecked it a short time afterwards , my dad fixed it but didn't fix the AC and he left it all in primer , three different colors worth , he said he was letting that be a reminder to be more careful , I guess it worked but the vinyl seats sure did get hot.
My best /funnest car had to be my 91' CRX Si , I think I actually loved that car .
OMG - my dad had a 71 Vega too. Green. He autocrossed it for a while, but it was a DAWG. He got one of the first off the assembly line - and he DID warn me about buying an early-off-the-line NEW car before I bought the Neon, but did I listen????
And I was 28 when I bought the neon - WAY old enough to know by then to listen to Daddy.
Janel, at least it wasn't a 1995 Plymouth Voyager minivan...
1973 Ford Bronco. It was known as "THe Trash Can with Wheels". Here's a rare photo of it pictured in the best use I ever made of it - as part of "my house" at the 1976 Watkins Glen Formula 1 race. AL Bradley
Hey Klutz - was that a 1983 Lada Niva or the sedan thing they made? Used to own a Lada Niva - good vehicle but a pain to run wires from the engine bay to the cabin tho.
The unluckest car I have been involved with was a 1986 Toyota Corolla wagon. THe place I worked for bought it Friday and the boss took it home that night. He parked it with a new computer in the back. The car was broken into, the computer was moved from the back to onto the rear seat and the person then stole the spare tyre, the jakc and tyre iron.
Monday morning, the boss is filling in the insurance papers for teh theft and asks me to move the car. I back it out of the driveway. I see movement to my left side (right hand drive car) and turn tigher. I promptly back into the bright yellow post at the edge of teh driveway and break the tail-light.
1. 1969 Ford Cortina. Died completely after 33,000 miles with a completely worn out engine. Pathetic build quality.
2. 1967 VW beetle. The engine blew up one day on the New York State Thruway at 30 below zero since it was air "cooled". Air frozen, I'd say. Fun car but what kind of car can't stand winter?
3. 1971 Fiat 124 Spider. Wonderful car to drive . . . when it decided to run. Exhaust system rusted out in the first year. Engine and water continually mixing due to crappy build quality. Loved the car but it didn't love me back.
English, German, Italian.
But, the all-time totally crappiest piece of absoute JUNK without a doubt was American. A 1966 Ford Maverick. The worst designed piece of garbage ever to come out of Detroit. No power, handled terribly, doors were so wide you could not avoid hitting the car next to you, it wandered all over the road with sloppy steering, sloppy suspension, bench seats would not hold your butt in place, 3 on the tree transmission . . . Utter crap.
2001 Buick parkave. Big POS. Was in for warranty (including new tranny) 8 times in 24,000 miles. Swapped it off for the third Chrysler 300C to hit KC. Dogone good road car but that hemi is hungry. It's 2 years old now, about time to look for something else. We buy a new one every third year.
Jim
A new Olds Omega the first year they came out and it was a lemon from day one :(
KLUTZ Wrote:
Well, Janel, I thought it was really gonna be something really stupendous - a Yugo would've my guess the way you were hiding it. But I guess it was an image thing? Ashamed the the sporty, spunky gal ever owned a station wagon? Well, if it make you feel any better, I bought a new 72 Pinto wagon from my-cousin-the-Ford-guy. Actually I liked it, except the engine (2000cc ohc, grand daddy to the modern Ford 2.3 four which became a very good engine). But the 72 had a carb designed by a Senate subcommittee and chintzy brackets mounting the alt and A/C compressor. And I should NEVER have put radial tires on it - ruined the handling.
JackMG Wrote:
Uh, oh-kaaayyy. I forget, up there near the arctic circle, it does get darker earlier ;^)
1985 Isuzu Trooper II
80,000 miles - new engine
90,000 miles - new head gasket
105,000 miles - new engine
What a POS. The first two I did myself. The third time, I shook my head and let my wife deal with it. It was sold a short time after. (thanks to me!)
To be honest, it really was a nice car, but my wife commuted from Sacramento to Davis every day, and I don't really think it was ever intended to travel above 50 mph or so.
'69 Buick Skylark "Custom." (I never did figure out what was Custom about it -- it looked like any other '69 Skylark....) Not an inherently bad car, but the DPO's 200,000+ miles of neglect didn't do it any favors. I had grand visions of restoring it (you have strange thoughts when you're young), and quickly discovered there was not a fender or door on the car that wasn't an inch thick or more with Bondo. Fortunately the Bondo had plenty of grip thanks to the hundreds of slap-hammer holes in it. I counted more than one hundred in the left quarter panel alone.
Still, I needed a car and at $200, it served a need for a while, and I sold it for $300! ;-)
Berto,
many years back (still lived in Australia at the time) I used to use a 69 Rambler American for Street Stock at the speedway. Nice car but caused me to scrutineered many times as it didnt bend when hit and they thought I was running illegal strenthening bars in it.
It was a bit slow of the line but rev it up and then push the button marked D when the flag dropped and it would scream. I'll have toi find my pictures of it and post them on here one day.
Hilman Imp - the 875 cc engine was unable to start the car on a steep hill.....
Toss up between 1989 Nissan 240SX and a 1992 Cheap Cherokee Sport.
Best cars have been my 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1990 Nissan 300ZX, and 1996 Nissan 300ZX. (I still own the '96.)
All of these vehicles were purchased new by me.
I probably haven't owned nearly as many cars as most people on this board, but my father maintains a stable of between 10-14 cars, some of which I have had the "pleasure" to borrow over the years.
The worst I've actually owned was a 1974 BMW 2002. No AC, burning fuel smoke smell coming into the cabin through the transmission hump(automatic), which gave me constant headaches, made me feel sick and put a taste in my mouth I could never get out. I finally just bought a new 1992 Honda Accord EX which I drove for 13 years. The BMW is still just sitting in my dad's yard. I should part it out.
The biggest POS I borrowed from him has been a 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra notchback. Sounds like it'd be great, right? I never knew if it would start or not, and no one could figure out why it would intermittently just decide not to start. Then a few hours later, maybe it would. Not fun when you're away from home, and it particularly liked to nap when it was raining. It was also so loud I couldn't hear myself think. That car became a constant project.
I just returned it to him last week, and bought a 2001 guards red Porsche Boxster S w/ 20k miles. This is more like it.
I guess for a runner-up I'd say my 1996 Volvo 855. Although it has 145000 miles on it and runs great, they become pretty maintenence intensive and sure aren't MG-cheap to repair. My soon-to-be-ex now has it, and it needs the RMS worked on and the timing belt changed. I have a feeling that's not going to be done. It's actually a great car(underpowered), but since my list is short, I'll put it on there.
lucymay Wrote:
