Author Topic: The Best/Worst Vehicles You've Owned (Read 1983 times)

CanuckG35 · « **on:** October 29, 2011, 05:53:22 pm »

Speaking strictly from a reliability point of view, what have been the best and worst cars you've owned?

For me.....

Best

1986 Toyota MR2. Had it for 13 years and did NOTHING outside of regular maintenance.
2003 Infiniti G35. Went through one set of rear brakes, which was a known issue and was covered under warranty. No issues outside of that.
2007 Infiniti G35. Zero issues and completely bulletproof.
2005 Honda S2000. No issues whatsoever so far since I purchased it in 2009.

Worst

1986 Ford Mustang. 3 engine rebuilds......worst lemon ever.
1998 Volks Jetta Wolfsburg. Was so excited when I purchased this car....the excitement didn't last long as it spend just as much time at the dealer as it did in my driveway.

My 2011 Edge has had some issues after one year, but not serious enough to put it into the worst category........for now.

Jaeger · « **Reply #1 on:** October 29, 2011, 06:07:35 pm »

These two a REAL easy choices for me. With one exception, all of my vehicles have been pretty darned reliable - a couple Civics, Accord, 240SX, couple Altimas and so far with the Sonata.

But my 2001 Maxima was just ridiculously good. 7 years of ownership, and the total number of things that broke, stopped working, malfunctioned or otherwise required a dealer visit for a warranty or non-warranty repair..... ZERO. Stuff that wears out wore out - tires, brake pads, wipers. But not a single thing ever went wrong. Not even a rattle or a squeek. Got real good money for it when I traded it in as well. My '07 Altima came close - apart from some TPMS valves that decided to fail one-by-one. But I only had that for 4 years.

The worst is also easy - that one exception - '87 Chrysler Lebaron Turbo Coupe. It is the only vehicle that I ever purchased an extended warranty on and I am amazed Chrysler didn't go broke fixing that one car alone. Some components were replaced 3 or 4 times. It broke down with great regularity and went through batteries at an absurd rate. It stranded me SEVERAL times - got the most out of my CAA membership, that's for sure. It replaced an '83 Civic which I passed on to my sister - who drove it trouble-free for another 5 years. I envied her that old Civic. When it came time trade in the LeBaron, I had a hard time getting any money for it at all - even though the mileage wasn't that high (you don't rack up a bunch of miles with your car constantly in the shop) and the body was in great shape. I came to loathe that car. If there is an automotive hell, I feel certain it is roasting there right now.

Jaeger

airbalancer · « **Reply #2 on:** October 29, 2011, 06:50:39 pm »

a lot of good cars and truck but the worst has to be the BMW, never know how many sensor lights will
be on when you start it up

Scarecrow · « **Reply #3 on:** October 29, 2011, 07:07:46 pm »

Best (ordinary) car is my 1999 Miata. Completely reliable and tons of fun. I've owned it for 12 years and enjoy driving it as much as I ever did.

Worst car was my 1985 Ford Tempo. Bought it second hand, fresh out of university. Car loan cost $150/month. Repairs ended up costing another $400/month. Couldn't get rid of that sh*tbox fast enough. Had to stop the bleeding. Bought a 1991 Civic hatchback immediately after the Tempo; it was a great little car.

But my best car of all time has to be my 427 Cobra. It's been my dream car since I was a kid. I used to wonder whether the Cobra could ever live up to a lifetime of fantasizing about it. Fear not: it does!

dr_spock · « **Reply #4 on:** October 29, 2011, 07:38:54 pm »

Worst would be a 1988 Nissan Sentra. Left me stranded in Coburg during a road trip. Auto transmission was repaired a few times under warranty. ECU died from contact with salted snow slushy water--under the passenger seat was a bad place for the ECU. But I did learn a lot about DIY car repair with it.

Snowman · « **Reply #5 on:** October 29, 2011, 08:14:39 pm »

Worst Vehicle: 1999 GMC Jimmy. Transmission, brakes every 20k, rear differential, oil cooler lines, memory seat controls, numerous rattles, and brutal handling. This is the vehicle that sent me to Japan and a 2002 Toyota Highlander after 3 years of ownership.

Best Vehicle: 2004 Honda S2000. No explanation required.

johngenx · « **Reply #6 on:** October 29, 2011, 08:51:51 pm »

Worst by a large margin was our 1990 Acura. The car was literally done for at 140,000km. It was a complete piece of crap. Second worst was the 1998 Mercedes E-Class diesel. Loved driving it, but reliability was poor.

Railton · « **Reply #7 on:** October 29, 2011, 09:12:09 pm »

Worst car? Easily the 300zx Turbo 2+2 I owned. Only car I ever purchased an extended warranty for and thank god for that. Electronic shocks with motors on them changing the dampening -try $800 a piece to replace in late 80's dollars. It burnt I think, 3 alternators at $800 a piece as well. Various other stuff. Left me stranded a couple of times. It developed a crazy cooling system vapour lock. Just crazy

. In the end I had about $8K charged to the warranty.
The RX-8 left me stranded a couple of times with motor issues after 6 years of ownership. Only car I ever had to have a motor replaced on. let alone two of them. In the end didn't trust it.

Best? I had 15 years of Talons that were pretty much bullet-proof.
I'm hoping the G37 is going to be so as well.
Railton

mmret · « **Reply #8 on:** October 29, 2011, 09:25:07 pm »

Keeping in mind the very small sample...

Good:
TSX: Only thing I have a large enough sample set for good reliability would be the TSX, which in 4.5 years and 90k has had a power window switched replaced and a bunch of rattles (still one annoying one I haven't pinned down) but nothing else. So I guess that is the best one. The oily bits show no sign of issues.

Civic: Only had it for 33k, but literally only issue was an intermittent rattle in the door somewhere.

Bad:
Grand Am: Worst is the Grand Am. 70k on it, AC died, it ran on 3 cylinders, and the transmission slammed the 1-2 shift regularly. Sucked up about 14L/100km, which sounds damn high for a 2.2L (or 2.4? dont remember) econobox.

Z4: So far the BMW hasn't been stellar. HVA knock (admittedly a known issue), and worn bushings (another known issue). Alignment trouble I blame on the shop, not the car. Rattles like a mofo too. On occasion the ambient light sensor goes wrong and doesn't turn the lights on or off properly. But overall it hasn't been as bad as the GrandMa. I may re-rate it when the electric roof motor dies.

Purgatory:
GLK: Only 5k on it. Had one deformed piece of plastic trim replaced. *shrug*

articsteve · « **Reply #9 on:** October 29, 2011, 09:30:18 pm »

Worst Vehicle: 1999 GMC Jimmy

Very dangerous unit and there were many of them once upon a time. Pure junk.

Sir Osis of Liver · « **Reply #10 on:** October 29, 2011, 11:10:56 pm »

Bad:
1990 Eagle Premier ES. Only ended up keeping it 6 months. Nice car when it worked, which wasn't often.
1992 Jeep YJ. Rust issues started almost the day I took delivery inspite of rust proofing.

Good:
Pretty much everything else.
1968 Buick Wildcat hardtop. Really well built but eventually succumbed to the rusties. Not worth enough to restore
1984 Ford Range ~300k with only maintenance and the occasional exhaust system
1986 Toyota 1-tonne, bought used but eventually racked up another 300k or so, but corrosion was a perpetual issue
1986 Ford F150 4x4, used for work. Heavily abused, but kept on trucking until the next owner let it get swamped when the tide came in, then blew the engine up
1992 Escort GT, trouble free until corrosion set into the rear quarter panels 10 years later
1993 Tercel, same as Escort
1995 Corolla Wagon, same as Escort
2005 Vibe completely trouble free
2008 Outback 2.5i Touring completely trouble free
2011 Outback 3.6R Limited so far so good.

Loudpedal · « **Reply #11 on:** October 29, 2011, 11:54:57 pm »

Best (and it's a coin toss):
2002 Honda Odyssey, drove it to 155K (when it was hit by another vehicle and written off). Reliable, tight, best all around rig we've owned.
2001 Infiniti G20t drove it till ~130'ish K, (when it was hit by another vehicle and written off). Fun, economical, perfect sized, albeit with a shitty turning radius.

Worst:
1990 VW Golf. Sensors, starters, bulbs, middle mufflers, rear mufflers...the list goes on. After owning this car my wife and I said we'd never own another VW again. And to think this was purchased instead of a Honda Civic hatchback...

Lots of cars fill up the middle ranks, but these are the top and bottom standouts.

airbalancer · « **Reply #12 on:** October 30, 2011, 08:35:33 am »

Quote from: mmret on October 29, 2011, 09:25:07 pm

Keeping in mind the very small sample...

Good:
TSX: Only thing I have a large enough sample set for good reliability would be the TSX, which in 4.5 years and 90k has had a power window switched replaced and a bunch of rattles (still one annoying one I haven't pinned down) but nothing else. So I guess that is the best one. The oily bits show no sign of issues.

Civic: Only had it for 33k, but literally only issue was an intermittent rattle in the door somewhere.

Bad:
Grand Am: Worst is the Grand Am. 70k on it, AC died, it ran on 3 cylinders, and the transmission slammed the 1-2 shift regularly. Sucked up about 14L/100km, which sounds damn high for a 2.2L (or 2.4? dont remember) econobox.

Z4: So far the BMW hasn't been stellar. HVA knock (admittedly a known issue), and worn bushings (another known issue). Alignment trouble I blame on the shop, not the car. Rattles like a mofo too. On occasion the ambient light sensor goes wrong and doesn't turn the lights on or off properly. But overall it hasn't been as bad as the GrandMa. I may re-rate it when the electric roof motor dies.

Purgatory:
GLK: Only 5k on it. Had one deformed piece of plastic trim replaced. *shrug*

I hope the roof dies under warranty only, ours died twice , luckily under warranty, it was over a couple grand each time

Allen · « **Reply #13 on:** October 30, 2011, 08:47:43 am »

Best 1983 Nissan 280 ZX, 2005 Accura TL, zero problems with both

Worst 1998 Ford Contour tranny at 40,000KM, 1995 Dodge Caravan, tranny went twice and AC needed to be fixed every spring

mmret · « **Reply #14 on:** October 30, 2011, 09:56:59 am »

Quote from: airbalancer on October 30, 2011, 08:35:33 am

Quote from: mmret on October 29, 2011, 09:25:07 pm
Keeping in mind the very small sample...

Good:
TSX: Only thing I have a large enough sample set for good reliability would be the TSX, which in 4.5 years and 90k has had a power window switched replaced and a bunch of rattles (still one annoying one I haven't pinned down) but nothing else. So I guess that is the best one. The oily bits show no sign of issues.

Civic: Only had it for 33k, but literally only issue was an intermittent rattle in the door somewhere.

Bad:
Grand Am: Worst is the Grand Am. 70k on it, AC died, it ran on 3 cylinders, and the transmission slammed the 1-2 shift regularly. Sucked up about 14L/100km, which sounds damn high for a 2.2L (or 2.4? dont remember) econobox.

Z4: So far the BMW hasn't been stellar. HVA knock (admittedly a known issue), and worn bushings (another known issue). Alignment trouble I blame on the shop, not the car. Rattles like a mofo too. On occasion the ambient light sensor goes wrong and doesn't turn the lights on or off properly. But overall it hasn't been as bad as the GrandMa. I may re-rate it when the electric roof motor dies.

Purgatory:
GLK: Only 5k on it. Had one deformed piece of plastic trim replaced. *shrug*
I hope the roof dies under warranty only, ours died twice , luckily under warranty, it was over a couple grand each time

Warranty gone already.

safristi · « **Reply #15 on:** October 30, 2011, 12:55:45 pm »

"Best & Worst?" one and the same ................my first car.............a Standard 10.............got it third year University....(sold BOOKS

!!!) and used Gov Grant plus Dad's 50 quid to buy it for 100pounds...thats 7stones to you Pot heads!!!

......

thing hadn't had the oil changes since NEW and imploded.....worked out a deal with a one owner garage to work for repairs........best of times...learned a semi mechanics trade and drank lots of suds while watching prawn after hours....all the time getting A's at Science.....

the gear lever had a 2 foot spread between 1st and third...but "racing" aboot Edinburgh vs buddies Morris Minor and embarassing keep up attempts with a buds Lotus Elise kept the buzz going.

weekends were spent trying to get an "EDGE" on equally underpowered sh*t boxes.....25HP !!!! maybe..............and laughing all the hours long....................can't beat that even in the light of
"things were better then..rose coloured glasses point of view".....

initial_D · « **Reply #16 on:** October 30, 2011, 01:30:37 pm »

Worst Car: 1987 Fiero GT with T-Tops. First expensive car purchase, bought used in 1988 for $15,000. The T-roof would leak in the rain, engine floods in semi-cold weather, instrument panels working 80% of the time, ... speedo would stop at random, other gauges have a mind of their own ... got rid of it after 1 year of ownership.

Best Cars: BMW E30s,
#1: '84, bought after the Fiero, put over 300,000Km on it, went to the West Coast a few times a year. Eevn with only a modest 100HP, it was fun to drive. Went to Northern Sask to work in the middle of winter, and the snow tires and weights in the trunk put the car thru a lot snow survived a few bad winters. Sold to a friend 2 years ago, and it is still on the road.

#2: '90 IX, can go anywhere as long there is sufficient ground clearance. Simple to drive fast on loose surfaces, just point and shoot. Drive it a bit less nowadys.

bridgecity · « **Reply #17 on:** October 30, 2011, 02:59:01 pm »

Best: 1991 Honda Prelude S. Absolutely stellar car, and fun to drive. After 230K, only issue was the alternator that died after 200K. Replaced the brushes in it for a few dollars, literally, and it was good until I sold it.

Worst: 1979 Mercury Capri. Complete piece of crap, but it was my first car and about 13 years old when I got it. My dad and I rebuilt the inline 6 (waste of money, but I learned a lot), and one set of rings never did seat. I had to pull the plug on that cylinder once a week to clean the oil of it once it started miss firing.

johngenx · « **Reply #18 on:** October 30, 2011, 03:09:10 pm »

I forgot my best:

#1 best built car I owned was a 1990 Mercedes 190E 2.6. I thought this car would be a nightmare when I bought it, as the six was so crammed in, I feared working on it. 510,000km and it finally got donated to the Kidney Foundation thanks to the suspension all finally giving out. Everything on the car was original, including the engine, trans, final drive, shocks, springs, and so on. The interior was perfect and the body was rust free except for a minor spot where I had a bad door ding. The A/C still blew cold. For "major" repairs, the car had had an alternator rebuilt (you could rebuild them!) and a thermostat. That's about it! The body was solid and NOT ONE squeak or creak in over a half million kms.

#2. Would probably be our current 2001 Subaru Forester. 300K and the engine uses not a drop of oil, the trans shifts like new, everything except the clock works perfectly (I'm too lazy to fix that) and mechanically, it's been very solid. Thanks to being very rough on it, it's had some bits replaced, but considering the abuse, it's been way more solid than I expected. Two front struts and both front axles, a blower motor, a starter motor, and the other day I replaced the power steering pump ($69 for a rebuilt unit!!) and otherwise, just routine service. One of the front axles I damaged while on a so-called "road" a few winters back in B.C. that also scraped the crap out of the underside, but no damage past the axle. There is some rust around the left rear wheel well that wouldn't be there had I not ripped the plastic shield off when on another "road" where a broken tree caught the body there. One of the rear struts is weeping a little, but has been doing that for about a year and seems to just stay the same. However, as solid as this thing is mechanically, it rattles enough to drown out the radio.

Weexy · « **Reply #19 on:** October 30, 2011, 04:17:04 pm »

Worst was the first. 1982 Ford Escort - the very essence of POS. So many problems I can't remember them all. Best problem was it completely conking out randomly when you were driving - would just completely die and just as suddenly come back to life. That eventually got fixed, but later came the brake problems, power steering, and tranny blowing up. What sucked even worse back then was a buddy had a similar Mercury Lynx that got pummelled on a daily basis & was unbreakable.
Dumped mine after 6 months or so and into an 83 Mustang that was slightly more reliable. Persistent tranny problems there too but kept that one for a bit over 3 years.

Other than those two, which were bought on the cheap when I had no $$,,, i've never had a real dog of a car.

Best car, at least my favourite to date was the 04 TSX. Love the current S60 too, but haven't had it long enough yet to see if it will end up being my best/favourite

Oh ya, the 98 Maxima I had was less than stellar on the reliability front - was at the dealer a lot, but for fairly minor problems. That 3.0 litre engine was an absolute thing of beauty though..