What's the most unreliable car of all time?

"Jagvar" (Jagvar) 08/27/2013 at 11:17 • Filed to: None

0

17

I mean the absolute worst . As in, they all had problems, and they're virtually (or completely) extinct now. My vote: the Land Rover Freelander. I think Land Rover swept that one under the rug, and would prefer you forget it ever existed.

CKeffer > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:19

3

Anything equipped with Lucas electrics, or graced with this badge:

RMudkips > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:22

0

obviously Yugo...right?

CB > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:22

0

My friend drives a Land Rover Discovery that didn't start in the ran for a long period of time. He got an oil change a while ago, and that seemed to fix it.

dinobot666 > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:23

3

I was going to suggest a Jaguar, but perhaps a "Jagvar" would be more appropriate?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:23

0

this unfortunately:

HammerheadFistpunch > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:24

0

are you talking mainstream or...anything. Because there have been some real turds on the curve fringe. As far as the freelander, don't forget the LR2 is based on the decaying bones of that vehicle, as well as the Evoke.

. . > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:26

0

The Syrena. God Almighty...

pdx107 > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:26

0

Shockingly a co-worker of mine had one of those and really didn't have any glaring issues with it in the 5 years he had it

Jagvar > CKeffer 08/27/2013 at 11:27

0

Remember the Arna? It had sleek, sexy lines of a Japanese hatchback with all reliability of a quality Italian Flat-4 engine. Someone better have gotten fired for that one.

Jagvar > dinobot666 08/27/2013 at 11:29

1

I'm pretty reliable, actually.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:31

0

1) Oldsmobile cutlass diesels. That was NOT a diesel motor, GM! That's why all of them had critical engine failures before 40k miles. There is one for sale on ebay because it has 8k miles on it. I can promise you it only has another 3 or 4k more before it goes kaboom.

2) British leyland cars. They might've been quirky before the merger, but once they were all under the BL banner, things went to shit, fast. Rust before the first year is up, missing parts, incorrect parts, you name it.

3) While people keep saving them, 80s BMWs all have buttloads of issues unless constantly maintained. The sight of an E30 puking coolant or having electrical issues was a common one at our autocrosses. And my friend's 1983 320 (or 318?) has rusted right through the floorboards while also having all manner of mechanical faults. Fun cars, but not at all reliable.

CKeffer > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 11:34

0

Yeah, it's one of those cars where you hear about the teamup and you go "this could go great! The Italians can give it a beautiful design the stirs the soul, and the japanese can give it a reliable engine, it'll be a match made in heaven!".......and then they did the opposite. *sigh* I'm going with there was too much wine and sake consumed at the planning meeting, cause it's the only explanation I can come up with for why they did things that way.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > CB 08/27/2013 at 11:38

1

Clearly it was just trying to get attention the only way it knew how.

Bengal55 > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 12:13

0

Eh I'm not sure I'd call the LR Freelander the most unreliable ever, it was essentially just a Ford Escape. I'm going to put a spin on this and pull a Top Gear and say most unreliable of companies that should have known better, just to narrow things down a bit.

Of the past 30 years I'd say the XJS was up there, but most Jaguars/Rovers/Land Rovers of that era were.. so that's really not fair:

(Full Disclosure: I secretly lust after one of these to put next to my 560SL in my garage, and my dream car is a XK-RS, but I'd happily settle for an XK-R.)

The Italians also are not known for the reliability, Alfa, Fiat, Ferrari & Lambo with their self immolation tendencies.. so I'll leave them out of this as well.
Ok, how about Russia and the Soviet Bloc states? Nope, too easy LOL. I have no comment on China (Seriously, I have no clue.. but I could guess.)

Ok so what's left? Americans? Japanese? Koreans? Germans?

If I pick on the Japanese, I'm going to go with Honda and their (North American) seventh generation Honda Accord. Good cars except for an automatic transmission that was known to go boom, and did for many of slushbox Honda owners of that era.

What's next? Americans? I'm gonna go with Ford. The 3rd generation Taurus had the infamous engine separation recall, their CDW27 cars, such as my 02' Cougar, the Jag X-Type and such have their fair share of issues as well, despite being fun cars.

There are many I could put on this list, but if I'm going to go on about shit reliability in companies that know better, I'm going to go with the Germans. VAG has their issues, BMW is not known for their stellar reliability, but I think one auto maker stands out of the rest. Mercedes-Benz.

The 2000's were not great years for Mercedes, sapping money from Chrysler, spreading themselves thin and mismanagement (read: bean counting) of all their brands really took them into the reliability hole. All this from a company that was shaped by engineers and built up in the 80's as a company that made bulletproof cars.

My recommendation: Mercedes Benz - 1998 - 2009

(Pictured: 2004 S-Class)
I can't choose a model, their build quality through this generation was on the outside, very good. The problem rested with their technology and mechanical systems. Suspension issues, steering issues, sensor issues, and engines were all complicated and VERY expensive to repair, this only doubled with AMG models. I think this is most evident with the resale of MB models through these years, you can pick up Benz from this era dirt cheap.

davedave1111 > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 12:14

0

There are various models that were so bad they either bankrupted the company making them, or the company had to buy them all back and crush them. First category includes the famous NSU Ro 80 with it's rotary engine and crippling warranty costs that drove NSU into bankruptcy. In the latter category, there are things like the Citroen GS birotor - actually, I think that was the same engine as the NSU - that sold just 847, and which Citroen bought back most of the examples of so they wouldn't have to provide spares or dealer support.

Then there are the hubristic technology-gone-wrong cars like the Aston Martin Lagonda - the first few were delivered not working, the problems were so bad.

However, if we're talking about the least reliable cars of all time, we have to acknowledge that all the cars anyone's listing here are far, far more reliable than those built in the early days of motoring. We consider a car unreliable if it fails fairly often, but back in those days it was simply the case that if you went for a drive you'd have to fix something or other.

Rory > Jagvar 08/27/2013 at 14:56

1

My mother had a Freelander , Oddly much like my dads Discovery .. we seemed to escape any known Landrover issues.
All Landrovers my family have owned have been incredibly reliable !

Makoyouidiot > CB 08/27/2013 at 21:01

0

My Disco never failed to start, run, and get me where I was going...now all the parts might not have been still attached when I got there...but I measure reliability differently. :P