A Good Experience With a Bad Car?

"With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username" (with-a-g) 02/03/2014 at 14:09 • Filed to: question

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Has anyone ever had an encounter with a car that could have or should have been bad, but ended up going remarkably well?

I rented a very non-Jalop Chevy HHR for an extended (3 month) work project once that I drove 1000 miles a week and found to be delightful. It had all the space I wanted for personal luggage and work-related parts, and the keyfob remote-start got the air conditioner chilling before I stepped into it in the 110+ degree Arizona summer. The seating position was actually comfortable and the height made up for some of the intrinsic lack of visibility from the thick pillars. Being a rental, I have no idea about maintenance, but it gave me no trouble aside from a flat tire.

Every time I see the HHR get slighted on Jalopnik or Oppo, I wonder what was so anomalous about my experience, and perhaps where the anti-HHR prejudice comes from in the first place.

Anyone else have a good experience with a "bad" car?

505Turbeaux > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:10

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my Peugeot 504 diesel automatic wagon. Should be crap, keeps trucking on somehow 4 years later

For Sweden > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:10

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The HHR is slighted for being hideous, not for being a bad car.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > For Sweden 02/03/2014 at 14:13

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Ok, but what does that mean ? I found the high-roof 5-door form factor to be incredibly practical. Is it just "ugliness?" because I'm not feeling it.

dogisbadob > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:13

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The terms "rented" and "non-Jalop" don't belong back-to-back because the fastest car is always a rental :p

Good experiences with bad cars are any VW or Audi that made it to 100k

puddler > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:14

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roadtrip in an '07 yaris.

i was comfortable, satisfied and had fun for 4000 miles. and if you ignore the 2 tanks of gas i blasted through the mountains of taos, i averaged 40.7 mpg.

Textured Soy Protein > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:16

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My winter sorta-beater '99 Jeep Grand Cherokee is both a piece of crap and awesome.

The rear differential makes a bunch of gear noises, the recirculate button on the climate control panel is cracked and has the bare light shining through, the passenger side back door window switch is missing, the door weather stripping is falling down, the leather seats are well worn, the brake pedal makes a whooshing noise and is slow to return when it gets cold out, it doesn't like to start when the temp is -5 F or lower (although a bottle of Heet may have solved that issue), and the interior makes a bunch of squeaks and rattles.

But damn if it's not great at cruising down the highway with a pretty smooth ride, and driving over really big piles of snow .

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rotarykid > For Sweden 02/03/2014 at 14:17

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My old man wanted one. Test drove it and said the handling was atrocious. Any truth in his complaint?

Textured Soy Protein > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:18

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I think it gets so much hate because its sole reason for existing is someone at GM said, "hey you know that PT Cruiser, we should make one of those too!"

Jagvar > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:19

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I rented an HHR once. Had to drive it from Louisville, KY to Bloomington, IN and back. It was, without a doubt, the most unpleasant driving experience I've ever had. I couldn't see out the back of the thing, and it was unbelievably sluggish. Even pressing my foot to the floor, I had people passing me.

Best car I've ever rented? Volkswagen Golf. And I've had a couple Corollas and a Pontiac Grand Prix that were all perfectly capable, albeit boring.

jariten1781 > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:20

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There's a reason there are a lot of articles with 'there really aren't any bad cars today'. I rent a lot for work and the only thing I've been stuck in that was genuinally horrible in the last few years was a Dodge Caliber.

Personally, my favorite thing to get is minivans. They'll haul everything, they drive fine, and when we're going site to site we don't have to play musical chairs and cram into a caravan of 3 Kia Rios. I sometimes find myself thinking of retiring my worn out S10 and picking up a lightly used minivan for hauling and moving duties.

For Sweden > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:22

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It is ugliness. The Ford Flex is a similar vehicle without the ugly.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > dogisbadob 02/03/2014 at 14:23

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THen count me down for both - One jetta with over 200k that has been fine besides some rusted exhaust and mushy brakes. It only tried to kill me once. I also have an Audi 200 with over 270k miles on it that is undergoing a lot of surgery as it was at one point or another a race car. The blown out coilovers and modified and spliced ECU/fuel injection system are the giveaways.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:24

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My ENTIRE ownership of my 1992 Mercury Topaz with the 3.0 V6 and 3 speed automatic transmission. 3 years, over 40K miles, washed ONCE, $600 purchase price, 2 parts changed during my ownership (starter and the transmission speedo gear in the tranny pan). Best 2wd car I've EVER driven in the snow. Very close to my truck.

Joe_Limon > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 14:26

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I thought the HHR was a jalop vehicle? Especially in SS trim.

Nibbles > Textured Soy Protein 02/03/2014 at 14:32

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Fun fact: The HHR was designed by Bryan Nesbitt, the same guy who designed the PT Cruiser. He went on to pen the 2008 Malibu, the best looking Malibu since a long time ago

Gamecat235 > Jagvar 02/03/2014 at 14:45

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Worse than a Caliber?

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Textured Soy Protein 02/03/2014 at 15:22

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Well, for what it's worth, I find it better looking and more useful than a PT Cruiser.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > rotarykid 02/03/2014 at 15:23

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You don't push the "handling" buttons when you're carrying work around with you. I can't imagine it was a good handling car, though I'd love to try an SS Panelwagon some time.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Joe_Limon 02/03/2014 at 15:25

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Well, the SS panel wagon certainly intrigues me.

PW Sherman > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 15:40

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My dad's new commuter: a VW Jetta 2.0. I heard so many bad things about these things, and for the most part, they're not wrong. It is painfully slow, no part of the interior is nice, and it is not very comfortable. The only reason it's fun to drive is because it's a manual and our Audi's are auto, oh and 40+ mpg! I couldn't live with it as my only car, but for the 14k it cost, you can't ask for too much more.

thebigbossyboss > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 02/03/2014 at 16:08

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How is it a good experience if the car landed on your head?

This is a legitimate question.

thebigbossyboss > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! 02/03/2014 at 16:11

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1992 Tempo. Same life experience. Replaced starter, replace transmission governor gear (did you car suddenly go from a 3 speed to a 2 speed?) Drove it across 2/3rd of Canada. Great terrible car, totally awesome trip with my dad. Memories for life.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 16:16

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terrible mechanically but surprisingly good to drive the 1st gen Dodge Neon.

willkinton247 > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 16:18

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I drive a VW and I haven't had a single problem .

AM3R > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 16:21

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2005 Honda odyssey. I don't get why young adults refuse to buy minivans because they aren't "cool", half the time it just makes you seem like an adult who can't accept the fact that they have kids, and have to settle for something because it's more practical. It's just childish.

Go WOT in a honda odyssey on some fun backroads, wait for v tech to kick in, and have an amazing time. The acceleration is actually impressive, I had no problem passing V8 SUV's on the highway. It also got pretty good fuel economy, it got my buddies and I, and tons of our crap, to the beach comfortably. It also did surprisingly good in the snow.

And yeah, it's a minivan so it's not gonna handle like an M3, but you can still have a great time on backroads. The steering was a bit numb, but everything is so predictable. True story, I caught up to an A4 on my favorite local spirited driving road. So much for being a sport sedan haha.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > thebigbossyboss 02/03/2014 at 16:29

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It didn't kill me. That's a safety feature.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > thebigbossyboss 02/03/2014 at 16:42

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Maybe I have the wrong name for the transmission part, but yeah, I lost a gear and shortly after that it was a ONE speed. Basically a plastic shaft with a gearset machined on and a metal swivel on the end? I was told it was a common problem on the 3 speeds. Cost me $10 for a replacement. First tranny shop I brought it to (FWD trannys are voodoo to me) tried to sell me on a new trans. I smelled a rat.

thebigbossyboss > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! 02/03/2014 at 16:46

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My replacement was free from a transmission shop. Luckily I kept two speeds. It was really hard to diagnose, noone knew what was wrong haha.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > thebigbossyboss 02/03/2014 at 16:55

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I finally decided to drop the pan myself and saw plastic everywhere. Talked to a Ford parts counter guy who knew these transmissions well and steered me in the right direction.

Zibodiz > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 17:49

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Sebring with a 2.7Litre. That was an awesome car. I bought it as a used rental (I didn't know it at the time, dealer told me it was '1 owner', only found out the last owner was a rental agency when I tried to sell it.) When I bought it, it had 38k on it. I traded it straight across for a used Ford Escape 5 years later with 180k on it, and during that time, it needed a new battery, starter, and alternator, but otherwise had been completely reliable. Funny thing was, the battery went bad from old age, then the starter and alternator went bad within a week of each other, about 2 months later. All things said, it was an extremely reliable car that took me 150k miles without leaving me stranded once. Total cost for repairs during that time was about $300. Not too shabby for an engine that's got the reputation that one does.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username 02/03/2014 at 21:55

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With only a hundred in existance its rather rare....

GreenN_Gold > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 02/11/2014 at 16:56

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If someone can't have fun in a 5-speed Neon, they're not even trying!