What cars are terrible to drive, but great to own?

"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt) 12/10/2014 at 11:46 • Filed to: qotd, beaters

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Here's a mix up. I misread the FP headline listing cars that are great to drive, but terrible to own, and realized that cars that are terrible to drive but great to own are more plentiful and might end with some more fun answers, so I'll start with this.

I owned a 2000 Hyundai Elantra for a few years. I basically got it for free with the intention of driving it for a few months until it died, but it never happened. The thing understeered, rode terribly, one emergency braking event would cause brake fade, and had one of the most uncomfortable seats ever. On the other hand, it was given to me because no one would buy it (stupid cheap), the thing was completely indestructible, and it was seemingly impossible to run out of space in it. It's the only car that I have ever felt bad about getting rid of. I might even consider buying one again as a second car/gear hauler if I can find one with a manual.

What's your pick? What car is terrible to drive, but otherwise provide a wonderful ownership experience?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 11:50

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Rubbish to drive but damn near invincible. The only thing that seems to be able to kill them is rust.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 11:52

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A certain white and gold GMC Safari. It's slow, the brakes suck, it rides like a truck, the drivers seat is collapsed, it's top heavy and feel like it's going to fall over through every turn. But, never once has it left my stranded, and has only broke down on my mom twice due to two faulty fuel pumps. Right now I think it's running with hardly any oil in it, the ATF is low, and for some time I didn't have coolant, apparently. Still chugs on without complaining. Not to mention there's tons of room inside and the back seat turns into a bed. Plus, it was given to me for free.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 12/10/2014 at 11:54

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I used to be in a band and our drummer had one of these with like a billion miles on it which basically became our tour vehicle. No problems, and it always got us where we needed to go. I think that he still has it.

MultiplaOrgasms > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 11:56

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Tadaaa, my most hated car. Horribly noisy 1.rubbish l engine with NO power at all, useless ride and handling, my knees touch the glovebox with the seat in the rearmost position even though I am barely 6 feet tall.

BUT, if there is one thing british built Nissan economy cars are good at it is being horrible in every conceivable way except being dirt cheap to run, decently practical and indestructible.

Takuro Spirit > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 11:56

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^

Sn210 > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 11:59

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My 08 Civic LX that I bought new. Not very enjoyable to drive, even with a 5MT. The LX was the second lowest trim level too, so nothing fancy like steering wheel volume controls, alloy wheels, or even a sun roof. In the 65,000 I put on it, I only did brakes, oil changes, Trans fluid change, and tires. It was also very affordable, I was able to make the payments while going to school and I also built up my credit. Great fuel economy and reliablity, just don't plan on having any fun with only 140hp on tap.

Nibbles > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 11:59

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Popular opinion is

Don't care. This car was a dream, especially when your regular driving included 800 mile trips every two weeks.

camaroboy68ss > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:04

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A hot rod hands down. Most of them are over powered with suspension dating back to horse drawn carriages with terrible brakes and horrid handling. But you will always have a smile and get many thumbs up in the road

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MultiplaOrgasms 12/10/2014 at 12:04

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Agreed on this, terrible interior and ugly as sin but someone I know owns one and says it never needs more than servicing.

JGrabowMSt > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:06

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Dodge Neon. I hate to say it, but outside of a very select few repairs, the thing is 1) extremely easy for shops to work on 2) very large aftermarket support and 3) they just don't fucking die.

It took a Silverado blowing a light to wreck the car.

BarryDanger > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:17

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My buddy has this 2005 Highlander Hybrid. The steering feel is numb, suspension is wallowy and the brakes are way too sensitive. It's perfect for Colorado because with the right tires (blizzaks) and the massive weight of those batteries, it is unstoppable in the snow. Seat heaters, double yakimas and seating for 7 means its comfortable and super spacious. Never had to do any major repairs outside of the regular maintenance schedules. Also the torque from the electric motors really helps with overtaking.

Other than that... it's reprehensible.

MultiplaOrgasms > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 12/10/2014 at 12:17

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I know first hand, me mum has one. Batteries seem to be pretty useless tho.

Tohru > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:19

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Considering he's the drummer, he probably lives in it.

Tohru > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 12/10/2014 at 12:19

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A General Motors product will run like shit longer than most vehicles will run.

Milky > Nibbles 12/10/2014 at 12:20

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NO. Friend has one, shit is always broke.

Transmission won't work past 30 minutes. Dexcool ate his engine from the inside. More electric gremlins than a car that had an actual gremlin wire your electrical system.

Tohru > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:22

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Elantra wagon, you say?

Not mine, but I see it all the time. It's a Wisconsin car with no visible rust. Witchcraft.

Nibbles > Milky 12/10/2014 at 12:23

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I only got about 220k out of it before I sold it. In perfect working order

Transmission is fine as long as you don't perform a backflush. That's the killer and every dumbass shop wants to do it for some damned reason

Dexcool removal should be one of the first mods you perform

Never had a single electrical gremlin, save a bad hazard relay

34MPG in a floaty boat was perfect for driving 35,000+ miles per year

Firewrx234 > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:25

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At a time when gas prices were at an all-time high and I needed a car to get me back and forth from Purdue, I came across it...

A 2004 Dodge Neon SE...Almost nothing power (no windows or locks). The stereo ate CD's and had a hard time picking up radio stations. It didn't accelerate and scared me to death whenever I needed to merge onto a highway from an on-ramp. The thing road terribly, and anytime there was a wind or I was getting passed by a semi, the thing would want to be blown off the road.

But dammit, that thing was bought for almost nothing ($5000 out the door, taxes and all) when the car was only 3 years old. And to top it all off I got great fuel economy (27 MPG Average, and about 35 on the Highway). The car lasted me a whole 3.5 years before the transmission got destroyed by coolant leaking into it and essentially nuking it without any warning. I didn't have any money at the time to fix it and ended up selling it for $1900 WITH A BLOWN TRANS! Overall, my least fave car that I ever owned (driver-wise) but easily the cheapest and my favorite to maintain and drive (except for the whole blown transmission thing)

Milky > Nibbles 12/10/2014 at 12:31

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I'm just going to chalk that difference up to GM doing GM things.

Mercedes Streeter > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:37

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My first car! A 2001 KIA Rio.

Its Zero to Sixty time was best measured with a calendar, its electrical system was best described as "tragic" (though, everything did work), and since it didn't have a working cooling fan, the only way to keep it from overheating in the summer was to drive it as fast as physically possible.

But darn, no matter what you threw at it, this car just couldn't be killed. This thing ran on four stroke motorcycle oil (ran smoother than when it ran on regular dino juice), had a broken shift lock (shift into gear anytime you wanted to!!) and a number of smaller issues that only seemingly gave it character.

It was an absolutely hateful car, but the little KIA never ever let me down, no matter what cards were against me. :)

Nibbles > Milky 12/10/2014 at 12:43

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Likely so. Also huge difference between 3400 equipped models and those with the L36/L67 3800 Series II. The 3400 was a problem-ridden waste of aluminum.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Tohru 12/10/2014 at 12:47

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Yeah, Hyundai in 2000 really stepped up their game. That was when they started their 10 year 100k mile warranty. Still seems amazing to see a 15 year old one in Wisconsin with no rust, though. I thought that at the time they were where Toyota was in the 80s building stupid cheap cars that last forever and figured that they would cheap out on the steel used and that they would have similar rust problems.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Tohru 12/10/2014 at 12:47

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He did at one point in time. Typical deadbeat drummer...

Tohru > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:51

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The best way to get a drummer to leave your porch is to pay for your pizza.

The best way to get a drummer to leave your house is to ask him to pay for the pizza.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Tohru 12/10/2014 at 12:52

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What do you say to a drummer in a suit?

Tohru > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:52

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I've seen lots of rusty Hyundais up here. I don't know how this one has survived.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Nibbles 12/10/2014 at 12:53

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Transmission is fine as long as you don't perform a backflush. That's the killer and every dumbass shop wants to do it for some damned reason

They try to get you to do this because it doesn't really cost them anything and they charge stupid rates for it.

Tohru > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:53

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"What time is your court hearing?"

Nibbles > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 12:54

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And 4T xx transmissions are known for releasing themselves from this life less than 200 miles afterward

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Nibbles 12/10/2014 at 13:42

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We had one, it was one of the most reliable things we ever owned. It got insane gas mileage, and was pretty comfortable. Too bad everything else sucked ass.

Captain of the Enterprise > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 12/10/2014 at 14:22

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what is it?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Captain of the Enterprise 12/10/2014 at 14:32

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1 litre Nissan Micra. 0-60 in 15.5 seconds and body lean so bad you could scuff the mirror on the road.

space_captain_steve > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 14:44

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None, because a car that isn't fun to drive isn't worth owning.

The Compromiser > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/10/2014 at 19:40

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1981 Buick Century. It is not often that the name of a car is also a description of its 0-60 time. Wallowy, slow, hard to stop. Back windows don't roll down. 3.8L engine with around 6 HP.

Had the hood latch cable disconnect. We were filling oil and checking gas for a while when that happened. Since we couldn'tcheck the oil, I just drove it until it popped one day. Siezed up in front of a friends house. We left it and the next day my father forced the hood, added some 20w50 to it to top the oil off. Shoved a pry bar in the fan and gave a couple of turns. Fired it up and drove it home. Sold it for $500 not long after. Paid for the transmission he put in the year before.