What's the worst car trade you've heard?

Kinja'd!!! "E. Julius" (soonerfrommi)
12/13/2014 at 17:45 • Filed to: question

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Sometimes they're guided by desperation. Other times it's only clear in hindsight. I couldn't find any original pictures, but I know back in the day my parents traded my mom's 1974 Z/28 Camaro for a brand–spankin'–new…

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Diesel Oldsmobile Delta 88. Ouch.

I know by that time the Camaro was getting anemic, but it's still pretty hard to do worse than a diesel Olds. I'm not sure which one would be more amusing if they still had it today, as they would both be pretty hilarious.

What about you Oppo?


DISCUSSION (31)


Kinja'd!!! Nibby > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 17:50

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I knew someone who went from an early-2000 Pathfinder to a Honda Odyssey. They had only one child.


Kinja'd!!! PyramidHat > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 17:53

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1968 Firebird w/50,000 miles for a 1977 Cordoba. No kidding. Mom loved those ads with Ricardo Montalban; dad hated Ricardo until the day he died....


Kinja'd!!! Jedidiah > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 17:56

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Swap the heads and distributor and then you have a big gas powered Olds.


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > PyramidHat
12/13/2014 at 18:00

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Kinja'd!!! Your boy, BJR > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:03

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Porsche Cayman R for a 2013 Cadillac SRX when I worked at Cadillac, because the guy's girlfriend couldn't drive manual.

Seriously.


Kinja'd!!! Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Jedidiah
12/13/2014 at 18:05

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Reading up on some diesel forums, I've discovered that that isn't entirely true. The problems with the engine were caused by bean counters more than anything. Some people swear it's a strong engine.


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > Your boy, BJR
12/13/2014 at 18:05

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Wow. That takes the cake so far. He should've just bought her an Accord or something.


Kinja'd!!! Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:06

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1996 Volvo 850 Turbo Lemon Edition and a 1999 Kia Sportage Manual 4x4, for a 2005 Impala. The Impala was reliable, but that didn't mean it wasn't worse than either of the traded. The Kia was just as reliable. I would take the 850 on a bad day, than that bucket of suck on any day.


Kinja'd!!! Your boy, BJR > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:07

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Not wife, not even fiancé.......girlfriend.


Kinja'd!!! Your boy, BJR > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:08

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Well.....you win the internet for the day.


Kinja'd!!! citizennick > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:13

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I traded my one year old 2004 M3 for a new 2005 Nissan Titan. I wi—- lose?


Kinja'd!!! Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:14

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My Dad traded a Jaguar S type 3.8...

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...for an Austin Princess.

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He was over the Jag's reliability, and wanted something new and trouble free.

Big mistake: many of my childhood memories are of being stuck on the side of the road by that dog of a car. Even aside from the total collapse of my school yard cred...


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
12/13/2014 at 18:16

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Brutal. It cracks me up to this day that a company ever though it was a good idea to call a car "Princess".


Kinja'd!!! Jedidiah > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
12/13/2014 at 18:24

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The block is strong; it is a gas 350 with bigger lifter bores and mains, but they used torque-to-yield head bolts that shared the same pattern as the gasser.

When the gasket inevitably failed because of the insane diesel compression; the mechanics would reuse the the same bolts and they just came unglued.

You can put good head studs and gaskets on the diesel and it will have minimal problems.

Lots of oldsmobile race motors are made from the diesel blocks.


Kinja'd!!! Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:24

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It was a name with some history behind it - Austin had made a series of limos under that name in the 40s and 50s. As in "fit for a princess".

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Then, as tends to happen with struggling companies, they went on a brand equity whoring spree....


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
12/13/2014 at 18:26

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Ah ok. My knowledge of British cars is woefully lacking—thanks for the history lesson.


Kinja'd!!! pip bip - choose Corrour > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:38

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we had at work old lady traded in her HQ Monaro 350 auto for a new Holden Cruze.

Cruze and cash , technically , the Monaro needed a little bit of work , but they still sold it for $75K

but the lady wanted something newer. plus they only gave her about $55K as a trade in , it was purple with white interior


Kinja'd!!! crowmolly > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:39

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Just splitting hairs, but

1.) That's a 1979 Z28.

2.) There was no Z28 in 1976. Ended in 1974 and came back in 1977.


Kinja'd!!! camaroboy68ss > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:40

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My grandpa traded in a 1979 Dodge Challenger RT/SE (1 of 500) 440/Auto for a 1971 Vega wagon. The only thing that makes up for that was it was either the challenger or his 69 427 corvette


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > crowmolly
12/13/2014 at 18:44

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I just GISed for the picture, so that makes sense. I'll have to double check with my mom on what year her Z/28 was then. I know she traded the '78 she bought to her brother for his Z/28, which was older so I would guess it was the '74. This is why I love sites like this, people call you out on these random little things you don't know!


Kinja'd!!! crowmolly > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 18:55

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Damn, I was hoping you'd say it was a 1976 base or something.

A 1974 Z is a worse trade. They have the "damn the torpedoes" bumpers but still had 245 hp. Only 13,000 or so were made I think.


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > crowmolly
12/13/2014 at 19:02

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Wow, even worse than I thought. All I know is that it definitely was a Z/28. In a weird symmetry, the car she traded to her brother to get the Z/28 was a '79 Berlinetta she bought brand new, which I think is actually a pretty good trade.


Kinja'd!!! Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > pip bip - choose Corrour
12/13/2014 at 19:12

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A purple/white HQ Monaro - what a 70s icon!

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Kinja'd!!! pip bip - choose Corrour > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
12/13/2014 at 19:13

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that's the colour combo!


Kinja'd!!! daender > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 19:32

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'83 El Camino...

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...for a 2003 Murrano. The amount of money spent on buying the Murrano could have paid for a paint restoration, a 350ci GM Performance ready-to-go engine with efi, adapting a newer 5-speed automatic, and still had thousands left over. Instead, we got a CVT-equipped 2WD bucket of CarMax fail.


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > daender
12/13/2014 at 19:34

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Kinja'd!!! daender > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 19:38

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On the flip side, since the wife chose the Murrano, that meant pops got to choose whatever he wanted for his next car and we got the manual '08 Mustang GT.


Kinja'd!!! E. Julius > daender
12/13/2014 at 19:42

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Kinja'd!!! Baeromez > PyramidHat
12/13/2014 at 19:50

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Oh God, I just threw up all over my desk! Why? WHY!?!?


Kinja'd!!! PyramidHat > Baeromez
12/13/2014 at 19:57

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My brother and I ask the same question, to this day. We figure it was because dad loved mom, but I'm not buying it. Shortly after, he got a boat, so maybe there was some negotiating going on (which, by the way, he towed with the Cordoba, which led to him breaking the tail pipe bracket on the launch ramp, adding yet another rattle to an already shitty car.)

As stated before on these hallowed pages, to this day, neither my brother nor I will ever consider a Chrysler product...which is sad, because I like the new Wranglers.


Kinja'd!!! Birddog > E. Julius
12/13/2014 at 20:01

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My Dad sold his 71 Mach 1 off to buy a 76 LTD.

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To be fair daily driving the Mach in Chicago made it a rusty mess by 1976.