". ." (xllx)
01/31/2015 at 21:00 • Filed to: None
1
16|
". ." (xllx)
01/31/2015 at 21:00 • Filed to: None | 1
| 16 |
To err is human, therefore I'd like to ask you to share stories about cars that turned out to be massive mistakes. What was the car? What happened? Have you missed any red flags? Etc.
DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:01 |
|
My worst: A Fiat 124 Spider. Between the rust, oh god, the rust, the brakes failing, the left rear wheel passing me going down the highway and the driveshaft coming apart, it was nothing but hell, pure hell to own.
|
. .
> DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
01/31/2015 at 21:03 |
|
I bet it wasn't boring to own though. :P
|
DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:05 |
|
Well, it wasn't too bad. I mean, it only tried to kill me...three times, maybe four?
|
. .
> DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
01/31/2015 at 21:07 |
|
Sounds like a persistent little bugger. Doesn't seem like it liked you either.
jetpilotyeah
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:10 |
|
1996 pontiac sunfire. Gt. gt meant "with foglights" and thats about it. Nothing but problems.
|
DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:10 |
|
Not at all. I should have bought a Miata, but the Fiat was way, way prettier.
qbeezy
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:24 |
|
Letting my wife trade in her H3 hummer alpha for her now Passat. Only because that hummer was her favorite color and she gushed over it every time she drove it.
whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:33 |
|
E39 540i, featuring "rebuilt" engine. Should have known, but didn't. Spun a main bearing after 3 weeks of ownership, lost my ass getting rid of the thing.
doctorq
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:44 |
|
Good God, when I was maybe 22 I spent a few Saturdays at a nearby auto auction with my cousin — who actually knew what he was doing — when I let the drama and raw emotion take over, I just HAD to buy SOMETHING . And no, this wasn't Barrett-Jackson or Meecum. Anyhow, I saw it, knew it was perfect for me, and I bought it. It wasn't much of a bidding war, to be honest. A mere $475. I suspected something was afoul when it clattered across the block and a fellow opened the oil fill cap. A good bit of smoke escaped, more than anxious to escape it's pressurized lair. Anyhow, I was undeterred and bought it, and it was mine, and I immediately — as in the next day with no maintenance whatsoever — drove it to my buddy's in Wisconsin, about 600 miles away. It burned, oh, 'bout 5 quarts of oil and topped out at maybe 68mph. Then, coming back home, right in effing Chicago rush hour on I-94, something let go with a muted bang — but it kept running just fine. Except. Except it belched volumes of noxious blue smoke three times larger than the car itself every time I took off from a stop, or for that matter anytime I applied more than 1/2 throttle. I avoided eye contact. By the time I was close enough to home that I could cajole a friend to pick me up if needed, I decided to kill it. WOT. For a long time. (It only went about 52mph by then.) Then downshift to 3rd with 100% lift throttle. It looked like someone attached a lit sparkler to my tailpipe. Yet it ran. And ran. And I made it home, shut it off, went in and retired for the night. In the morning I popped the hood, took a quick look, cancelled the insurance then called the junkyard. They gave me $100 for it. Combined with the $426 mileage reimbursement (the Wisconsin trip included a side visit to a factory there), and 48mpg, my week with a 1978 diesel VW Rabbit cost me $43 out of pocket — and proved to me it was the worst car ever. For that I'll never forget it.
jariten1781
> . .
01/31/2015 at 21:46 |
|
Owned a lot of shitty cars, but I usually knew what I was getting into to one degree or another.
Worst purchase is probably the mk6 GTI which I still own and is my wife's DD. I fell for the ''VWs aren't as bad as they were" crap people were spouting. Car's been plagued with all sorts of unacceptable minor stuff. Nothing major that left it stranded but lots of time in the shop for warranty work and a couple times in limp mode. No more VAG (heh) for me.
|
. .
> jariten1781
01/31/2015 at 21:48 |
|
Yup. If you left your wife with that mess you're probably out of luck. ;D
CodyVella
> . .
01/31/2015 at 22:01 |
|
The 2002 Nissan Xterra SC I just bought for $2500. Not only is it on a salvage title but it appears mint at first glance. It's only when you start digging into it that you find some very uhh. Interesting surprises. Hard to believe I sold my 2012 Civic and bought... This.
But I love it, and I'm going to start documenting my life with it so I can answer the question on no ones mind: Can you daily drive an '02 Xterra Supercharged on a rebuilt title when you commute 160km a day?
marshknute
> . .
01/31/2015 at 22:40 |
|
shop-teacher
> . .
02/01/2015 at 00:21 |
|
I bought a 1-1/2 year old CPO '04 GTO, with 5200 miles on it. In the 3-1/2 months I owned it, it spent 31 days in and out of the shop.
MINISQL
> . .
02/01/2015 at 01:36 |
|
She was beautiful, and she was Italian. She had a wonderful two liter engine with double overhead camshafts and she could sing like a young Maria Callas when she hit 6000 rpm. But she had mechanical fuel injection and a fuel pressure activated micro switch located on the side of the injector pump next to the engine block. It was right there, in that little half inch gap, you could see it, even touch it with your fingers, but the screws that held it in were an inch long, and the gap, well, the gap was a half inch wide. The switch didn't have any water proofing either, and sometimes water would splash up on it and cause it to fail. When the switch went, the car would run for about 15 seconds, then run out of gas. You'd coast to a stop, then turn the ignition key off, then back on. You could hear the electric fuel pump run for about 2 seconds then you could start the engine and run for another 15 seconds. The first time it happened I was out bar hopping with a friend and we drove 12 miles, 15 seconds at a time to get home. Not knowing what the problem was, I took her in to the dealer the next day to have her repaired. $375 1985 dollars later and a new $2.50 switch in place, the problem was fixed and she was singing again. Then, two months later, in the middle of the rainy Florida summer, she stopped again. "How hard can it be to replace a switch?" I thought. I bought the replacement switch and on a warm Saturday morning began what I thought would be a simple half hour job....I should have known better because the shop manual had me begin by removing the air filter on the upper left side of the engine, when the switch was on the lower right. The filter came off so you could remove the radiator hose and drain the radiator. The radiator came out so you could access the bolts that held the timing chain cover in place. The timing chain came out so you could loosen the injector pump from the block. The injector pump came away from the block so you could use your stubby Phillips #2 to remove the two 1 inch long screws that held the switch. The two screws that you could see through that half inch gap. The ones you could just touch with your fingertips. Four hours and two scraped knuckles later the car was running again. I loved that little Alfa Spider. I loved her so much I changed that switch three more times over the next year and a half just so I could hear her sing. My God she could sing! But the fourth time was just too much, and I let her go. But I miss her, and I would change that switch again if I could hear her sing one more time...
Old-Busted-Hotness
> . .
02/01/2015 at 07:00 |
|
2001 Buick Century. Certified Pre-Owned, 15K miles.
Backstory: Mrs. Hotness got rear-ended in her Grand Prix. We got a Century for a loaner while the damage (extensive but hidden) was being evaluated. She liked it. When the insurance check came thru, we went shopping for a Century. The one we ended up with puked the following parts in six months:
Trans pump seal
Both front wheel bearings (not at the same time, of course)
Power steering pump
We bailed out when a head gasket failed. Took a $4,000 hit to get rid of it, and were happy to do it.