Why Would You Buy A Bad Car?

"TheDude without a car" (thefrikkendude)
05/06/2015 at 19:20 • Filed to: None

Some cars are absolute garbage, but sometimes their redeeming qualities just can not be ignored.

For example, the Maserati Quattroporte. Sure, it’s hideously unreliable with the F1 gearbox, but it makes one of the greatest sounds ever. It’s also not that bad-looking, either. Kind of like a toned-down Fisker Karma from the side.

I don’t know about you, but for me, the sound it makes just completely makes up for the reliability issues. I’m nowhere near buying a Quattroporte, but if I had the funds, I’d seriously consider one, maybe with the more reliable transmission.

What about you, Oppo?

DISCUSSION (29)

dogisbadob > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:23

The Dart and Abarth fall into the same category.

I also like the FWD A8 and first-gen TT more than I should.

TheHondaBro > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:26

I’m kinda on the fence with the Quattroporte. Yeah it makes an ungodly racket, but they can be expensive to repair full-stop. Maybe if I created my own Facebook, one day...

For me, I kinda already own a good unreliable car, incoming early 2000’s Honda with the infamous V6 transmission. Hasn’t blown up on me yet, but it will eventually. It’s got fully-independent suspension and it’s not slow, so there’s that haha.

JR1 > dogisbadob
05/06/2015 at 19:26

The TT is just a pretty car

GeorgeyBoy > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:27

I bought an LS.

jkm7680 > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:27

Solution: Buy the Quattroporte with the regular automatic transmission w/paddles instead of the F1.

TheDude without a car > dogisbadob
05/06/2015 at 19:28

TT’s are nice little roadsters. I hear after 2002 Audi got their act together and started building them more reliably.

Nibbles > TheHondaBro
05/06/2015 at 19:29

[COMMENT REDACTED]

[PATENT PENDING]

TheDude without a car > GeorgeyBoy
05/06/2015 at 19:30

Buick LeSabre?

GeorgeyBoy > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:31

Lincoln LS

TheDude without a car > GeorgeyBoy
05/06/2015 at 19:33

Gotcha. Are they really that unreliable?

GeorgeyBoy > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:34

Pretty much.

TheHondaBro > Nibbles
05/06/2015 at 19:36

Kinja'd!!!

Nibbles > TheHondaBro
05/06/2015 at 19:38

Kinja'd!!!

AM > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:39

Maserati doesn’t make cars that sound bad, they all sound lovely. The GranTurismo is super sexy.

Hell even the Ghibli sounds fantastic and it’s just a V6. (Made by Ferrari though so not a surprise).

Money Hustard > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:42

The trick is to buy bad cars when they are brand new and sell them within 3 years, or lease them. If you have that many issues under warranty at least you can get a loaner while its intractable issues are being addressed. My ‘12 Maxima is a bad car, and at the end of it’s 3 year lease I’m ecstatic I didn’t buy it, everything feels like its going to fall apart, but nothing has just yet. It’s been fun destroying it, though.

Birddog > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:52

I’ll buy almost anything*. Even the worst of bad cars have some redeeming quality. Sadly, that also means I take a bath lose money on occasion.

(*Except for the Pontiac Aztek. Burn all of those to the damn ground.)

Vicente Esteve > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 19:53

Because I am a fan of them, as well as the ungodly complicated engineering behind them:

Kinja'd!!!

These are all classified as unreliable and ridiculous to even try to maintain, or bad. I love them.

TheDude without a car > Vicente Esteve
05/06/2015 at 19:59

Oh my, all that VAG.

TheDude without a car > Birddog
05/06/2015 at 20:00

The Aztek is a cool car!

What other bachelor-mobile can be lived in? The only other car that could do that was the Honda Element, and that was also cool.

TheDude without a car > Money Hustard
05/06/2015 at 20:01

Nissan? Don’t they male good cars?

Vicente Esteve > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 20:12

CEL 4 Lyfe

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 20:25

I own a Jag X-Type and a Land Rover Discovery. Both are 11 years old.

Money Hustard > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 20:34

Not the Maxima. Don’t get me wrong, the drive train is bullet proof, but just about every other part of the car is of dubious construction. The Maxima is only made for the US and China, and while its initial quality punches well above its price tag, there’s a lot of fundamental engineering that really lacks. I’m going to write a lease wrap up piece soon, but here are just some of my gripes:

Every morning when I take my first turn in the car and intermittently, the panoramic sun roof loudly pops because of just a little bit of torsion on its frame.

The memory seat’s memory isn’t that long lived. After a month or so it starts putting the steering wheel to its lowest setting everytime you get in the car.

The center console wiggled after just a few months, it’s just crazy at this point.

Rattles I can’t find or address popped up with in about a year

The brakes make a racket sometimes, not a screech, but banging and clanging noises when changing directions.

Random fuses have blown.

Spoiler brake light never worked right

Spoiler stuck on with sticky tack

The weather stripping in the car is doomed to a very short life span, especially around the front of the hood.

There are way too many things to list now, but I will say that for 290bhp going through a CVT, the drive train really does feel close to new, and very reasonably engaging to drive (not like other Nissan CVTs).

A good car to lease and rag out, I’d hate to own one past this point though.

Amoore100 > Money Hustard
05/06/2015 at 20:39

My grandmother’s 2002 Maxima seemed to hold up pretty well (considering how she drove it) and was a very nice car until she rear ended what I think was an Aerostar with it...rather quick too if I remember...when she bought her ‘10 Civic she complained about the lack of power (though we were trying to get her into a Fit which was even worse...)

Money Hustard > Amoore100
05/06/2015 at 20:57

Yeah, that was a really good generation of Maxima’s. Everyone has been pretty good in it’s own way, except the 6th generation (2003-2008), which was just a really bloated V6 Altima.

The 7th gen had an admirably different look, was fun to drive (no matter what the anti-CVT, anti-FWD demagogues say), and was a comfortable car, even with my 6’7” 360 lbs frame. Wouldn’t be my first choice if I were a smaller person, but it really surprised me from time to time on the road. That and I got an absurdly reasonable lease deal. Here’s a little something I wrote up about the value in that lease.

SlickMcRick > TheDude without a car
05/06/2015 at 21:52

Love the Elements. They hold their value incredibly well.

HighLandPark > TheDude without a car
05/07/2015 at 09:06

Except for the plastic every which way, the Element is nice. Certainly better than the HR-V.

NoneOfYourBiz > TheDude without a car
05/08/2015 at 12:20

Know what? Nope. NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Money doesn’t grow on trees and a bad cars are money pits, end of.

I would rather buy a reliable, inexpensive, practical if uninspiring car and bank the savings.

Years down the road, with all the savings I socked away buying a string of practical cars, I get my choice of “awesome and not bad” car.

TheDude without a car > NoneOfYourBiz
05/08/2015 at 22:49

Fair enough.