I just thought of this, after reading some of the complaints in the 3rd gen forum. Let's put a little perspective on it.

For me, my worst (not counting the Cavalier that threw a rod after three weeks) was easily an '84 Chrysler Laser XE Turbo, which was a Daytona-clone, if you don't remember. I only paid $1500 for it, back in '94, and spent almost twice that in a year keeping it running. I blew the wastegate on the turbo (which then caused the turbo itself to go), and then suffered through an amazing string of electrical failures. The digital dash would change brightness randomly, the power seats and one mirror just plain quit working, and the "talk box" that told you when you were low on gas or if a door was open would just shout things at random. it was like the car had Tourette's or something! 70mph down the freeway and it announces that the trunk lid is open. It also let off a volley of about 20 "thank yous" one morning when I started it. I also replaced the starter, ECU, transmission, and fuel pump. Now, I know the car was 10 years old when I got it, but it only had 80k on it! I sold it after a year for $200 and bought a rusty old Accord, which ran flawlessly for 2 years.

Anyone else have any "horror stories?"

 

'89 Mercury Topaz a.k.a Ford Tempo...lol I drove it for about a month or 2 before I got my pro in HS.

It drove pretty good until I got around my friends It always wanted to break down right when I see someone I know.

 

My worst car was still pretty decent. It was my first car and although it was a little old when I got it ( it was an 84 and I got it in 96) it ran like a champ. The flywheel was missing a few teeth so every once in a while it would screach when you try and start it. I wasn't really concerned about it though, it cost me 800 dollars and ran great. The worst thing about it was that it was 1.3 liter but it had over 190000 miles on it when I gave it to my little sister.
Jeff

 

Me too, but I had an '87. 2.3L, 90hp, with a 3-speed automatic. Lost a motor mount, never noticed it, and by the time I did it had already done too much damage for it to be worth fixing. I got rid of that thing and got my Ranger and then the F-150.

 

Well, I've had an '86 mazda pickup that was beat up real bad, but I loved it... and a '89 chevy beretta gt... I liked it when it was running ok (about the first year I had it), then it was a major pain in the ***...

 

Ummmm.........

85 Accord, Had it 3 years and ran fin until its last year when all hell broke lose. Rear bumber fell off. Sunroof leaked so as if you were to park with the nose up, you'd get wet when you backed up. (Great trick when my Ex was in the car lol) Water constantly in the engine which I never found a reason for. Damn car would not want to run when it was wet outside.

Then I got my 98 pro LX, traded that in for my 02 P5. No worries.....

 

I had an 85 dodge caravan.. I don't think I need to say anymore.. anyone who owned a caravan before about 1995 or 1996 knows the horrors I went through..

 

This has to be my very first car... A 1974 Datsun B-210 which I bought in 1985 for $800. Somehow, it knew when I got my paycheck and the car would break something.

Almost every month the ignition points and capacitor had to be replaced. I changed the plugs, coil, resistor wire and resistor but to no avail. And the carburator had to be dissasembled and cleaned almost every year, no matter what kind/brand of gasoline I put.

But no matter how much it sputtered, smoked or backfired the little B210 never ever left me stranded.

One interesting thing is that this car came equipped with a factory heater... And we're in the tropics!

 

While in the Army, a SGT went to Korea and sold me his 84 Datsun/Nissan Sentra for $150. After two months the battery went dead so I parked it on inclines to make it easier to jumpstart. Car wasn't even worth a new battery. Car shot black smoke like a damn train for a week and then totally blew. Gave it to the junkyard in exchange for just picking up the hunk of ****. I got 6 months out of it. Can't rent a car for 6 months at $150

 

Sounds like my $175 Plymouth Volare. That one had weeds growing THROUGH the floor when I bought it. Drove it 20 miles home, ran it for about 6 months without spending a dime except for gas, and sold it for $50 when the transmission went out.

 

My second car: a 1990 Plymouth Laser RS Turbo. It was a bright Del Sol green with multicolor sparkles, big Mitsu symbol on the hood, "Mitsubishi" in cursive in the back, with 16" Gran Prix wheels and yellow Mitsu symbols on the center caps.

There was not one body panel that didn't have tons of metal-deep scratches under the paint or lots of dents, all syncros but 3rd were f'ed, the differential was crap, the previous owner's so-called homemade boost controller was to just remove the wastegate, it burned oil, the exhaust manifold was cracked, the antenna was gone, and a number of other things.

After 3 months I sold it to a girl for $2,500. She payed $1,500 (with many late or missed payments) then we stopped hearing from her. Later we find out from her grandfather that she is a major drug addict and put her roommate in the hospital from o.d. A few more weeks go by and we find out that her brother owns a doughnut shop nearby, so we go talk to him. He tells us that she had been drinking one night and went off the highway, totalling the car. He also says that no one knows where she is. More time passes and we find the car in her grandfather's yard, just sitting there. We wait a while to see if she ever calls or anything, then we call her grandfather and ask to get the car. He wants us to pay storage charges, so the car still sits in his yard while we still have the title. Of course, totalled, it's barely worth the cost to have it towed to a junk yard. And until we can find the girl, we can't even file a lawsuit against her.

Life is such an adventure!

 

i hate to sound spoiled but i have only had one car...my 99 Mazda Protege LX....

 

i had an '87 nissan stanza 5spd. this car was fun. i hit a curb goin about 35mph, just messin with some buddies and lost control, totally messed up the right front suspension. about every 2months, if that, the tires would wear down to the wires, that's how bad the camber was on them. one day i pulled into my old h.s. parking lot, ran over a popcan, got out and heard a little, psssssssssss. yep, tire popped. that afternoon i was supposed to get new tires put on anyways. first gear was gone. "i don't know how that happened dad, i wasn't burning out at all" hahaha. it had 300,000 miles on it when i took it to the salvage place. ran like a champ, burnt a little oil, but other than that, ran great. then i had an '89 sunbird. pile o' crap. had to replace the water pump, camshaft sprocket, timing belt, heater core, wheel bearing, starter, etc. etc. domestics suck. sold it to the dumb guy at my work for 5 bills. then he spray painted the bottom of the car white(it was two tone, maroon on top and silver around the bottom). looks like crap, i'm just waiting for the chrome trim every where(he's mexican, not to be hatin on them, just sayin they like chrome).

 

my third or fourth car when i was in high school was an 88 hyundai Excel
it was supposed to be a four cylinder but ran on three it used a quart of oil about every three days so i quit putting more in and it eventually died. It didnt have enuff stuff to get out of its own way.

 

It was a 95 chevy s-10 the damn thing was nothing but a large pain in the *** from the trany going out to the a/c going nuts on off on off and not even touching it but the worst part was really simple but mabe no sence it keep blowing out the freeze plugs in a 100 dagee weather.