This one was mine, a 1998 Mercedes W208. The nice things about it were the cool Mono-Wiper, the engine (supercharged 2,3L M111) and the seats that were perfect for my height. It had a terrible ASR system but came with a LSD, so it was lots of fun in the winter.

The not-so-nice things about it were that the ignition randomly would not recognize the key, a missing catalytic converter, two fist sized rust holes in the front control arms, rust all over the underbody and the absolute worst 6-speed manual transmission I have ever used.

It also had multiple alignments but it didn’t take long for the steering-wheel to be off-center again. You could see the tail end “crabbing” in the rear view mirror. There was something very wrong with it, which can probably be attributed to one of the 7 previous owners.

This isn’t even counting all minor annoyances like the frameless windows not lowering themselves when you open the doors (that was only a thing after the 1999 model year), the wind noise, the awful interior materials, the broken seat latch in the rear, the trunk lock not working… I could go on for an hour like this.

So anyways, what is the worst car YOU have ever owned?

You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments View context
3 points

Our first new car was a 1999 Dodge Durango that we babied. We had both front door skins and rear gate replaced because it was rusting out with 15k miles on it (garage kept).

Went all the way through arbitration trying to get it replaced without success. First and last Chrysler product we owned. Put it up for sale and never looked back. Giant POS.

I agree the drivetrain was solid, the 5.9L was strong. But made with the worst steel available.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

Yeah the rear gate on mine was rusted through too.

What is wild is a guy with a 2001 would come into my work and his was immaculate, no idea if he replaced panels or what. Only problem it had was the rear heater core and evaporator got leaks so it had to be bypassed and blocked accordingly, which made bleeding the coolant after water pump replacements a pain in the dick.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Cars - For Car Enthusiasts

!cars@lemmy.world

Create post

About Community

c/Cars is the largest automotive enthusiast community on Lemmy and the fediverse. We’re your central hub for vehicle-related discussion, industry news, reviews, projects, DIY guides, advice, stories, and more.


Rules

  • Stay respectful to the community, hold civil discussions, even when others hold opinions that may differ from yours.

  • This is not an NSFW community, and any such content will not be tolerated.

  • Policy, not politics! Policy discussions revolve around the concept; political discussions revolve around the individual, party, association, etc. We only allow POLICY discussions and political discussions should go to c/politics.

  • Must be related to cars, anything that does not have connection to cars will be considered spam/irrelevant and is subject to removal.

Community stats

  • 434

    Monthly active users

  • 473

    Posts

  • 3.2K

    Comments