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?
Jeep Wrangler 4 cylinder. Something major broke every single month. I didn’t even drive it the last 6 months I owned it, because I was terrified of yet another major thing breaking.
It was probably still worth what you bought it for. Those things hold their value forever, despite bring notorious for being unreliable.
I had a 93’ with absolutely no features others than 4WD. No cruise, AC, nothing. It was worth about the same as my 05’ accord with pretty much every feature.
The clutch died three times in 30k miles on my Wrangler. The local shop, a Jeep dealer, and a Wrangler specialty shop couldn’t figure out why. I finally found the answer in a forum. Basically the brake lines shared fluid with the clutch and there was a small leak. The clutch always failed first so no one ever found the leak.
Also, the Wrangler is the only vehicle I’ve ever spun out on the highway, and it happened more than once.
Mine was both the most fun car as well as the worst car I owned.
It was a Nissan 200SX S14. It was around 320bhp SR20 with uprated turbo, external waste gate, screamer pipe that vented upwards out of the bonnet and would occasionally spit flames through, solid engine mounts, welded diff, stripped interior among other similar supporting mods.
It was well built and was an absolutely visceral driving experience, it was insanely fun and also scary at times to drive and I fucking loved it when it was working.
However the Nissan immobiliser would just randomly decide when it would and wouldn’t kick in. Sometimes it would start no problems at all and other times it took me and hour or more of cycling the ignition on and off. I got stranded places a few times where it would just refuse to start then I would have to return the next day and it would start first try no problems. It just had those electronic gremlins that I just couldn’t figure out the actual issue and it was insanely infuriating.
It was the epitome of a love hate relationship and without those starting problems would have been one of my favourite cars but I just never figured it out and ended up selling it on never having solved the issues. Was such a shame.
Whoever reprogrammed the engine management probably fucked the security system.
It’s a pity we often cannot maintain our machines, not because we don’t want to, the OEM have made them impossible to modify or repair. Anything with software in it is becoming an absolute nightmare.
My first car, a 1997 VW Jetta, the engine exploded and caught fire on my way to work one day. Can’t say any car I’ve had since has been as bad.
I actually kinda like the looks of this generation of Jetta, but catching on fire and exploding has to be up there for worst car experiences lol
It’s still so crazy to me how these generations of Jettas were either some of the most bulletproof cars ever made, or some of the most average ones. The mk4 ones with the 1.9TDI and the manual transmission that I see on marketplace all have AT LEAST 400 000km on them and un-matched body parts.
It’s a shame that they are all so worn now because they are truly amazing to drive. I drove my uncle’s mk4 with the 1.9 + manual and wow, the visibility in this thing is insane. His has ~200k km I think and it felt so tight for a 20 year old car. We had one with my family earlier too, but a burglar stole it and couldn’t drive manual and it was kinda wonky after sadly. The car was found a few days later at a Tim Hortons parking lot. These also look great in my opinion.
Mid 80’s Ford Bronco. My ex insisted she had to have this thing. It leaked oil, was the most anemic thing I have ever owned and got maybe 4 or 5 mpg. We had no money to begin with, and she also insisted that we spend our tax refund on a set of rims. So at some point it had rims on it worth more than the truck, in my opinion. She spent sooo much money on gas. It was by far the worst car I have ever owned.
2012 Hyundai Tucson. What an absolute piece.
Body roll like a guy on a unicycle. Suspension as smooth as a jeep, as strong as a yugo. Acceleration like a 70s VW.
The wife really liked it.
