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?
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.
Punto sport 16s
Pro : short gear, 6 shift Cons : generic aleatory default on the assisted direction… (electric jacks).
2nd 1st Gen Durango.
Every electrical accessory died. The window motors, the instrument cluster, the radio, etc. The drivetrain was solid, but the water pump failed 3 times while I had it. It wasn’t even an abnormal example, they all were like that.
I will never buy a Dodge again because they have gotten worse; newer dodges are blowing engines and transmissions at low miles.
One word: Stellantis. Dodge and Jeep must be in a close race to being their most unreliable brand.
My father in law was very loyal to the Jeep brand for many decades. He would buy a new Jeep every 3-4 years. His most recent purchase to all of our surprise was a Ford pickup. My last car was also a Jeep and I just bought a Prius. The quality really has tanked and the features people liked have slowly slipped away.
I have a 2019 Opel Corsa 1.4, the last one under General Motors. I haven’t had too much trouble with it during the past 120.000km. It broke down the first time last summer due to a problem with the throttle body, I got a new one for €130 and now it’s fine again.
My next car won’t be an Opel because of Stellantis. Their engines are pure crap. My brother in law had a Grandland as a leasecar and had a lot of trouble with it. My mother’s side of the family was loyal to Opel for more than 60 year but now I’m the last one who still drives one.
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.
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.
I’ve had a few including a 1986 galant that needed a new transmission three times in the two years that I owned it (luckily all were replaced under warranty) and a 1991 Toyota Camry that I bought for $500 and it died a month later. I can’t fault either of those much though because they were each way over ten years old when I got them. The one that takes the cake is a 2003 mazdaspeed protege which I bought new and it shot a piston through the block 2.5 years after I bought it. Since I was over the mileage on the warranty at that point, Mazda didn’t honor it. The car had a handful of other issues during the time I owned it too. I won’t buy another Mazda.
My first car was a rusty 72 Pinto. Objectively bad, but there’s a freedom associated with a total shitbox as a 16yo that I’ve never had since.
Later had a mid-80s Cutlass Ciera. It already had an engine replaced by the time I got it, and that engine ran fine, unlike literally anything else in/on that car.
Briefly had a 77 F250. Also on a replacement engine, but this motor didn’t last long. That beast only got like 9 MPG, so it wasn’t worth fixing.
The 99 Jetta was fine for a few years, but when things started breaking, they broke in bunches. Finally a mechanic told me there was nothing he could do, so I had to scrap it.
