worst car you have ever been in?

[hertamaniac]

A girl at our college had a Yugo. It was like being driven in a horror movie with the noises it grunted.

 

[ttintagel]

I don't know the make or model, but I used to ride to university with a girl whose car was practically held together with duct tape and hope. The front doors didn't latch, and were held shut with a bungee cord stretched across both our laps. There were a couple of mats covering the large hole in the rider's seat floorboard (Resting my feel on the floor in the usual manner would have dislodged them), and the gas tank was some kind of jury-rigged plastic container in the trunk.

 

[BrianL]

A girl at our college had a Yugo. It was like being driven in a horror movie with the noises it grunted.

It was good enough for Sgt. Joe Friday, the cutting edge of Serbo-Croatian technology:

 

[RUDisney]

My Dad bought a USED Yugo. He loved that car. I held true to the joke, "why to Yugos have seatbelts? To hold you down until Quincy comes." What a horrible car!

His grandest moment with that car was driving it from PA to FL (Disney) and back! Why would you take a car that far if you don't think it will make it?

@hertamaniac was right. The noises that car made were scary... and there were no noise canceling headphones back then.

 

[JaxDad]

I held true to the joke, "why to Yugos have seatbelts? To hold you down until Quincy comes."

My turn: Why do Yugos have rear defrosters? To keep your hands warm while pushing them.

 

[Lumpy1106]

My maternal grandmother lived in the wilds of Queens and as such owned a car to get to civilization.
It was a Datsun 280z which was the envy of all her grand and great grandsons. I went grocery shopping with her once not realising that her new hobby was car racing.
Never again.

Should report this post for being wildly off topic. I drove a '76 280Z for a couple of years - best car I have ever driven and it is not close.

Back on topic; I had a friend in college that drove an AMC Eagle. Enough said. Well, except I had a teammate on my HS soccer team that ironically drove a Dodge Omni Pacer. Close competition - both were beyond awful.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Should report this post for being wildly off topic. I drove a '76 280Z for a couple of years - best car I have ever driven and it is not close.

Back on topic; I had a friend in college that drove an AMC Eagle. Enough said. Well, except I had a teammate on my HS soccer team that ironically drove a Dodge Omni Pacer. Close competition - both were beyond awful.

Define wildly off topic and I’ll hail a taxi for you.
There was a car make and the worst car experience I ever had.

 

[BrianL]

Define wildly off topic and I’ll hail a taxi for you.
There was a car make and the worst car experience I ever had.

I think it's just because your experience involves the driver, but it seems like you're bashing on the 280Z, which is not such a bad car - he's just defending it. Now, if your Grandmother drove a Pinto....

Speaking of, I never actually rode in a Pinto, but my next door neighbors growing up had one in their yard that didn't run. I think that's de rigueur for the model.



Pic seems about right.

 

[tvguy]

I forgot about the old version. I can understand that.

Weren't the old versions similar to Triumphs in the last 60s early 70s? That was another bad car... at least my friends was. Although it could be because his wasn't in the best condition.

Well, Triumph went out of business world wide. Fiat remained in business, they just stopped selling cars in the U.S. Fiat made a lot of money selling complete auto assembly plants to eastern block and developing nations. One of those nations was Yugoslavia. A guy named Malcom Bricklin decided to import some of those Yugoslavian made Fiats to the U.S. You may recall those cars, the Yugo. Another loser. And of course Fiat owned Chrysler from 2014-2021.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I think it's just because your experience involves the driver, but it seems like you're bashing on the 280Z, which is not such a bad car - he's just defending it. Now, if your Grandmother drove a Pinto....

Speaking of, I never actually rode in a Pinto, but my next door neighbors growing up had one in their yard that didn't run. I think that's de rigueur for the model.

View attachment 822303

Pic seems about right.

I don’t drive so in many ways they all look/act the same to me. Grandmother‘s driving skills certainly made an impression on me though.As for the Pacer well the ex (he drove) and I considered buying one cause it looked like a great car for touring the country. That marriage was certainly doomed by so many factors…

 

[bcla]

Maybe a tie.

Once I borrowed a relative's compact pickup truck. The speedometer wasn't functioning and it didn't have a tachometer at all. Which would have been nice since it had a 5-speed manual transmission. But it was sufficient to move some furniture.

Another time a relative gave me a ride in a car borrowed from a neighbor. It was an early 70s AMC Matador, which was horrible. The seats were just awkward. no wonder they nearly went out of business before Chrysler bought them (mostly for Jeep).

 

[bcla]

Well, Triumph went out of business world wide. Fiat remained in business, they just stopped selling cars in the U.S. Fiat made a lot of money selling complete auto assembly plants to eastern block and developing nations. One of those nations was Yugoslavia. A guy named Malcom Bricklin decided to import some of those Yugoslavian made Fiats to the U.S. You may recall those cars, the Yugo. Another loser. And of course Fiat owned Chrysler from 2014-2021.

Chrysler is still part of the same group that includes Fiat. I do have a hard time when I see the name "Stellantis".

 

[Debbie Jean]

I think it's just because your experience involves the driver, but it seems like you're bashing on the 280Z, which is not such a bad car - he's just defending it. Now, if your Grandmother drove a Pinto....

Speaking of, I never actually rode in a Pinto, but my next door neighbors growing up had one in their yard that didn't run. I think that's de rigueur for the model.

View attachment 822303

Pic seems about right.

Can’t believe it took that long for someone to mention the Pinto! I’ve spent decades trying to suppress the memories lol

 

[cedricandsophie]

I had a 1975 fiat spider. Worst car ever. It overheated constantly or just stopped for no reason. No mechanic could figure it out. I could only stand it for a few months. I finally just traded the damn thing in for a new chevette. So I went from a cute but horrible car to a cheap boxy plain hatchback car that would never quit. I finally had to let it go at about 250,000 miles. The engine was still fine. But the body was falling apart. I could see the road going under my feet while driving because the underneath of the car was rusting out. Greatest car ever.

 

[gncntry]

PT Cruiser. We rented one in Vegas years ago. Worst turning radius and ride in general.

 

[Moliphino]

I don't remember what type of car it was, but the rental we had in CA with a rotary knob shifter. Awful design choice there.

 

[tvguy]

Can’t believe it took that long for someone to mention the Pinto! I’ve spent decades trying to suppress the memories lol

Hey, if you changed the oil regularly they were great cars. I ran mine 16 years until a growing family made it necessary to buy a 4 door family car. My mom had hers 27 years.

 

[tvguy]

I don't remember what type of car it was, but the rental we had in CA with a rotary knob shifter. Awful design choice there.

Very common in cars now.

 

[tvguy]

Chrysler is still part of the same group that includes Fiat. I do have a hard time when I see the name "Stellantis".

The thing I don't get is, all the Dodge/Chrysler/Ram dealers here dropped Fiat. They won't even work on them.

 

[ChrisFL]

Actually haven't had too many experiences with bad cars. In high school I had a driver's ed class and we had our own driving area with ~1992 Pontiac Sunbirds which were not great.

I remember sitting in a Suzuki at a car show about 15 years ago and the seat was super uncomfortable, might as well have been a wooden board.

I always buy Toyotas except for my first car which was a Mazda, so my cars have always been good quality