Yugo. Are they the worst car of all time?

northstart

Yer! I think Ford kinda-lost the plot with that one!

modvptnl

I had a Scorpio!!!! Back seats reclined!! Very smooth, loved the interior. People actually complemented the car's styling. 2.9 Cologne motor ran well. The AC was very weak and that's what led me to trade it in......but I did like it.

The only car with a weaker AC that I've experienced is my buddies former '95 911. That thing couldn't blow out a match and never got cold.

lleroi, your posts are a bust up!!! LMAO!

northstart

Yer! A Friend of mine has this model and he thinks its great. Although it was the last Scorpio models, the Ultima that had the unusual styling. It’s a same, because I had spent a few weeks driving one for work and it was a really nice car.

But, most people in the UK just hated it.

As for the air con. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a Bosch system on the Scorpio and the Porsche.

im_brentwood

Neat site, and nice car as well.
Heck of a lot better than what they sold over here during that period!

Bill
Who has 3 PA Vauxhalls in Orlando
www.directautogroupllc.com/vauxhallpa

northstart

Yer! I’ve always liked this model but could afford one new. Its used daily whatever the weather and has been very reliable, although I would like to replace the 2.9 V6 engine with something like a 351 Cleveland V8.

As for the site, its getting there, although I haven’t been able to do as much work on it latterly as I would like. I have a variety of items and projects to load up but the time just doesn’t seem to be there.

Took a look at your sight, nice cars, I like these Vauxhall models. Did you import them yourself? My next door neighbor had one a few years back (two-tone red & cream), unfortunately a drunk rear-ended it. He now has a 65 289 Mustang.

jrosasmc

What do you make of the Volkswagen Dashers (1974-81)? Weren't these first front-drive VWs supposed to have a terrible reputation for quality and reliablity? My godfather had a '77 sedan, one of the first with FI, hooked to a 3-speed auto. It was extremely rusty and always (and I mean always) had electrical problems with it, but he refused to let it go until he moved down to NC. Funny how we don't see these Dashers anymore in the States.

focusmatt2

They are basically Passats...the VW Passat has been the Dasher and Quantum, but they didn't start using the real name until 1990.

Mr_Shiftright

There's a concise history of the entire VW/Audi DAsher, Fox Quantum Passat geneology on this webiste, about mid-way down the page:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/5067/vwindex.html

Basically, the Audi 80 became the Fox in America and the Passat became the Dasher.

Back then, they were not particularly wonderful cars, typical "iffy" VW quality for the time. This era was not VWs high point.

jrosasmc

I know that all of the Yugos were extremely bad to begin with, but here is my list of what I think are more of the worst cars the States ever knew:
1. 1975-81 Triumph TR7/8
2. 1971-73 Plymouth Cricket
3. 1987-91 Sterling 825/827
4. 1964-73 Saab 95/96
5. 1969-80 Saab 99
6. 1970-72 Audi Super 90 & 1970-77 100
7. Any Renault of the 1970s
8. 1976-80 Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare
9. 1980-85 GM X-bodied cars
10. 1981-83 Chrysler Imperial

Mr_Shiftright

That's a pretty good...er...bad list you have there!

jrosasmc

What do you mean? You think some of those cars on my list are adequately good? I beg to differ, though.

dpwestlake

What is the problem with the SAAB 95/96?

focusmatt2

What was wrong with the Sterling 827? It was just marketed wrong.

andre1969

...the Aspen/Volare improved considerably after 1977. The '78-80 models were as good as any other American car at the time (which may or may not be saying much, depending on your view of American cars at that time ;-)

What was wrong with the '81-83 Imperial? Aside from fuel injection problems, which caused a lot of people to switch to 2- or 4-bbl carbs, I don't think there was anything too bad with those cars. Well, aside from their miserable sales, that is!

jrosasmc

I hope I did not offend anyone with my list of what I thought were really bad lemons. If anyone had their feelings hurt or was offended, they should take that point up with me. I never intended to offend anybody because of my opinions on my post.

As for the Saab 95/96, I just think they're bad cars because you just don't see them anymore, plus I've been told they don't have a good durability record when compared with, say, a '60s Mercedes or Porsche.

Mr_Shiftright

The real turkey was the Saab 99. The Saab 95 & 96 were rugged, but they had some real weaknesses. For one, the transmission was a devil and easily expired. Worse than that, it was expensive and difficult to repair. This is why even today a 95 & 96 with a bad trans is junk for most people except an expert. But personally I love those 96s with the V-4.

The Sterling really isn't just a disguised Accord. It's a disguised Accord built in the U.K. by blind people. It was a fairly troublesome car and had a lot of quality control issues. Maybe no one terrible thing, but a lot to worry about for the average driver who was expecting Accord reliability.

Andre, your comments on the Imperial are so "gearhead"....LOL! Spoken like a true car lover "Hey, aside from the minor point of having to remove your entire fuel injection system and install carburators.....doesn't everyone do that over the weekend?"

dpwestlake

Saab V4s are pretty reliable. I know a guy that has a 95 as a daily driver.

Mr_Shiftright

Except for the transmission, yes, they are. Tough little cars.

merckx

It was heavily based on the Honda/Accura Legend,which I don't think was overly based on the cheaper Accord.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, you are right, I was mistaken.

im_brentwood

Well..

The ole British Bugbear. Sometimes I wonder why anyone let the Rover Group (ANd BL, BMC..etc..) near a wiring loom as they shoot..

What did they do soak them in salt water before they put em in the cars?

Shame really.. by the time the Rover 800s were "fixed" they had killed their name here and pulled out. The 93-94ish restyle of the car was particularly attractive IMO.

I picked one up for a friend of mine at the auction recently (He was hanging out with me there and said 'hey that looks cool'.. We saw a MINT Blue one, 120K or so on it, everything worked..etc.. Was an '89 827SL..

Cold AC..etc.. $500 across the block.

How ya gonna lose for that?

Bill

modvptnl

so at 3000 pounds you're still out $440. LOL!!!

Mr_Shiftright

Well, unless you are a disciplined merciless sort of car collector (like me ), first thing you'll do is spend another $500 to pretty it up and service it, and then one thing after another will go wrong, and you'll say, "well, gee, I just got it and I have a grand in it and it's such a nice car for this little money, sure let's fix those problems" and then you get sucked into it deeper and deeper and before you know it you have a $6,000 Sterling worth........$500!

However, if your nerves are made of finely honed steel and ice water flows in your veins, you buy it for $500 and just drive it and when something big fails you just leave it by the side of the road and go get another $500 Sterling. My two cents.

lleroi

fit my Yugo.Sounds like my kind of car.I could use the Sterling for everyday driving and the Yugo for weekend cruising.The English seemingly have injected some "quirkiness"into a mundane Japanese offering.This is enough to make it a candidate for my saintly collection of prideless cars.This gets my work load down to only six deadly sins.I may be having to cut down on my collection though-gluttony,you know.

isellhondas

Had one good thing. The engine. Talk about an ill conceived idea that went oh so wrong...

British electronics...what were they thinking?

a_l_hubcaps

I recently bought the "Car Talk Car Tunes" CD, and there's a song on it that includes the following lyrics:

Well there's one thing I've been wondering,
And I know you'll wonder why.
That is: who will drive my Yugo when I die?

-Andrew L

andre1969

...what tune is that song set to? For some reason it reminds me of a twisted tune I heard ages ago, around the time of the Jim and Tammy Faye scandal...went something like...

"I have just one question, one thing I wanna know,
Would Jesus wear a Rolex on a television show?"

Mr_Shiftright

No one will have to drive your Yugo because it will die long before you, unless perhaps you wre 97 when you bought it. Even then your odds are pretty good.

a_l_hubcaps

Andre-

I don't think the song is a parody of anything; at least, I don't recognize the tune. It's called "My Bloody Yugo". I do recommend the CD for any car person with a sense of humor. There are quite a few really funny songs on it, including one about a Dodge Dart, which might appeal to you.

-Andrew L

jrosasmc

The X-body GM cars, made from 1980-85. Pure crap, if you ask me.

a_l_hubcaps

jrosas-

Maybe, but I still see some Citations and Skylarks on the road, whereas I can't remember the last time I saw a running Yugo. I think the main problem with the X-cars was the defective power steering racks ("GM morning sickness"), which probably sent a lot of them to the junkyard prematurely when owners didn't want to pay for the repairs.

-Andrew L

merckx

The first car I bought was a new 1981 Citation sedan. I kept it for twelve years;it was a good car for me. I was racing bicycles for most of those years-that HUGE hatch was beyond handy.

Mr_Shiftright

Jumbo Shrimp
Military Music
Running Yugo

jrosasmc

Any British Leyland product of the '70s, and all Rovers (including Range Rovers).

avalanche325

I saw one, running and everything. I a nice surface rusting white. Had an exhaust leak for that wonderful airy sound.

I had actually forgotten haw offensive they were to the eye. Very long stretched looking doors for their size. I am glad they are gone.

andre1969

I'd read that they improved them considerably after a few years. By 1983, I think Consumer Reports actually rated the Citation 4-cyl as "average". Getting an average rating from CR back then for anything domestic was actually quite a compliment! However, even though they continued to improve them, the damage had already been done. The Phoenix and Omega in particular fell fast in sales, and were cut after 1984. Then again, Pontiac and Olds were fairly weak with their compact offerings in the '70's, so this was nothing really new.

The big surprise was the Buick Skylark. For some reason, the X-car stigma didn't seem to hurt its sales much, and even for 1985, it sold about 100,000 units. There was a couple of years that the Pontiac Phoenix offered a sporty coupe, I think it was called the SJ, that actually looked kinda sharp. Well, in my twisted reality, that is ;-)

And the X-body was with us, in spirit, up through 1996. The Celebrity/6000/Ciera/Century A-bodies were heavily based on the X-bodies. Basically just an X-body with more formal sheetmetal and a larger, longer trunk. The Celebrity and 6000 retired around 1989-90, but the Century/Ciera lasted right up through '96, and were still among Buick and Olds' best sellers.

a_l_hubcaps

I think the Skylark was more visually different from the other X-cars, so perhaps people didn't associate it with the Citation. For one, I don't think the Skylark was ever offered as a hatchback. There seem to be a fair amount of '80-85 Skylarks still on the road, mostly driven by old people.

-Andrew L

andre1969

The Olds Omega and Skylark were both only offered as 2- or 4-door notchbacks. The Phoenix was offered as a 4-door hatchback and a 2-door notchback coupe. The Citation was offered as a 2- and 4-door hatchback and as something called a "club coupe", that wasn't a hatchback, but wasn't as formal as the 2-door B-O-P moels.

I think the key here may be the "driven by older people" part. The Skylarks probably just didn't get ragged out as badly as the other cars! In fact, they used to market it as "the Little Limousine", not exactly appealing to the younger set!

jrosasmc

The original 2.8-liter OHV V-6 is still with us in spirit today, right? The current 3.1 and 3.4 V-6 engines are derived from that 1979-era motor.

andre1969

...pretty much the same engine. They enlarged it to 3.1, and then again to 3.4. Don't know which way they went though...bore, stroke, or both? There was also a DOHC version of the 3.4 available for a few years in cars like the Monte Z-34 and some Grand Prix models. It was pretty quick, but I think it was somewhat problematic. I guess GM learned two things about engines...don't try converting gasoline engines to Diesel, and don't try converting a pushrod to OHC!

dweezil

2 door notch back coupe, and loved it though it had been thrashed before I got it.That body styled came and went several times in the line; 82: gone 83/84 back....I think it was the "value leader", but does anyone know WHY base version was called a 2 door sedan and the more expensive one a "club coupe"???? What was the difference? I have all the years of the brochures and CANNOT figure it.
I loved that car: roomy, nice flat floor, no idiotic console,comfortable buckets, loads of room in the back seat [35.4 inches leg room], perfect size [176.7 inches]and the lines were nice.It had just been too abused to keep so I traded it for an 8 year old Calais with 21,000 miles [verifiable]with the same engine /trans combo.
It didn't ride as well, and wasn't nearly as quiet, but then the Calais was based on the J car and wasn't built with a sub frame/ engine cradle isolated from the body as the X and A cars did.
That Citation was a great combination of room, ride, economy, size and the quiet inside was eerie.It was one of the compelling reasons behind the Olds purchase and the subsequent purchase of my first new car: a 99 Cavalier 2 door: same size, weight, similar room as the Citation, even the shape is vaguely similar.
The X was a real shame execution-wise, but the concepts the industry learned from downsizing[efficient layout, small size, light weight plenty of head and leg room] seem to have been forgotten.Each generation of vehicle is larger than the next, heavier, wider. With the trend to Sedans and SUVs as regards to practical and versatile vehicles, you'd think that efficient packaging would be tops on the list rather than size. Compare: Malibu/Corsica, the first Mopar Mini-vans to the current non-mini vans, the 85 Cadillac DeVille and the current version.That they had to send to Germany for an entry level Cadillac the same size as the 85 Eldorado/Seville shows a little of the schizo personality of the industry.
The Fairmont in it's first year had an abysmal record. They sold approx.450,000 units in the first year and were recalled an outrageous nimber of times. Strange when it was so straight forward: Pinto 4, Falcon/Maverick 200 inch six,rear wheel drive, WHA Hoppen????Got to be right up there among the worst, at least for the first year.