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My worst car ever!
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I've also heard that the Olds 403 tended to do this. I had an '85 LeSabre with an Olds 307, which is the same basic block, but the 403, having a larger displacement, might have dissipated more heat?
I need to rebuild the heads on it one of these
daysyears, but if this "difficult to start when hot" problem is an engine issue, I would just rebuild the whole darned thing while I was digging into it. Actually, I might oughta do that anyway. :sick:Hey, here's a dumb question...I know it was never offered that way, but can you feasibly squeeze a Ford smallblock V-8 into a Pinto's engine bay? I figure if a Mustang II could take it, a Pinto should be able to.
I like those sportwagons too. Regrettably, mine is your standard family wagon and white with faux "woody" sides... probably not a typical candidate for sleeper status.
Why portholes? Customized vans were big in the '70s and this sort of played off of that craze..
Tons of old Pintos at the dragstrip had 302s....
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Ooh, that sounds like fun...a regular Pinto wagon, woodgrain and everything, but set up to kill!
If the smogged down 360 in my '79 New Yorker, which puts out a whopping 150 hp, ever blows, I thought about putting a crate 360 in there or maybe even a bigblock drivetrain from some old junker. Of course if I did that, I'd have to make sure I put whitewall tires on it, and put the wire hubcaps back on to complete the look. Right now it has copcar wheels and dogdish hubcaps, and the exhaust system fell off right behind the catastrophic converter, so the thing looks and sounds more muscular than it really is. The kids with their modded Civics and fartcans hate it, because it can usually drown them out. :P
Oh, I also found out that the Mopar R-body might be considered one of the worst RWD cars that Chrysler ever made. I was at an antique car show with my LeMans the other weekend, and in conversation mentioned my other cars. Whenever the NYer would come up the response was often "Oh, the crappy one/weird one/bad one/etc" I know the things aren't exactly lusted after, but I didn't know that they were downright reviled! :surprise:
- Brakes pulsated, fixed, pulsated, fixed, pulsated, refused to fix
- Brake fade: Pads were glazed, replaced and then it came back, refused to fix
- Poor idle: Refused to fix
- Sometimes wouldn't start: Refused to look at
- Transmission harshness: Repaired multiple times, kept coming back
- Transmission slipping: Couldn't duplicate. Slipped on its way off the lot after that diagnosis
- Poor fit and finish of the interior
- Numerous interior rattles
- Poor interior quality parts
- Shift knob rusted
- Brake light seal coming off
- Tires that went bad within the first 1k miles. Dealer refused to do anything
- Power steering intermittently half quit working
- Horrible gas mileage
- Seat cushioning worn out at 15k miles
- Radio intermittently quit working
I know there were others, but those are the items that stand out. I finally forced GM to buy it back as a lemon. Then I made my second mistake:
2004 Malibu Maxx LT:
- Brakes pulsate. Dealer actually fixed it and it stayed fixed
- Brakes felt worn out, but dealer said only 20% pad life was used
- Engine idled roughly
- Mileage was poor
- Transmission began slipping about 10k miles
- PCM update caused very harsh shifting in and out of drive. GM refused to fix.
- Engine had trouble starting until said PCM update.
- Brake pull
- Car pulled, could never get it aligned right
- Electric steering was notchy and clunky
- Radio intermittently didn't sync with the car's systems
- Sunroof rattles
- Rear roof window shades repeatedly snapped open on their own. GM actually developed a fix, but the dealer kept trying to apply the fix and failed. Eventually replaced the head liner.
- Transmission began slipping badly at 25k. Dealer refused to fix it. Their master tranny tech said that unless it loses a gear or slams you into the seat, there is no problem.
- Dealership changed service manager early this year, which drastically changed the attitude of the service.
- Various other interior parts that broke or snapped off during use.
- Rattling headlamp
- Tailgate rattles
- Dashboard rattles
- Remote start intermittently quit working
- Engine leaking oil between the block and the intake (IIRC). Dealer actually tried to spin that one as normal at first.
And again there were others, but their attitude toward me and their stance on the transmission and engine problems pushed me over the edge. I traded it on a Pontiac Vibe 6 months ago and have been happy ever since. No mechanical problems and only a couple (literally) interior issues. Plus I got a different dealer whose attitude is *far* better.
Ah, this post makes me feel better. I was actually considering looking at the next Malibu after seeing the pictures of it. Nope, no way! :P
I think, primarily, because the male eye appreciates a well-placed curve and those portholes were about the only thing curved on a 70s era car. :P
Roll to summer of 1997. She gives it to my brother and I as a summer rig while we are home between college, not that we ever were home much considering I was living in Alaska full time (from NE Oregon) and my brother was Mr. Busy.
At this point, it was sitting for about 5 years as stated above, being used primarily as a tether point for various dogs and/or goats (one goat liked to stand on the hood, caving it in). I took it home to my father's shop and tore into it a bit to figure out its general needs, etc. During the winter holiday break, I flew home for 3 weeks and had it up & running after about a week once a new distributor was in it and the carb was rebuilt. It ran... okay - typical gutless 4 banger. Not very good mileage - probably 18-20 highway, and it had a serious problem leaking transmission fluid around the pan which I was not able to fix even after replacing the pan gasket and filter.
Anyway, between my brother and I, we had about 300 miles on it when he was ready to head back to college (about 200 miles away). He wanted to take it with him, but I strongly urged against it citing that the engine did not have enough miles since the work to determine if it was going to hold up for him (my minimum is 500). He insisted. It threw a rod 5 miles from school. My father suggested we take it to scrap yard, but I stubbornly drove over there and towed it home. I put it in the quanset hut and there it has sat since - right next to a lovely spare 302 from my van swap. If I could ever get it to Alaska (or move FROM Alaska), I would start tinkering with it. Oh well though - it is out of the weather and waiting patiently unless my father decides to sell his quanset.
I posted earlier about my 2002 Montana Problems......I was actually looking at the new Chevy Uplander/Pontiac Montana SV6 when they first came out. :confuse: But I soon came to my senses an bought the Honda.
I have no idea what I was thinking.
she actually gloats now because she says all her friends who drive lexus complain that it costs at least a hundred dollars every time they visit the service department.
as far as i am concerned the worst car SHE ever owned was an '84 lebaron. it couldn't go faster than 60 mph up the hills on the mass pike.
My folks' second worst is one they still have now, although the problems are nowhere near as bad as the VW: a '98 Explorer. Lights come on and go off at will - sometimes they don't go off at all and kill the battery. It is at about 8 years and 80K miles, and the radio display has quit. About three years ago, at about 50K, the brakes failed and caused an accident (no-one hurt, thank goodness). About a year before that, and just out of warranty, they had major electrical problems that were killing the battery daily and leaving them stranded from time to time. First time the dealer couldn't find the problem, second time he rewired just about the whole darn engine bay, total bill was well over $1000, and of course despite the low mileage, Ford didn't help at all. I can't understand the popularity of that model, although I will say it has AMAZINGLY good A/C. Apart from that, it is noisy and rough, and has some of the cheapest seat leather I have ever seen, including some of the stuff the Europeans don't even CALL leather, but rather leatherette.
Oh yeah, they got to experience the Firestone recall too, and had to wait weeks for an eligible place (eligible for Ford to pay for the replacement tires) to have replacements available.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
My mother was in the market for a new car around that timeframe, and as a 9 year old kid, I was pushing for her to get the Monza, because I thought it looked so cool! She actually did think about it, because of fuel economy concerns, and she was lucky to get 15-16 mpg out of the '75 LeMans she was driving at the time.
Other cars she was considering were a Plymouth Volare or Pontiac LeMans. One of my grandmother's cousins had recently gotten a 1979 Volare wagon, a 2-tone black-over-silver with a red interior. It was actually pretty sharp looking, and back in those days it was considered a trim, versatile package! The LeMans was in the running because Mom had a preference for Pontiacs, having had a '66 Catalina convertible and then the '75 LeMans coupe.
In the end, the winner was a 1980 Malibu coupe. Which probably worked out for the best, because 7 years later I would get it as my first car. Had it been the Monza, Volare, or even LeMans, I might be writing about it today as the worst car I ever owned! Even though the LeMans is basically the same thing as a Malibu, I know my Mom would've just gotten a V-6. And the LeMans used the junky Buick 231, whereas the Malibu used a more durable Chevy 229.
Do you know that the New Jersey State Police used 1960 Chryslers?
Now that I think about it, I believe this problem with the 403 was mentioned in relation to the Firebird/Trans Am, so it could be possible that there was something about the engine in that particular car?
Yeah, I heard about that too. The CHP nicknamed it the "St. Slowgis". The problem there was that in 1980, the CHP specified 318-4bbls instead of the usual 360-4bbl, and it just wasn't enough engine to move the car. Plus, most of these cops were probably coming off of big-block 400 and 440 Mopars, so naturally any smallblock would seem tame in comparison.
FWIW, the 1980 Impala with the 350-4bbl was so slow that the Michigan State Police disqualified it from their bidding! I think any police car that the CHP ended up with in 1980 would have ultimately been the butt of a bunch of jokes. It was just a sign of the times.
Isn't that part made of plastic?
Now, it only takes about a week (usually).
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The second time it went out, early this year, the local shop had it done in like three days. And it took them that long because they had a backlog!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Try three weeks. My parents had a 2003 Silverado and it had a failure of the charcoal canister. Out of commission and in a rental for three weeks.
I could move the steering wheel in the beetle about 8" on center to either side with no steering response. The Delta on the other hand would need a 4 wheel alignment once every three months or the car would vibrate and basically "eat" tires.
But all in all, the Bug, while it was a total piece of crap, never really left me stranded and it was 12 years old when I bought it. The Delta 88 on the other hand was 2 years old when I bought it. It is the only car I've owned that had gone through 3 computers and 4 transmissions in 4 years. After that experience I acquired a vision of snow balls in hell. That's when i'd buy another GM product. Its been 12 years and I've kept that vow.
:lemon:
I test drove a 2007 Cross Country and it also seems to pull to the right.
Is this a problem endemic to this car?
To me, it's a lemon because it's the worst new car I've ever purchased in that they can't seem to fix it.
I kept it 23 months and 18K miles before giving up. In the time I owned it the following failed:
head gasket
major brake failure (three times. Determined my truck did not have the axles/brakes the factory claimed it had)
cat converter collapse
pinion bearing failure
carb failure (lost count. finally bought the factory manual and just started fixing it myself)
Rust. And I lived in central Texas.
electrical problems in the gauge cluster
After the third time the brakes locked on a soft application, and wouldn't unlock until the vehicle was moved backward a foot or so, I got rid of this piece of rolling excrement and swore I would never, ever buy another Nissan. If the quality of the truck wasn't bad enough, the local dealer convinced me of the error of my decision. How do you tell a customer with a straight face that there is nothing wrong in the emissions system (NAPZ4) when every time you step on the gas, the engine stumbles, and every time you let off the gas, the little mother would backfire so hard it shook the whole truck? My neighbors were getting really jumpy.
Honda had this problem with some models. The ultimate fix was a sub frame adjustment.
On the other hand, my 2006 Pilot had a pull to the right problem when new. Although the 4 wheel alignment was within specs, one of the four wheels was at the far end of spec. The dealer adjusted all four wheels to as close to perfect as possible and that cleared it up.
Google "Honda pull to right" sometime if you would like some more information.
12,XXX miles the intake manifold gasked failed again. Was fixed.
13,XXX miles the transmission failed again (lost overdrive feature). Was fixed.
21,XXX miles transmission failed again and AC not working. Bad compressor. Was fixed
21,XXX miles torque converter failing. Was fixed
29,XXX miles interior electrical problems (power seats moving by them self). Was fixed.
30,XXX miles transmission failure again... Van was bought under lemon law. All this was within 14 months.
The engine gave so much trouble my dad eventually had a mechanic replace it with a gasoline one. Then it really gulped gas! The transmission had to be replaced too. I have these memories of riding in the backseat of that car with my dad merging onto Interstate 95 and the engine sounding like it would explode because it wouldn't shift out of second gear. He was so sick of it he said just let it blow and floored it. Just when you thought the engine would explode, it would shift.
Though GM was awful while the car was under warranty, the company eventually did repay my dad for the money he spent on the engine and the transmission. I think the nightly news started having reports on how bad they were treating everyone.
The side molding along the door wouldn't stay on. My mom and I still laugh about the time Dad tried to buy a new piece from the dealer and they told him it was out of stock. "Bleep Bleep, you should keep a tractor-trailer load of that stuff in the back as bad as it falls off. You can sell a fortune." The molding had been glued on so much it was crooked.
They had the problem with the trunk lid. My mom just propped it up with a tobacco stick. We were a little worried that the stick would slip and the lid would clock her on the head when she was unloading groceries. It was HEAVY!
Then there was the time I had strep and spent half a day half dead at the doctor's office, unable to swallow. We started home and it began raining so, of course, she turned on her windshield wipers. These had one speed, manic, which wasn't too bad except when it stopped raining and we couldn't shut off the wipers. We looked so ridiculous driving around like that we couldn't stop laughing and it HURT.
Then there was the time when the heat, on its highest setting, wouldn't shut off. North Carolina can be pretty warm, even in winter, so we tried to roll down the windows. You had to bring the front windows down very, very carefully. If you let them down too far, they slipped out of the track and fell into the door. You couldn't get them back up very easily. This was a problem when it rained.
The funniest part of this to me is that they had that car from 1979 until I finished college and moved to Germany in 1993--14 years!!!. My mom starting driving my car, a 1986 Mustang.
Dad had an almost-as-awful 1983 Chevy pickup, also a diesel, which they couldn't keep a fuel pump on. I think he ran through three. My brother wanted to borrow it to move in at college. Dad told him to keep it idling the entire time they unloaded because you never knew whether it would start up again.
My parents drove their junk for over a decade because they bought shiny new cars for me and my brother. The devotion of a parent is really unlimited.
But they were able to sell the Oldsmobile for money in 1993! I can't remember how much.
Lest you think they are cursed, they have had great luck with Fords ever since. I even still have my 1986 Mustang and it needs a bit of care but its still running, 20 years later. We aren't complacent though. I am fluent in my state's lemon law and actually a little crazy about documentation with car dealers and maintenance on the cars I have now.
Is there a VOR owners forum anywhere? Now I'd REALLY be curious what others are saying about them! We sure spent a LOT of money to have our vehicles in the shop so often, without problems being detected or remedied!
Pretty discouraging, isn't it??
1. Leaving girlfriends house turn the key and "BOOM" battery blow up. Open the hood and the top of the battery is GONE. Bad voltage regulator
2. Leaving GF's house and BAM the seat falls all the way back - a small bolt had sheared off in the seat. Get home in the dark and pouring rain to take a quick look for the problem. The best part was when the window shattered after I slammed the door.
3. Leaving work after swing shift, around midnight. Get on the freeway and lose all power - Look under the hood, but c'mon it is midnight can't see a damn thing. Turns out the clamp for hose on the intake manifold failed. No manifold pressure no go
4. With GF driving, Bam - muffler completely falls off the car (~ 50,000 by this point) in heavy traffic. Fun running back on to the street to retrieve it
5. Again with GF - card dies for no reason. Turns out the distributor was faulty design and the electronics within it "melted". Had a specialty shop fabricate a replacement - years later read that this was a known Ford defect.
6. On way to GFs house - Turbo fails. On a hill. Car goes from ~ 100 HP to about 45. Like a fool take the turbo out and have it rebuilt
7. Massive oil leak - however got smart and traded it in at that point. Leak was so bad on 25 mile drive to dealer had to add 2 quarts of oil.
8. The best for last. The wheels that came on the car were metric. There was one tire that would fit - a very soft tire at that. They were $100 per tire and usually a set of four lasted 10,000 miles. It seemed like for every birthday or christmas somebody was buying me tires. I did manage to drive from Seattle to Whistler and back for a ski trip on 4 bald tires.
Oh well, my girlfriend became my wife. :shades:
While highly unlikely it is possible for a 4 year old car to have only 20K miles on it. The last car my mom had was 10 years old with less than 50K on it. She rarely drove. But I would say it was rolled back.
4. With GF driving, Bam - muffler completely falls off the car (~ 50,000 by this point) in heavy traffic. Fun running back on to the street to retrieve it
Got that beat, back in the mid 70's my sister bought brand spanking new a Buick Apollo, the exhaust systems fell off a few blocks from the dealership as she was driving home. Thing had nothing but issues.
Back in the early 80's I looked at the EXP, but I was smart and bought the Mustang.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])