OK, I know you like your Cummins but what is the worst vehicle you have owned?

[Rosco]

1999 Dodge Ram 1500 4X4 with a 318ci engine.



1. Had to have the radiator replaced.



2. Had collapsed lifter so all were replaced.



3. After lifters were done I started to get a check engine light. Turned out that the intake manifold had to be removed again and resealed.



4. Transmission made a terrible groan associated with a vibration that could be felt in the floor whenever it was put in reverse while cold.



5. Then I had this horrendous smell in the cab that turned out to be mold in the carpet from the soaking it was getting every time it rained.



After the the carpet issue I seized and almost bought a F-250 Superduty except the dealer tried to pull a fast one while I was signing the paperwork so I tore it up and walked out. I then purchased my 2001 Ram 2500 gasser 4X4 and was happy. After the '99 lemon I've had 4 Dodge 2500's, the above gasser along with 3 diesels and all have been good truck's.

 

[dseabaugh]

1984 Chevrolet Suburban purchased as wife's first "new " car in November 1983. Paint peeled EVERYWHERE, Doors had to be adjusted, airconditioner failed, sunscreen on rear windows bubbled, doors rubbed fenders and had to be adjusted , airconditioner clutch fell off and in between steering pitman and frame locking up steering wheel in a curve ( thank God I was able to stop in time). Sold with 11,000 miles.



1984 Chevy HD pickup. Ordered with 366 engine, arrived with 350 engine . Did not have enough power to drag a hen off the nest if you tired a rope around her neck and the other end to the bumper. Automatic hubs would not lock in (even after several recalls), 5 mpg. At 30,000 miles dealer told me they couldn't believe the front end hadn't been rebuilt yet. When I ? them they told me that the book says it should be torn down for inspection every year. Went home and took an ad out in the paper. If they don't think they build them any better than that I donb't want it on the place. Bought my first dodge and drove it 200,000 miles.



1978 Cadillac Deville. 430 CID Blew cooling system hose off the back of motor reguarly. Also would throw the belts off the motor. By 50,000 miles it had new radiator, all wood grain trim on doors(cracked), all armrest(split and would pinch your arm) , air conditioner, transmission, hoses and belts replaced. Sold it and bought a Green Pontiac Catalina Same year 400 CID . good car , bad radio, worse paint, but air conditioner that would freeze meat. Like Cadillac, It would run like a rocket and would use almost as much fuel ( that's why wife like them both) Replaced with Plymouth voyager. Wife loved the Voyager too ( sold @ 96,000 miles, 10 yrs old). . Put in a battery when 8 years old, and a start relay. Trouble free just like wife's Cirrus 8 years old and 70,000 miles now.

 

[baby.driver]

I don't think I ever owned a bad car.

'46 Ford Club Coupe

'57 Chev 150 4 dr. sedan

'53 Ford F-10

'68 Ford Mustang

? Ford Maverick

'86 Chev Sprint

'88 Ford F-150

'89 Ford F-350

'90 Ford E-350

'96 Dodge ( you know the one)

'98 Ford Escort

'98 Ford Escort ZX2

'98 Chev Suburban

The last four are still in residence

 

[RobertBolinger]

Originally posted by dseabaugh

1983 Chevrolet Suburban purchased as wife's first "new " car in November 1983. Paint peeled EVERYWHERE,

I had an 1985, and the Paint peeled EVERYWHERE

 

[RobertBolinger]

Originally posted by baby. driver

I don't think I ever owned a bad car.

...

'86 Chev Sprint

...

I had one too-1st new car I had. That was one tough car-I drove 160,000 miles, and traded for a shotgun-still have shotgun -brother got it from dad and traded it for 2 cats (he still has the cats) the last I heard it had 225,000 miles-pretty good for a 1 liter all aluminum engine that turns like 4500 at 75.

 

[KBennett]

In order of ownership:



197X Pinto-bought as a project and sold as a project at 14.

1968 GTO-bought as a project at 14 and finished it-great car and still own it and will always be working on it.

1977 Toyota Corolla-Ran well but sold with a $200 profit.

1967 Travelall 4X4-Another well built truck. My Dodge reminds me of it. Drove through college.

1976 Buick Regal-Great ride with bucket seats and sunroof

1988 Ford Ranger 4X2 V6-Good little company truck

1985 Nissan 4X4 PU-Best truck I have ever owned but underpowered.

1985 Pontiac Grand Am-Worst vehicle I ever owned. Good motor and trans but the rest of the car literally fell apart.

1992 Saturn SL2-Very good car had lots of pep and great handling.

1995 Nissan Pathfinder-Very reliable but underpowered in the mountains

2002 Toyota Tacoma-Very reliable but I could not pull my trailer in the mountains.

2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins SO 47RE-Traded at 5K miles. Trans left a lot to be desired.

2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins HO 6 Speed-So far I am very pleased. Hopefully the dealer will fix the vibe tommorow.

 

[wcjp]

Worst vehicle was a 88' S-15 Jimmy with the 2. 8l V6 and self exploding 700R4.

 

[BCook1]

Keep it coming.

This is a riot. I never realized the consistency in failures among vehicles - thought I just had bad luck. A friends 88 F150 4x4 - yes, crap - everything in truck repaired under warranty. I am still keeping my father's 81 Diesel Toronado running - I think it is the last one on the road - elegant car/stupid engine. My second most unreliable vehicle is a 70 Superbird. Christine's cousin - only in stead of fixing itself - it broke itself - OK I helped a little.

 

[KIseminger]

A 1979 CJ-7. I bought it for $400 from a guy in Denver.



transmission blew on the way home.



Motor blew on the way home after I picked it up from the transmission shop because they left it on 4-Low (I'll take partial blame for that; I was only 17 then after all)



The top was in horrible shape



By far the worst rust I have ever seen on a vehicle.



My 2000 Tacoma was by far the most reliable vehicle I have owned. It was just a little to cramped for a 6'1" 200 pound guy and 2 lab. retrievers; so on came the CTD.....

 

[Andy Perreault]

Great topic, funny stories! I'll have to show this topic to my dad. He'll start reminiscing about that '67 Ford Thunderbird we had when I was a kid. He cussed and swore at that car like Ralphie's furnace-fighting dad in the movie "A Christmas Story. " I remember it had those vacuum operated headlight covers that would automatically lift up when you turn on the lights. Well, we had to get out and lift them up by hand.

As for me, my worst vehicle was a thoroughly used '78 Ford E250 4X4 "Quadravan. " I completely blame myself for letting my emotions get ahead of my common sense when I bought it because I wanted a 4X4 van so bad at the time. The motor mounts were in such bad shape that the oil pan was resting on the crossmember. Part of the oil pan was worn paper thin where it had been rubbing on the crossmember. Body rot, distributor seized in the block (couldn't adjust the timing), etc. I sold it at a loss a few months after buying it.

I had a 13 year love/hate relationship with a '79 F250 4X4. I must have sunk a fortune in that thing. Dropped in a 460, lifted it, big tires, tons of accessories, etc. But every two years (this was in L. A. ) I had to get illegal smog certificates. I got 6-8 mpg whether it was loaded or empty, highway or city. I always had electrical problems with that truck, mainly due to my unprofessional workmanship when adding on stuff. There was a nightmare of spaghetti under the dash.

When I look back, it was a great truck in many ways, and I had a lot of fun times in it. But at the same time, it seemed like all I did was fix it all the time, and it was my only vehicle. Every now and then, I see a really sharp looking '78 or '79 4X4, and I just kind of go, "Oh, I wish I had one again. " But then I think, "Do I really want to go through all that again?" I don't know, maybe someday I'll get one as a project vehicle that I can restore in my spare time. That's a little different than panicking to get it back together in order to get to work on time.

I still think the '78-'79 Fords were the best looking trucks ever made, especially the 4X4 SuperCabs. But let's not start a debate on what's the best looking truck, we'll save that for another topic.

Andy

 

[Texas Diesel]

1995 Toyota w4d V6, everything wrong, in shop more then I had it. Dealer traded me out for another, worse Biggest POS's on the road. Traded it off on a 95 Dakota V8 4WD, still on the road at 195,000miles, original clutch, engine (except for water pump and timing chain) only in the shop 3 times in 195k.

Had several Toyotas of the 80's vintage, perfect.

 

[Dieselnut59]

Originally posted by wcjp

Worst vehicle was a 88' S-15 Jimmy with the 2. 8l V6 and self exploding 700R4.

Amen on the 2. 8L What a gutless wonder! I had a 1987 Jimmy in high school. That POS would not get out of its own way. Cut the air conditioner on and that factor was doubled!! Never had any transmission problems because the thing did not have enough power to tear anything up!!

I had a 1986 F150 4x4 that constantly left me stranded. I have been all Dodge/Cummins since then and have been truely happy.

1993 250 4x4 5-speed Cummins (traded for 1996)

1996 3500 extra cab 4x4 5 speed Cummins (still have)

1998 3500 cab/chassis 5-speed Cummins (sold to family business)

1998 3500 quad cab 5-speed Cummins (traded for current 2003)

2003 3500 4-door 6 speed 4x4 Cummins

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Re: Keep it coming.

Originally posted by BCook1

My second most unreliable vehicle is a 70 Superbird.

BCook,



You had a WING Car?



Wedge or HEMI?

 

[BCook1]

Yeah, big wing.

I bought an orange pistol grip dana 440 4bbl Bird 22 years ago when I was 16. The engine was out and a bunch of stuff missing but a solid body. Put it together and tried to drive it for a couple of years - 16 year old mechanics aren't that savvy - at least I wasn't. Parked the car in storage in 1983 and it has been there ever since. Maybe someday I will restore it. Only reason it is in good shape is because it never stayed running long enough to get trashed. LOL

 

[DKayser]

It`s a toss up.......

between my 75 Power wagon and of all things a 73? Vega. Power wagon ate front axle, then driveline, then motor. Vega was bought to teach x to drive a stick. Both x & Vega gone, both sucked.

 

[flightmedic]

I have had incredible luck w/ my vehicle purchases. In less then 15 years I have owned over 30 vehicles without too big a problem.

That changesd last year when I bought a brand new Honda RC51 (motorcycle). The first 3975 miles were great! But on the 3976 mile, I heard a noise and then it sounded like gravel rolling around in the motor.

Long story short. Through no fault of my own, the #1 cam journal, oil feed became occluded. This resulted in a seizure of the cam and a resultant rod through the bottom of the motor. The worst part was Honda could have cared less. They sent out representatives and shipped the fragged motor to headquarters. But all they would do is "rebuild" the motor at a cost to them of $8000, on a $10,999 bike. Refused to install a new motor. Refused to give me a new bike. And finally, refused to refund my money on a 7 month old bike. I lost a lot of respect for Honda over that issue.

But I still have the bike and the "rebuilt" motor seems to be holding together okay. But it's not the same. Maybe it's for the best though as I wouldn't mind a new BMW R1150GS.

 

[baby.driver]

Re: 86 Chev Sprint,

Originally posted by RobertBolinger

I had one too-1st new car I had. That was one tough car-I drove 160,000 miles, and traded for a shotgun-still have shotgun -brother got it from dad and traded it for 2 cats (he still has the cats) the last I heard it had 225,000 miles-pretty good for a 1 liter all aluminum engine that turns like 4500 at 75.

Hey Robert, I gave my mother that car, she still has it, and it has in excess of 300,000 miles on it.

 

[baby.driver]

I find it interesting the problems of the '88 Ford 150 4X4.

Mine was a two wheel drive 5 speed 300 inch six.

Very few problems.

They must have made some big mistakes with the 4x.



Jay

 

[Dieselnut59]

My '86 F150 was a POS, but most of the problems were with the VERY JUNKY 302 V-8. I would have kept the truck if it were the 300 I-6. That was by far Ford's best engine. Lil bro has one (1994 model 2 wheel drive) with 220,000 ish miles on it. He replaced the transmission and radiator, but most of the engine componets are still original with the exception of the water pump, thermostat and alternator. I was thinking about swapping in a 300 into my F150, but bought my 1993 250 Dodge/Cummins instead! The transfer case was crap in my 86 F150, but after pulling it out for a rebuild, I found the linkage was not adjusted right, causing it to "hang" between 4x4 and 4x2 high. Chewed the gears to pieces. Rebuilt that and let someone else have that pile of crap! Been all Dodge/Cummins ever since.

 

[outlawram]

nissan pathfinder. what a piece of junk. made super cheap and absolutely no resale.