Frontman
Well-known
A '64 Beetle. The 6v electrical system sucked, so I had to use a transformer before I could install a decent radio. And 6v bulbs for the lights weren't so easy to find. The clutch cable broke. So I had to drive the car with no clutch until I could get the money to replace it. The wiper linkage was broken, so when it would rain, I would have to open the glove box door, reach inside, and move the linkage back-and-forth with my hand while driving.
On the positive side, it used little gas, and most parts were cheap. I had no money when I was a student, but my friend worked at "VW Heaven", and I was able to trade things for parts instead of money.
On the positive side, it used little gas, and most parts were cheap. I had no money when I was a student, but my friend worked at "VW Heaven", and I was able to trade things for parts instead of money.
clicker
Well-known
Jeep Grand Cherokee mid 80's. More shop time than driving time!
tunalegs
Pretended Artist
Oh man, speaking of clutch cables, said subaru went through two clutch cables in two years. I replaced the clutch cable early on in my ownership, and it broke again just before I sold it so I replaced it again. The guy who bought it from me was a Subaru mechanic and said the cable was installed wrong which is why it broke - I just put it in the exact same way as I saw it, so who knows how many mechanics had been going through cables on that thing. Luckily it was a car which was easy to shift without a clutch, but it wasn't geared low enough that you could slip into first without a clutch. I had to stop the engine at red lights and start the motor with 1st engaged for the trip home.
AlwaysOnAuto
Well-known
I'd just like to say, this is a great thread.
I wish I'd never bought my first car. 1958 Jeep CJ5. Long story short, I should have listened to my dad when he called me at work that Saturday morning that I'd arranged for him to buy the car for me. He called from a phone booth outside the bank. Said the Jeep smoked like a destroyer laying down a smoke screen when driven. I of course just figured he didn't want me in a Jeep as a first car. One year later and a complete engine rebuild later (the pistons fell out of the block when we undid the rod bolts) I was finally able to drive my car.
I began to listen to what my dad had to say a lot more closely after that.
I wish I'd never bought my first car. 1958 Jeep CJ5. Long story short, I should have listened to my dad when he called me at work that Saturday morning that I'd arranged for him to buy the car for me. He called from a phone booth outside the bank. Said the Jeep smoked like a destroyer laying down a smoke screen when driven. I of course just figured he didn't want me in a Jeep as a first car. One year later and a complete engine rebuild later (the pistons fell out of the block when we undid the rod bolts) I was finally able to drive my car.
I began to listen to what my dad had to say a lot more closely after that.
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Pioneer
Veteran
Hey, I had a 283 Chevy engine just like that. Took it to the machine shop and asked them to bore it out 60 thousands. He called me a couple days later and said the cylinders were out of round by over 60 thousands and he didn't think it was safe to bore it far enough to make them all round! 
So I dropped a 327 in it. Fastest Chevy Impala I ever owned, till I took it off road one day...unintentionally. Age is a wonderful leveler! You totally destroy your only transportation and 30 years later you remember it fondly.
So I dropped a 327 in it. Fastest Chevy Impala I ever owned, till I took it off road one day...unintentionally. Age is a wonderful leveler! You totally destroy your only transportation and 30 years later you remember it fondly.
alienmeatsack
Well-known
For me it was a 1987 Jeep Wrangler. It was the new "square headlight" body style, last year that AMC made the Jeeps before Chrystler took over and it was a lemon to end all lemons.
I owned it for 2.5 years and it was literally -in the shop- for 1.5 years of it's life. I loved driving it, but the top leaked and was replaced twice, the transmission broke so reverse stopped working and eventually the transmission literally fell out on the highway. The replacement transmission also broke leaving me without reverse again. The dealer and AMC never fixed it correctly and when I sold it, I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off of me.
The electrical system was always broken or acting up in some way. One day, it started itself and lurked forward and died without me being in it. Another time, the lights (all of them) stopped working in the middle of the night. Haunted? Or crap? I am going with crap.
I love Jeeps but that one was pure hell.
I owned it for 2.5 years and it was literally -in the shop- for 1.5 years of it's life. I loved driving it, but the top leaked and was replaced twice, the transmission broke so reverse stopped working and eventually the transmission literally fell out on the highway. The replacement transmission also broke leaving me without reverse again. The dealer and AMC never fixed it correctly and when I sold it, I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off of me.
The electrical system was always broken or acting up in some way. One day, it started itself and lurked forward and died without me being in it. Another time, the lights (all of them) stopped working in the middle of the night. Haunted? Or crap? I am going with crap.
I love Jeeps but that one was pure hell.
marth
Newbie
We should be rational and need to avoid more expensive repair.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Well, I've been actually stranded only once in 11+ years and 100,000+ miles with my '72 SIII (blown up gearbox, 'serviced' by cretinous mechanic). I now do all my maintenance myself and it's fine, if thirsty. It's been to Greece and back; to the Ukrainian border; to Portugal... The gearbox died about 10 miles from home, maybe three years ago. I got the car trailered home and replaced the gearbox myself.
Cheers,
R.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
True, but very few modern cars are designed to be reparable. Unlike my Land Rover!
Cheers,
R.
driver
Well-known
Roger speaks the truth!
Any vehicle manufactured by British Leyland needs to be caressed by human hands on a regular basis
As an owner of an early TR7 fixed head coupe, I speak from experience.God bless.
pvdhaar
Peter
Reminds me of this one:Roger speaks the truth!
Any vehicle manufactured by British Leyland needs to be caressed by human hands on a regular basis
God bless.
"All the parts falling off this car are of the very finest British manufacture"
Beemermark
Veteran
Datsun
Datsun
Don't remember the model but I bought a brand new Datsun in 1974. Brake pads fell off, keep blowing head gaskets, trannie blew up, rusted out in less than two years. Junked it before I got to 50K miles.
Only good news was that I learned how to repair everything on it (I think I did repair everything) and became somewhat of a Datsun expert back in the day. Thus I ended up doing all the work for fellow college students (which helped pay off my piece of junk).
In case you never heard of Datsun they changed their name to Nissan to escape their past.
Datsun
Don't remember the model but I bought a brand new Datsun in 1974. Brake pads fell off, keep blowing head gaskets, trannie blew up, rusted out in less than two years. Junked it before I got to 50K miles.
Only good news was that I learned how to repair everything on it (I think I did repair everything) and became somewhat of a Datsun expert back in the day. Thus I ended up doing all the work for fellow college students (which helped pay off my piece of junk).
In case you never heard of Datsun they changed their name to Nissan to escape their past.
Mazda 1800 station wagon, 1973 model bought a couple years old. Nice looking with Bertone styling, 4cyl SOHC with a Hitachi copy of the Brit SU carb (one). Therein is the first issue, as at this point early emission controls made a lot of cars annoying to drive. The Mazda had a carburetor linkage that slowed the closing of the throttle, making gear changes irritating. I think the idea was to prevent closed-throttle manifold vacuum from sucking oil through the valve guides and dirtying the exhaust. I fiddled with it, eventually removing lots of "unnecessary" emissions hardware to get it to run civilized. Fortunately, SU carbs are easy to tune, and I adjusted the needle taper with emery cloth and a drill.
It ran "fine" but was surprisingly gutless, way less oomph than my old 62 Volvo with the same size motor (twin SU's). There is a long hill on the freeway out of my valley, which the Mazda could manage at about 55 at full throttle on a cool day. By comparison, my Smart ForTwo strains up there at 65... in 5th w/o headwind, faster in 4th.
The Mazda blew a head gasket at one point, opening a passage between the water jacket and a cylinder. In the absence of a Mazda dealer, I took it 3 blocks to my local Ford dealer because the Mazda-made "Ford" Courier pickup used the same motor. The mechanic doubted my water-in-cylinder story, so I demonstrated by taking the plug out and cranking it over while he looked carefully at the spark plug hole... Predictably, he got a facefull of coolant and was convinced.
With no regrets, this Mazda 1800 was traded in on an 82 Saab 900 Turbo which my wife came to love...
It ran "fine" but was surprisingly gutless, way less oomph than my old 62 Volvo with the same size motor (twin SU's). There is a long hill on the freeway out of my valley, which the Mazda could manage at about 55 at full throttle on a cool day. By comparison, my Smart ForTwo strains up there at 65... in 5th w/o headwind, faster in 4th.
The Mazda blew a head gasket at one point, opening a passage between the water jacket and a cylinder. In the absence of a Mazda dealer, I took it 3 blocks to my local Ford dealer because the Mazda-made "Ford" Courier pickup used the same motor. The mechanic doubted my water-in-cylinder story, so I demonstrated by taking the plug out and cranking it over while he looked carefully at the spark plug hole... Predictably, he got a facefull of coolant and was convinced.
With no regrets, this Mazda 1800 was traded in on an 82 Saab 900 Turbo which my wife came to love...
Contarama
Well-known
The Bertone version of the XI9 was fantastic! Mid engine wonder car...
sepiareverb
genius and moron
Late 80s Subaru wagon here. Needed 4WD where I lived (even our Toyota truck couldn't get in & out that "road" for a week each spring). No end of headaches from suspension through drivetrain to engine. Seats however were never any trouble.
Mojo
Established
1974 Datsun 260Z: Had problem starting in winter.
1976 Cutlass Supreme: Wheel broke off.
My favorite: 1969 Camaro convertible.
1976 Cutlass Supreme: Wheel broke off.
My favorite: 1969 Camaro convertible.
mdarnton
Well-known
Wonderful thread.
I would say my 1967 VW bus, but for the fact that this was the car that taught me that I could fix things. It wasn't an inherently bad car when I bought it in 1972, but seemed to have had a hard life before I got it that resulted in a series of problems that I learned to fix, and some [rust] that had already doomed it.
Well, maybe in retrospect it was my BEST car, since it's the one I remember with the most fondness.
My father-in-law also had a Fiat Spyder, which was my favorite of all of his little sporty cars, but I didn't have to pay to keep it running.
I would say my 1967 VW bus, but for the fact that this was the car that taught me that I could fix things. It wasn't an inherently bad car when I bought it in 1972, but seemed to have had a hard life before I got it that resulted in a series of problems that I learned to fix, and some [rust] that had already doomed it.
Well, maybe in retrospect it was my BEST car, since it's the one I remember with the most fondness.
My father-in-law also had a Fiat Spyder, which was my favorite of all of his little sporty cars, but I didn't have to pay to keep it running.