most disappointing car you ever had.

Joined
Mar 18, 2023
Messages
1,924
has to be this little (edit - MOD). if it would have had a manual it might have been better but of all the budget beaters I ever owned I have to say this car was just not one of Ford better ideas.
focus.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For me it would be a 5 speed Toyota Paseo. I did pick it up for next to nothing, but I was so hoping for a Miata experience. It was just an econobox with paying for the two seat penalty. Ugh...worst car I have ever owned.
 
What's wrong with it? It was their lowest priced car for the time so did you have too high expectations?

I paid 2k for it... used... it was just off... you gotta realize I went for 31 years on used vehicles, with one exception none of them were more than 6000 dollars... most of them were 3k or under.

I had a Hyundai Accident that I paid 800 bucks for that was a better car than this (edit - MOD).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#1 worst was a 1997 Buick Lesabre and #2 worst was a 1979 Ford Fairmont. Both just nickle and dimed me to death.
 
It was a 94 or 95 Mercury Sable. Just a few thing I can remember....lockup torque converter, blown head gasket, loaded rear calipers every 30K, water pump and hoses, front end parts, virtually every single light bulb had to be replaced. Many other maladies that I can't recall. Spent a lot of time in the shop. One day I pulled into a parking place and something that sounded like a 22 rifle shot off. Close inspection found that the frame had cracked causing it.
It was a wonderful riding and fairly luxurious car when it ran correctly. I paid for that car twice in repairs. This is one of the reasons I quit with used cars.
 
#1 worst was a 1997 Buick Lesabre and #2 worst was a 1979 Ford Fairmont. Both just nickle and dimed me to death.
It was a 94 or 95 Mercury Sable. Just a few thing I can remember....lockup torque converter, blown head gasket, loaded rear calipers every 30K, water pump and hoses, front end parts, virtually every single light bulb had to be replaced.
You guys keep cars too long. The longer you keep a car the more stuff will go wrong with it, that's a given. Buy one that checks out good with recent maintenance, and drive it a year or two, then sell and repeat before it needs more work.
 
A Ford Contour..........:poop::poop:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What's wrong with it? It was their lowest priced car for the time so did you have too high expectations?
I had the lowest price honda civic in 2001 and had no problems and put 234000 on it...Just because it is the lowest price it still should be a good and reliable car...my Honda was....My Ford Contour was not.. It had many issues right from day one....
 
Mine was a 5 speed fiesta. Bought it very lightly used in 2017 for like $9k. I knew it was slow and thought I could live with that.

However, during the summer with the AC on it was too slow to even merge onto the highway safely. The sync system never worked right. The car would randomly shut off during driving. And it was just generally not an enjoyable experience. Of course the dealer wasn't able to fix anything or duplicate any problems.

In hindsight, I really should have known what to expect, I guess.
 
For me it would be a 5 speed Toyota Paseo. I did pick it up for next to nothing, but I was so hoping for a Miata experience. It was just an econobox with paying for the two seat penalty. Ugh...worst car I have ever owned.
My wife and I test drove one of these when they first came out. It wasnt horrible but I do remember it being gutless and not liking it at all.

At the risk of offending anyone, the most disappointing car I ever had was a '96 Corvette. Marginal brakes, horrible ingress/egress, stupid automatic ventilation system that never seemed right, tramlined over every single crack in the pavement, felt 3000 lbs heavier than it actually was.... and it nickeled and dimed me to death. EGR, fuel pumps, tie rods, u-joints, tires, wheel bearings, power seat motors, it never ended. It was pretty enough, and made lots of nice sounds, actually got really good gas mileage, great stereo, and the interior was pretty nice, once you literally fall into it. Just wasnt my cup of tea, just felt like it drove like a very torquey U-haul truck. Dumped it after two long years of asking myself "why did I buy this...."...
 
You guys keep cars too long. The longer you keep a car the more stuff will go wrong with it, that's a given. Buy one that checks out good with recent maintenance, and drive it a year or two, then sell and repeat before it needs more work.
You are jumping to conclusions. I haven't had these cars for decades. They were not old at the time. You know what they say about "assuming".
 
1965 Mustang (circa 1989).

Driver and passenger side carpeting would get wet every time it rained. Occasionally the steering wheel spark if I hit the horn button.
 
My wife and I test drove one of these when they first came out. It wasnt horrible but I do remember it being gutless and not liking it at all.

At the risk of offending anyone, the most disappointing car I ever had was a '96 Corvette. Marginal brakes, horrible ingress/egress, stupid automatic ventilation system that never seemed right, tramlined over every single crack in the pavement, felt 3000 lbs heavier than it actually was.... and it nickeled and dimed me to death. EGR, fuel pumps, tie rods, u-joints, tires, wheel bearings, power seat motors, it never ended. It was pretty enough, and made lots of nice sounds, actually got really good gas mileage, great stereo, and the interior was pretty nice, once you literally fall into it. Just wasnt my cup of tea, just felt like it drove like a very torquey U-haul truck. Dumped it after two long years of asking myself "why did I buy this...."...

The C5 was a step change over the C4...
 
has to be this little POS. if it would have had a manual it might have been better but of all the budget beaters I ever owned I have to say this car was just not one of Ford better ideas.
View attachment 155503
Which engine? I've only driven the ztec 5spd in ones that old, in 2000 a female friend was looking for a new simple car and the ZX3 zetec won for driving experience, interior quality, civic coupe was close enough and had a better reputation so she got that.

Did the Focus ever leave you somewhere? Mine only once with a dead alternator, but Foci seem to have lots of things partially break... Not enough to strand you, but enough to keep you busy fixing things, or putting up with a half broken car, or keep your mechanic busy with lots of $2-300 repairs.
I think the duratec 5spd wagon is worth dealing with little stuff fairly often, but for a hatchback or sedan, there's more trouble free cars to have.

My most disappointing car experience was our first car, a 5spd 1992 Sentra, I liked the car a lot, but it had crazy engine mount slop, and then a hesitation that lasted for years. Then the brake lines rusted out, and it wasn't worth fixing.... I was young and didn't work on cars back then, and had a bad mechanic who didn't like to fix much. It was one of the reasons I got motivated to work on cars myself.
 
Back
Top