Car brand that burned you so bad on reliability you'd never buy again?

Hands down

GM

they killed people by saving 57 cents per ignition switch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch_recalls


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Originally Posted by Speak2Mountain
Car brand that burned you so bad on reliability you'd never buy aGAIN?

Honda.

Not so much reliability, but instead poor fit and finish leading to all sorts of annoyances and dealer incompetence in trying to rectify them. That was 20 years ago, and I haven't bought another Honda since.
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VW. Had a 2002 Passat Wagon 1.8T. Owned 4 1/2 years (47,000 miles). That was enough.

Broke down 3+ times:
- Ignition coil failure
- Turbo pressure hose blew apart multiple times
- Rear hatch, latch broke, car unable to be used.

Water leaks (rain), everywhere. 6+, still had 4 when I traded it in.

Of course parts were always on back order (because everyone else had the same problem) and took 2-4 weeks to get parts and the one I paid for were expensive. At the time I did not have a backup car and the inconvenience of getting a ride and being without transportation compounded the upset. (never had a loaner offered)

There was also the lack of dealer knowledge and support to resolve issues.

Having it under warranty and from new was bad, I could not handle keeping it another 4-5 years out of warranty.

Normal repairs/maintenance took 3x longer, battery change, air filter, oil change.

Keep in mind I keep cars a long time. (20+ years). My old Chrysler and Ram and everything else was a dream to own compared to the VW.

I know people who bad mouth other car companies, but my family members have owned many and I have worked on all the common ones that people bad mouth, and I have had success keeping old GM's (countless), Fords, Honda's, on the road. Just couldn't keep the VW.
 
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Ford, it was the E4OD transmission that was the issue but isn't the reason I hate Ford . It was my treatment by the selling dealership and the upstream managers. It took Washington states lemon law to force Ford to make it right.3 complete rebuilds in less than a year and being blamed for abusing the transmission that had never even carried or hauled a load beyond groceries. Nothing like having your transmission downshift from overdrive to 2nd at 60mph or refuse to go into overdrive and eventually crop dust the county and catch on fire.Worst automatic transmission ever built. Left a bad taste in my mouth to the point I actively wish Ford ill will.
 
Anything GM... although in my older days I've really wanting a C6 or C7 Vette...
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My experience growing up with my dad owning a shop, seems Blazers, Trailblazers, S10's, etc were always in there and my dad hated them for so many reasons. He always told me "anything is welcome in my driveway but a GM son"

Just recently he had his close friend, neighbors 2002 Chevrolet 1500 Truck in on the lift for brakes and suspension work and the frame was literally rusted completely through in several spots big enough to put my fist through! Overall the truck itself was in excellent condition, body and engine wise...
 
Jeep (Chrysler).

Clearcoat failure in 4 yrs
Wiring was run in a fashion which caused it to melt (either too close to the cat/exhaust or poor choice of insulation). Result: Windows and door locks would spontaneously activate.
Rear differential failed at 45k miles.
 
Originally Posted by 2004tdigls
Hands down

GM

they killed people by saving 57 cents per ignition switch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch_recalls


sick.gif



What they did was wrong, but did this brand burn you personally as the thread title indicates? I have a feeling this thread will lead to many "I know a guy who knows someone who was burned by X brand".

Personally, GM lack of quality is something that has steered me away from them, particularly their electrical systems. I had a 2000 Buick Century way back in the day that was my grandma's old car when she moved onto a smaller Toyota. It was garage stored, always taken to the dealership at the moment it made any kind of noise, serviced every single year, etc. When I acquired it, the vehicle had 36,000 miles on it, and it still was plagued by electrical issues, a hard shifting transmission that banged into gear, and other issues. This car was the definition of a well taken care of cream puff that was literally only driven to church on Sundays, and stored in a heated garage.

List of vehicles I've owned for reference:

1990 Jeep Cherokee Limited
2000 Buick Century
2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport
2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport
2009 BMW 328i (current)
1998 Jeep Wrangler (current)

The Buick was the only one so far that gave me the most headaches, especially considering the short period of time I owned it.
 
After Toyota's engine sludge debacle of the late 1990's............ "Toyota's new policy is a dramatic change from a so-called Special Policy Adjustment begun in February. Amid increasing criticism for refusing to deal with the problem, Toyota notified 3.3 million owners of the affected engines that sludge-related repairs would be covered for one year, as long as they proved the oil had been changed at least once in the previous year.

It insisted then - as it does with the new policy - that owner negligence is the cause of the problem."
https://www.autosafety.org/toyota-broadens-sludge-repair-program/


Sounds familiar, huh? GM, Ford, FCA, Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Nissan, VW, Subaru (remember the 2011+ oil consumption issue was the owners negligence?). Yes, guys, even our sacred Toyota has skeletons in their closet. Yet, people today banish a brand claiming the same reasons that people hated on Toyota a few decades age.

I think that a person has their head in the sand if they banish a brand based on their personal perceptions and/or single experience. Nearly ALL brands have a reason to banish them from your buy list. Just my opinion.
 
The last real MG was built in 1980 and was basically an antique brand new car even then, retro before retro became a thing.
You can't expect anything like modern reliability out of a minimum forty year old machine, especially if you don't know what to look for when buying one.
I owned an MGB and daily drove it back in the day. A simple and durable car that may not have had the reliability of a seventies Nova but that was fun to drive, quite economical and looked nice. There is no easier stick to drive than an MGB and the handling is truly idiot proof. The things that required attention were always easy and cheap to fix. A good little machine for a guy willing to get his hands dirty now and then. While there was no online information then, there was a wealth of expertise free for the asking from any one of the multitudes of now gone foreign car parts shops.
The now gone Pontiac marque was generic GM in its last decades with all of the good and the bad that went along with that.
The good part is that even in Pontiac's later years, GM built all of the component assemblies in huge volume so both knowledge and parts availability remain good.
It sounds as though your GM and MG ownership experiences may not have been entirely satisfactory but you simply had the misfortune to have had a bad example of each.
 
yes, i personally experienced the ignition failure

thankfully it was not at highway speeds that sent others into the next life

my car simply would not start, many, many............ and many times

I had it towed back to the dealership while still under warranty (they denied that there was anything wrong with the car) and walked away from the payments

the dealership pursued me for the payments but once news of the lawsuit came out they walked away from me too.........................
 
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Definitely had cars that burned me on reliability. Never took that as a reason to write off the whole brand forever. Doesn't make sense to me.
 
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Originally Posted by sloinker
Ford, it was the E4OD transmission that was the issue but isn't the reason I hate Ford . It was my treatment by the selling dealership and the upstream managers. It took Washington states lemon law to force Ford to make it right.3 complete rebuilds in less than a year and being blamed for abusing the transmission that had never even carried or hauled a load beyond groceries. Nothing like having your transmission downshift from overdrive to 2nd at 60mph or refuse to go into overdrive and eventually crop dust the county and catch on fire.Worst automatic transmission ever built. Left a bad taste in my mouth to the point I actively wish Ford ill will.


I'm really surprised to hear that, you never hear about E4OD's going bad. I'm sure they did, but that trans went on to become the 4R100 and is considered VERY stout, even today.
 
Definitely Nissan after their merger with Renault. Nissan's Jatco auto transmissions are known not to age well.

You'll probably have better luck with a Nissan stick. However, other things about year 2000 and older Nissans will likely become problematical when compared to some other car manufacturers.

Darn shame. Nissan, prior to its merger with Renault, made good dependable and well performing cars.

I'm currently considering letting go of my 2006 Nissan Sentra Spec V for a good condition Mercury Grand Marquis.
 
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Ford.. Bought a Pinto wagon in the mid 1970's. No nuts on the bolts that held the leaf springs to the frame, differential gears grenaded at 5000 miles or so, radiator literally exploded one day as the top had never been fully soldered on. What a hunk of junk. Never bought a Ford since and never intend to.
 
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