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

Originally Posted by Chris142
Mitshubishi.

I've never owned one, but I'd never buy one...they're as bad as Chryslers...
 
Originally Posted by PowerSurge
Originally Posted by doitmyself
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.


And if you do some research, as in the case of the 2.7 liter Chrysler engines and sludge, tthe vast majority of those sludge problems were lack of proper maintenance by the vehicle owners. Toyota and Chrysler replaced a lot of engines for customers that they shouldn't have.

Complete bull! That 2.7 was a garbage motor. I bought a new '98 Intrepid that had this motor and I changed the oil and filter religiously every 3000 miles, using nothing but full synthetic motor oil, and the engine started burning a qt of oil every 500 miles. Pure junk!
 
Originally Posted by jhg7
Toyota Corolla- was bought new and biggest POS I have owned in 50 years of ownership.
So bad I despise Toyotas to this day...

Hmmm. My '04 Corolla has 412K miles and is still going strong, and everything still works...most reliable vehicle I've ever owned...
 
Originally Posted by joekingcorvette
Chevrolet Corvettes. I have owned 5 of them and still own an 05 however they have some of the weirdest problems with things like rocking seats, A/T problems, steering column lockups, Opti-Spark distributors in C4 models. Many have problems with leaking rear ends and poor tire wear and chattering rear ends. They are very fun cars however they all have their quirks. My second worst was a Plymouth Horizon TC3....that thing was a nightmare and had a Volkswagen rabbit engine in it. That car was a total POS.

You seem to be the exception, not the rule. Yes, Corvettes have their quirks, but overall, from the C5 on, most people say they are very reliable cars...
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted by doitmyself
....Yes, guys, even our sacred Toyota has skeletons in their closet. ....


Toyota nor Honda have been NEVER be "sacred" to me. Many terrible issues same as or worse than any other car

which are all just dumb luck if you get a good one.

I've have had maybe 3 or 4 keepers out of 70 cars over 50 years.

Nonsense! We've had several Toyotas in our family over the years and other than replacing the normal wear items, they have been problem-free. Sounds like maintenance neglect to me...
 
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Originally Posted by WylieCoyote
I like the idea of buying an older car, and bringing it back to life enough to make it a daily driver. But it will never be an Olds Calais. Bought it from the original owner, a technician at the Pontiac / Olds dealership where I worked. 5 years old, with 24,000 miles on it. Problems. Then more problems. Then even more problems. Leaks. Then more leaks. Lord, I hated that car. I swore off all domestics for a long while after this one, with my parents also suffering through a '82 Chevy Silverado, and my sister with her plagued '85 Bronco II.


LOL. I bought an 86 Olds Calais in 94. 21,000 miles. Had it for a few years. AC system went out, three alternators, the notorious torque converter switch failing, headliner sag. Fixed everything on it, had it painted and gave it to my parents with about 50,000 miles. I had purchased my first new car, a 99 Cavalier [never had a problem with it except legacy GM intermediate steering shaft clunking fixed under warranty].

Parents owned it for a few years, loaned it to a friend for a couple, gave it to my little brother and his wife who drove it for 11 years or so until it came back to me three years ago.

I've had a lot of fun having it back. BUT: it's a needful thing, just as it was when I first bought it in 94. All the little bits in it are GM cheap. Almost as bad as early '70s AMC cheap.

Needed a new head and I suspect it has for years as it always used some coolant way back. Thanks to BITOG and mentions of Blackstone Labs and oil analysis I discovered
coolant contaminating the oil before it could destroy the fine watch like quality of the Tech 4/Iron Duke 2.5 4 cyl. New paint {again}. CV joints.

Trouble free road trip to Salt Lake and back last summer. 31-34 mpg. Still a comfortable ride and good handling. Quiet when that thrasher gets up to a constant speed.Upholstery has lasted all these years. Can't kill a good velour.

At any rate, that's still a beautiful car and I still love mine like I did then. Even the agricultural engine. One of those GM cars where one goes: [censored] were they thinking trimming this car like an Olds 98 and fitting it with a tractor engine ? A prime example of '80s GM Schizophrenia.

However. I am done with GM. My last is an 05 ION. Took them 10 years to finally fix that POS ignition switch. 3 or 4 switches later. Recall on the electronic steering motor. Sway bar bushings.

Now I only had to pay for the 2nd set of sway bar bushings out of my own pocket. And GM refunded the money I spent on one of the ignition switch replacements. Out of pocket has essentially been gas oil and tires.

But buy from them again ? There are too many half baked technological "innovations" going into their engines these days they can get wrong and I hear they've even come up with their own CVT. Too many design challenges for GM and I don't think they're up to it as far as new tech and long term reliability.

Sorry. Not gonna play dat again.

Time for a change after 28 years of GM.I gave them too much slack being loyal to domestic car makers. And all these years they kept cutting costs and never proved to be worthy of that loyalty, just exploited it for short term profits.

Never owned a foreign branded car, but I'm not ruling it out.
 
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I agree GM is in way over its head today . ford isn't far behind. all these gizmos are just to appease the café standards and its ruined several car makers. the one that really gets me is the ruining of the awesome 5.3 LS engine by adding AFM
 
I suspect that I will only buy another domestic if/when I ever replace the TJ- and that would be with a JL.
 
Originally Posted by 4WD
Is that the third time you said that today … or did I miss some …?


I'm sure you missed a few.
 
Originally Posted by 4WD
Is that the third time you said that today … or did I miss some …?


I agree with dish dude. I think maybe you missed some! I might have too!!!
Its almost like the anti Harley Davidson people of motorcycles (but lets not open a can a worms I say to myself, we are doing good here in agreement)


cheers3.gif
 
Jeep. For my parents. They had owned Jeeps since 1986. Then my dad bought my mom a 2008 Wrangler that was a steaming pile. Numerous electrical and mechanical failures over the course of 60K miles ... they vowed to never buy another Chrysler product ever.

Their two Ford Escapes they have had since the 2008 Wrangler have not had any issues. Well, except the one time my mom shut something in the hatch of the 2013 Escape and the plastic trim broke.
 
if i bought a car with a poor desighn engine with well known defects-I would want to know about them but this guy insists on being an ostrich with his head in the sand. good luck pal! watch the vidios at least
 
There are people who "follow" is this world and there are trail breakers/intellectuals. There is always a guy on YouTube to create followers or you can make your own evaluations and your own decisions without relying on someone else to make your life decisions for you.

Example;
There is a factual survey, no matter how one might think flawed on page 11 of this thread, showing real owners of these vehicles having no major engine issues.
Then there is a guy on YouTube telling you why you shouldn't buy this vehicle. Not exactly a survey and no science at all. There is a guy on you tube telling you a reason not to buy any popular product with a good sounding reason in order to create yet more .... followers.

Make your own decisions people, not on unquestioned/uncontested presentations on Youtube.
I find it sad, almost laughable, how people "follow" in this age of information. They can look up real facts for themselves, if they choose to do so.
 
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Ford. Came from a family of Ford owners and dealers going back to the start of the brand. One exquisitely lemony 99 Taurus ended my loyalty forever. Other family members have seen my success with other brands and had their own Ford lemons, and for whatever reason, have broken away as well.
 
I bought a new VW jetta GL in 95. Never again! It's the only vehicle I've bought that I was never happy with.
 
Originally Posted by alarmguy
There are people who "follow" is this world and there are trail breakers/intellectuals. There is always a guy on YouTube to create followers or you can make your own evaluations and your own decisions without relying on someone else to make your life decisions for you.

Example;
There is a factual survey, no matter how one might think flawed on page 11 of this thread, showing real owners of these vehicles having no major engine issues.
Then there is a guy on YouTube telling you why you shouldn't buy this vehicle. Not exactly a survey and no science at all. There is a guy on you tube telling you a reason not to buy any popular product with a good sounding reason in order to create yet more .... followers.

Make your own decisions people, not on unquestioned/uncontested presentations on Youtube.
I find it sad, almost laughable, how people "follow" in this age of information. They can look up real facts for themselves, if they choose to do so.



Very well said indeed.

The Internet has brought us all tons of information on virtually any subject. As almost anyone may suspect this can also be MIS-information as well.

I have many decades and dozens and dozens of cars behind me, I always pick what I like and have never worried about what the Net said. My experiences are almost all positive ones, and I quickly remove any dogs from my fleet.

As I have said many times before, the vast majority of owners of almost any vehicle are pleased/satisfied. The unhappy ones can be quite vocal with a streak of vengeance for sure!
 
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