I love driving cars. I always have. And I don’t just mean cars that are rewarding on twisty back roads, but all kinds. You see, I suffer from a kind of automotive ADHD, which requires that I experience driving as many different cars as possible, just to experience that indescribable subjective feel that seems unique to every model. I have enjoyed almost all of them, for one reason or another. There is only one that stands out as a the one that I simply despised every time I got behind the wheel – my college roommate’s ’62 Chevy Bel Air.
My college best friend Dan came from a family that teemed with interesting wheels. His father’s Mopars were new experiences for me, as were the International Travelall and Scout. Added to my father’s tendency towards big FoMoCo stuff and my mother’s family’s stable of late model GM cars, my early driving experience was pretty varied.
In the summer of 1980, Dan told me his father had been in for a haircut and learned that the barber had bought an old car from an elderly customer who had given up driving. It was a white 1962 Chevy Bel Air two door sedan with maybe 80,000 miles on it. The car was exceptionally clean and had clearly been well cared for during its long life. He bought it from the barber for maybe $600 with the idea that Dan would drive it.
Dan needed a car because his ’71 Duster had just gone away. It was a car purchase which I had aided and abetted, but should not have. If cars had the same kind of “life remaining” indicator that cell phone batteries have today, this Duster’s would have been flashing a red 3% the day he got it.
The Chevy was a good car – for Dan. Me? I absolutely friggin despised the thing. Perhaps I should start by reporting that I had only recently let go of a 1959 Plymouth Fury sedan, a car three years older and in about the same condition. The Plymouth drove very much like the late ’60s domestic iron that I was used to. The Chevy was (as we say in Indiana) a whole nuther thing.
First it was the driving position. As I would ooze into a seat with all the support of a bowl of Jello, I sat very, very low in the car. If that wasn’t bad enough, the steering column and steering wheel were really, really high. I felt like a 5th grader behind the wheel every time, as 5’11” me tried to scootch and hike myself up in the seat. I also understood why every little old lady I had ever seen piloting one of these was peering out between the steering wheel and the dash – there was no way anyone under, say, 5’8″ could comfortably see over the steering wheel without a big damned pillow to sit on.
Next came the steering. It would be awhile yet before Chevrolet would invest in a decent power steering system that integrated the power assist into the steering gear. My ’59 Fury was (like almost every other power steering car I had ever driven) set up for a steering ratio that took four complete spins of the wheel to get from full left to full right. The Chevy took six. Think about that, you young folks. A tight parking lot maneuver that requires full steering travel? Close your eyes and start counting the spins . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 5 . . . 6. This was a car with power steering! I was surprised that the steering wheel lacked those big pegs that any decent schooner should have.
During one of the high-level editorial conferences that we have here at CC, it was pointed out to me that Chevy’s factory power steering used a slightly faster steering gear which provided a sports car-like five turns of the wheel. Some further research makes me suspect that Dan’s Bel Air might have been built as a manual steering car with the slower steering gear (and, according to one source, a two inch larger steering wheel) and that Chevrolet’s highly advanced external assist power steering system was bolted on at some point by the dealer. The happy result being all of the disadvantages of slow manual steering and of numb power steering, conveniently combined in one (not terribly delightful) package. So, in fairness, the Bel Air’s steering may not have been representative of the entire breed. But Dan’s father didn’t find some other ’62 Chevy. And the one he did find had the least pleasant power steering I have ever experienced.
Next came the suspension. Admittedly, my Fury’s torsion bars and leaves were ahead of the curve for an American 1959 car, but the Chevy felt like a 1952 instead of a 1962. Loose, floaty, and body roll that made you physically lean into a turn like a motorcyclist. I think sailors call it “hiking”, where you need lean over from the high side of a sailboat so that your body weight can keep the boat from rolling in the opposite direction. I guess this near-barrel roll maneuver was what they meant by “Jet Smooth”. And smooth it indeed was, unless you hit railroad tracks or a pothole, which made the structure shake and judder more than seemed right.
Finally, there was the combo of the 235 cubic inch Blue Flame Six bolted to the venerable Powerglide. It always started, ran and shifted, but once again, I felt like I had regressed to the early 1950s. The car was slow, slow, slow. But it made up for it by being unresponsive with that 2 speed automatic. What could have been charming in a car from early in the Eisenhower Administration was much less so in a car out of the Camelot years. However much a rev-happy 283 or 327 might have worked with that tranny, the old Blue Flame (which did not even have a full flow oil filter) simply begged for a three speed with a clutch pedal. Of course, adding a manual column shift to the wild gyrations required to steer the thing would have made for an exercise program that could sell DVDs in large numbers on late night television.
So, there it is. It was a good car, an attractive car, and Chevrolet sold a bazillion of them. But it was the single most miserable thing I have ever had the misfortune to operate. Even today, some thirty five years later, I cannot look at a 1961-64 Chevrolet without reliving the sensation of windmilling the steering wheel while leaning sideways with six little blue flames fighting a losing battle against a Powerglide. No wonder so many people drank and drove back then.
But enough about me. Tell us about the car that you have hated driving more than any of the others, and what made you hate it so much.
Datsun F10.
Like your dad, I hated my (bought new) 1971 Duster. One run through a not very deep puddle and I had no brakes at all (drums all around). I tried to ride the brakes in very wet conditions to keep them dry but that did not help much.
And the 225 slant 6 that everyone says was indestructible. The exhaust manifold cracked within 2 years.
And the rear differential started making howling noises just around the time the manifold cracked.
ChryCo, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me what, three or four times and counting, shame on me.
2001 BMW X5 – V8. Mine was the actual LA Show car. It had prototype wheel cladding and front/rear bumper treatments. Without a doubt, it was the bumpiest, most harsh and unreliable car that I have ever owned or heard of. I hope it went to the crusher by now.
Umm, so I am not alone about first gen X5. I test drove it and found similar bumpy and harsh ride, resulting in trading in an 8th gen suburban for a 9th gen suburban.
No, you’re not. My partner’s was not only harsh riding, but the interior materials seemed to be wearing out very quickly during the 36,000 miles that it was leased.
I am torn between a 1999 Chevy Venture, a 2012 Chevy Impala, and a 2014 Smart For two. The Venture is just a sad sack, but at least the seat is comfy plus it served its purpose as a Drivers’ Ed vehicle, the Impala’s lack of leg support for the backs of my upper legs was easily fixed with a pillow. The Smart is the winner by far since the acceleration feels like riding a buoy on a choppy bay, the car cannot tolerate rough roads, and my back hurts after 100 or so miles from the dang seat. I could go on and on.
IIRC, Consumer Reports called the Smart ‘the worst car they ever tested’.
My coworker bought a Smart all-electric model. It combines all the spaciousness, road handling and comfort of the Smart car with a 65 mile range. And there’s no fast chargers for these our on the road. You get 65 miles then you need an all-night charge.
IMHO the electric Smart car takes a prize for the worst, most useless car available.
Worse than the Subaru 360? They rated that one Not Acceptable back in the day.
If you don’t count a rental Ford moving truck with the heaviest clutch I’ve ever driven, inept brakes and no power steering, it would be a tie between a friend’s Mustang II Ghia, V6 automatic notchback, only about 7 or 8 years old but in decrepit condition, and an almost-new rental Cavalier, the last model year before being replaced by the Cobalt. The two most disappointing new cars I ever test drove were the original 1983 GTI and the first version of the WRX imported into the US. Two cars which I fantasized about when they were unobtanium here, but quickly realized my actual driving tastes were very different.
’78 Diesel Volkswagen Rabbit. Not sure if it was because the engine was tired, the tranny was shot or the thing was just deafening to drive. My friend couldn’t understand why his wife hated driving it.
This, only the pickup. Pulling into highway traffic was a life – threatening experience
None. I am not spoiled. The worst ride is far better than the best walk.
I agree. I’ve certainly liked some cars better than others, but I’ve always enjoyed trying out different ones. My first car in the early 90’s was a ’60 Bel-Air (my avatar) with 235 and three in the tree. To this day I find difficult to drive cars more of a fun challenge than a frustration. I can’t think of one that I really truly hated driving.
For me the hate comes over time. A miserable car is okay for a few days. But week after week of awfulness wears one’s patience thin. One dreads driving it and, if you are like me, you start having fantasies about car theft or catastrophic breakdown so one has an excuse to buy something else.
I will agree with that. Some were just more challenging to drive than others. The ones that come instantly to mind are a1950 Chev PU in which you had to move the steering wheel more than 14 turn to have any effect on your course, a 1963 Rambler with no reverse(had to choose parking spaces carefully)and used a quart of oil every 100 miles and a 1956 Chevrolet that the 3 spd column linkage was always getting locked up. Of course these problems are probably related to the fact the total amount of money spent for all three was less than $100.00 during the 1971-75 time frame. Honorable mention goes to my 1962 Ford Fairlane SW that the 3spd manual floor shift had a reverse H pattern, which today would be considered a theft deterrent.
I’ve said it before, my 1979 Honda Accord. Driveability with sags and surges, transmission synchronizers which were rapidly wearing out; a handsome 3 door hatch with a miserable driving experience.
My recently disposed 2001 S10 was no fun either, slow as molasses with lazy transmission synchronizers. It was nowhere near the penalty box the Accord was, however.
I also had a 1989 Accord, with an injected 2.0 (they also came carbureted). The engine lacked significant torque below about 3000 rpm, or any torque below about 2000. Launching required a lot of clutch slippage, and if not done just right, lots of clutch chatter and cowl shake. Lousy brakes, always warping rotors. Exhaust rotted out every couple of years. Seats were firm but flat, not very comfortable. Too-low driving position. The engine did have a sweet sound, as if unbreakable, when run hard, but the chassis flex and crappy brakes didn’t encourage speed. After it had been sold on twice & I lost track of it, it had about 350,000 miles on it.
Its replacement, a 2001 Sentra 1.8, has a higher and very comfortable seat, good brakes, and a torquey engine and unfussy clutch that give drama-free launches from standstill. It requires a lot less effort for normal driving around than did the Accord, while still having decent performance. So, the lowly 01 Sentra bests the 89 Accord, for me.
+1 on the Accord chassis flex – mine was an ’86, it was simply awful in corners, feeling like it was twisting lengthways…
2006 Chevrolet Equinox AWD – 3400 V6.
Part of the school district fleet and assigned to the department I was in during the two years I worked at central office.
1. Seats I could never get comfortable in due to the lack of lumbar adjustment.
2. Terrible wind noise due to passenger side weather stripping that had never been correctly installed at the factory or fixed by the dealer or motor pool.
3. Engine that needed about 50 to 100 more hp for the brick that it was attached to. Merging onto the interstate at a clip that allowed you to flow into traffic would point the tach to a place where you swore the engine would blow up (5,000 plus RPM)
4. AWD but I could always spin the tires when say only the front wheels where on ice.
5. AC that couldn’t keep up with a 90 degree low humidity day in NM with ONE person in the car.
6. Why in god’s name where the power window switches on the console?
7. At 30,000 miles the tire pressure sensors were already malfunctioning
You couldn’t give me a 1st generation Equinox for free.
I can attest, my parents got a 2005 Equinox to replace the 96 Blazer I had as a kid. I don’t remember that car nearly as fondly as the Blazer, especially with the A/C being as miserable as it was. That car was kept for 10 years, by which point it looked like hell, the transmission was constantly slipping, and it was miserable. My sister inherited the car before it got wrecked last year, putting an end to the Giant Gold Cockroach of the Road. It’s true what they say, American cars will run like shit longer than most cars will run at all.
In a fit of irony both my in-laws and my parents own 2009 Pontiac Torrents. Both are more pleasant places to spend time given their higher trim levels but the interior (leather) is wearing out much more quickly than it should in my parents vehicle (dad is meticulous about how he cares for cars) and my Mother-in-law is using a quart of oil between changes. Her’s has always been dealer serviced and oil changes have been done according to the oil life monitor.
1979 Chevrolet Monza Kammback. Built it up as a sport wagon: V-6, five speed, suspension option, biggest tyres available. First off, at delivery, I find out that GM decided to quit making the full instrumentation option (aka, what came in the Monza 2+2) available with the V-6. Fours and eights only.
Then it had carburetor trouble, on a couple of times almost refusing to start (this is with less than 300 miles on the car). Once that was fixed, the paint on the lower sides peeled off during the winter of ’78-79. Once that was repainted, I put up with all other classic problems that drove GM’s customers away during this period.
It wasn’t all bad. When it ran, it was one hell of a back road bomber. This being my third Vega/Monza in a row (the Vega was good, the Monza 2+2 was very good), I had learned how to pick down the options list – even if GM wanted to short me on it.
Oh yeah, during the build process, the dealer gets notified that GM doesn’t want to do manuals with the V-6 anymore, automatics only. I threatened to cancel the entire order it arrived with an automatic. Guess that’s why I wasn’t overly surprised to end up with the cheap strip speedometer instead of the speedo/tach/minor gauges I had ordered.
Kept it for three years, traded it in on an ’82 Dodge Omni (my first automatic – wife couldn’t drive a stick and had absolutely no interest in learning, she hated to drive anyway), and that was the last Chevrolet saw of me for the next twenty years.
And upon rereading this, I guess I didn’t hate driving it; I hated owning it.
I learned to drive on a ’62 Chevy Bel-Air wagon. 283 & Glide. No power steering or brakes. I LOVED THAT CAR!!! It took me so many places, some I should have been, and was rock solid. Red with a white top, white walls, wheel covers and a radio. I wish I could find on that hasn’t been eaten up by the tin worms.
Austin Montego with a broken electric window which made for a very cold drive from London to Manchester in February.Closely followed by an automatic Nissan Micra, fortunately they were both hire cars and I could give them back.
I hear you re the Montego Gem… A good friend had a MG-badged Montego 2.0 Si back in the early 90s. I drove it a couple times and it had by far the worst steering of any car I’ve ever driven. On normal cars going around bends, turning the steering wheel smoothly results in the car turning in a linear fashion. Not so the Montego, smoothly turning its wheel resulted in a jerky and completely non-linear directional change. Rather than go around a bend in a large smooth arc, the Montego would transcribe a series of small, unrelated arcs… My friend went as far as having the steering rack looked at, but the BL mechanic said nope, nothing wrong with it, it was meant to be like that…
I found the steering like you said, it also had uncomfortable seats and was generally badly built. It’s a long time since I saw one
I’ve driven hundreds of different cars but the worst by far was the 1984 Fiero SM4 that I drove back when they were new. The low, uncomfortable seating position and super heavy steering were what you noticed first. How the heck could something with no engine in front have such heavy steering?
Getting it out on the road made matters worse, far worse. These had the Iron Duke which I guess with an A/T wasn’t so bad. But put it in a mid-engined car with manual trans and you learn real quick about NVH in a large displacement, pushrod four. It was one of those cars that actually slowed down the longer you kept it in a gear. There was absolutely no reason for a tachometer.
Then there was that noise. Like a vacuum cleaner combined with a garbage disposal right behind your head. The only way to avoid that was to short-shift into the next highest gear as soon as possible. Unfortunately the gear change was as miserable as the seating position and for maybe the first time ever I was glad that there were only four speeds in the M/T.
You might say yeah but it was an entirely new layout for GM and you drove a first year car. I thought that too until I drove the 1985 Toyota MR2 a year later, which couldn’t have been more different in execution and appeal right out of the box.
Seconded. I drove a friend’s ’84 Fiero from Columbia, MO to Terre Haute, IN, in the middle of the night once. Gawdawful.
I dunno…kind of enjoy driving my ’88 Fiero notchie…granted, the 4 cylinder won’t break any speed records, but it is kind of fun to drive fast on twisties.
The ’88 was a vastly improved model over previous years. GM reworked the suspension and steering, and lots of details. The ’88 Fieros are much more desirable for this reason.
Yes, its infuriating GM finally fixed the Fiero’s problems, only to cease production less than a year later.
I owned an ’84 Fiero. It was in excellent shape except for a blown clutch. I bought it at auction for $160. Only afterwards did I find out how difficult replacing the clutch was. I sold it to a buddy for $400. He had it for a year then (no kidding) sold it to a movie production company. Their special-effects crew blew it up on-screen.
So, if you ever see a black Fiero blown up on a B-grade flick filmed in Toronto in 1998, its mine.
As much as I hate to agree with you, I do. My first Fiero was an ’84 SE with the Iron Duke…a powerplant very aptly described by Paul as “agricultural”. These engines are perfect for those little postal jeeps and actually have served me well…in 6000 sedans, Cieras, Centuries, & Celebrities.
Add a 4.11 final drive ratio 4-speed manual with awful cable-actuated shifter to this non-rev-happy engine and you have one kind of miserable driving experience. My poor car tached 3000 rpm at 62 mph and I think the redline was only 1500 rpm above that.
For some reason, the steering on the ’84 is a high-effort unit — later models had a much better feel. The clutch pedal was a bit stiff also… and it would take ME a few minutes for my leg to loosen up (“warm up”?) before I could smoothly shift the darn thing.
GM worked a lot of the bugs out and things got a bit better in 1985…and by 1986, the V6 – manual cars were a blast to drive…
But oh…those poor ’84 models. Automatic cars would tach 3000rpm at 60mph — oh, the humanity!
UAZ Patriot (not a “car” in American cense of this word, but here we don’t make such a difference – everything designed to carry people, not cargo, is a “light automobile” = car). Unbelievably cramped for such external width, I was literally sandwiched between the door and the center armrest. The whole thing shook and rattled like a Conestoga wagon, fresh air was supplied into the interior right through the door weatherstripping, and reaching 100 km/h was genuinely scary because the front axle seemed to have a will of its own. I’ve never really been into 4×4 body-on-frame vehicles, so maybe that’s just cultural shock, but still. Didn’t have a chance to test it off-road though.
’86 or ’87 Toyota Tercel! It was a companmy car for a place I worked during the mid-late 90s, and it had already been totaled and rebuilt__TWICW, about 6 weeks apart__by our in-house software engineer…[:rolleyes]
Driving through the then 2-lane roads in north Louisiana, you learned to be very strategic when it came to passing lumber trucks.
It was later passed on to another employee (I reverted back to driving my 74-1/2 MGBGT as being far safer) and he turned white when his mechanic told him it was rusting apart where the front and back halves were welded together during one of the rebuilds!! He had taken it in for a shimmy above 60-70 MPH…
My first car, a hand me down ’79 Chevette automatic. Soooooo slow. And felt junky in every conceivable way. Talk about a penalty box.
It could barely get to freeway speed on an uphill onramp, you had to rev the hell out of it but the automatic was very unwilling to cooperate. A truly loathsome car built and offered begrudgingly.
My wife would agree; her 1st car was a Chevette with auto, & besides the limited useful power, it was a total lemon. Hence, her next car was a Camry.
You think THAT’S bad? How about this: a friend of mine had a Chevette where the back floor pans were completely rotted out, the carpet had broken through, and you literally had to hold on for dear life, with one foot on the left door, and one on the transmission hump. But the car wasn’t dangerous, since it never could generate enough speed–multiple cylinders weren’t working, and it was ice age slow in taking off from a stop–people would honk at us at a light to get moving. This was the pre-safety days…..nowadays, that POS would get sent to the junkyard, because the rust issues would have to be fixed before it could be insured.
1971 Ford Econoline Van.
240 ci I6, 3 speed on the column. This was a work van that I drove on the freeways of Los Angeles.
It was actually a joy to get back into my Pacer at the end of the day.
I was going to say almost the same thing, except mine was a 74 and had a A/T, which made it even slower. I got it up to 50 once. Came with an extra starter and I soon found out why. The only good thing was you could change the spark plugs inside.
I’ve never actually hated driving any car or truck, either mine or someone else’s. So I can’t add to this story.
Pontiac Grand Am, not sure of the year but an early one with the sealed-beam lamps. Maybe ’87? It belonged to my girlfriend for maybe 4 months in 2002, and I only drove it a couple of times, but WOW. What a dog. It shook (heavily at stoplights and under acceleration, moderately at other times) and rattled. It was slow as molasses. The steering was vague. It burned oil. The seats weren’t comfortable. If I’m remembering correctly, it had those infernal door-mounted seat belts. And to top it off, it was just ugly. Battered paint, missing trim.
Granted the car had well over 200,000 miles on it, so maybe I should have cut it some slack. But the question isn’t the worst car you’ve ever driven, but the one you’ve most hated driving, and that Grand Am stands out.
1971 Chevy Biscayne taxi cab. Six cylinder and PG. And about a half million miles under its belt, by the time I drove it in 1976/1977. Underpowered, the seats were completely shot, as was the suspension and everything else. It was miserable.
I actually preferred my prior ride, an even older ’70 Biscayne, even though it had manual steering unlike the ’71’s PS. But it was lighter, ran a bit harder, and handled better.
The cars that float to the top of my list were all my Mom’s: the 1971 Catalina 4-door had a 400/automatic, but seemed slower than Dad’s F-100 “small six,” and was super-floaty to boot. The Citation she had for a number of years was disappointing in every respect, but the car she had when she passed in 2010 was simply unpleasant in every respect – a Nissan Sentra (forget the year). Slow, bad gas mileage, and it completely missed every expectation I had for a Japanese compact sedan. It was (and still is – my brother still drives it) reliable, though, which is all the good I can muster for it.
I grew to hate my 1980 (U.S. built ) VW Rabbit. Everything that could go wrong with a car went wrong. I lost count of the clutch plates I had to replace, and the number of times expensive major electrical and fuel injection components went bad. God, what a dreadful car.
I’ve driven worthless junk, but most have had character, and that bit of character usually makes it somewhat pleasant. But the truly worst was a early 2000s Dodge Ram Van 2500, ex-fleet van from Manitoba Hydro. Uncomfortable, awful in any extreme weather; worn out was an understatement. It’s only redeeming quality was that it was a big van good for work. No character, awful to drive, I’m glad they have me a different van at work.
A 1990 VW Golf. This miserable sh*tbox had the nasty habit of suddenly stalling -at any speed- and never wanting to start again. The end came when one day the engine died on the entrance ramp to the highway while I was already late for an appointment. I pushed the car off the shoulder onto the grass and beat the hell out of it. I must have looked like Basil Fawlty. Sold it to the local junkyard later that day and got me a nice Citroën CX GTi instead. Never looked back.
Was it a 1.3 by any chance? My Jetta had the same habit: stalling, and needing a lot of convincing to start again. Then again, it was very old.
Yes. A 1.3 Manhattan IIRC.
The 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier my wife was driving when we began dating. The front seat was not particularly comfortable, and the interior materials looked and felt cheap. The handling was nothing to write home about, and the engine was best at producing noise, as opposed to real power.
The air conditioning system had died at about 55,000 miles (apparently a common problem with J-cars of this vintage), and the engine later died at 113,000 miles. She replaced it with a brand-new, 2005 Ford Focus SE, which we still have.
The worst was an ’85 S10 shortbed stripper pu parts truck. It was only about 3 years old, but had been shown no love. The armstrong steering was a lot harder to turn then the armstrong full size V8 ’70 C10 I owned. Only reason as far I can tell is the much smaller steering wheel diameter. The 4 speed shifter was crunchy, hard to move and had really sloppy engagement. The 4 speed Hurst shifter in my C10 shifted easily and smoothly. In the rain the S10 would spin the rear tires no matter how careful you were with the throttle, and the (cheap) tires were new. The engine sounded like a coffee can full of rocks, although it did have somewhat decent power for a 4 cylinder. The red truck with black vinyl interior combined with no AC was a sweatbox. The Chevy had no AC as well, but it was white and had a cloth saddle seatcover along with decent padding, which the S was also lacking.
Everybody who used that truck would remark how crappy that little truck was.
But, family member has a ’96 GMC Sonoma, also base but with power steering extended cab long bed. It’s very underpowered with it’s 4 cyl 5 speed, but drives 100 percent nicer then that old ’85 S10 ever did.
Thats a shame on the S10. I think a few options would have helped.
I had an ’84 extended cab, with a V6/5spd, upgraded interior and rallye wheels. It was pretty decent. Handling was good and tight, driveline was great, and it could really haul.
Options make a big difference for sure. I had a similar truck, an ’82 S-10 with carbureted 2.8 V6 and automatic as its only options. I don’t know how GM could design such a high-effort manual steering setup but they managed to do a great job. This truck…along with my 1981 Chevy Shorty Cargo Van, is as difficult to steer as my manual-steering steel-bodied P30 GMC Stepvan.
Oddly enough, the 3-speed metric transmission was more pleasant to deal with than the awful 700R4 that was installed in my ’83 S-10.
The “extended cab long bed” Sonoma was just an extended cab. Sadly, no compact pickup was ever offered with anything longer than a 6′ bed on the extended cab models, unless you wanna count a few very early, very rare Toyota Xtra Cab models in the ’80s.
Forgot pic.
Your right. It’s just an extended cab. But the longer wheelbase and power steering, smoother and quieter (though underpowered) 4 cylinder engine along with whatever chassis improvements GM made over the years makes for a world of difference in ride and handling. The ’85 S10 had 0 options.
It wasn’t horrible, but my 82 J2000 was a bit of a pile. The engine made a strange, almost non-automotive sound when it was idling (it sounded sort of like a small scale threshing machine). Shifting through the gears it felt like the gearlever was connected into a collection of Lego-like gears.
The steering was a bit light and had almost no feedback.
The speedometer cable developed a bad rattle at speeds over 35 mph.
As far as assembly quality, various pieces broke or fell off over time. The exhaust manifold split into 2 large pieces, the shift knob crumbled apart, the driver’s side window winder broke. The tires it came with from the factory were an oddball brand/size. I eventually replaced the tires (Generals) with Goodyears a slightly smaller size.
“The engine made a strange, almost non-automotive sound when it was idling (it sounded sort of like a small scale threshing machine).”
Oh man do I remember that sound. It was like a bunch of tiny scissors slicing away with very little lubrication. I was surprised GM went OHV on a brand-new engine like that, until I drove the Quad-4. Then the call on the earlier J2000 and Iron Duke revival made sense as they were much more refined. Was there ever a rougher engine than the Quad-4?
I’ve always liked cars with character so I’ve been a bit forgiving with ones that should have really annoyed me.
That being said, my current ’01 Sable has no character and I really hated driving my grandfather’s ’03 Grand Marquis.
My Volvo 343, can’t understand why I bought it. Gutless (Renault) engine with the DAF CVT to make it seem even slower (and drink fuel like a v8). Hideous handling, just wallowed in the corners. Not a particularly nice interior and unreliable as well. Hated driving it…
We had a few of these in the family. I remember them as being virtually indestructible but, indeed, outdated (rear leaf springs) and extremely thirsty when equipped with CVT.
I have never driven one but thought that it’s architect was handling friendly. RWD with balanced weight distribution courtesy of transaxle; De Dion tube to ensure tire the the ground squarely; Torque tube so softer springs could be used.
Theoretically you’re right, but the reality was terrible. You would turn the wheel and there would be a significant pause before all the car’s weight lurched to outside of the curve and shortly after that it would start to wallow around the corner. Purgatory, every second of it.
Managed to find a photo of the actual car! My parents scanned it for me several years ago and it was sitting in the depths of my email. This is me and my crappy volvo 343, about 1991 I would think.
The end of this car came when I adjusted the tappets. Being a cack-handed novice, I unknowingly tightened the rocker cover down too hard, so the rockers smacked into the cover. Concerned at the noise I got a knowledgeable friend to listen, and he immediately diagnosed terminal engine damage. I sold it to a fiend in the village for 150 quid iirc, and he found the actual problem immediately, which he was very smug about. However, I was happy to be rid of the dreadful slug and experienced considerable schadenfreude when he expressed shock at how much petrol it used, and how slow it was. Although it was a costly mistake, there was significant relief in being rid of the crappy thing.
A 2000 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer. It was my stepmother’s car, and she insisted that I take it rather than the Saab 9000 I owned at the time on a 2 day run from NJ to Vermont and back, moving some furniture and household goods. In theory it was a sound idea, as it happened to be February, there was questionable weather coming, and the gargantuan size of that misery mobile made for easy crap-carting. In practice, it was a nightmare. I never hated driving anything so much as that vehicle. It did snow and sleet most of the way up there, and the AWD in that Expedition should have been a help, but was useless. As the tires shifted and shimmied in and out of slushy ruts on the highway the AWD system would try to direct power to the non-slipping wheels only to overcorrect what it perceived as a slide, which resulted in the truck kind of lurching itself in and out of the ruts left by semi traffic. I am a veteran of many blizzard road trips, and am hardly squeamish, but when something that big and that heavy goes into a slide a 60 MPH it’s an underwear stain-maker for sure. I’d have been much happier, and truly much safer if I’d just hopped on my trusty 300,000 mile Saab with its four Gislaved snow tires. I delivered teh Expedition back to my father after the trip vowing never to touch that thing again. His response: “Oh yeah, that thing’s a piece of shit….I hate it. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt, but I wouldn’t have cried if you’d totalled the damn thing”. Nice.
A 1977 Mazda B1600 pickup that I owned back in the 80’s, same as a Ford Courier. It had the most uncomfortable seat ever. The heat and defrost were incapable of keeping the windows clear in a ND winter, so I’d have to use a scraper on the inside of the windshield as I drove, and my feet would freeze. I actually installed those stick-on frost shields on the side windows. Terribly underpowered, it was ok in town, but on the highway it was impossible to maintain 60 mph on hilly terrain. And that’s without a load. I’d enter a valley with the pedal mashed to the floor, only to have to drop from 5th gear, then 4th, then 3rd just to get up the other side. People behind me didn’t like that much.
Second place, a 2002 Hyundai XG350. Powerful, smooth, well-equipped, but I could never get comfortable in the seat. One hundred miles is as far as I could ride at a time without a break. And that traction (?) control. When you tried to climb a slippery hill, it would automatically apply the brakes until you came to a halt. I always had to try and remember to disable it before the climb. My wife loved that car, though. I’d probably still have it, except for an untimely timing belt failure.
XG350
You must have had a monday or friday Mazda ute, I towed a 1955 Austin Westminster on a tandem axle trailer from Nongataha to Wairakei with an identical ute thats about two and a half tons all up on the drawbar for 70 miles yes it felt underpowered but when I returned the trailer it went ok as just a ute at least as well as the fleet of them we had at work. It maintained the 70kmh then towing speed limit on the flat thus loaded empty it happily ran at 100kmh.
I have one and it is a work horse and reliable best buy ever!!! Also own newer other make but it don’t come near to my Mazda B1600
Same colour
1999 Ford Taurus SE with the vulcan V-6. What an awful piece of crap.
As a new driver in the late ’70’s I was driving the family Pinto’s. As a young family man in the early ’90’s my wife and I had a Ford Tempo. Our 1993 Ford Taurus LX wagon with the 3.8 V-6 was a terrific car. It’s replacement, a 1999 Ford Taurus SE wagon with the 3.0 “vulcan” V-6 was undeniably the worst car I ever owned and had to drive regularly. Worse than the Pinto’s. Worse than the Tempo’s. At least the Pinto’s had some spunky charm, and the Tempo was simply a very comfortable and honest car that did what it was supposed to do with no fuss.
I honestly to this day cannot understand what I was thinking when I traded in the terrific LX for that absolutely horrid excuse for automotive excrement. As soon as I could afford to, 27 months later, it was history. Traded in on a 2000 Mercury Sable LS wagon with the night and day different and better 3.0 duratec V-6 and a far more refined interior in every way. I never hated driving that one. Just hated owning it after 18 months when various electronic sensors started throwing up on themselves every few months and costing a minimum of $600 each time something weird would malfunction. Coupled with its garage mate, a 1996 Ford Thunderbird that suffered in the worst way from the Jacques Nasser cost-cutting era at Ford, the Sable would be the last Ford product this once diehard Ford enthusiast would ever purchase.
My first car was an incredibly rusty Beetle with dodgy clutch, drum brakes, and engine mounts that made it feel like it might literally fall apart. But I enjoyed driving it. (sometimes)
The worst car I ever drove was a 1st generation Vauxhall Corsa – 1.0, 3 cylinder. They felt solid enough for small cars of that era, but there wasn’t anything particularly appealing, they weren’t particularly good at anything, the clutch action in the 1.0 made life difficult (the 1.2 and 1.4 were fine) and they struggled to keep up with traffic. The whole idea of this engine was it would save you fuel, but you had to drive flat out all the time, and it sounded awful too.
*Edited to say that in 2010 I drove several Great Wall SUVs and utes in a huge storage facility, and each was terrible in its own unique way. They were brand new and felt knackered. The fit and finish was appalling. I would have to say they were worse than any Corsa.
Torsion bar suspension gets way WAY too much credit on this site. A torsion bar is just a spring that flat and twists instead of being coiled n compressed. The main advantage lies in the fact that you can periodically readjust it as sag sets in or make it stiffer (and increase ride height) if you want. Same thing could be done (with significantly more difficulty) by putting stiffer pads between the body and spring mounts on coil sprung cars.
Ill put it this way. The Challenger and Barracuda were sloppy pigs compared to their Mustang and Camaro counterparts despite having this supposed suspension advantage. These days only off road capable vehicles and some commercial trucks use torsion bars in the front. It was an engineering dead end for passenger and certainly sporting cars.
It is true that by the 1970s, GM had really taken the lead in suspension design in the US. But if you go back to the 1957-62 era, the Chrysler setup was as good as it got. GM of that era had the same combination of smoothness and handling that Ford perfected in the 70s – smooth, quiet, and nearly uncontrollable if the going got rough. I am sure that it wasn’t just torsion bars, but the entire suspension geometry. It was good enough that Chrysler could essentially ignore it for 20 years and still have a reasonably decent handling car.
You’re right, inasmuch as torsion bars are not magic. But Chrysler’s suspension generally during the ’57 up period was set up to have better handling, at the expense of some of that Jet Smooth ride. In fact, when Chrysler softened their big car suspension settings for ’66, to make them more competitive with Ford and GM in terms of smooth, soft ride, the handling advantage mostly went by the wayside.
In terms of comparing the Barracuda to the Camaro and Mustang, it’s essential to specify which generation. The A Body Barracuda was universally lauded for its superior handling; go back and read any review. And the gen 1 Camaro was generally panned in that regard, and the early Mustangs were pretty feeble in that way too. They were both better if they had the right suspension options, but the base cars were primitive, given that the Mustang was just a Falcon, and the Camaro a Nova.
The gen 2 Camaro, beginning in 1971, had a revised suspension that put it in a league of its own, and yes, better than the E-Body Barracuda and Challenger.
It’s dangerous to make sweeping generalizations, as “handling” encompasses many different qualities, and any of these cars had a wide range of suspension options along with different size wheels and tires. It quickly gets to be apples and oranges.
Morris Minors had a torsion bar front set up from 1948 onwards and handling is excellent in those especially for a cheap base model car.
Larger versions of that species in Morris Oxford and Wolseley six eighty were ok too same suspension set up.
Ive had a few Aussie Valiants with torsion bars and while not brilliant are ok if aligned properly.
Dad used to rave about his old MO Oxford. The Series II not so much as the Austin engine let him down, though the chassis was still competent. When the badge-engineered Farina Oxfords came out on the Austin platform, forget it!
The MO had the last of the Morris flat heads pretty much unbreakable but not much power havent seen a live one for a long time.
For me, there are two cars that run together, because they shared parts. In 1971, I acquired a 1962 Valiant station wagon. It had the 170 slant six, Torqueflite, and a dealer-added air conditioner. That car was a slug. I repeat: it was a slug. The added-on A/C worked poorly, and made the engine overheat often, so I hardly ever used it. If it rained, the ignition system would crap out and the engine would stall. Still, it got me partway through college until the front end got T-boned, putting the car out of commission. My dad found a 1961 Dodge Lancer station wagon and transplanted the 170 and the rear end of the Valiant into it. The Lancer had the three-on-the-floor. The car was still a slug, just noisier than the Valiant (the Lancer was a lower trim line).
In a class of its own was Dad’s 1961 Mercedes 190Db. It had superbly comfortable seats and a remarkably soft, supple ride combined with great handling. It also had a four-on-the-tree of surprising sloppiness, but that was still livable. It had awful heaters compared with American cars. The capper, though, was the 55-horsepower diesel engine. It was the slowest car I have ever driven, and the noisiest. That diesel clatter was deafening. I’m glad it’s no longer part of my life.
1995 Mazda 626. It had a 4 cylinder and that horrible Ford automatic transaxle (I forget the name) that kept self destructing (I went through 2 in the 3 years I owned the damn thing and it was failing again before I got rid of it.) And the engine, already underpowered, ended up misfiring and only ran on 3 cylinders at the end. Which wouldn’t have been a problem, except that I lived in a city full of hills. So you’d accelerate and almost have the car cut out as you crested a hill and then you’d roll down the other side and back up the next hill. Kind of like The Engine that Could.
Just typing this is making me angry.
1962 Austin Healy Sprite. Whining engine, handled poorly.
I love cars and trucks so I don’t really have one I ever truly despised but I will say the worst qualitywise had to have been the 1984 Mitsubishi Montero that I owned. It constantly broke down despite numerous rebuilds on most of its systems. Freeway speeds had the engine spinning for its life at near 750CC motorcycle speeds 75MPH in 5th gear was around 4500 rpm. But the AC was ICE cold and the truck was still the best off road vehicle I have ever owned. Even better than my 95 Pathfinder.
I also used to drive a
1988 Ford Festiva 5 speed no AC
1990 Geo metro 5 speed no AC
1994 Subaru legacy H4 with AC
1995 Olds Cutlass Ciera V6 with frigid AC
The Cutlass Ciera gets a lot of guff on every automotive forum and in the general public but mine was an absolute beast in regular use. Comfortable with its skyblue bench seat and was so light its 3.1 or 3.4 (cant remember) v6 had no trouble getting it out of its own way. It regularly returned better than 30 mpg on the freeway and was very quiet on trips. The ex wife and I hated its looks but loved actually driving it because it was so comfy. Never once let me down up until it was T boned by some dope head
1984 Mercury Topaz. A well-kept low mileage (something like 60,000) 10 year old car when I got it, it quickly developed a habit of oil consumption where it didn’t burn or leak to obnoxious levels but required me to buy Kmart-brand “Motorvator” oil (then 99 cents/qt) by the case. Handbrake stopped working early on, service brake burst some sort of hydraulic flex hose holding on an incline, driver’s seat backrest broke (it already had those horrible Ford seats that had what should’ve been the lumbar padding behind the shoulders instead, forcing you to slouch whether you wanted to or not and causing excruciating back pain after a few miles of rough road), every week it was something else. Heavy chrome trim around the windows causing glare visible behind the wheel. PS it was easy to “outrun” while parking. Shouldn’t have been a clunker but became one very quickly.
My late and far, FAR from lamented ’86 Corolla. Park-bench-hard seats, glacial acceleration, pinged on even the highest octane fuel (pinging on Ultra 93? What the hell???), and craptastic fuel economy (couldn’t break 30 mpg on a dare). Try several dealers about the pinging, every one said it was normal. Replaced that steaming pile with an ’89 Topaz which was world’s better.
2007 Chevy Uplander. It was a complete stripper model that I had use of for work from time to time. The front door handle broke, the key fob broke, and so many suspension and other bits were worn out well before 80,000 miles that my work sent it to auction.
It also never rode worth a damn, it was awkwardly high sitting and there was hardly any seat adjustments-even for a stripper. Not that it really matters, but I thought it was homely too. The Mopar vans we also have were like luxury cars in comparison, even though they are base models as well. The 3.9L v6 gave it enough pep, but that was about all that was good about that thing. I was not one bit sad to see it go.
The runner up to that one was a Corolla (hell, I don’t even remember what is was for sure, it was such a forgettable car) that I had as a rental four or five years back while my car was in the shop overnight. Acceleration was terribly slow, ride was harsh, interior felt and sounded (already had plenty of rattles and squeaks) cheap. Its the kind of car you wonder why they even bother making-and I always thought Toyota had such a great reputation? I suppose maybe you couldn’t kill the thing, but then, I wouldn’t want to drive it that long anyway. I couldn’t wait to get back behind the wheel of my 2004 v8 Eddie Bauer Explorer.
84 Toyota Sunrader motorhome with a 4 cyl. 4speed manual , no power steering , 5000 lbs. Every hill would slow it way down requiring downshifting. The steering was so heavy. Acceleration was measured on a calendar, also like my 1st car a 62 VW bug, which wasn’t much fun to drive uphill on the freeway with everyone passing me. What I loved about the bug was taking it on 4×4 mountain trails, and driving it in the snow.
I spent 8 years in the car industry in Australia. I have driven so many cars it’s hard to remember what car or van I found most wretched.
Off the top off my head:
EA Falcon auto that decided it was going to murder me by stalling halfway through every T-intersection on busy roads.
Toyota Hiace camper with column manual and 70hp engine that was terrifyingly slow, hideously uncomfortable and had the braking power of a ’47 Buick.
Daewoo Matiz – the a/c compressor cut in while I was crossing a busy main road and immediately killed off all the acceleration. This was the last of many bad experiences with that ‘car’ and I have not driven another one since.
’95 VW Caravelle – This van was designed to make driving as unpleasant as possible. Nothing can prepare you for the sensation of a solid, chunky vehicle that, once on the move, is harsh, weak, and feels like there are rubber bands connecting the main controls to the mechanical parts. At least the seat was nice.
The one I hated most was the one I needed most because it was the company ute. A 1991 Holden Rodeo (Isuzu pickup). The 2.6 litre multipoint EFI engine was absolutely wonderful but…….the seat was agony, the gearshift was all over the place and engaging 5th could only be done with a loud crunch from the gearbox. The interior squeaked constantly, the steering was so worn out it was a matter of just holding the wheel straight and waiting for the front wheels to work out where they needed to be when changing lanes on the freeway. The seatbelt was shredded, the indicators sometimes worked and it went through 3 litres of oil per week.
But DAMN we relied on that thing. It got my boss and I through some tough times.
Easy one. My second car, in high school, a 63 Ford Fairlane sedan with a 170 six and Fordomatic – equivalent of this Belair. Absolutely the slowest, most miserable car to drive ever – a total embarrassment, and a huge purchase mistake. Dumped it within months for another well used VW Beetle that, despite not being the most reliable car, put a big smile back on my face.
Yup, a Motor Trend test of a Comet with the 144 and Fordomatic took 27.5 sec. to 60. Can’t imagine a 170 was much faster.
After a few years, I ended up hating my ’75 Duster 360. It was fast in a straight line and fairly reliable, but I got really tired of the noise, hard ride, sloppy assembly, and the overwhelming A-body crudeness. I was not sorry at all to see it go.
Ummmmm, none.
I also am a car social person and always enjoy meeting and getting to know different vehicles and can get along with most anyone. I even enjoyed the rattly Chevy panel vans I drove at my first job. Two that I could not abide however were a ’72 Matador and an ’86 Cutlass Ciera Cruiser and those were only due to reliability issues. The Matador which we got new when I was a tyke had somewhat of an excuse as Pops hadn’t really maintained it as well as it deserved and it served as a veritable guinea pig in my early wrenching days. It didn’t help that the little 304, although velvety smooth when running right, was woefully weak for a quasi full sized wagon. That Oldsmobile, though, had no defense for its constant bad behavior. It had apparently been well maintained and driven lightly by its elderly original owner. Electrical gremlins quickly presented themselves, however, shortly after we took delivery. It started with the tape player and quickly migrated to the locks, windows, accessories, cooling fan, and engine management systems. It would never pass exhaust testing on the first try and developed a hesitation that could never be completely extinguished. I was forever worried that we would be plowed in an intersection when it stumbled or stalled. Its sole asset was that it was aesthetically pleasing with its light maroon paint, simulated oak side panels and dark burgundy interior which held up quite well during the time we had it. It was the pretty girl (or handsome guy) who over time reveals an unpleasant disposition you eventually come to wish you’d never met.
Geo Metro with the 3-pot engine. I took it for a test ride to see if it would be a car for my wife. After one block and tiny hill I turned around.
Next on the list: ’98 Ford Escort. Again just trying to see if it would work for my wife. The engine combined sluggishness with vibration. The bowed out doors made me feel like sitting in a 55 gal drum and the horrible suspension made me think: “This car is based on the Mazda Protege; leave it to Ford to mess up a good thing!”
A (dis)honorable mention goes to a Mercury Villager. The salesmen wanted me to take a ride. I saw the automatic seat belt and slammed the door shut.
I agree with the 98 escort. A friend was looking at one. I went on the test drive. Awful noisy crap car. My 96 escort wagon was a thousand times better
During my summer stint as a car jockey at the hospital parking garage the car I came to loathe was a Dacia 1300. If was owned by a hospital staffer who often parked in the 3-deep area of the undersized lot which meant we had to move it at least once a day.
First of all it smelled terrible inside, as the lowest ranking parking guy I got the honor of dealing with it. It would just about make me retch just being in it.
Second it had manual armstrong steering and my poor little skinny arms would just about snap cranking that thing around. I was 6 feet tall and about 110 pounds.
Luckily I don’t think I’ve seen a Dacia since that summer…
Dacia was known as the car that made the Yugo seem like it was designed and built by Honda by comparison.
“Windmilling” that Chevy steering wheel brought back memories. In my senior year in high school in Southern California in 1964, I drove a considerable distance on surface streets into Los Angeles High School from the westside for summer school, frequently with a classmate whose father had bought her a ’60 Impala convertible that year. Pretty spiffy car for a high schooler back then. She would pick me up, then ask me to drive, of course with the top always down. Fun times, but I so remember that power steering wheel rapidly and seemingly effortlessly turning and turning, wondering when you were going to get a response. You could turn the wheel in tight spaces by placing your open hand flat on the wheel, then rapidly “palming” it lock to lock, or by sticking your index finger where the spoke met the wheel and quickly twirling it. Not very safe, to be sure, and it seemed so sloppy, but that was my overriding memory of those Chevrolet power steering systems.
My most hated car? Well, two of them, actually, both my father’s company cars, a 1961 Falcon and a 1964 Dodge Dart GT. I learned to drive in that Falcon, even took my driver’s license test in it, but it was the original gutless wonder, no power steering or brakes, couldn’t get out of its own way, you would have to manually choke it to death on cold mornings to get it to start. Awful vehicle. Then he replaced it with the Dart. The frying pan to the fire, in my view. The sound of that slant six starting will be with me forever, my brother can still do a perfect imitation of it. Once again, no power steering, no power brakes. My dad traveled often back then, and I had the use of the car to drive to high school whenever he was gone. But the image of that Dart just seemed so devastatingly wimpy to my seventeen year old ego. My brother and I hated to be seen in it, and always preferred to take our mom’s big ’63 Mercury whenever the family went out. But, hey, the Dart was available wheels, so I would swallow my pride and haul off to high school, parking it as far away as possible hoping not to be seen. Not good memories of that car.
Don, I took my driver’s test in a 61 Falcon as well – and hated the car. It belonged to my mom and I left the keys in it all the time when I got my license hoping it would go away – but no one else wanted it, either. I forgot all about the manual choke – the 63 Fairlane I mentioned above had one as well. I used the Falcon for my driver’s test because it was small and easy to park. Also, it had a manual tranny so wasn’t as god awful slow as the Fairlane with Fordomatic.
One of my aunts had a 64 Dart too but it was a V8 (273) with Torqueflite, PS and PB and nicely trimmed out in an ice blue metallic – and it drove nicely as well. Big difference depending on the way they were equipped. And who could forget those Mopar starters – that whiney sound was so unique you could hear it a mile away. I miss the unique sounds of cars from those days. As a little kid I could identify a Chevy Blue Flame six or a flathead Ford running or the starter on a Buick vs a DeSoto – we all could because they were so different from one another. Try that today in a parking lot.
So you, too, suffered the indignity of the Falcon! Had to laugh, we must have lived in some parallel automotive universe. My dad wanted me to learn to drive and take my driver’s license test in that car for the same reason, small enough to maneuver and park, but slower than molasses and gutless enough to avoid getting into trouble. Even though it was the deluxe model, it seemed like such a cheapo, flimsy vinyl and fabric upholstery, not to mention rudimentary seat comfort, rubber floor mats, dog dish hubcaps, no backup lights, no clock, that manual choke I could never master, even only a single indicator light for the turn signals. At least it had automatic transmission and a radio and heater, probably about all the options you could get. It was such a down market car, even its baby blue color conspired to add to my everlasting chagrin about its image. At the time Dad got the Falcon, my mom’s ’59 Galaxie was still sitting proudly in the garage, looking like conservative big brother to this little upstart whippersnapper.
My Father owned (not for very long) an early, high mileage Porsche 911. This car had been “rode hard and put away wet” wayyyyyy too often.
The shifter felt like you were stirring a stick in a bucket of frigid molasses.
The heater was just barely adequate, even in temperate New Orleans.
The worn out engine had an irritating habit of filling up the garage with blue smoke when first started.
The air conditioning felt about as useful as a warm, damp washcloth slapped on your face in hot & humid New Orleans. It randomly spit out water, made the car run like a sick VW beetle, with the noisiest blower ever put into a car.
The driver’s door had a disconcerting habit of popping open whenever the hell it wanted to. Thank God Dad was “big” on seatbelt usage!
The suspension system was quite squirrelly, even for an early 911, what with all the miles on it The back wheels had a most pulse pounding way of tucking in the rear rims & skinny, almost worn out Michelin X tires and sway back and forth like an over-loaded U-Haul trailer caught in crosswind.
The first (and last) time I made the mistake of letting OFF the gas, when exiting a sharp curve, allowing the worn out rear suspension to laugh at me and spin, in a couple of complete circles, and then enabled the whole car to shudder and shake and spin off the road and into a strawberry field, was the last time I drove it. After I nursed it back home, I washed it, dried, it, washed out the mud and strawberry plants stuck in the fenders, and NEVER drove it again.
About two months later I noticed it, parked in Dad’s side of the garage, with mud and debris in the same places. Dad never commented whey but sold it quickly after that.
Like many here I’m a car guy and have always been willing to drive anything at least once. The only vehicles I ever actively disliked driving were the National Guard’s M151A1 quarter-ton truck (the non-Jeep) and the M35 (deuce and a half) cargo truck. The truck was just uncomfortable and terribly slow but the M151’s were dangerous. Someone thought it would be a good idea to equip a short, relatively tall vehicle with swing axles front and rear. These little POS were prone to rolling over at the slightest provocation; after enough fatalities they were retrofitted with roll cages and seat belts. I doubt that anyone mourned their passing when they were finally phased out, after I was long gone from the National Guard.
My worst driving experience, non-military division, also involved a truck. Back in the early seventies I rented a Uhaul truck to move my sister’s belongings from Lexington, Kentucky back to our hometown, a trip of 200 miles or so. This was during the days of the 55 MPH national speed limit and the truck was governed to a top speed of 58 MPH. This would have been bad enough but the governor was a simple RPM limiter; whenever the engine reached whatever RPM that equaled 58 MPH it basically shut off. As you might imagine this made acceleration painfully slow.
I kind of enjoyed the M35. That whopping 125 HP or so hauling around twelve or fifteen thousand pounds really needed a lot more gears, however. The worst part for me was that I would always have a sore right leg after driving one, from jamming the gas pedal to the floor the whole trip. Like that was going to make it go faster–Hah!
HMMWVs were just stupid: Loud, hot (the pre-A/C models, at least), no “Park” position (it was a regular old GM THM, so the Army must have paid extra for that feature), astonishingly wide, and impossible to see out of. On the other hand, they would go pretty much anywhere, so they’ve got that going for them.
A 2012 model Buick Regal rental car – had it for a week and never could get comfortable. Just couldn’t find the right combo of seat position, seat back rake, steering wheel position, or seat cushion height/angle that felt “natural”. Plus the horrible visibility – no wonder modern sedans come with full sensor suites and cameras – you can’t see out of the danged things. Like peering through a mail slot.
Other than being uncomfortable and feeling like I was driving blind it was great…
Speaking as a relatively new driver, I don’t have the most extensive history of cars. But of the four cars I’ve driven, one sticks out in my mind. My sister’s 2001 Subaru Forrester, the car she got after the Equinox she was driving got wrecked. I drove it home from a Firestone one time, and I loathed that thing. I had to face facts that I was driving in a high riding SUV, which was the last thing I was comfortable driving, but that was the least of my worries. The position was awkward as hell, it may have worked for my sister, but my 6’3 figure couldn’t find a position comfortable. The interior was not at all driver friendly, the pedals were so small my foot actually missed them many times, the ride was truck like, bouncy and uncomfortable, the steering didn’t feel smooth at all, and the wreck that my sister had left the interior meant it was claustrophobic in some cases. Oh, it was also hard to see out of as well. But that doesn’t compare to the biggest problem, the engine. I had gotten so used to the V8 in my Cadillac that driving that 4 cylinder Subaru was an exercise in torture, it was not smooth, it jerked if you even put so much as anything above featherweight on the pedal (considering how small the pedal is, very easy and tempting to do), and it had no power at all. I had many times where the light would turn green, and I would fail to proceed because either I couldn’t find the gas, or the engine would have a big delay before it got the giant Forrester going. I learned that day two lessons, one, SUVs and Crossovers are not a fun experience to drive, and two, if I ever did decide to get an SUV or were forced to drive one, that thing better have at least six cylinders under the hood.
Sounds like the inevitable leaky head gaskets on that Forester. Jerkiness and the delay in making power are classic symptoms. They’re slow, but when running right there’s still enough power there to get you out of trouble.
Unlike a couple of vehicles I’ve lived with over the years (’00 S-10 2.2/auto and a ’93 Pontiac (Daewoo) LeMans), I’ve never had to turn the a/c off just to feel safe merging into traffic in a Forester.
The ’84 Toyota Corona my wife had when we got married. Cramped for its size, clumsy, gutless, noisy, thirsty. But it had good air conditioning.
A 2nd generation Neon I used for a delivery beater for 11 months. Wanted to replace it the whole time but it ran and I was lazy so it stayed until the timing belt went. I smiled and bought a Bonneville the next day. The neon had a great cupholder though.
2009 Honda Accord. Never felt as separated from the driving experience in any other car – modern or non-modern.
I really had to think about this one.
If I had to choose, I suppose it would have to be the pre-owned 1993 Dodge Spirit. That was the car we never should have bought for many reasons. Too many alarms went off in my mind, but we bought it anyway…
It had bucket seats that leaned ‘way too far back even when in the most upright position. The car was repainted, it just didn’t feel right in so many ways. It was fast because of the 3.0L V6, but that was all.
One day the tranny locked up on me and stayed in either 1st or 2nd gear until I reached my destination in town, but when I returned to the car it ran and shifted fine. When I told Wifey, she immediately looked around and we got rid of it and traded it on a pre-owned 1996 Intrepid 3.5L.
The Intrepid was a joy to drive.
I’d agree with many of the other posters that there’s something interesting to be found in almost any car. That said, I really couldn’t find much to like in either the Nubira wagon (awful ride, awful seats, awful handling, awful everything) or the automatic Paseo I drove. The Paseo was the slowest car I’ve ever experienced, dangerously slow, in fact.
1973 AMC Hornet. It could barely get out of its own way with the wheezing, emission-strangled six-cylinder engine despite the excellent Torqueflite transmission, and it guzzled gas almost like a full-size car. (Though to be fair that was the case with most 1970s U.S. iron.) The worst though were the seats. The standard thin bench seats on these cars were backbreakers, no support or comfort at all. Spend 20 minutes on that seat and you’d be screaming for a chiropractor. (AMC did offer optional seats that were OK but this car didn’t have ’em.) In many ways the Hornet, at least in base trim, seemed inferior to the Rambler American that it replaced.
The car was reliable as an anvil though. The friends who owned it endured that car for over 10 years and the only repair it ever needed aside from normal wear items was a water pump.
Suffered with those same seats in my ’82 Concord. The back issues they caused were the majority of the reason I dumped the car, which otherwise was very good to me.
Car Rental Free Upgrades. I’d try to rent a Hyundai Accent, but I’d almost always get something else. Probably the most embarrassing was a Cadillac STS back in 2007. I was unemployed and gas was expensive. I felt ridiculous.
One doesn’t hear that sort of complaint much, I’d have been tickled pink to get a Caddy rather than a Hyundai penalty box. If you were unemployed, what need would you have for a rental car anyway?
The combination of no job + driving a Cadillac just felt strange. It actually wasn’t a bad car at all.
great question. i was surprised to find the featured hate mobile was actually one of my favs. but my 62, in white also, had the 327 w/PG and buckets. i upgraded to chevy rallye wheels and radial tires. rode and handled like a whole different car.
most of my slow cars were compacts with manual trans so they really could still be fun to drive and had crisp moves even though they were tinny and harsh.
i really like to look at each car i purchase new or used as some teams best effort to build an honest and competitive product within the constraints they were given to work with. some stylist sweated that body design. some arts & color person agonized over that fabric. some engineer made that part or system with just the right blend of functionality and durabilityl. some ergonomics specialist put that knob or lever just so. even some bean counter tried to make it affordable with just the right standard comfort and convenience features. BUT, these people were all at lunch when my 94 mercury tracer was conceived. only the body style and the seats were pleasing. the 1.9L engine was rough, thirsty and underpowered. the 4 spd AOD transmission had only one mission in life. that was to shift into OD as soon as possible and stay there. only mashing the accelerator would divert it from its MPG mission. it was quiet but handling was numb and nowhere near a similar escort and protege i had. worst of all, even though i parked it through the winters, the underside rotted as it sat. i was on my way to deliver it to the garage for an annual safety inspection when the rear brake lines burst due to corrosion. i parked that turd and made sure it went to the crusher.
The worst I’ve driven was a 2015 Chevrolet Cruze I had to rent last year. Highly uncomfortable, difficult to maintain a set speed, and my lower back hurt by the time I returned it. In a way, though, the worst was really the “most disappointing”, a 2010 Town Car I rented. Having driven a number of very well appointed and in my view largely high quality land yachts from Ford and GM over my relatively young life, it was the cheapest and most decontented turnpike cruiser I’d ever encountered. I knew it would not be around much longer, and that was worse than the Cruze in that I expected that to be bad and jumped at the chance to rent the Lincoln, expecting it to be nice.
anything with front wheel drive
btw the sailor in the picture is a US Coast Guard Academy cadet aboard America’s tall ship, the Cutter EAGLE
Why do you hate FWD so much?
the plowing effect caused by torque steer and the uneven weight distribution. They are also generally more challenging to work on
I don’t like that the nose is always dragging on the pavement anytime there is a driveway with a slight incline to it.
In HS, in the 70’s, I hated driving the old man’s ’65 Checker Marathon (6 cyl 3-speed). NOW I wish I had one.
MORE recently, I grew to hate getting behind the wheel of my ’94 Saturn SL2 4 door sedan. Hated the auto belts. Hated the way it drank oil. Hated the way it went through front tires. Didn’t especially like the color (gold). Hated that it had an automatic rather than a stick. And it was absolutely the worst car I’ve ever driven in snow.
I didn’t expect to dislike it so much. It had 71,000 miles on it and I paid $1600 for it. I knew of Saturn’s reputation. I thought it would be a nice little econo-box for my 50-mile daily commute (round trip).
I WILL say that it was reliable and never left me stranded.
I ended up donating the vehicle rather than trying to sell it. I’ve never been happier to see a car be driven onto a flatbed wrecker and taken away.
A stripper, rental 2014(?) Jeep Compass with the base engine and CVT – a relic of a powertrain that should’ve been put to pasture years before. People seem to buy lots of these and the Patriot, though – perhaps the other powertrains are better and/or they are so cheap people simply don’t care?
Then again, I feel fortunate I never had to deal with lousy 70s/80s compacts. Compared to them, I’m sure the Compass is practically a Lexus.
The one I hated most? Oh that’s easy, a 2000/2001 Holden Vectra (aka 1995-2002 Opel Vectra B). The one I drove was a co-worker’s company car back in 2001. The other reps had Nissan Primera wagons which were delightful to drive. But the time I had the Vectra for a while, oh dear… I’m not tall by any means (5’7”ish) but that car was cramped in all the wrong places. Several times as I lifted my foot off the clutch pedal, the end of my shoe would neatly jam in the plastic shroud and bundle of wiring under the steering column. And my shoes aren’t big! Overall the Vectra was a disappointing pile of horribleness to drive. It seriously felt like it had been bench-marked against a Mk V Ford Cortina…
I don’t hate this car day in and day out, but every time I travel on Hwy 74 (pic attached) which is weekly if not more, I really dislike it. This car is RWD, has close to 300 hps, it’s low, got big fat tires and multilink IRS. But that mountain road, it looked the look but totally enjoyable to drive. Why?
it only came with auto, and a very slow shifting auto, the suspension were too too soft for the tires. No wonder the Top Gear gang voted it the worst car in the world:
Lexus SC430.
Though I didn’t drive it, I can say that the car that i’ve liked being in the least was my buddy’s 1990 VW Rabbit Cabriolet. Although it had very high mileage, the car was in decent shape and well maintained, and it felt like a bucket of bolts that could fall apart at any given time–I did not feel safe in it. It creaked, shook, the suspension/ ride was like your butt was right on the pavement and though I’d have to compare it with a new one, I have a feeling that it wouldn’t be much better in new form.
I have a real toss up between the worthless ’87 Honda Civic sedan with an auto, or the ’61 VW single cab Transporter. The Honda seats were so bad I couldn’t sit in it for more than 15 minutes without hurting. Piss poor underpowered 4 cyl carbed and an automatic that sapped the remaining 6 hp. Scarily underpowered and flat out dangerous to drive on the freeway. Full throttle got you lots more engine noise and rpm, but no discernable increase in speed. Road noise worse than any car I have ever driven. Junk. The VW had a 40 hp that was rather unreliable, electrics even worse. No fuel gauge from the factory either. Combine that with marginal brakes and minimal ventilation with no heater, gave me a hatred of all things VW to this day. Embarrassingly slow on the freeway hills, it seized one day after I located the factory heater boxes and installed them. It ran again after it cooled off, but never again VW.
1981 (?) Ford Escort L. I was a sales rep covering six New England states in this company provided, four door, hatchback, manual transmission, rolling slug. I think it was a 1.6 L four cylinder. 55 mph was the absolute top end when going up any kind of an incline. Turn off the a/c when making that climb, or you’ll need to pack a lunch for the trip. AM radio. Crank windows. They didn’t come much cheaper than this. Hard starting when raining, even in a covered parking structure. Had a carb fire one day in a garage in Boston. I was content to let it burn to the ground, but the stupid guy came running from the booth with an extinguisher and put it out. Finally, the folks at HQ decided that the car had been a problem child for a while. ( I had inherited it from the Philadelphia rep) They got me a brand new Plymouth Reliant; which I was t-boned in about six months later……
I scrolled down a long way, worried that there was not any Escort hate here. fortunately you brought it. the carbureted 1st gens with automatic trans were the worst! I remember trying to accelerate on a sloped highway entrance ramp. the damned things could not choose a gear, so the trans constantly switched between 2&3 about every second. rough idle, early head gasket problems. no temp gauge to see it was overheating till too late. the worst penalty box. once they got F.I., Escort life became slightly more tolerable. even then, you could choose to climb the hill OR have the AC on.
So many candidates: honorable mentions include a rental Toyota Echo, which, besides the center mounted instrument cluster, combined a high seating position with short wheelbase and narrow track to provide ride and handling comparable to a a carnival tilt-a-whirl, a 66 Plymouth Belvidere hand-me-down from my Grandfather that combined rear Monroe “Load levelers” with a broken spring leaf on one side and two broken leaves on the other side to provide both a punishingly hard ride and squirrelly handling, no doubt due to more than a bit of rear wheel steering due to the broken leaves not keeping the axle located.
The absolute worst ever? We visit, once again, the 78 Mercury Zephyr Z7, bought new. Leaving aside the many, many, outright failures that had that POS in the shop monthly for 2 years, let’s look at it’s “features”:
1-Ford abandoned the well developed and proven scissors style window regulators for a cheap single vertical rail, which, according to the maintenance schedule required lubrication at every oil change otherwise the window would jam repeatedly at every attempt to crank it closed.
2-Ford pocketed another $2 by not providing self-adjusters for the rear drum brakes, which had been standard on US cars since the 50s, , but, instead, requiring the owner (me) to pay to have the brakes adjusted at every other oil change.
3-Ford pocketed another $1 by requiring the front suspension to be lubricated periodically, but not installing grease fittings, so installing zerk fittings was another bill I was required to pay.
4-Shocks that were barely adequate to back the car off the transporter. Patched or potholed pavement (I drive in Michigan) would send the car into a 4 wheel jitterbug as the wheels bounced uncontrollably. (recall, this was a car bought new)
5-Brakes that were laffably unbalanced. Attempts at braking in an urgent fashion would immediately lock the rears and send the car slewing sideways.
6-Carbruetor on the 302 that was invented by Torquemada featuring the worst drivability imaginable. The shop did address it’s tendency to flood the engine every time I parked for a few minutes, but never cured it’s horrible cold performance, which required repeated starts, as it would repeatedly stall the moment the tranny was engaged. Somehow I survived 2 years of making a left turn on the way to work that came just as the choke was coming off, so the squirt from the accelerator pump would give it enough gas to lurch into the lane of oncoming traffic, where it would stop and sputter on maybe 2 or 3 cylinders, as the opposing traffic grew nearer, then at the last moment the thing would catch and lurch on through the intersection.
7-The 302 itself. Gas at that time appears to have been particularly horrid as many cars suffered high levels of carbon buildup. The 302 was part of that large cohort as an Italian tuneup would blow an immense cloud of carbon out of the exhaust. In spite of frequent such tuneups, the thing pinged like a Geiger counter at Three Mile Island. A coworker with a then new 79 302 Mustang had the same carbon build up issue.
I have never seen a car that could suck every trace of enthusiasm out of it’s driver, and replace it with bile.
I think somebody was taking you for a ride on those brakes, my ’78 Fairmont has self-adjusters.
I think somebody was taking you for a ride on those brakes, my ’78 Fairmont has self-adjusters.
Are you sure they were not retrofitted sometime between 78 and now?
Here’s how the brake thing went: driving along at low speeds I noticed noise from the rear wheels, a combination of a grind and a “klop..klop..klop” sound. The shop said they adjusted the rear brakes, and the noise was gone. Looking in the maintenance schedule in the owner’s manual, I then saw the note to “adjust brakes” regularly. I had been driving cars with self adjusting brakes for several years and I had never heard the noises the Zephyr brakes made, nor ever been told I needed the brakes adjusted.
The self adjusters could also have been a running addition, because so many people were outraged at Ford’s constant penny pinching, to the detriment of the owner.
I just remembered another thing about that Zephyr that made driving it so aggravating: The wiper blades were plastic, rather than the assembly of stamped metal bits wipers had been previously. Those plastic wipers were so rigid that in cold weather they would not follow the contour of the windshield. The driver’s side wiper would only wipe the bottom couple inches of it’s arc, and completely miss the water/snow on the part of the windshield I needed to see through. In later years, Ford added a couple hinges to those plastic blades to make them more flexible.
Vehicle I owned: my ’86 Bronco II Eddie Bauer. 2.8L V6, 4×4, auto trans. Last year for carbureted motor before they switched to EFI. Slow, scary-tippy handling , lots of NVH, stall-prone, crappy MPGs. What a POS that thing was. Loathed that car.
Vehicle I drove fairly often but didn’t own: my in-laws’ ’02 GMC Envoy. Slow, tippy handling, crap tons of NVH, seats were downright painful to sit in for more than 30 minutes, crap build quality. Did I say crap tons of NVH? Usually had to drive this crap wagon whenever my wife and I went to dinner or someplace with her folks, which was far too often with that POS.
Any Chevrolet G-Series van, the 1995 and earlier models. Crude, rude, and flimsy the driving position was awful and everything about them radiated cheap. Truly terrible.
Also, any first or second generation Ford Escape. Uncomfortable and underpowered, even with the V6, they are horrible and I simply don’t understand how they were so popular given their godawful powertrains and harsh everything.
A 2014 Nissan Sentra rental car I had deserves an honorable mention for its generally shitty demeanor.
The G van gets honorable mention in my world.
The G-van should be taken in context. I’ve owned 3 of them. The basic cargo vehicle is everything you mention. Its’ like a half-built vehicle, a steel box with a cheap seat, and is a miserable experience.
But the passenger models are much better. The factory Rallye and Beauville models are like a really big, roomy Caprice wagon, and pretty decent
The conversion vans are like a cheesy Fleetwood, all tufted velour and wood trim, but they are quiet, comfortable and pleasant highway cruisers.
Finally, whatever the model, these vans are really reliable, durable, cheap and easy to maintain, and versatile. And that’s something.
These were all passenger vans. There was nothing redeeming about the driving experience.
Well……… I guess its good you didn’t get a cargo version, or else we would never hear the end of it 😉
Imagine a G-van with zero windows behind the two front doors, no RH door mirror, and non-functioning backup lights.
Now, equip it with a 305 V8, three speed-column shift, and air conditioning (non-working of course). Don’t equip it with power steering, brakes, radio, or gauge package.
This van is so miserable to drive that I actually like it…in the same way that some people like to cut themselves.
It can haul a lot of donuts though.
Mmm… Donuts!
One of nature’s most perfect foods…
Sounds like my kinda ride. If I could pick one up for say $500 or $600 bucks. When I worked briefly for ServiceMaster in 85, we had 78 Dodge vans like that except they were slant sixes. I got a kick out of it. Wish I had one now. My automotive tastes are very simple.
I did not like the manual transmissions in the two cars that I owned with one. The first was a 4 speed in the 69 GTO. The GTO was a fun car otherwise. I thought that ordering the Skyhawk with the Japanese made 5 speed should be good, with the OHC 4. But it was not good at shifting either.
The car with the least performance was the 1950 Buick Special with Dynaflow. But it was a great old car and I did enjoy driving it.
My worst driving car is the 1955 Plymouth that is currently languishing in my garage. The 259 2bbl V8 has sufficient power but is mated to a barely synchronized 3 speed manual trans, vague steering courtesy of worm and roller steering gear and king pin suspension, Lockheed total contact drum brakes are twitchy and prone to fade. That is pretty much state of the art for mid century American cars, not pleasant to drive, but fun to drive amid the sea of chrome and aqua paint.
1989 Mitisubishi Mirage VIE X, bought it for my ex as a runaround she refused to put it in her name so it stayed it had the full JDM disaster inside power everything climate air con autotragic trans 1500cc engine with no power whatsoever and JDM suspension so it handled like a bag of shit but rode very comfortably.
I replaced the shocks to get a WOF but that didnt cure the handling so it got sold to a passing high school student, I saw it on and off for about four years after that it gained new dents at every sighting then it disappeared no doubt into a crusher.
1971 Fiat 850 Spider. Something was always going wrong with the car, even though it had extremely low miles. Rust ultimately put it out of its misery.
Easy to answer. The hand me down 1987 Ford Taurus LX I got from my sister.
It was a great car when our mom bought it in 94.
My sister had it for 2 years when she gave it to me. The car was awful. Something was always breaking. I only kept it 3 months before giving it away
Power stuff didn’t work right or at all. Door handles kept breaking and it would stall while driving for no apparent reason. Even at freeway speeds. You had to open the drivers door to roll up the passenger window pull in the drivers window to get it into the curved frame or it stuck out like a bat wing. The ford logo flew off going down the road and so did both passenger side turn signal covers.
I got this heap when she bought a 95 camaro I should have kept my Chevette. It was slow but reliable. GM built it long enough that mine was a good one (last year made 1987)
69 VW Beetle which replaced my ’63 Beetle that was crushed by a fat ass Chrysler Córdoba.
The ’69 was a POS and sucked me dry of every dime I had when I first went to college.
Till this day, have never considered a VW product when in the car market.
I’ve had a couple of rentals over the years that were pretty unbearable (a late ’90s Cavalier and a first-gen FWD Malibu), but the absolute worst was a ’93 Chevy G20 van that my employer had back in my telecom days. Loose steering, a sliding door that always took numerous slams to get the rear latch to catch, excessive rattling and a totally gutless 4.3 V6…..the same engine that in our Astros was a real screamer.
A VW Quantum diesel. At the time I bought it, I had a 30-mile (each way) commute, gas was US$4/US gallon, and I was thinking, “If present trends continue, it’ll be $7/gallon in a few years.”
The test drive gave me no illusions that the car would be refined, but I didn’t foresee that the drivetrain’s agricultural nature would become Chinese water torture. The cable-operated clutch was like a Stairmaster. At one point the clutch went out, and after the clutch job, the clutch became lighter, although not light on an absolute basis. So presumably the previous heaviness was a sign of impending clutch failure.
The seats were virtually flat, no contouring to speak of.
When I sold the Quantum, shale oil and the current oil price crash were a few years in the future. I wasn’t prescient about oil prices, i couldn’t stand the car any more!
From ’73 to ’77 I had a ’71 Fiat 128 which lived up to the “Fix it again, Tony” stereotype. But when it wasn’t in the shop, the actual driving experience was fun.
I had a ’75 Fiat 128 SL, and echo your comments. When the damn thing wasn’t broke down, the buzzy little 1.3 was actually fun to drive.
A silver Fiat 128 SL was my first car. I was working at Gateway Chevrolet on Milwaukee ave. in Chicago, and we brought it in on trade, and I fell in love at first drive, the dealership owner charged me a $200 pack on top the $50 trade so I got it for $250. Gosh it was fun to drive, when it was drivable. I learned how to fix lots of stuff from that car.
Chrysler PT Cruiser. One business trip, Chicago and LA, had a PT Cruiser in each place. Horrible ride, gutless, uninspired, and the worst drivers’ seat I’ve ever experienced. Was glad to turn in the first one…almost cried when I got the second!
Can’t, for the life of me, work out how they sold so many of them!
I once drove a friend’s PT Cruiser briefly, and subjectively it felt top-heavy. Ditto the rental Dodge Caliber I had for a day or two. My daily driver then was an Audi 4000 quattro, much lower and more stiffly sprung, so the contrast was pretty dramatic. I’d had other rentals that I didn’t care for, but the Caliber stood out even in that mediocre company. I once read an online review of the Caliber that said it was so bad that the then-forthcoming Alfa-Romeo-based Dodge Dart would have to be an improvement, and I could relate. The next time I rented a car (same company, same location) I said, “Not another Caliber if it can be helped.” Only car I’ve ever made such a request about.
I had 3 Peugeot 504’s in the ’90s, and they were also somewhat tall with some tendencies to roll. I don’t have any hard data handy as to how the 504 compared to the PT Cruiser and Caliber for height and roll stiffness. Of course the 504 had the expected Peugeot virtues–refinement and handling.
Hmm. I never imagined that someone would compare the PT Cruiser to the 504. It’s a bit like comparing Miller Lite with fine Champagne.
I admit the 504 can be annoying and has a few design flaws, like a radiator that sludges up too quickly and some weird electrical gremlins, but the driving experience is supreme.
I agree that they’re different. I never thought of the comparison until I made the earlier post, because all 3 vehicles are relatively tall and not real stiff in roll.
I may not have made myself clear–I thought my 504’s were great. I’m totally on board with the Miller Lite/champagne comparison.
My sister’s Chevrolet Citation. I can’t add any more to the bad things that have been said about the X-cars…
1976 Suburban 1 ton 4X4: The problem with this monster was the manual transmission, a four speed floor shifter. This was the most difficult shifter I have ever encountered. You really had to put some muscle with attempted shift. I always wondered if this was the infamous “rock crusher” from Muncie. Luckily the truck was not mine, it belonged to my employer at the time.
1972 AMC Gremlin I6 automatic: Worst seats my rear end ever met, no padding to speak of, like concrete park benches. Fortunately the car belonged to my sister in law.
No, it was not a “rock crusher”, it was top load truck transmission that had basically been around since the 30’s. Short and heavy it was not a speed shifting transmission by any stretch of the imagination. Driven a lot of them over the years, designed to be tough and reliable, I never had a problem shifting them even with worn out syncros just double clutch. I think the earliest ones had no syncros.
Loco, Thanks for the clarification. In those days I didn’t know about double declutching.
My 1984 Jeep Cherokee, my first new car. Great design, terrible execution.
It had the Chevrolet – sourced 2.8 V6, normally a great engine. But several thousand defective ones were shipped to AMC, and I got one. The cylinder bores had excess clearances or wore to quickly. This engine developed piston slap by 25 k miles, and by 60k miles was completely worn out. I rebuilt it. The cylinders needed an 80 thou bore to eliminate the wear. Usually 30 thou is enough.
Strangely enough, GM never put such defective 2.8’s in their own vehicles. Hmmmm……..
The Steyer-Puch torque converter was defective. I went through three of them. The first two cracked internally and pumped steel filings through the transmission requiring two expensive transmission rebuilds, at 25 k and 50k miles.
The Selec-Trac transfer case was defective. It worked great for 2 years, then burned up the viscous-clutch in the center diff, even though it was in 2wd 99.9% of the time. A rebuilt case was $1500, almost 30 years ago. Later, the case stopped shifting into 4wd, and even a second rebuild did not fix it.
Rounding this out was loads of minor failures, remove mirrors that never worked from day 1, tailgate wiring harness that broke internally, sagging door hinges, peeling chrome bumpers, and rocker panels that dissolved in winter.
This Jeep was great for the first 2 years. But the crushingly expensive failures made me absolutely livid. I could not afford to keep fixing it and became wary of driving it much. I bought a succession of interesting cheap used vehicles for daily use all of which were more reliable than that pile.
I still have it. Frankly its the worst thing AMC ever did did.
Both were cars owned by my mom..
The first (and her first car since she got her driver’s license at age 37) was a 1978 Saab 99 5 door with the power-sucking automatic. Sure, it was comfortable and handled wet, sloppy weather rather well. Unfortunately, the automatic transmission was a real buzzkill in this car. (Mom hated manuals-as she always said:”If God wanted me to drive a stick, he would’ve provided me with a third leg…”). Totally gutless car-0 to 60 in an hour–top speed not quite 90 (downhill with a tailwind). It died afer getting drowned in a gullywasher of a rainstorm in Houston in 1984.
The other Mom-bomb was a 1987 Ford Taurus with a 2.5 litre 4 cylinder/AT power(less) train. No power whatsoever. Oozingly slow. Her first words of advice driving it? Turn off the a/c when you hit the onramp. Why Ford allowed such a crappy, Ford_tractor-division-reject engine to “power’ something as otherwise advanced for the day absolutely escapes me.
I own a MT5. The manual makes a slight difference. I easily outrun Duke powered a bodies.
I have driven many vehicles and generally enjoyed something about every one I drove, with the exception of the stupidly huge Lincoln Navigator. It was akin to driving the Exxon Valdez.
I hated it.
Rental: 1979? Mercury Zephyr. Beige with beige interior. Slow, odd handling, and the right front brake pulled in light breaking, and locked up hard in heavy braking. I beat the crap out of it for the week I had it, and I put over a thousand miles on it.
Friend’s car: 1985? Pontiac T-1000 four door. A friend bought it new, unaware that it was a rebadged Chevette, it was his first car.. Slow, weird shifting tranny, it was just boring as hell. On top of it all, it was a metallic brown.
Car I owned: There’s only one vehicle I every regretted buying, that didn’t actually have mechanical problems. It was my 1999 Grand Cheokee Laredo. Drove fine and had zero problems for the 18 months I had it. The seat killed me. a half hour in it and I was hurting, an hour I was dying. The steering wheel, on several I sat in, was cocked to the right. I finally traded it in on a 2000 GMC Sierra 4×4 Ext cab truck. Unlike the Jeep, the seats in it were great, to the point I fell asleep in it at stoplights a couple of times.
Our 2002 Sienna Minivan, plus similar era Corollas/Camrys. Honourable mention to the 3rd generation Cavalier.
Sure they worked, but completely devoid of character, style, or interest, and the interiors were just depressing places to be.
2016 Toyota Yaris Hybrid. No power, annoying transmission and very little range. For 2016 that car is just such a disappointment.
I have driven a lot of cars and thus a lot cars that were worse, but in 2016 you expect more than this.
I’d have to say the 1978 or ’79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Aeroback my grandparents once owned. Whether it had the Olds 260 or Chevrolet 305 I don’t know — I recently asked my father, but he didn’t remember either — but it was completely gutless and also quite thirsty. Any sort of grade would also make the engine ping like crazy. The steering was completely numb, the brakes wildly overboosted, cornering grip meager, and the rear tires eager to spin on any kind of slippery surface. It had black vinyl upholstery on which I remember burning myself more than once and which was no fun in cold weather either. Also, while the air conditioning was powerful, there was something about the smell created by the HVAC system (which I can still remember, though I prefer not to) that would alternately make me carsick or give me nosebleeds. (I hated riding in that car when I was a kid, since in the Midwest it is either stupidly hot or painfully cold about 90 percent of the time.)
Some of these problems may have been specific to that particular car, but it was one of those cars that make you struggle to recall any redeeming feature at all.
Diesel-powered Peugeot 504 pickup. It looked good but what a slow, noisy, uncomfortable lemon. But then that was in the military so I guess I would have actively disliked driving any car over there (+ maybe I won’t have to apologize to Paul right away for dissing a Pug :-))
It had to be the 5th generation Malibu that a coworker and I had rented to drive from BWI (Baltimore Washington International Airport) to Atlanta for a Pro/E conference in 2002, so I’ll assume it was a 2002 or 2003 MY. This car was awful. It handled like an out of control roller skate. On the interstates in the south, where the speed limit increased to like 70 or 75, the fact it was seriously underpowered did not do it any favors. The steering was very touchy. Now mind you, I was used to rear wheel drive for many years, however at the time, I was driving the only FWD car I have ever purchased for myself, a ’97 Grand Prix GTP I had bought 2 years prior. At least that car didn’t have many the bad characteristics of a FWD car. This Malibu had ALL of them.
I just remembered a car – or cars – I absolutely HATED to drive:
EVERY SINGLE TEMPO/TOPAZ from the Hertz counter at the Grand Rapids airport in the early-mid 90s every time I went there on business!
Those things were simply awful excuses for cars, and the one time I got a Lincoln Continental, I took a nice, long drive after dinner in the evening! What a difference!
I have to agree about the sheer awfulness of the Tempo-Topaz. I got them frequently from Hertz, too. They were so awful that on one trip, when I was afflicted with one, had an hour to kill and was near Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, I “just happened” to get a flat tire, and “limped” into Hertz in the early afternoon, which was when they tended to have the least cars on the lot. Fortunately the next one in line was a Ford Taurus, which was an enormously better car.
Maserati Bora .Thirty six miles of hell.
John, Please give more details about the Bora. I bought one seven years ago and sold it last year. I never got to drive it so maybe you can fill me in on what it was like.
Heavy cllutch made my lleg quiverrr the gearbox was slow too.heat though the firewall in traffic noisy even if it was abloody marvellous sound it got wearing in town.seeing out of the device was not nice ona wet day in NW England.I took it out to its owner as infrequently as i could .The big drawback was it also seemed unhappy on any thing rougher than cheap toilet paper.looked fabulous of course but driving the works hack vx4 90 back was more fun.funny my workmate never fancied the Mazz.
Reading between the lines of old road tests I was not alone in my jaded view.I remember now why we saw it so often …the Citroen hydraulic system.
1998 Plymouth Breeze. Cramped, cheap, nasty, slow, and noisy.
To specifically answer the question, the car I hated driving the most was surprisingly a non-Mach I 1973 Mustang Fastback equipped with the Q-code 351 CJ engine, 4-speed transmission, manual steering, & manual brakes.
I guess most of it was due to the high-expectations I had when looking at the beast. It was dark green with black interior and was a pretty machine to look at. I’m about 5′ 11″ tall but felt like I lost a foot when I got behind the wheel. The interior was dark, dreary, devoid of any gauge option, and the driving position was low and uncomfortable.
The car was basically a rolling blind spot and just plain difficult to drive. Too bad, because it was easy on the eyes.
1981 Chevette. New at the time, with an automatic transmission. Could not get out of it’s own way.
A friend`s 1971 Pinto. I would rather walk than drive that miserable POS.
Any or all of the Ford Fairmonts that I have ever driven. All owned by my employer, w/ flat as a board vinyl seats, and the a/t that would downshift eventually, but provide no additional power. I have driven a lot of cars and trucks and thank God I never owned one of these.
It was a company vehicle, a 1986 Ford Aerostar with a 4 cylinder and 4 speed stick. Simply horrid and slow and uncomfortable. The Astro we replaced it was even more uncomfortable but at least it had a 6 and an auto!
Wow, a 4 cylinder 4 speed aerostar would be extremely rare, even when new. I don’t think I ever saw a 2.8 stick powered one either. I did see 5 identical Voyager mini van cargo versions when those were first introduced with the 2.2 and stick. All white, windowless. Only ones I’ve seen to this day.
I’ll give you two:
1) 2004 Cadaver, er, Cavalier coupe – a Fall 2004 rental while my ’97 Blazer was undergoing collision repair. Sadism and masochism in one anti-comfortable ride; the thing felt like I was being punished every mile I drove it. I felt ten years older after putting 60 miles on it, took it back to Enterprise where they gave me a Kia Amanti. That thing had its own reasons for being a total POS but at least it was a tolerable ride.
2) 1968 Mustang convertible, which my dad bought for my mom in 1973. I could get out and push faster than that turd could go. May have had a top speed of 70? 75?
I’ll have to qualify that my 1972 Vega is the worst car I ever owned…but it was a BALL to drive. When it was driveable, that is.
1980 Ford Fairmont. It was my grandfather’s car and the first car he ever bought with poer steering and brakes. It was two tone burnt orange and maroon. Automatic with the 2.3 liter engine. It was the slowest car I’d ever driven. When crossing on the Grand Island bridge over the Niagara River you would have to give so much throttle so as to cause the transmission to downshift into second. Otherwise in third gear it would actually lose speed.
The transmission went after 5 years and the car began to rust from Buffalo salt. My sister used it as a trade for a used Plymouth Horizon….The dealer gave her $350.00
Terrible cars I’ve driven:
’74 base AMC Hornet sedan automatic. The rudest, crudest, ugliest dude I’ve ever driven.
’74 Mustang II 4 cyl auto, air. Veeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy Slooooooooooowwwwww. Impatient elderly people actually honked at me before whipping around me on hills!
Gen I Nissan Altima sedan automatic. Much more modern than the other two bad cars, and more competent. But, there was absolutely not a damn thing to recommend it. Just one seriously depressing driving experience. I got stuck with a Daewoo rental car once, and don’t remember it being as depressing as the Altima.
Absolutely recognise the sentiment: like you, I want to drive any car I can get my hands on, no matter how bad it can be. Even driving the decrepit Mitsubishi Carisma I once got as a loaner was fun, because I’d never driven one before. No need to drive one again though.
The one car I really didn’t like driving was actually not a bad car in its own right: a Citroën C4 Grand Picasso I had to drive for my student job. It’s got a very nice, comfortable ride, perfect for long-distance driving. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very suitable for city scooting at all, which was exactly what I had to do. Vague, very light steering with no feedback, the sloppy standard PSA gearbox, lots of body roll, and the large front was impossible to see from behind the wheel, a great recipe for narrow gaps, roundabouts (shudder) and stupid little poles planted everywhere to keep you from parking on the pavement. So terrible, I was happy to get into my barely-running old Jetta by the end of the day.
I work in IT for a university, and we’ve had a couple of ’90’s Dodge Ram vans that I pretty much avoided driving whenever possible. Start off with a full-size van, a vehicle that Dodge pretty much stopped updating during the Carter administration, and then add a decade or 2 of differed maintenance and abuse at the hands of a bunch of student employees who had a bad habit of smacking it into the corner of our building, where there was a narrow driveway and a 90-degree turn. Bake in the sun for a few years.
The first one was known as “The Widowmaker”
Ah. This would be the 1984 Ford Tempo GL (red, inside and out) that was bequeathed to me after having done seven years’ duty as our family car. It wasn’t just the nauseating, faded-red of the interior. It wasn’t the AM radio with two front dashboard-mounted speakers that could barely pick up a signal. It wasn’t the lack of horsepower out of its Ford Falcon-derived 2/3’s of a 6 cylinder.
No. What really put me off about this car (and the reason I sold it for something else within months of being given it) was the way it would just stall. At. Stoplights. And stop signs. The Tempo (granted, being an inanimate object) didn’t care if I had a set amount of time between my high school courses at Flint Central and Flint Northern. Nope. Didn’t care if I was running a few minutes behind on my way to my Co-Op job at AC Rochester after class.
A lot of stalling. And when I would put the car into neutral when stopped just to lightly rev it to keep it from stalling, it would reward my problem-solving efforts by (often, and loudly) chirping the skinny front tires. You have never heard loud guffaws through two panes of closed door windows the way I have, when this would happen.
I thought the Tempo was a great-looking sedan when it came out. The whole “jellybean” look spoke to me. It’s a shame it was such a turd.
1983 Mercury Marquis
I’m late to the party again but here goes…Hate might be a bit strong of a word, but for many of the same reasons as mentioned for the hate of the 62 Chev I would say also applies to a 66 Chev Impala that i owned.
Even with its 283 the performance of the impala was anemic.
Sloppy feeling steering , seasick floating coil suspension, and the infamous Powerslide combined to make a car I couldn’t wait to get rid of
1973 New Vega GT…white w/black accents – 4 spd with a miserable 2.55 rear axle !! The damn thing wouldn’t climb a hill worth a darn – two weks into the ownership I came to the garage one morning and was greeted by anti freeze all over the floor – opened the hood and the stuff was actually bleeding thru the side of the block – dealer told me to give it some miles to ‘break in’ and it would be OK ! Right ! Had a new motor at 6000 miles. With my wife and child in the car it would not go over any of our mountain passes in Washington in 4th gear – always third or second, holding up traffic…took me over a year to sell that car and finally had to practically give it away ! One week later, passed it parked on the shoulder of I-5 on the way to Seattle in my Toyota !! (It sure LOOKED good, though !) A classic turd in a punch bowl !! RIP !
Forgot about this one maybe my mind just tried to blank the memory of but I hired a 2005 Nissan Tiida to get home from a job the car was new and quite frankly I’m amazed anyone bought one it was uncomfortable in the extreme gutless with poor handling thrown in for good measure, I drove it from Taupo to Hastings Hwy 5 one of my favourites and a great drivers road, though it was mine for 24 hours I handed it back to Avis after four hours I was home and had my 93 Amon tuned Corona to drive so the awful Nissan went back immediately.
Nissan Micra hire car. Automatic. I rented it as my father was close to death and we needed to get up the coast to his place in a hurry. ( He recovered well, thankfully). It was sluggish, noisy and was nasty cheap inside. Everything about it seemed contrived to suck any joy out of your life.
My sister thought it was a diesel. It wasn’t.
I had rented a Holden Spark a few weeks earlier, which felt cheap too, but at least felt like there had been a real attempt to give it entertainment value.
I recently had a Nissan Versa as a rental (2015). What a loathesome little car. I wanted to kick the doors in.
Its awful engine, disgusting CVT, cheap-beyond-cheap materials, and overall grossness of the whole thing reminded me of the first-generation Neons from the Nineties – and they were laughable crap back then! (Yes, I know the Neons had a 3-speed Torqueflite, but similar logic applies: autoboxes with three cogs should have left the Western world by 1988, and CVT’s have NO place in the modern world today.)
I’d like to meet someone who changed their own actual money for a Versa – so I could smack them.
Ugh.
A Nissan Altima coupe I had as a rental in 2011. Horribly thrashy, nasty engine that made me think I was driving a Vega, combined with that godawful CVT that made the engine moan louder without any increase in speed. It was ugly and uncomfortable, too. The Altima was so bad I actually wished I had taken the Camry that Hertz offered me originally.
Too many to list. Mostly rentals in the past; I never actively hated any car I’ve ever owned aside from the 1987 Audi 5000/100 that I let the bank repossess because seemingly every day, something would fail, and after it started grenading its third transmission.
Worst rental: 2014-ish Suzuki Alto, the made-in-India 3cyl pain box. I asked for a car with a manual at the Ben-Gurion TLV Avis desk and this was all they had. “How bad could it be?” As I discovered on my daily 100km commute between TLV and Kiryat Gat, pretty damned bad. Noisy, twitchy, crap seating, vague stirring-a-bowl-of-cold-honey shift, horribly-cheap interior. On the coast I didn’t need AC but in the desert, turning on the AC meant my top speed went from MAYBE 120kmh to barely over 100. At least it worked pretty well.
The Renault Fluence turbodiesel I got the following week was 500% better, even with an automatic. It took the Judean mountain roads with aplomb but had the comfort you’d expect from a French car on my drive to and from the Dead Sea. My inner 8yr-old boy called it the “Flatulence”.
BTW car rental quotes from Avis Israel are purely fictional. There are many fees and taxes tacked on that add up to about double the quoted rate. Grrr.
Our HS Driver’s Ed had two cars, a ’54 Studebaker Starlite coupe and a ’55 Pontiac 6-cyl. 4-door. The pretty Studie was automatic, the Pontiac 3-speed. The rule was you had to learn stick shift first, then you could drive the automatic. Well, I’d driven my dad’s ’46 Ford and grandpa’s ’53 Chevy pickup illegally, but that Pontiac’s shifter was like shifting logs in a woodpile, and I could NOT let the clutch out without either stalling the engine or going into spastic lurches that made everyone but me and the instructor laugh like crazy. Needless to say, I never got to drive the sexy Starlite, and that poor Pontiac got the blame.
I’ve driven a lot of lousy cars and enjoyed them, even a couple that kept trying to kill me, but the last one I truly hated was my recently-deceased Mom’s new Corolla. Well, it was the Chevy version, whose name escapes me now, but having driven several of the older RWD Corollas I was appalled at how vague and wandery the steering was. Her previous car had been a Geo Metro (née Suzuki) that I’d loved to drive, but this was more than just a chore – it was downright scary. I took just one turn driving family around and let someone else do it after that.
Autumn 2001 I had an Opel Corsa mk3 rental in Italy. Fine but dull, with adjustable steering wheel and height adjustable driving seat. In early 2002, I had an Opel Corsa 2 rental in Portugal. No matter what I did to the seat (forward and back, upright or not – no height adjustment, and the wheel was fixed), I had the worst back pain ever after 15 minutes.
Second -the Toyota Echo I was given at San Francisco airport – slow, cramped, no luggage space and franky scary on the interstate; swapped thankfully the next morning for a Focus, which was a different league altogether. Avis were not surprised when I said ‘can I change this?’
In 1989 I went off to college with a 1974 mustang II. 2.8 liter automatic vinyl roof, no AC. It only had 65,000 miles. That rolling trash heap got 11mpg, wouldn’t get out of its own way, and it handled like a wet sponge. It sprayed oil from the main bearing. In quick succession it blew a power steering hose, blew the heater core one morning ona cold startup. I by passed it so I could keep driving. That winter in the SF Bay Area was record cold so I drove it with a sleeping bag on like a huge driving caterpillar. Something in the emission system failed causing a huge vacuum leak, so I bodged a repair by gluing a nickel over a little piston in the vacuum system to keep it from popping. It worked. I rebuilt the Webber carb and that bumped the mileage up to 13. This thing had a 2.8 liter remember?!?! Late one night something in the ignition went wonky and somehow caused the ignition voltage to increase significantly making the engine rev out of control. That’s what the sears mechanic said anyway, I never did understand that one. Anyway, going down a steep hill with the gas pedal floored I swear it would accelerate faster in neutral than drive. After a few months I dumped it on some poor sap (now I feel bad) and I saw it dead on the side of interstate 880 two weeks later.