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Its a tie - 1986 Ford Escort and 1989 Ford Taurus. I kept the Taurus nine years vs. only three for the Escort, so I guess it was the worst. Needless to say I've never owned another Ford. Most reliable is my current car - 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback GTS. Bought it new in 2011 and after four years I haven't had it in for a warranty repair yet. Nothing but oil changes so far. I've never owned a car so trouble free.
1979 MG Midget. I pushed it everywhere. I became an expert at whipping across 4 lanes of traffic to the shoulder when the tach would suddenly drop to zero. My husband called it "Lucas, Prince of Darkness".
By far the worst car I ever owned was a 1974 VW Dasher. It failed on the way home from the dealer. That was a harbinger of things to come.
It had those despised seat belt interlocks that prevented starting the engine unless the seat belts were fastened. But fastening the seatbelt didn't mean you would actually get it to start.
Its emission control system (this was a pre-catalyic converter car) caused it to frequently stall or sputter. In cold weather it would take multiple attempts to start.
In fact it was so bad I actually kept a bicycle in the back so I could get home when the car wouldn't start.
Its terrible A/C system took a half hour to cool in Phoenix traffic and caused the engine to lurch and shudder every time is was turned on.
Its red paint faded and rubbed off from day 1.
It died several times and I had to drag it home behind my trusty 6 year old Plymouth. Fortunately, the Dasher had a tow hook beneath the front end. How thoughtful!
After owning it for 2 years it finally blew a head gasket. Furthermore, after stranding my wife twice downtown on her way home at night from her nursing job, she refused to drive it.
So I sold it to a Realtor. He was all over himself talking about "Quality German Engineering"
It was a good car until it hit 120,000 miles then it became an electrical nightmare. It was one of my first cars I purchased on my own- a 2001 VW Beetle. It started with I would be going down the highway, 70 MPH and all of the sudden the engine would just quit and the check engine light would pop on. I would pull over, have to wait about 20 minutes, then the car would start again. After that, the oil change light would pop on like 500 miles after an oil change then stay on. Then the car started to stall out when accelerating. One thing after another- all electrical.
1987 Toyota Tercel..... blew the head gasket, carburetor needed replacement about every 15K miles.... had to turn off the AC when going up a hill if I wanted to make it to the top..... lots more that I have put out of my memory over the years....
I had 2 both bought new. A 1973 Chevy Vega GT, head gaskets failed every 16k miles. Other problem car was a 1980 Ford Escort, if the temperature dropped below 30 degrees, the car would start but could not be moved (dealer could not fix, independent mechanic finally solved problem).
My 1974 Ford Mustang II Ghia had a 12,000 mile warrantee and at 12,042 miles, the clutch went right through the floorboard and cowling. Either it was a crappy car or Ford has excellent quality control and timing. Last American car I owned.
I had a lot of trouble with a 74 Mustang II as well, with the solid-lifter 2.8L V-6. But it was badly abused when I bought it for a grand and knew what a ROPOS it was. (ragged-out piece...) And it was so easy to fix, which I did a lot.
A 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z, however, is the winner/loser. 22 months of ownership, 22 dealer shop receipts, most of them the first year. The first inclination was the drive home from the dealer; the oil pressure sensor failed and the rear hatch would not close completely. Awesome QC, Chrysler! Throwout bearing left the building at 3000 miles. I exercised that warranty a lot.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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1996 Toyota 4Runner. Had to replace the front brake pads and rotors every 10,000 miles. Body parts fell off, power antenna broke, transmission went out
($2,800) at 90k miles. head gasket blew at 99,000. Fortunately that one was covered by a "secret recall" but it took some work to find out about it.
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