Best and worst vehicle you've ever owned? (Dodge, Toyota, 1985)

[Zenstyle]

Worst by far:
1971 Dodge Dart “Swinger” with the notorious 318 Mopar engine.
Second worst:
1977 Chevrolet Chevette. The driver floor area was eventually eaten away by rust, so only the floor mat kept me from Fred Flintstone-ing it. In 1984 the water pump seized; I had it towed away and bought a new Miyata bicycle in its place.
Best car BY FAR:
Our current Honda Fit!

[J Baustian]

Worst? I don't really have one. I had a couple that I only owned for a month or two, so I can't really say whether they were terrible or not.

Best: 2003 Golf TDI, purchased new and I'm still putting 1000-1200 miles a week on it. I like it so much that I bought two more '03 TDIs, another Golf and a Jetta wagon. I probably shouldn't buy any more, but if the right one came along.....

[bobspez]

Worst - Ford Falcon
Best - Toyota Camry

[WyoNewk]

I'm going to stick with NEW vehicles that I drove 25,000+ miles. That gives me enough usage to really know what's been happening. I've owned several dozen new cars and trucks over the past 55 years that would meet the mileage. Some kinda sucked, others didn't.

The winner is a 2015 Toyota Prius that I still own. I've had it a little over 5 years and driven it 130K miles plus. So far I've not had anything go bad on it except a headlight. That just went bad a couple months ago. I've had non-mechanic Toyota people look at it two or three times. They've "fixed" it each time, quickly, but it hasn't stayed fixed. It's probably just a bad headlight but I don't know. Other than that, it's been a terrifically good car.

The loser is a 2000 Ford F250 diesel. I drove it for 15 years and 151K miles. I really liked it, but it was perhaps the least dependable vehicle I've ever owned. It got really bad the last three years when I was driving it 30-35K miles/year. Just repairs on it those three years were ~$10K per year. It wasn't heavily used. It just wasn't a very good vehicle. It started breaking down the first year I had it and continued for 15 years.

[StealthRabbit]

.Best: 2003 Golf TDI, ... I probably shouldn't buy any more, but if the right one came along.....

I have 39 VW diesels, so you can really never have too many... All were very good deals, so be careful! Several were free.


Worst.. Brand spanking new GMC 4x4 1974. Always was a lemon. Had for 20 yrs, <30,000 miles.

Fiat 124 had plenty of issues

Mixed love...
Opel GT wagon,. Very very nice cold weather MTN car. Very painful if you needed a $0.35 part.
VW camper van ... Great fun, great grief
Kenworth... Nice when running
Mack, running far more often, not as comfortable to drive.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Taffee72

Owned 4 cars in my life. 3 new and 1 used.

Best to worst:
1. Honda Civic - on year 9, reliable but not running the greatest now
2. Pontiac Grand Am - owned over 10 years, excellent for first 8 years then everything started falling apart
3. Ford Escort - bought very used, good for 2 years for short trips
4. Mini Cooper - adorable looking but total nightmare - constant issues, lasted less than 5 years.

My Grand Am started falling apart at 50,000 miles.

[Ron61]

Best: any one of several Honda’s

Worst: tie between a Chevy Eurosport and an AMC Gremlin. Yes....I’ve owned some dogs.

[Girl]

Worst: 1994 Hyundai Elantra. A complete lemon that I got rid of after 3 years. That car had me swearing I'd never own another Hyundai.

Best: 2005 Hyundai Elantra. Bought it under duress because it was the cheapest thing I could afford at the time and I'm still driving that car today (I'm up to 192K miles in it). I love my car. I've been in the market for a new one for the past 6 months and I just can't pull the trigger because I love my car.

[HJ99]

I have owned lot cars over the decades. Most usually high mile cheapies so gotta give them some latitude.


But the one car I bought brand new was a 77 VW Rabbit with an automatic no less, not sure how I got talked into an automatic in a VW. It was fun to drive since power to weight good. But parts were expensive. Engine only lasts like 120k miles with regular oil changes. The automatic never gave any trouble, BUT the automatic Rabbits of that era had starter on back of engine wedged right up under exhaust manifold and downpipe. It went through starters like crazy and they were not cheap. Also way up there for being most painful to replace starter. Now found out later the manual Rabbits had starter on front, easy peasy to change starter and usually original starter lasted life of car. It stayed cool, unlike starter on automatic constantly being baked with exhaust heat.



I am calling the VW worst car, mostly cause I resented the miserable cost-benefit ratio. For new car it required constant messing with.



Now my favorite car was a 1976 Volvo 245 wagon. I gave $200 for it with 200k miles on OD and drove it cross country multiple times. Manual transmission (with the weird electric overdrive). It was bare bones, no air conditioning, etc. Had power steering. Never saw a Volvo 240 series sold in USA with manual steering though repair manual showed it available. This car was a rusty old thing, but kept on chugging, minimal repairs, brake pads, shocks, that sort thing. Oh timing belt broke going down road. Non interference engine so no damage. Special ordering new timing belt overnight most painful part of the process. Luckily back then cops didnt tow it to impound immediately, gave you couple days if it wasnt in way. Took 15 minutes on side of road to replace it. Started up and drove home. My kind of car. Oh and after I moved to area with lot rougher back roads, the rust gave way and whole body started flexing in middle. Thats what retired it. Well that and my wife at time ran over something late night in middle of hiway. Tore hole in oil pan and lost all oil... Had it towed home, but tow truck wouldnt bring it up steep access road. In morning I went and looked at it, amazingly engine would turn by hand. So put some epoxy putty on the hole and put oil in it. Started right up and drove up steep access road like nothing happened. But that was last journey under its own power, the body rust just too much. Tough, tough old car though. I have owned other Volvo 240 and 140 and even one 120 series, but none like that 76 245. I would loved to have a 120 series in good shape but those were rare by time I discovered Volvos. And they were 1950s/1960s so pretty rust prone. That OHV four cylinder they used was bulletproof though. I put one out of a 140 into a small pickup. Only weakness, they had soft factory cams, so if high mile and no power, usually needs new cam.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Best: 2018 Tesla Model 3
Worst: 2000 Toyota Corolla (engine crapped at 90k miles)