Cars you regret buying

[tomservo92]

1981 Buick Regal. The carb was crap, the V6 leaked oil and the exhaust system literally fell off.

Sponsored

 

[IPOGT]

I had a love/hate relationship with both my 2001 WS6 Trans Am and my 1987 IROC 5.7 Camaro. Loved the drivetrain, hated all the issues occurring one after another. Stuck headlights, suddenly deciding it doesn’t want to start or recognize the smart key, A/C issues, and interior quality issues.

 

[Zathras]

1991 Ford Thunderbird, my first new car. In many ways it was a nice car (sleek, rode well, had IRS, optional 5.0 V8) but I had tons of quality problems that really disappointed me. Paint peeling, air conditioner failed every 6 mos., many rattles and squeaks from the dash and door panels, generally cheap build, transmission went lurchy, etc. The quality issues on that car put me off Fords for 20 years.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Holy crap, guys! I am literally sitting here with tears streaming down my face. This is the funniest thread that I have ever read. I mean, just leaving your car stuck in the mud and walking away from it!? Bwaaaahahahahah!!!!

Don't

Stop

Don't Stop

 

[Zelek]

1997 Firebird Formula. Dad bought it for me when I was 17 years old as a salvage title. This thing had cooling issues non stop and would have brown sludge come out of the overflow tank like it was barfing up crap. Come to find out later from a mechanic that the block had a crack in it probably from the accident it was in. I got some good years out of it but my 2002 Camaro SS 35th anniversary was a LOT more reliable than that car was.

Looking back at it I had a choice between the Firebird and a 1990 Lexus LS 400 that just needed a new A/C. I should have kept the Lexus... Stupid me as a kid.

 

[luca1290]

Looking back at it I had a choice between the Firebird and a 1990 Lexus LS 400 that just needed a new A/C. I should have kept the Lexus... Stupid me as a kid.

You was not stupid. You made the right decision. I guess girls were more attracted to the Firebird than the pensioner-looking Lexus.
It may have been more reliable but it's ugly. Nobody that is not pension age and lost all willingness to live should be allowed anywhere near that Lexus.

 

[Call_Me_Bruce]

I bought a 2014 Chevy Cruze with the 2.0 turbo diesel new in Feb of 2015. I traded it Oct of 2017. The diesel models were pretty much top of the line trim models. It had all the bells and whistles. Chevy had the right idea with the car, but the emission control systems were problematic from day 1.

The 2.0 was designed by VM Motori in Italy, and was built in GM's plant in Germany. The transmission was a 6 speed Aisin (best part of the car) and the car was assembled in Ohio, based off of engineering work done in Korea.

The 2.0 was powerful and the car got 50ish MPG on the highway. It was smooth and quiet and should have been the perfect commuter car. But, the emission system was a debacle. I was in the the dealer every 6k-8k miles to get Nox & o2 sensors replaced, EGR stuff etc. Driving the car in heavy Washington, DC-Baltimore rush hour traffic did not do the regeneration cycles any good for the particulate filter. Whenever it went in for repair, it was essentially troubleshot remotely by GM. The dealer was responsive and tried to make it right. There were plenty of delete kits available for it, but I did not want to mess with that.

When the emissions warranty was coming to an end I traded it for a Toyota Avalon. I wanted a Camry but at the time, I actually got the Avalon cheaper than I could get a V6 equipped Camry. The new generation of Camry had just hit the dealers in Sept of 2017 and they weren't really dealing on them and were not dealing at all on the V6 equipped models. They were making crazy deals to get the Avalons off the lot. i got a nicely equipped Avalon for $28K OTD. The Avalon had 1 warranty claim for a piece of interior trim material that was split. 114k miles later nothing but gas, oil changes, one set of brakes, one set of tires, and one transmission fluid change. I have all the parts for a spark plug change, that's a good weekend project when the weather gets better.

 

[Earlsays]

I was run over by a car when I was 2 years old. When I turned 18, I got some money...it ultimately destroyed my relationship between myself, and my parents, which is a shame...but at the time, 18 year old me was told "you can buy a used car with some of this money." Every penny of that money was gone inside of six months.

Anyway, bought a 1996 Thunderbird with a 4.6 - nice car, sunroof, V8, nice cloth upholstery, 8,500 bucks because the interior lights and I think a few other things on that circuit didn't work. Popped a fuse in the next day, they worked for a few hours. Figured out about a week later, that the under hood lamp wires were touching, blowing that fuse. Unplugged it, that problem went away. Then it began consuming coolant. My dad poured "Barr's Stop Leak" in the radiator. Big mistake, I didn't understand. About a month later, the car blew a heater core. Repaired that, and it went through four more cores inside of six months. I scraped it against a wall, going around the corner behind my first apartment...I lightly rear ended somebody on my way to the body shop to fix that quarter panel and LH door. Got the car back, repaired, but now it needed a LH corner lamp, and it had a slight slight dent in the corner of the hood. Bent the hood back myself, put a hood bra on it to hide the damage, and installed a new corner lamp. Then it started running poorly, with a CEL. Years later, I would have another bird and figure out that the car simply needed an oxygen sensor or two. I was 19, I wasn't very knowledgeable, had no life experience, nor any help from anyone on....anything...so I traded it in.

I bought a brand new 2001 Ford Focus "Street Edition" 40 year old me feels that it was a cool car...I was depressed about trading my bird for that - so I traded in a pain in the ass for a car I instantly regretted. Slow, boring, sucked...or so I thought at 19-22 years old.

I traded that for a 2004 V6 5 speed mustang...copetition orange, pony pkg. FIFTEEN PERCENT INTEREST....let that one go after a couple years as a repo....

So I regretted the first three cars in one way or another. Wound up with a 95 V8 bird, and then a heavily modded 96 V8 bird....I learned a ton working on those cars, and at the time, partially thanks to cash for clunkers, parts were readily available in the JY for cheap cheap cheap.

By 2013, I got my life together, bought a brand new 2013 Mustang with a V6, manual, no options. This car sucked, was not fun, traded it for a coyote 2013 F150 XLT after 8 months. No regrets on the F150, but I realized that I am not a truck person. Still, should have kept my truck, for so many reasons.

Since then...a 14 Mustang GT, a 15 Mustang GT, an 18 Escape, a 19 Escape, and finally, a 21 GT....don't regret any of those, so either they are better cars, or I have grown as a person, or both.

 

[Marketplaza]

I was at work one day and my wife called and said she'd found a cool car for sale and I should check it out. Note that this was young and stupid and had too much free money and no common financial sense.

It was a (year?) Dodge Stealth base model, which did look cool but probably didn't put 200 HP to the wheels. It was also a manual, and I was driving in Chicago traffic constantly with a really stiff clutch. That thing was slow, so uncomfortable to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and didn't handle worth a crap.

Kept it for a year and then traded it away. As I write this, I can't remember what I traded for, funny enough. But whatever it was, I was a lot happier.

I always wanted one of those or the Mitsubishi one. They looked really cool when they first came out. Plus back then not many cars that much hp. I didn’t know they were pieces of junk. Now I know, glad I never got one.
I figured you could mod them really good like how the Supra was so easy to mod.

 

[Hack]

I somewhat regret buying my first car, a 1976 Cutlass. I should have been more picky and waited for a better car. This was in 1983 or 84. I should have bought something older - like a late 60s Mustang or Mopar. I'm sure it would have been more difficult to live with, but it would have been a lot more fun. Even a few years older Cutty would have been preferable.

The Cutlass worked fine, but was really boring. Couldn't even spin the tires. At 16 that was a high priority. At the time I also didn't realize that any car with an automatic transmission was a poor choice for me.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

2006 F-250, bought in 2012 with 130k miles. been through 2 turbos, block, HP oil system 3 times now, 2 sets of heads. about 60k in repairs on a 20k truck

 

[MAGS1]

I was at work one day and my wife called and said she'd found a cool car for sale and I should check it out. Note that this was young and stupid and had too much free money and no common financial sense.

It was a (year?) Dodge Stealth base model, which did look cool but probably didn't put 200 HP to the wheels. It was also a manual, and I was driving in Chicago traffic constantly with a really stiff clutch. That thing was slow, so uncomfortable to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and didn't handle worth a crap.

Kept it for a year and then traded it away. As I write this, I can't remember what I traded for, funny enough. But whatever it was, I was a lot happier.

Loved the Dodge Stealth as a kid! Looked so cool, but yeah they were a little short on hp.

 

[Balr14]

I always wanted one of those or the Mitsubishi one. They looked really cool when they first came out. Plus back then not many cars that much hp. I didn’t know they were pieces of junk. Now I know, glad I never got one.
I figured you could mod them really good like how the Supra was so easy to mod.

I had the Mitsubishi 3000GT/VR4. The front air dam and rear wing malfunctioned all the time. The wheels leaked air. But the rest of the car was pretty solid. An adjustable boost control, higher capacity injectors and an ECU tune gave big power gains. We added a stutter box and ran 11s. The transfer case was kind of weak and had to be replaced. But, the local Mitsubishi dealer covered it under warranty... twice. They did most of the mods, too. Oh, and the clutch had to be replaced with a real expensive ($1200) RPS Turbo clutch.

The NA engine or any engine with the 5 speed was junk. I believe there was something about the crank walking in the bushings. The turbo 6 speed did not have these problems. But, modding it was still risky.

 

[Stangomydreams]

1st Gen fiero with iron duke 4. loved The mid engine handling. The rest was crap. My wife had a topaz she bought before we were together-gutless and always out of tune. We both learned our lesson and bought a 1990 accord as daily for 24 years. That was build quality.

 

[UncleSams_SVT]

Chevy 2008 HHR SS, had nothing but problems with that car and traded it in after 1-year on a 2009 G8 GT.

Sponsored