What was your worst car ownership experience?

[The Invisible One]

Now that we all have shiny new TourX cars in our stables and hopefully have had only minor problems with them. What was your worst car ownership experience? Here was mine...

My worst car ever - 2018 Subaru Outback. Beyond the subpar driving experience of the engine and transmission, I experienced the worst customer service in my lifetime by their dealer network and corporate customer service group. From denials that the car can have the problem it was brought in for (oil leak they denied vehemently until I grabbed a flashlight and pointed it out, to their complete inability to determine why the car was losing coolant constantly and at a high rate). I am so much happier with the TourX, yes it has needed a few minor repairs (control arms, front fascia, software updates), but hasn't been anywhere near the constant battle that Subaru must feel is appropriate for their customers.

Tell us your story, worst experience and why. Have a great day!

 

[SweetWafer]

2011 328xi. I always wanted a 3-Series as a kid, so I bought one. I went in loving the car and it was a great car for 50k miles. Then Herbert Diess's cheapness became apparent, and the car developed a new problem every six months that needed at least a thousand bucks to resolve. It had two safety recalls that they could not remedy a year later. I went from being a huge BMW fan to wondering how they possibly have any repeat customers. A huge lease base to churn helps, I guess.

 

[Rhetoric]

1997 Chevy Cavalier. I don’t think I need to go into more detail.

 

[printf]

My worst car ever - 2018 Subaru Outback.

Just curious did you also experience the issue where the infotainment system froze to the point where you had to disconnect the battery to turn it off?

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[mike69440]

The service manager at the Ford Dealership regarding my 03 Cobra and I had a failure to communicate.
He was a by the book ass trying to just barely honor warranty issues that were obvious and irrefutable, and deny any complaints or issues that he did not want to address.
I got the engineers at Ford SVT involved, even spoke to John Colletti. I had the satisfaction of seeing the service manger slapped down, who was directed to address the issues.
That service manager was later demoted for other issues so I was told. I think he is writing up oil changes now at their smaller Mazda dealership. Sweet!
But the guy did give me an ulcer.

Regarding my TourX vs. my Subaru Forester.
While GM penny pinchers cheaped out on some cool Opel features interior bits, seats, carpet etc. my overall inspection of the chassis drive-train, layout, & overall design and build of the TourX say something good about German engineering. I hope the LTG engine GKN axles, & Aisin tranny are tough units also. The Subaru I own does not have the CVT, it is a 6 speed stick. Wimpy motor, whole car is built to a hard price point. Some of it is well designed, other stuff is "meh". At best I feel the "like", not "Love". What gets me is that is fine for a basic car, but you can load one of these up to $35-near 40K. At that price point a Subaru may have some nice features, but the chassis, etc is based on a it being a sub $25K car.

 

[Jwmsa17]

2k4 Jag X-Type: dealership service was garbage and they created multiple issues when it was in for service.
2k7 VW GLI Fahrenheit: multiple warranty extensions as VW/Audi found more failure points in their new (back then) direct-injection turbo engine. Also had multiple warranty repairs including the strut bearing mounts. I finally gave up when a gasket failed and the car dropped a quart of oil in my driveway when I got home from work one day. It was fixed under warranty and I loved the driving experience, but I traded it on an Outback.

 

[Buschb]

I must confess, I have not had many problems with any brands

But I do preventive Maintenance

 

[washide]

2018 TourX Essence. Piston in cylinder 2 developed a hole/crack so the entire engine was replaced. Even after the engine was replaced, the car was never the same with a very harsh vibration between 1250-1550 RPM. So GM bought back the 2018 and put me in a 2019 TourX a couple of weeks ago. This car's been great so far!

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[TurboLover]

1976 Mustang II. It would take me me much less time to say what was good about the car. 'Nuff said. :-(

 

[The Invisible One]

Just curious did you also experience the issue where the infotainment system froze to the point where you had to disconnect the battery to turn it off?

I had the entire infotainment system replaced, and every computer in the car reprogrammed multiple times. That did fix it, but it still had a handful of serious problems when it went away!

 

[HotZ28]

I had the entire infotainment system replaced, and every computer in the car reprogrammed multiple times. That did fix it, but it still had a handful of serious problems when it went away!

I hope it went to the JY & was crushed, rather than sold to some other poor individual who may experience the same type of problems. That was low tech components & programming that caused all those failures. Who is drinking to much when building these cars?

 

[The Invisible One]

I hope it went to the JY & was crushed, rather than sold to some other poor individual who may experience the same type of problems. That was low tech components & programming that caused all those failures. Who is drinking to much when building these cars?

Lucky for me a Buick dealer near me also deals in Subaru, so it was sent back to Subaru ultimately. I did try lemon law buyback as well, but of course SOA didn't consider engine overheating due to leaking headgasket a problem after 4 attempted repairs! So yes, another customer probably ended up with the lemon because SOA refused to fix it (yes, actually refused to have competent diagnostics done).

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[shs92645]

2009 A4...pure garbage that spent most of its time at the dealership rather than in my garage. Had multiple problems but the big one was the suspension that never was fixed. All was under a certified warranty but no fun at all.
My current ride, a 2013 GS, is without any doubt the best car I’ve ever owned.

 

[Fleuger99]

2011 Subaru Outback. Worst driving and performing car I've ever owned (except in the snow when I lived in MA). CVT sucked big and the infotainment system would take 2 minutes to react to any input. One day I lost it and punched the screen cracking it (I'm not typically violent). It cost me $1800 for a new nav unit and I realized life was too short so I traded it after only nine months of ownership. Build quality was also poor with rattles developing after three months. No more Subaru's for me!

 

[TricoatGS]

2017 Colorado, replaced my 2015 with a 2017 and the older one in my two years of ownership was flawless, not one major issue. Now the newer one did not like winter with the new engine they put in, once it got cold the high pressure oil pump went burst one of the pipes resulting in the truck leaking out 95% of all its oil.the truck literally sounded like a diesel when I started it.All they did was replace the pipe that broke and filled it with oil, didn't do a engine diagnostic test as I told them too, lone behole a week later my engine starts ticking at high RPM (truck is less than a year old) had to argue with them that the ticking is not normal, they said it's normal for it to tick on startup so I showed them how hard it ticks and they booked me in for after the weekend, I was driving home that same night and the engine seized on the side of the highway, only 12000KM and took a month but it got a new engine in it, fast forward a couple months I was going for a drive and start seeing smoke behind me, I stop on the side of the highway and see coolant leaking everywhere, she almost overheated the new engine, got it towed and it was because one of their techs did not put the coolant clamp on tight enough when they put the new engine in, I said screw this I'm not waiting down the line for when more problems come out of warranty so I ordered my GS I got now

 

[Ctrcbob]

1990 Honda Accord EX. Purchased new. (Made in Marysville Ohio). (Probably on a Monday or a Friday).

1.. Vapors from plastic in interiors evaporate leaving film scum on inside of windows.

2. Steering wheel always felt like slime.

3. Moonroof always leaked. (This is a Honda and Hondas don't give problems).

4. Clutch problems. (Took district manager to get dealer to change clutch).

5. A/C not worth a S..t.

6. CV Boots cracked spewing grease all over front wheels.

7. Transmission grinds on 1st to 2nd shift. Sometimes on 2nd to 3rd shift. Also grinds from 2nd to 1st shift. Note, this had nothing to do with Clutch problem in number 4 above.

Probably more that I can't remember after all this time. (Have never purchased another Honda since then).

Traded it for a 1992 Camry which gave me NO PROBLEMS in over 100k miles. This was a Made in Japan Camry, not a made in US Camry.

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[CincySpeedRacer]

1996 Audi A4 2.8 - Partial list of issues before I sold it after 6 years and 72k miles: Cruise control, 4 control arms, both cup holders, stereo, ABS, moonroof, oxygen sensors, rear wheel bushing, dashboard light...I have a complete list somewhere that I sent to Audi. My final 2 years of ownership had $6000 in unscheduled maintenance.

 

[89quattro]

another Audi.
1989 200 Turbo Quattro.
Chronic issues with the brakes/clutch hydraulic system. Leaked hyper expensive Pentosin CHF 11S like a spaghetti strainer. Went thru multiple replacements of the brake master cylinder and pressure accumulator. Numerous other bit and pieces replaced that took a constant toll on my wallet.

And then this happened:



Despite all the trouble, I truly loved that car when it was running good. Got 225K miles out of it before I donated it. Spotted it on EBay about a year later showing 235K miles.
Go figure.

 

[Banto]

Five AC units in a 1994 Dodge Shadow. The mechanic was always apologetic and gave me discounts because he felt so bad replacing it over and over again.

 

[FavaBean]

I'll add another car to the VW/Audi list.

I had a 1999 (NA) VW Golf which spent much of the time in the shop for a check engine light. Finally dealer contacted Regional Manager and a buy-back was authorized giving me credit towards the purchase of a new VW.

I chose a red 2000 VW Golf 1.8T after negotiating a better price at a different dealer and used the buyback credit there instead. (It was a $1500 difference but an extra 45 minutes away).

(Not so ironically), that turbo Golf started having troubles so I brought it back to shop #1. The owner caught wind of my second car being worked on at his dealership and denied servicing it. They asked me to pick it up by the end of the day and to never return. I was banished from the dealership!

I contacted VW corporate about the situation and they told me that since the dealership was privately owned, they have every right to deny service. Fortunately, there was a 3rd dealership only 10 minutes further in the opposite direction that I could use for servicing.

Needless to say, I'll never be purchasing a VW again!