Car "horror" stories, any good ones?

duke250, Feb 3, 12:12am
I brought a 97 Subaru GTB so I can take things to and from work and not to race. I spent around $2500 in a year on fixing stuff like wheel bearings, engine mounts, fuel pump, coil packs, break pads. I also got the car a tune up and serviced it on time. And what do i get out of all of this, a big end bearing failure! Never buying a Subaru again that's for sure.

Any one have any goodones!

cantab1971, Feb 3, 12:26am
my first car was a renault 12TL in "karitane yellow".which i spray painted black, with the yellow still showing through so it looked like something out of desert storm.a gawd awful car that was a rip off for the $400 I paid.

Had a honda civic that wouldn't go in reverse, so had to be real careful where you parked it.

And a mini that I was driving down Dyers Pass Rd in christchurch when the gear lever came out.like totally.I was waving it about. Sold it to a working girl (shall we say).did warn her not to fiddle with the stick too much.

Ford Telstar that i painted red and black and coined the "rugby car".was on TV news with it.many years ago.it used to follow the canterbury games around the south island.was a nice car, that i ruined.

probably more.memory is getting dim.

phillip.weston, Feb 3, 12:37am
probably the biggest 'lemon' I've had is a V6 MIVEC Galant - I can probably say the problems that went wrong with it were my fault. I decided to pull out the perfectly good running engine to fit with an exchange unit which I built up with new OEM pistons, rings, bearings etc etc. On first start it was absolutely GUTLESS and the engine note sounded funny - after an ordeal trying to figure out what was wrong with it I left it for a couple months until I realised that the MD control solenoid was probably stuck (MD is modulated displacement and controls the valves from opening altogether on one cylinder bank) so after the valve was freed all was well again and the engine was nice and powerful. Fast forward about 15,000kms and I started getting an erratic idle which would come and go, and then another unrelated incident where one of the tappets lost its bottom perch meant that I had to remove the timing belt to remove the upper portion of the front bank cylinder head in order to replace the stupid two-piece tappet design. It was only then that I spotted that the crank keyway was chewed out and the crank pulley had been moving about 5-10 degrees in relation to the crank shaft. This meant I had to replace the crank shaft which I was going to do in place but decided it was best to remove the whole motor again which I eventually did. When all back together with a new crankshaft, new bearings and replacement tappets it was all running 100% again. after about a total of 8 months off the road during my 3 year ownership. A GREAT sounding car when running but boy was it maintenance prone! I had to set the tappets every 10,000kms to keep them opening up too far which is what caused one or two of the feet to drop off to begin with.

Would I own another! Yes! I saw my old one come back up on trademe a while ago but by that time I had already made the decision to head to Australia.

cantab1971, Feb 3, 1:18am
I forgot.my worst car ever was an Isuzu Piazza. I have no idea why i thought it look cool.:(man, that car sucked.

sifty, Feb 3, 1:20am
'Christine'.

blackdotlova, Feb 3, 1:55am
Oh yes one ford i had i spent more time under it than in it

ralphdog1, Feb 3, 2:07am
Driving along the other day and saw a Multipa.

sifty, Feb 3, 2:13am
I had a wife like that.

cantab1971, Feb 3, 2:13am
funny :)

jason18, Feb 3, 2:14am
12 a Bridgepost Ke20. Bought it. Spent 700 on new tyres. 2 weeks later carby blockage and cracked apex. 2k later Back on road. Up for sale.Sold bought a house then found out it was stolen later on.

fiatracer, Feb 3, 2:23am
My first Jag. Owned it for 4 days when it developed a bad misfire. Drove it to garage, but it started smoking badly. turned out to be a holed piston. Had Jag agents fit a used motor [4 grand.]. On the day the job was done, I asked the mechanic [a good mate] to take the car home for the weekend to "put some miles on it, and generally give it a shakedown".He got about 5kms before stuffing it into the back of an Impreza. The end.

kazbanz, Feb 3, 2:29am
Without question the very worst car I have had the misfortune to come across was a 1998 BMW 520. That thing still gives me nightmares.
Its easier to say what DIDDN'T go wrong with it than what did
Sunroof failed,power steering failed windows failed tranz failed. ac failed.
It was a car I "inherited" from the last owner of the yard and wish I had never ever tried to retail sell it

rayzor14, Feb 3, 2:54am
Bought a 1994 300zx in 1997 so only a 3yr old car back then. Had driveshaft vibration which the dealer had repaired for me after a week.
After that I clocked up 212,000km in that car and it cost me nothing other than regular servicing, tyres and 3 sets of brake pads.
Yep it cost a bomb back then and I dumped a heap of money 6yrs later when I sold it but I dont think I have ever owned another car than was so trouble free.

jkm, Feb 3, 4:11am
Nissan Bluebird SSS had twin spark plugs per cylinder, so need 8 HT leads and a special 8 port dizzy cap. atune up nightmare. It blew the eprom twice.
Just one of those cars that was a total disaster!

jsbike, Feb 3, 4:23am
mines opposite, everything that could go wrong did but as total fluke it all worked out, here it is.1991 RS legacy acquired in exchange for my stolen and recovered car valued at around $1000. Legacy would not run, owner said it just stopped. I found the cam belt had slipped 2 teeth on both cams on one bank.Belt all lined back up, fired up good and ran well but would not rev over 5000rpm. Steering seems heavy. Replaced all the bulbs in the dash (they been removed!) and found fault lights for ABS, Steering, Intercooler. ABS and steering wires found to be around the wrong way so reversed and both fault lights go out, steering goes light. intercooler temp wire cut so fixed, that fixes intercooler fault. So all up, $0 to fix so far. Car still wont rev over 5000rpm (redline is 7500). all good for 2 weeks than BOOF a cam follower smashes through the cam cover (same side that had slipped). cover weilded ($20), cam follower put back in. Car now revs out to 7500rpm! Turns out the cam follower had been sitting inside the engine and it was runnung on 15 valves, which was why it would only rev to 5000rpm. it was also the cause of the cam belt jamming in the 1st place! Contacted the 1st owner, he said it had alway only reved to 5000rpm in the 15,000km he did!

jezz43, Feb 3, 4:32am
aquired a MK2 ford transit years ago when i was in havelock north. guy had it on his farm in what was a pit for his bonfires. he dragged it out of the pit with tractor and gave it to me for free. said it didnt run and hasnt run for about 4 years. dragged it to the workshop on a trailer and found out it had 2 sidewall punctures on the rear tyres. cost me $55 to get that fixed. engine would turn over but wouldnt fire. gearbox felt fine and all seemed ok with exception of loads of gunk in the rocker cover. drained the old oil. flushed it out with some total oil and engine flush, new spark plugs, new leads, new points. drained petrol tank. fresh fuel. bloody thing came to life after about 3 cranks. turns out the rego was still on hold too. ran it thru for a wof and reg, cost me in total about $230 to get running and legal. guy offered me $4500 a week later and sold it off. wish i hadnt, hardly ever see them anymore

cocabowla, Feb 3, 4:35am
a 25xt honda civic i bought sight unseen a few years back, whatever answer the seller had given it was the opposite. it would have been in the dog & lemon guide but it was overqualified. lol
when the seller e-mailed me a month or so later about a parking ticket i replied i had indeed bought a civic fitting that description but it hadnt been as described whatsoever and they had said the papers would be sent to me which they never were, are you interested in refunding my money you liar ! never heard from again. lol

mugenb20b, Feb 3, 4:43am
1997 Ford Escort, my first Euro car. I bought it as a bit of a project, all it needed was a clutch. So, I replaced the clutch and tried to sell it, but to no avail. Then, I noticed the rear end sat at a slight angle, one coil spring sagged 15mm, I did nothing about that. Then, within a month, I had an SRS light come on (poor connection under the passenger seat), muffler leaked badly, P/S pump leaked, cambelt was due, driver's seat broken, ignition relay behind the fuse box f.ed out, LR brake shoes down to steel (RR shoes were like new), overheating when stuck in traffic (blocked radiator). Everything that happened was due to the car's age and mileage, I spent a fortune fixing it, and I would happily have another one.

tantric5, Feb 3, 7:42am
I spun my car out in torrential rain on the Auckland harbour bridge as a teenager. Totally aquaplaned and lost it on a corner, hit the guard rail multiple times spinning and hitting and ended up across 4 lanes with no lights and the front doors jammed closed due to smashed guards.

Also on the harbour bridge, going up it the carb linkage on my big block mustang jammed up as I accelerated and suddenly I was moving very fast with the throttle jammed. Luckily I didnt panic and just slipped it into neutral and turned off the key.but it was pretty scary as she took off.

Doing 120mph across Navada deserts in my Corvette.pulled into Vegas, got out of my car and lovingly looked back at it and noticed the left rear tyre was showing the metal threads! Totally bald.that made me shudder

tantric5, Feb 3, 7:51am
I luckily havent bought a lemon car thats caused me trouble, touch wood. Ive been more than happy with all my cars.

jenny188, Feb 3, 10:32am
Singer that stalled at traffic lights and starter motor jammed. It was a get out and push job. lol. Only on a Friday night

ema1, Feb 3, 12:09pm
"HAD" ! .How many sifty!

mrfxit, Feb 3, 7:26pm
Road tested an 89 Galant at an auction place & it seemed fine.
Spotted a new 4 liter bottle of oil in the boot & though Mmmmm nice bonus. .
Went to the auction/ won the car /paid & drove it home wondering why it was smoking really badly.
Ended up not getting home because it broke down & had to get it towed.
Apparently, somebody else had taken it for a test drive ,noticed the engine oil was down slightly, spotted the new oil bottle & promptly poured the WHOLE bottle in to the engine (total of about 7 liters in the engine now).
Bent the head & blew out the gasket, managed to sell it later for what it cost me.
Real pitty because it WAS a really nice looking car