According to You: These rides were nothing but bad luck
Our last question to you, our readers, asked about cars that were seemingly cursed—vehicles laden with more bad luck than usual. Your answers went above and beyond, and it proves that Hagerty Media readers have many great stories in store. So have a look and feel free to contribute more stories of automotive bad luck in the comments section! Misery loves company.
55 years of torment from a ’55 Chevy
@DUB6: I had typed out a rather lengthy story about a ’55 Chevy I once had, (and since I type with one finger, that was quite the investment). Just as I clicked “post comment,” the internet went down and all my work was lost. I decided that cursed car was still working against me, even after 55 years! I’m now scared to try and retell the details, so you’ll just have to imagine how bad it was…
@T’Mak: More than the inconvenience, I’d be more scared about how it knew where you were after 55 years! Just saying…
Some Eagles do not soar
@TG: My sister bought an Eagle Premier at an auction and it nicked and dimed her to death. I took the car on and did all the repair work to get it sea worthy. Drove it to work and totaled it on the way home.
Taking the Thunder out of the Bird
@64 Mustang: My sister bought a new 67 T-Bird that appeared to have a sign on it saying “hit me.” She was never in the car when it was hit, it was parked, but she would return to a new dent. One hit caused the rear right fender to occasionally rub the tire so she made an appointment to get it fixed. The weekend before the appointment she flew out of town and when returning the cars rear right fender was it again causing it to bend in such a manner it no longer rubbed the tire so she canceled the body shop appointment. She gave up have the damages repaired and by the time she traded the car off it looked more like a prune that a T-Bird.
Problem Pontiacs
@JW: My father in law had a ’66 GTO that seemed to be possessed. It was a rust bucket but it had a Tri-Power 428 (I guess it added lightness?). The car would start honking as you walked away from it every so often. And then stop as you approached the car. Like your pet dog at the screen door as you walked away.
@MartinAston: My 1993 Trans Am: four Opti-Sparks distributors in 3 years thanks to GM putting it under the water pump. Requisite water pumps. A fuel pump. Never had both window regulators work at the same time for more than 3 months. The rear seat decided to unfold itself and chomped on my friend as he was getting in the backseat. It didn’t like my one ex-girlfriend at all. But then again, neither did I after less than a month. She had a R-titled Audi TT that leaked spare change.
Not exactly a Triumph
@Paul: I “adopted” a 1973 TR6 about 4 years ago and it’s been the child I never had. 1st week the fuel pump literally blew apart all over the road 2 blocks from my house on the way to work. Then found out fuel line was plugged at the same time. The next year 2nd gear synchro failed and I decided to upgrade to 5 speed. While replacing tranny refurbished starter and leaking rear diff. Last year, hit a pothole breaking passenger control arm off the frame. Replaced entire front end. Truth be told I knew it was all original (50 years) so doing it was good and with the new trans the car is tight and better than new! Expensive sure but when you drive it money doesn’t matter!!
A cruel Corvette summer
@David: I bought a 1981 Corvette from a hunting buddy of my dad. It was in Wichita Falls, and I could not undo my seatbelt. Honked the horn, and the attendant offered me a knife to cut it off after trying for half an hour. It released just as I was ready to cut. I burned through all 4 tires on the way back to GA. The computer fried itself, the suspension was crap. Mechanics expressed fear when they looked at it. The alarm went off only when parked, and at 3:00 AM. Had to be some nasty demons in that ride. I had it trucked back to Texas.
@Oversquare+Bore: My bad luck Corvette seemed to break regularly. A weird, unusual crank no start problem cause me to fire the parts cannon at it. I FINALLY got it running and then shortly after it bent two pushrods because of an unrelated overheating issue. I got it running and shortly after the fuel pump relay died.
Then I got it running and the positive lead the coil burned through.
Then I got it running again and it needed a battery (and later a starter) because of the constant abuse from trying to diagnose all these issues in my driveway…..
Crazy like a VW Fox
@Bruce: 1988 VW Fox GL sport sedan. The rear brake line melted by the exhaust pipe – thankfully the parking brake worked, water in headlights, and various electrical gremlins like the horn blowing when starting the damn thing. I bought it used (64K miles) for a commuter to keep miles off my truck and dumped it within 6 months.
Getting the full Monte
@JV: My first, and only, new car was a 1988 Monte Carlo SS. The check engine light came on when I drove it home from the dealer. I couldn’t run the A/C on the highway on a warm day without overheating. The A/C had to be recharged every year. The Metric 200 transmission was replaced 4 times under warranty. The damn things would blow out seals, and fluid would gush out onto the exhaust, and leave an oily cloud of smoke behind me. It left me walking 3 times while it was under warranty. I sold it and bought a ’94 Thunderbird Super Coupe, which I still have.
Blazingly bad luck?
@Rick: 1996 Chevy Blazer: Transfer case 3 times, transmission at 6000 miles, alternator/wiring burn, steering constantly having to adjust to stay straight. I could go on and on. All was covered under warranty but riding around in a loaner Geo on a ongoing basis was not what I had hoped for when I signed the lease on that thing. Drove off the lot brand new but luckily it was a lease. The lease company begged me to purchase it at the end of the contact. After 6 or 7 offers each lower than the last, I told them not to call me unless they were making plans to pick it up. The seats were really comfortable though.
The Land of the Lotus Eaters
@Exhausted Flyer: 1969 Lotus Elan S3: Bought with zero miles on it from the lawyer for the importer. Said importer went to Europe for a vacation and decided not to come back, liquidated everything. I paid about half the sticker price for the car and didn’t get my money’s worth. Everything you can imagine and many things you can’t imagine went wrong with that car and it was brand new. Lotus delivered the car in a car-shaped container with all the bits (or most of them), it was up to the buyer to assemble the car and hope for the best. Great fun when it ran, which was about once a payment. It isn’t a car, it is a career.
@William: I fell for a 1973 Lotus Europa JP Special #92 of 100. Beautiful gloss black with gold pin stripes and only 32,000 miles on it. It was 1976 and I had a pocket full of cash from being in school for 6 months. Bought it from the head of the school upon graduation. I was driving from Governors Island, NY to my new duty station in Washington, DC. Noticed it was using oil then first 3rd gear went. Then 4th gear went. I pulled into a service station and asked if the mechanic could help. I lifted the hood and the mechanic leaned in and put his hand on the small, fiberglass, storage bin cracking/crushing it. He apologized and admitted he couldn’t help.
Found a dealership who assured me that they had the knowledge and skill to rebuild it. They rebuilt the motor and transmission. It took them 3 months and cost almost as much as I’d paid for the car. Drove it home. I’d gone less than 30 miles when the engine just stopped. The left cam had broken because the cam tensioner had been screwed all the way down (e.g. over tightened). Found a English mechanic who had experience with twin cam motors to rebuild it again. Five months later it was ready. Drove it to Savannah, GA to ship it to my next duty station in Hawaii. It arrived months later in Oahu. Someone had left the windows down and the interior was ruined. Mold everywhere, the wood dash cracked, the carpets rotted. the panels warped. They refused to do anything about it. Took months to repair and replace. Beautiful, exotic, limited production seductress had enchanted and left me destitute. A life’s lesson that I’ve yet to learn.
Cadillac problems
@Dan: I bought a 68 Cadillac Convertible two years ago. Nice car but I never can quite relax when driving it. Every part needs to replaced twice. Every job results in another. On a road trip from FL to NC I got the first flat tire of my life. The car also boiled over without explanation on the way into Charleston. Had not been even warm before or since and the radiator is alway full.
Porsche: There is No Substitute
@Exhausted Flyer: I had two 1972 (?) Porsche 914s, and made one (mostly) out of them. The steering was fabulous, razor sharp, the rest of the car was an unmitigated disaster. Seven different locks (front hood, ignition, both doors, glove box, engine lid, rear trunk), every one was different. I learned how to re-key wafer locks on that one. Rear calipers frozen (rust), rubber bands connecting shift lever to transmission, zero access to the engine, rubber weather stripping left black marks on my clothes if I even got too close, I didn’t have to brush up against them, ECU went on vacation at random, coast to a stop wait 20 minutes and it would run again (for a while), and you could WATCH it rust. Sold it, the guy wanted to pay me in weed, nope, the color’s right but it has to be money.
Discharged by the Charger
@Chuck: My ’69 Charger S/E that I bought around 1979. I loved that car and it left me stranded more times in the in the six months I owned it than the following 44 years. You name it, and I had a problem with it. Only 80 some thousand miles as I recall but what a mechanical nightmare. I sold it to a friend of mine who was fully aware of the problems I had with it. Three days later, it spontaneously combusted at a shopping mall and burned to the ground.
@Archie1954: I bought a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba brand new from the factory. Within 13 or 14 months the car’s hood became dull and I wondered why. A rep from Chrysler told me that the car had fallen off the moving truck when it was being delivered and needed hood work and a new paint spray (which was now dulling.) I asked him if the company would pay to have the hood repolished and he said no! Within a short time after that, the car refused to start and had to be towed to the dealer 11 times before the dealer would do anything about it. I was tearing my hair out by that time. Needless to say, I never purchased another Chrysler vehicle.
(Yes, I put this Cordoba under the Charger heading since there was a 1975 Charger based on this vehicle. – SM)
Healing after the Healey
@Les: OMG Yes I’ve had a nightmare car before, a 1967 Austin Healey 3000 BJ8.
Never did find a new windshield and wiper blades for it, even in England and that Wit-worth thread hardware and tools were almost as elusive as any other part for it. The Snap-On guy looked at me like I had a third eye when I asked about Witworth spec tools and even Fastenal had to order what ever hardware I needed. The tools and whatever hardware I had went with the car shortly after and think I only kept that car for about 1 1/2 years before I found someone more adventurous than me!
About the only thing I was able to find commonly was oil, spark plugs and filters then I normally had to special order the filters. Don’t get me wrong now, it was blast to drive and show off but man-oh-man what a bear to find parts for. As fun as it was, I’ll never own another one!
Sidelines by a sidecar?
@john: I’m enjoying reading these: Mine isn’t a car, but a 1974 Ural Sidecar Motorcycle rig, a Russian copy of a WWII era BMW sidecar rig with a very interesting story. I ultimately nicknamed it the ‘anti-Christ’. I’m fairly mechanically inclined and these are basic units, I carried spares and tools galore but the number of times that thing stranded me were countless.
Having to find my way home, get my truck, drive back, secretly hoping someone stole it by the time I got there, left the keys in it once. Then have to disconnect the sidecar, shoe horn it all into the back, bring it home and often enough to be frustrating as hell, have it fire up and run like a, well, tractor. It leaked gas purposely from the carbs, called ‘tickling them’ to get it started. I popped the valve covers off and peered into intake ports and have never seen rougher interior castings, how that thing ran at all is a mystery. When it did, it could pull a stump out of the ground. It would go through anything including snow banks but that was usually because brakes were SO bad.
My palms are sweating just typing this despite a parting smile of recalling “flying the chair” around corners!
Jettisoning the Jetta
@Robert: I sold my beloved 1986 Peugeot 505 Turbo due to the lack of proper French mechanics left in Toronto, and replaced it with a 1988 VW Jetta Slalom: pretty enough in Orly Blue, the 14″ VW mags plus a tail spoiler, but it lacked excitement (100HP), and on the occasions that we had snow, it was abysmal to drive. My wife and I enjoyed it, kinda, for a few years until everything started to go on it.
I had a good mechanic located a block away from our house, for whom I paid for his swimming pool with that car. It seemed like a quarterly thing that there would be a $400 bill to fix something. Everything. Also, it kept getting in minor accidents: Never my fault, a dump truck crumpled the rear quarter at a light because the driver didn’t notice my car stopped there. Finally, with 155,000 km on the clock, as it was literally falling apart while I drove it, I traded it in at a VW/Audi dealer to get $2,500 off my URS4 Audi which lasted me for 18 delightful years before I sold it to another appreciative soul. (For $8,500!!!) I now have another Audi and a Volkswagen, with both of which I am smitten.
Wouldn’t you really rather have a…
@02 original owner: Our first new car in 16 years and our very first GM vehicle: an ’85 Buick Century, V6, custom ordered, dark blue, heavy duty everything–except reliability. Took the dealer two years to find a persistent thump from the engine–a defective serpentine belt. Never did find the random electrical glitch that caused the lights to dim, engine to hesitate and the radio to go bonkers. Worst of all, within 18 months the paint started to crack and flake.
Despite numerous requests to Buick, they wouldn’t make good on this new water base paint they were field testing on their customers. So we sold it to a co-worker and bought an Acura Legend which we kept for 18 years. Oh, within two months of selling it, the transmission died at 64k miles. It was our last GM car…
Motorrad Mishaps
@Roger: I took European delivery of two 600cc BMW motorcycles. First year of a new model. When my traveling companion bent his front fork tubes in a small crash, we spent June, July and August in a Munich campgrounds while we should have been touring. We waited for the parts they wouldn’t sell us – evidently they could sell more of these new models than they could produce so they weren’t about to squander some new parts to fix our problem.
My machine had countless problems with handling, clutch, diff lube leaking on rear brake, carb flowing gasoline onto my foot, un-openable seat lock. Worst of all, the ignition points would be burnt every 600 miles due to oil leaking around the camshaft seal. We also learned the bikes were hard starting in the cold since locals were calling it winter by the time we were finally able to get to Scandinavia. We experienced so much dishonesty and apathy at the source of BMW that I now often repeat my vow from back then: “I wouldn’t buy even a rollerskate if it said BMW on it”. The tale of my experience offends some fans of that marque. Sorry, not sorry.
Fix it Again…
@stephen: My 1970 Fiat 850 Spyder, supposedly an advance over the 1968 model that I’d enjoyed, developed an insatiable appetite for water pump shafts, replacement of mag (?) wheels (turned to chunks and dust on Ontario winter roads) and tires (Pirelli had allegedly sold Fiat a batch of improperly compounded tires). It was nice when it was running, I think. Fiat abandoned the North American market soon thereafter. You may recall “Fix It Again Tony.”
Customers with bad luck?
@Exhausted Flyer: Not a car, a person . . .
Nicest guy you’d ever want to meet, gentle, well mannered, worked as a chef on yachts. Not a hot-rodder, even though he was gentle to machinery, vehicles hated him. He bought a gently used MB diesel, had it checked out first, mechanic said this is a good one. Next day, the “good one” spectacularly blew the engine halfway between Miami and Naples on Alligator Alley.
He bought a BMW R60/2 with a sidecar, low mileage, well maintained. Two days later, the engine died (bad crank). I replaced the engine for him, two days later, the rear end blew (and that’s the ONLY /2 rear end I have EVER seen die.) I found him a replacement.
Then it got worse. The yacht owner wanted to have his boat delivered up north, he took the motorcycle and tied it to the deck of the yacht (tarpaulin to keep some of the salt air off it). They hit a sand bar about 20 miles off the coast of Virginia, the yacht came to a sudden stop, the BMW didn’t . . . it broke loose and cleaned EVERYTHING in front of it off the yacht, including our guy the chef. They fished him out of the water, he was OK, the motorcycle is still in a watery grave somewhere in the Atlantic. Someday some scuba diver/treasure hunter is going to come across a BMW with a sidecar 20 miles off shore from the nearest land and ask “What the (insert appropriate adjective here) happened here?”
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Had a new black 2005 CTS-V. Gorgeous. A heck of a two year lease deal–or so I thought. When it ran I was Andy Pilgrim winning the IMSA championship that year, which he did in a very similar car. That was when it ran. I came to the realization having the only V in Chippewa County WI meant when EVERYTHING broke which it did they could not fix it. After getting a couple of Cobalt loaners (remember those?) I stomped my feet and at least insisted on a Caddy loaner as I had purchased the most expensive vehicle on the lot. The toppers–two sets of super expensive tires in 24K miles and a big dog ran out in front of the car the week before the lease was up. With all the costs I figure that car cost me $1K+ a month–almost 20 years ago. Great when it ran when the sunroof wasn’t stuck open or the center stack went out or the diff broke or ecu went out or……
Never had any bad luck based on the car or design.
Some car do have some bad designs but too often buyers can go out and buy cars that were hacked up by a mechanical midget and be left with their issues. Even more often they are not mechanical enough to deal with it once bought it.
Then there is just bad luck.
But if you buy a F body with opti spark you need to do your home work and know they are a known issue.
Same for the clutch paw on a 5.0 Mustang
Or that you are not likely to find front fenders for those bubbled Gremlins.
So yes half the time it may be the car but in other cases if people would do the home work and also understand that a bundle of wires hiding under the dash may be a problem or a known issue is likely to happen is a clue to walk away.
And on that GTO above. The 428 was no different than the 389 in weight. Just more power and torque.
We used them often with great results. That was a very good thing to have as long as the numbers matching engine is missing.
“@JW: My father in law had a ’66 GTO that seemed to be possessed. It was a rust bucket but it had a Tri-Power 428 (I guess it added lightness?).”
JW meant the rust added lightness, not the 428 engine.
Bought a 2000 Chevy Venture van brabd new when the family got to the size where it was needed. roke a lower ball joint at 1200 miles, Transmission burned up at 4200 miles. Wiring harness grew a mind of its own at about 7000 miles and all sorts of gremlins appeared. The typical 3.4 V6 intake gaskets let go at about 11,000 miles and filled the crankcase with antifreeze…I was a loyal GM customer for over 30 years, but that one cured me for good. When I would take the thing to the dealership for its latest issue, the guy who drove the shuttle van quit asking me where I lived. It was just “Oh, you again” and he would drive me home from memory.
Thankfully no bad luck rides for me. I had some with mild problems but they always ran.
Do you ever wonder what happened to your problem child after it went to a new home? My new 1980 Honda Accord would stick in reverse and quit when you exited a freeway and was attacked by a motorcycle gang, etc). Hondas were selling for over list so my neighbor was delighted to have an almost new one under list. On the ¼ drive home from the bank, someone ran a stop sign. After the repair, it got rear ended. The last time I saw it it had been sitting in the parking lot abandoned after a couple of years, covered in dust with a flat tire. Someone finally stole it. I guess the thief deserved it.
When I first met my ex wife she had a 1975 Chevy Vega Estate Wagon. Aside from being grossly under powered it constantly shed parts at least once a week I had to fix or replace something. Cracked and crumbling stock exhaust manifold, carburetor that shook itself apart, starter falling out, the automatic transmission bolts fell out once. All in a car four years old and less then 50K miles on it.
There’s a difference between bad luck and bad build quality. Some makes cornered the market on bad build quality.
This from a guy that once bought a TR7.
I had a 1988 Mustang I bought used in 1990 with about 20k miles on it. The rear end and drive shaft crapped out almost immediately and had to be replaced. A relay under the dash burned up and caught on fire filling the car with smoke, that took out both the cooling fan and AC. The alternator went out leaving me stranded on the side of the road (the first and only time). I gave up after two years and traded it on a new 93′ Dodge Daytona that I loved. I’ve owned a few Fords since then: another Mustang, Probe GT, Explorer and 2 Expeditions. The SUVs were good, all 3 cars were junk that I didn’t keep long. The second Mustang flooded with water when it rained and the Probe overheated and the plug wells filled with oil. Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised to see Ford give up making cars and sticking to Trucks and SUVs.
My wife has a Focus with key problems. When we first started dating she had multiple times that she needed a locksmith to get into the car. Another time, her daughter got the one and only key stolen. I purchased several keys for her in the effort to make sure there were plenty around. She gave the car to her mother for a while and when Grandma returned the car a couple years later, only one key.
I told my wife that she should immediately go get more keys made because the car had issues. She didn’t do that and soon the key was again lost. A few months later, some missionaries helping my wife in the yard found the keys out behind our house.
Her son was driving the car for a while and then got another car and parked it on our property. It currently sits there now as the key does not seem to open the door anymore and we can’t get in it.
I don’t believe in curses but this car hates it’s keys.
Friends bought a used 914 Porache back in ’75 or so…. had it painted and made to look decent. Over time the ”frame” rusted and the doors wouldn’t open, so they left the top off and climbed over. Eventually it rusted in half and collapsed in a V.
My bad luck truck was my first new vehicle. 90 S-10 EL ( no power steering, no radio, no rear bumper and a rubber mat for the floor). $6400 out the door! Dark blue paint would fly off in chunks if I got too close in the “quarter” car wash. GM had the truck for a month to try and figure out the de-lamination issue. Would just stop running randomly ( finally gave the ECM the “tap test”(drop it down from behind the glove box and whack it with a screwdriver handle) and found it was bad. But the topper on that cake wagon was it got hit 9 times in the 7 years I owned it! Rear ended 4 times.
Two stories…
My first car was a FIAT 128 2-door Sedan that I bought used from one of my uncle’s customers (with 19K miles on it). Some of the problems were self-inflicted due to me putting aftermarket wheels on it resulting in it going through wheel bearings every 3 months or so and ball joints as well. Unrelated to that, the weber carb jets would constantly clog, requiring me to remove the air filter, unscrewing the jets, blow them out and reinstall. The clutch cable ran underneath the battery resulting in the cable breaking regularly. Requiring me to coast to a stop light, turn the car off, starting it in gear when the light turned green and then massaging through the gears, only to do it again at the next light. There were constant issues and it got to a point that it was in my uncle’s shop more than in my possession. Finally one day after dropping off my mom at work, the car was overheating. About two blocks later as I was entering an intersection (on a green light) a late ’70s Delta 88 turned left in front of me causing me to T-Bone his left side. The Delta had a dented door and my FIAT sat in the middle of the intersection, crumpled and spewing its fluids all over the road. Good riddance! One witness came up to me and wondered why I was smiling with my car being obviously totaled.
Second story is a 1990 S10 Blazer I bought in 1991 with only 10K miles. It had the Starcraft Conversion and was a pretty sharp looking vehicle. In the two years I owned that vehicle I never took it off road or abused it. It rewarded me with the following:
– Digital gauge cluster replaced three times in a year and a half
– Ball Joints replaced w/under 25K miles on her
– Torsion bar mounts
– 4 wheel drive switch (embarrassing when you can’t get up your driveway in an inch of snow)
– Water pump leaking and replaced (under 30K miles)
– Driver power door lock actuator failed
– Finally with just over 30K miles it was starting to puff blue smoke at start up, obviously the valve stem guides
I finally traded it with 33K miles on it for a demo Acura Vigor that I drove trouble free for over 100K miles, a 2001 Acura TL after that and a 2006 Acura RL after that until I finally decided to trust GM again when I trated the RL in for my 2012 CTS-V Coupe after that which all that it has required was an O2 sensor at 10K miles, but not much else with 55K miles on the odometer.
I have had TWO bad-uns: bought NEW 1972 Corvette t-top 350 4-speed. Quickly lost tach caused by the little gear in distributor, brakes only lasted a year, the shifter lock out for reverse bent within two years and the ac had a leak that was Never resolved; Bought a Truimph TR7 roadster when they had just come out. It overheated and was never resolved, the cpu would just shut the engine down while driving (it could idle in the driveway for hours and not to that) and the dealer refused to do ANY warranty work!
I dumped each of these gladly.
My first new car purchase was a 1977 Honda Station Wagon. It rained on the first day of ownership and with its first use, the driver-side wiper simply flew off while driving at 60 mph. Within 4 years and 60K miles, its blue paint was faded to silver. Three water pumps had been replaced. The body was rusting. And the recalled head gasket blew and took along with it… the engine. The car was simply crap. No more Honda vehicles in my life.
Bought a brand new Chevy Nova in 69 with a 396 – 350 horse and a turbo trans. First week, the trans leaked.
Dealer fixed it. 3 weeks later, same problem. Dealer fixed it. Again same leak. My friend worked at a tranny shop and looked at it for me. The case was cracked inside and couldn’t fix it. Finally the dealer put in a new turbo hydra matic and no more leaks. The last straw was a broken intake valve spring which caused the piston to hammer the valve, bend it and break the guideway. Lucky the piston only had minor damage. GM replaced the bare head but not the labor. I sold it right away after to a young guy who wrapped it around a tree. Best thing ever happened to that car. (The kid was not hurt,)