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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I have always had good luck with cars and only had a problem with one – 2004 Chev Impalla. What went wrong – virtually everything. Even the gas tank had to be replaced. It cost twice as much to fix it with the many problems than it cost in the first place. Naturally, it was my last GM purchase.
BMW automobiles. They are fast, comfortable and classy. However, they are expensive new, but cheap used, at least in the Bay Area. The biggest problem is the cylinder head or head gasket(s). I see them all the time on Craigs List, usually at bargain prices. That is, until you read the entire ad. Somewhere, toward the end of the ad, a caveat appears that goes something like, “Needs head gasket” or “Needs a new head” or “Has heating problem”, etc. Too bad, they are beautiful cars, but who needs an expensive German car with overheating problems?
Monte Carlo SS – @JV had a 1988 with issues, we had a 1985, bought used in 1988 with about 30,000 miles. That thing was one of the best-driving cars I ever drove, with very good handling, good brakes, good ride, and if not ample, at least adequate (and great-sounding) power. And, it looked darn good. And…it needed one thing after another, including having to have the radio/cassette player repaired (THAT was a first for me), new shocks (already at 30,000 miles), a new headlight (a big deal only because I could not get the screws holding that particular headlight out). The final insult was the crankshaft shearing off right where it came out of the engine, while cruising at 65 MPH; the shop that rebuilt the engine said it appeared that the crank was actually bent at the shearing point, and that may have caused it.
Funny thing, though – I never had any of @JV’s problems in the 35,000+ miles we owned it – tranny worked great, no “check engine lights”, no A/C problems, no overheating. I guess his and ours were both lemons, just a different variety of lemon.
Hadda ~late 60’s MGB in the summer of ’72. Had to be a “sport” to drive it – needed a break from being in low orbit in my daily driver 67 GT500 – but could only take the punishment for 2 months. Ghad was it slow – gave it up after getting beat off the line by a VW bug. Went back to the Shelby + nearly went thru the neighbor’s living room 1st tihitting the gas on its dual quads again. Took about a ton of Bondo to fill out the MGB’s rockers. Had it up on cinder blocks, all 4 collapsed at once like a house of cards, right after crawling out from underneath it – yicks. Clutch slave cylinder leaked horribly. Speedo fitting replacement woulda cost 20 (1972) dollars, so it got epoxyed instead. Everything like the top was worn out, the seats were loose. Sold for $250, made a profit of $50, which didn’t repay all the time + effort put
into it. But still sorta miss that wreck, knockoff hubs + all, now 50 yrs later. Lucky it was summer – spent a lotta time outdoors fixing it up. Sold that v used MGB to a kid who also bought my father’s nearly new ’68 GT500KR for ~$2300 + was smart enuf to put that Shelby into storage for the future back in ’72. Cheers + Happy New Year / sn
Like many already weighing in…my luck with whatever I’ve purchased either new or pre-owned has been good. I’ll take this kind of luck any day! Even vehicles which were touted as poor reliability etc. Fingers crossed!
2 PORSCHE 944’S RUINED MY LIFE!!!!
My 1980 Mark Vl Lincoln. I loved that car – bought it off a wholesale lot in ’82. White outside, beautiful red leather inside. (I always dreamed of leather.) Lots of accessories. Two problems: ONE You cannot drive down I-5 at 90 MPH. The California MK Vls had a 302, California-sale mandate – not the Big Boy 460 The 302 will overheat. Hold it to 80 and all is fine -except you are straining a good 302. The solution was a factory authorized heavy duty radiator. Never installed one – my bad. TWO. From day 1 – it had an electrical leak. ALL ignition, light. accessories off – slow leak. Left over a day – dead battery. Even worse, leave a dome light on and it would drain the battery in a few hours. EVER VIGILANT REQURED! But I loved that BOAT – I had arrived! Silly me – climbing superficial the middle-class ladder. My 3WD Deuce is another matter.
My problem child was a 1984 C4 Corvette. It had a lot of miles, but I had purchased it from a long-time owner. (not the first but a close second) She and her husband were both Corvette owners. She had an amazing amount of maintenance and repair records. The car had been well cared for but even with that the first year of the C4 problems took their toll. I didn’t do my normal research when buying a car. I had never owned a Vette and I could afford this one. So, I jumped to buy it, had I done a little research I would have passed.
Had a used 1958 Ford Fairlane “500” 2dr hdtp (2 tone black & white) purchased in 1962 with a 352 V8 solid lifters 300HP, 4 bbl carb, 3 speed cruse-a-matic trans & slightly under 40,000 miles on it. The car was a real looker & was a monster on the open highway. The best Ford had to offer when new! However, in city traffic or stuck in highway traffic, it routinely overheated! In 1964 my friends & I decided to take the engine apart for a rebuild & we found a lot of heavy baked on oil sludge inside every where oil would flow. Spent a lot of scraping & cleaning including replacing piston rings. However the real story is that at the upper back rear of the engine was an approx 3/4 inch in diameter “breather tube” that was packed with the oil sludge & causing the engine to overheat & then perform poorly. After putting the engine back together you wouldn’t believe the power that 352 300 HP engine had!!! In 1965 I purchased a 2 year old 1963 2 dr Ford Galaxie 500 XL with bucket seats and a 352 hydraulic lifter engine w/250 HP. That was over 55 years ago & I still have that Galaxie 500 XL today …. 300,000 miles on it & it still runs fine …. just not anywhere as fast as that solid lifter 1958!! …………..I’ve also found that 60’s – 70’s autos with overheating problems often have a breather tube somewhere that gets clogged & begins giving owners overheating problems & bad performance
My brother bought a 1995 Z24 Cavalier with Quad 4 new. He also worked for GM at the time. It was his first new car. Every day he started it up and started down our 1/2 mile dirt road. It would stall before reaching the end of the road. Crank crank crank and eventually it would start and be fine the rest of the day. Had it to the dealer 5 or 6 times and they tried all kinds of things to fix it, but no luck. After it was out of warranty, it finally stalled and would not start. I did a compression check and it had no compression in 3 cylinders. Weird. I pulled the head off, which was a project. all the exhaust valves in 3 cylinders were burned badly. Had the head rebuilt, then put it all back together. The timing chain tensioner can be sort of uncocked, to allow the chain to be adjusted, then you push it in and it snaps out and keeps tension. When I pushed it in the first time, it didn’t come out. Pushed it a second time, and it did come out. Double weird. Bought a new one and it worked like it’s supposed to. Push it in and it snaps out every time. Fixed.
A old car buddy and I were talking about how we got into the old car hobby. He had a Fiat 850 Spyder and he said it broke often and he was working on it constantly since he could not afford to take it to a mechanic. That is how he learned to fix cars. His first “old” car was a 1955 Chevy. After a year he told me “Once I fixed a few things it has run great. I never knew a car could go so long without a problem”!! Decades ago and we both still have old cars.
Having worked as a dealership mechanic (technician?) in the 80s & 90s, I found it interesting how some people determined their car as a ‘lemon’ or a ‘pos’. At the same time, when I’ve made major repairs, warranty or customer pay, some owners would rave to me about how great their car was compared to the last brand they owned. Whatever my opinion is worth, there’s a lot more that can make a car a lemon than just poor reliability. Having a car that intermittently stalls while driving, especially on the freeway, can greatly influence one’s opinion (and confidence). If the issue is similar to a previous commenter’s where their vehicle wouldn’t start while in their driveway or work place, it might not get the same emotional response. And no doubt: when my car fails (no start, etc.), it’s a very nerving experience. Yes, I agree there are true lemons, and from EVERY manufacturer…just less from some, more from others. And No, I’m not ‘ragging’ on any commenter in this article. Hopefully most can look back at their encounters and laugh.
I have a TR7. It is more needy than all three of my Jaguars, three Chevys, two Cadillacs and Pontiac combined.
I have one that wasn’t necessarily my car, but I was peripherally involved.
In 1975 in the wake of the oil shocks, my dad was considering something more economical to commute to work in than our 1969 Ford Fairlane 500 fastback. It was a cool car, but also a tank that was probably getting 10 mpg at best.
One day he traded it in on a 1975 Datsun B210, which at the moment was the hip Japanese solution to the near-two-ton sedans Detroit was pumping out in the age.
The hipness wore off quickly. It did not feel particularly well built. It was downright scary at any speed over 50. On the freeway, it felt as though it was dancing all over the pavement and you held the wheel as though your life depended on it just keeping it in the lane.
A few years later, literally days after going out-of-warranty, it literally started falling apart. Cheap interior plastic was failing. The paint started cracking in places. The vinyl roof started peeling. The most amusing failure was the speedometer, where the spring failed and the needle would just spin around and around, most amusingly at highway speeds where it was a noisy whirr.
The final straw was one evening when we were out running some errands and suddenly the transmission started making some ominous noises of the sort that made us question if we’d be making it home in 10 miles. We pulled into a Toyota dealership and left it there. The 1979 Corolla SR5 Hatchback we went home in eventually ended up in my hands, and I kept that car for over 20 years and a quarter-million miles. I finally gave it away because it refused to die and I had to move on.
I bought a Plymouth van, used (Just out of warranty), and the seller insisted on delivering it. That should have been a big red flag. The transmission failed after less than 2 miles of driving! The seller spilt the cost of a re-build, then the transmission failed again, and again, and again. Never got more that 10-20,000 per total rebuild. The corporate response – too bad! I will never in my life own another vehicle build by that corporation!