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Thread: Post 2 cars of your past, the most reliable and the biggest lemon.

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Carfreak09 View Post
    Least reliable:

    1985 Audi 5000S. Car was beautiful inside and still looked really good on the outside, despite a few rust holes (Audi was first to use galvanized steel). Those holes and the fact it was a Canadian car (I was in Florida) owned by a real old dude should have been a big red flag. Stupid thing was a rusted out hunk of junk underneath. On the day I bought it, en route home, it blew out a metal brake line. Of course the emergency brake cable was stretched and barely worked so we had to carefully use the clutch/1st gear and a parking space divider to come to a stop. All the metal brake lines were rotted and had to be replaced along with the clutch slave cylinder. I believe the fuel pressure accumulator and/or regulator was rusted out too because when left overnight, fuel pressure would drop and you would have to crank it for 10 minutes before it would start. This constant cranking burned out the rusty starter. When hot, she would fire right up and actually ran good. The 5 cylinder motor was the only thing worth a damn on the car. The CV axle was falling apart. The auto HVAC was stuck in defrost mode and made weird clicking noises, sounding like a ticking time bomb. The AC was ice cold when we bought it but it died a few days later. The dash warning system (very futuristic for the time) flashed just about every warning light in succession constantly, along with warning dings. The final straw was when she sprung a large oil leak. Turns out the oil pan had literally rusted straight through and all that was holding the oil in was a quarter size flake of rust just waiting to fall off. All this occurred over about a month. We put a sign on her for $400obo and washed our hands. NEVER BUY A CANADIAN CAR!
    No it wasn't because it was a Canadian car, it was a mid-80s Audi 4000/5000. I have never been in one that had fully functional a/c, power accessories, etc.. Even back when they were relevant, they were ugly unreliable cars.



  2. #32
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    Least reliable? my 1980 VW Rabbit C 1.6L gas engine had so many electrical bugs it was ALWAYS leaving me stranded. The alternator would charge when it wanted to, and when it didn't want to, it would slowly kill the battery while I drove it leaving me where ever the battery decided to leave me.
    It got so bad that I learned to only park the car facing downhill so I could push start it if needed. Then the Rust started to really set in and the dang gas tank failed internally. Every time I took a left turn the car would stall. That car was something else. I walked home so many times back then I lost count. A few times It would leave me stranded on a date, and let me tell you... Girls don't like that![/QUOTE]

    That's odd. Those early water cooled cars were excellent (a 1.6L rare at that). VW was so different back then compared to the present. Quality as well as customer support has gone so far down. I think it is just because they know people will purchase their vehicles now (Americans more accepting of foreign vehicles).

  3. #33
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    Least Reliable: An 86 Grandpa Blue Ford Tempo. I took possession of it in about 1992. Even though I believe it to be a fairly reliable and successful vehicle for Ford, I had nothing but problems with it. I was not mechanically inclined enough at the time so, I cannot articulate everything that was wrong with it (even with regular maintenance).

    Most Reliable: 2003 VW Golf 2.0 manual. Never any problems. When I did do any of the maintenance, none of the components recommended for replacement showed any wear (including things such as cabin air filter, engine air filter, spark plugs).

  4. #34
    The gen1 Rabbits were notorious for electrical probs if the windshield leaked at its base on the driver's (left) side (common rust area). Water would then drip directly onto the fuse block and relays under the dash, creating all sorts of electrical gremlins. I had 6 of those cars!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  5. #35
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    Electrically that is true because the A1 VWs had a... cannot remember the name now electrical system. If you had a broken antenna and water got in the hole, you could short the system. Cars electricals are separated and closed now to avoid this.



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