Check out What's the Worst Car of the Millennium?: The Results

[Tom Donohue]

Well, I didn't see the original list but I have owned several on Percy's
list.
    1.  VW bus...one of the most excruciating vehicles to drive that I
have owned (and I have owned over 300).  The reduction gears assured
that you would only reach 50 mph going downhill, and if you had any kind
of load aboard, uphill stretches became something to avoid at all
costs.  Upside:  learned how to double-clutch into non-synchro first to
achieve maximum hillclimbing ability.
    2.  Renault Dauphine.  Owned one with a 3-speed transmission and
electromechanical clutch in 1962 when I was at Camp Lejeune, NC in the
USMC.  The local boys didn't much like it.  Several times I got pushed
into ditches on Rt. 17 or 24, cauz they knew I couldn't get outta the
way of their Fords.  Another feature:  absolute unreliability on any
kind of distance driving.  Used to make the 10-hour one-way trip from
the base to Phila. on weekends...never made one complete round trip in
the Renault without a breakdown.
    3.  Gremlin...had one briefly when I needed transportation for a
month or so...my car at the time (Mercedes 230SL) had been in an
accident and was to be laid up that long.  That car burned more oil than
any diesel I ever owned.  Junked it when I got the Benz back.  (P.S.
anyone remember the commercial for, I think, NAPA, where the kid is
about to get his license and his father is going to give him his choice
of the family cars...a lime green Gremlin or the other AMC model [can't
remeber the model name, but it looked like an egg or an overturned
bucket].  AMC=worst cars in the world!
    3.  Pinto...had 2 during the mid-70s.  Ditched them in favor or
Sciroccos after the fuel tank thing broke.  They were also truly bad
cars.
    4.  Finally, the Pontiac LeMans.  Never personally owned one, but a
number of years ago, had a mentally-ill client who owned one.  He had a
fondness for pot and dealers were able to talk him into letting them
"use" his car for a little while.  I retrieved that vehicle from the
middle of the Roosevelt (?) expressway in NYC, where it had been
abandoned once; from White Plains, NY...also damaged and abandoned...and
finally from October Mountain State Forest here in Lee, MA, where he had
driven it so far up into the woods that he couldn't turn around or back
out.  He hiked out and we sent a towing and recovery team where he said
the car was.  They called and said the car must have been stolen from
there, because they went as far in as their 4-wheel-drive units would go
and couldn't find it.  My client insisted that it was up there and, sure
enough, there it was.  Took many hours to winch and coax it out of the
forest and when it finally was back on blacktop, my client was able to
drive it home.  The tow truck guys all decided that they probably needed
one of those, too.

My .02

Percy wrote:

> Hmmm.
>
>   I will have to disagree on Most all of these cars
> that were selected-
> A) the VW bus? come on- 2 million hippies can't be
> wrong- Seriously, a bus is cheap, reliable and got
> better fuel mileage than any other vehicle in its
> class for almost 40 years. Not to mention it's off
> road abilties, or it's traction in snow (engine over
> the rear tires)
> B) although AMC should have some cars in the top 10,
> the Gremilin is not one of them. It was built like a
> brick shithouse and has the most reliable engine of
> any american car - the straight 6
> C) The Renault Dauphine? who the hell ever owned one
> of them? they probably sold a total of 100 in the
> states-
> <<snip>>>>
> F) I'll agree with the Pinto- Truly an engineering
> feat! Gotta love a fuel tank located right behind the
> rear bumper- *Kaboom!!*
>
> My personal ten worst cars-
>

<<snip>>

> 1) Pontiac Lemans-Korean Built-early 90's
>   I witnessed a person purchase one of these new, and
> in the first 3 months of ownsership, the car spent 90
> days in the shop. She literally, bought the car, it
> broke down (the engine siezed!) after she pulled out
> of the lot, and the dealer spend 90 days trying to
> locate the parts to fix it. Convinced it was a fluke,
> she continued to drive the car, when 3 months after
> the engine was replaced, the transmission went.
> another 30 days in the shop. After a Myriad of in- and
> outs at the dealer, she pursued the Lemon law, and got
> a full refund. Then, she went and bought a Hyundai.
> Some people never learn!
>
> Percy.