A 1991 Ford Sierra that I bought for 100,- from a friend because I needed a car quickly. This car was already promised to be shipped to Nigeria, where Europe dumps all the old cars. It still had 3 months until the next savety inspection, which the car certainly would have failed.

The engine was still OK, but the car had some electrical issues. When using the turn signal first, and then using the brake pedal, all lights and electrical load were going bonkers, resulting in flickering and failure. The car had to be stopped and the key had to be removed in order to switch it off. Then the car could be started again and one could resume driving.

In order to avoid this issues, it was crucial to use the break pedal first, and then the turning signal, right before turning. This way the electrical issues ware not that severe - the issues stopped, wenn dis-enganging the turn signal.

Also, the doors central locking system was not working properly. Only the passenger door was operational. When I wanted to get the trunk hatch to open, I had to unlock the passenger’s door, reach inside to open the driver’s door from the inside. Then I had to walk around to fully open the driver’s door in order to pull the lever for the trunk hatch that is located next to the driver’s seat.

I only had this car for two months. One day I put the car into neutral at a traffic light. After that, there was a strange noise. I put it into first gear and the clutch refused to connect to the power train. The clutch failed, the car couldn’t be moved by its own. It went to the scrap yard.

Not owned personally but my mom’s '99 Fiat Punto I used to drive in high school was awful. 60 drunk donkeys under the hood, 0-60 of eventually, brakes that yanked it to the right if you were too aggressive on them and a battery that went flat in a few days if you didn’t drive the car. It also had the tendency to just keep revving up when in neutral until you either put it in gear and engage the clutch or shut off the engine.

Anyway, I still have fond memories of that car. Going down mountain roads was fun because it was very slow, but super light, so you could just keep the throttle pinned for the most part and the rotted out muffler made it sound like a racecar lmao.

Without a doubt, that would be the first car I ever owned, a Renault 21 2.0 diesel that was about 12 years old when I bought it in 1999 of thereabouts, for slightly north of € 1000.

It had some rust, but the worst part about it was that it was slow as molasses. It would do 0-100kph in 25 seconds on a good day, with a top speed of 125 on the speedometer. I laughingly called that my highway cruise control 😁

At the same time, I have very fond memories of that car, as it allowed me to visit my then girlfriend (and current wife), and had loads of cargo space. It also handled speed bumps incredibly well, so I didn’t really need to slow down for them. It also helped that I never had any reliability issues with that thing, until it was totaled.

Probably my 2008 Suzuki Reno. It’s coolant system was made of such brittle crumbly plastic that it would crack and leak out all the coolant, and I didn’t realize this at first I didn’t know to look for it, so I get off the highway after driving 20 miles just in time for huge plumes of white smoke to be coming out of the front of my car.

I got it fixed only for it to crack again and leak again. And it became this nightmare of whack a mole where I’m constantly adding coolant, constantly checking my temperature gauge, constantly bringing it in to be fixed.

And then the whole engine died on the highway and I had to pull over while driving to my new job.

In 2003 I learned to drive in a 1986 Hyundai Pony. The breaking point was when I got a stop sign on a slight incline and my dad had to get out while I floored it so the car could get moving again.

2022 Kia Sportage.

I was forced into leasing it for 4 years so thankfully I don’t own it nor am I financing to own it. The thing is a gas guzzling piece of shit. The parts for it are ridiculously expensive, including getting the tires. There’s not really a thing about it that I like.

35 y/o orange Opel Kadett. Would stall when cornering. Funily enough at the same time also the best car I owned. Fixed it once using the belt from my pants. Belt was on there for years.

Whatever smart MG car, its software is so slow it would be outrun by a 2010s laptop

Mid-2000s Suzuki Forenza. I loved having a hatchback for getting additional storage while not sacrifing fuel efficiency. This part was good on paper, but I had issues with overheating + lack of power + alignment, but the real killer was constantly needing to replace the transmission selector switch—which got me ripped off for quite a while before I know what was wrong & mechanics absolutely took advantage of me if I didn’t say exactly what was wrong. This affected almost everyone that bought the vehicle. I stuck with it for like 4 years, & ditched it for a early-2010s Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Hatchback which was nicer in literally every way & had no issues with the vehicle. As a bonus I didn’t have to be yet another Subaru Outback driver meme.

I didn’t have it terribly long tho—I had to sell it to leave the US. I had to sell it to a dealer since I couldn’t find a buyer, & it was kinda rare to find them. Guys at the dealer ran out to gawk at it, one piped a “this is a nice car; why you think you had trouble selling”? “It’s not a Subaru”, I lamented. The rest of the men nodded their heads in agreement with that fake smile of knowing the truth. & now Mitsubishi no longer makes sedans/wagons.

But despite moving from something I loathed to loved & selling prematurely, I am not too sad since being outside the US, having a car is not a requirements where walking, public transport, & a motorbike (want a bicycle) cover my needs while being much cheaper & better for the environment.

A Mitsubishi Colt I bought from a guy in a scrapyard for £50 because my Allegro had just been stolen and I needed something quick to get to work. He told me it had an MOT and to come back the next day to pick it up (in the days before it was online) He wasn’t there. It was the rustiest POS ever - bits kept falling off, you could see the road in several places through the floor. Engine was good but that was the only thing. In a lifetime of exercising Bangernomics, that was the stand out terrible car.

Most I’ve lost on a car was a more recent Shogun. Bought for £7,500, cost £2000 in repairs then had a lot more pending. Sold for £1400 in less than a year.

The one I’ve got at the minute, a Seat Leon (mark 4); it’s built on top of VWs MQB platform and honestly it’s a piece of shit.

The list of issues is as long as my arm: The reversing beeper gets stuck, the graphics don’t draw on top of the reversing camera, plugging a phone in stops playback, the shitty entertainment system crashes, keyless entry gets shy when it rains, the emergency alerting system throws a fit if it loses mobile signal, there’s no light on critical controls in the dark, the interior light sometimes can’t be switched off, the cruise control gets confused about which side of the road it’s driving on and doesn’t want to overtake another car (it thinks it’s undertaking), the speed limiter is hiding behind UI 4 steps, the clutch jumps when cold etc etc.

Every month I discover a new niggle. This is the third Seat I’ve owned (having previously loved my two Seat Leons) and will most definitely be my last VW group car ever. What a piece of trash.

The car I had the most trouble with wasn’t because it was a bad car, but because it kept getting trashed. VW Cabriolet convertible. Bought it when I got my first real job out of school.

One week after driving it off the lot, parked on a busy city street, someone slashed the roof and tore out the stereo. Fixed it all up. Insurance rate went up. Six months later, knife through the roof AND a smashed window. Stereo gone. Switched to a removable, pull-out stereo. Still got broken into.

Had dozens of slashes/smashes. At one point, just left the door locks open. Nothing to take. Someone slept in the back seat (left food wrappers) and pilfered through the ashtray where I kept loose change.

Loved driving it with the top down, but what a pain it was to fix.

A 2018 VW Passat GTE. It isn’t bad, but it’s the only car I’ve ever owned.

For a loose definition of “me” and more “my parents when I was young” was a mid-70’s Fiat. I have lots of memories where we waited in some parking lot or by the freeway for a tow truck or some other help to arrive.

A 2003 Chevrolet S10. Had it since it was brand new, it’s been almost perfectly reliable. The recliner on the passenger seat is kind of weird, and in the 21 years I’ve owned it, it has only failed to make one trip. The radiator failed once and I was stranded for about 30 minutes on a nice spring day in the parking lot of a Food Lion. It’s showing some wear after a couple decades but it starts, it runs, it’s comfortable, it hauls any cargo I need, it’s not tremendously big for a pickup truck so it’s easy to park…I fully intend for that truck to be my hearse. Don’t let the funeral home rent you a Cadillac to carry me in my urn, I have a Chevrolet that’s perfectly fit for purpose.

It’s the worst car I’ve ever owned because it is the only car I’ve ever owned.