Name a car that you wouldn’t take–even if someone paid you

kevinatfms said:

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

kevinatfms said:

SVT Contour. Absolute horrible piece of E36 M3 to work on in any capacity. Better have extra knuckle skin, super glue and health insurance. 

Same goes with the Ford Probe V6.

I've heard that before. Is it true that an alternator is an engine-out fix?

 

I almost talked myself into one because it was 900 bucks but I never looked at it because everyone said to run away screaming.

Not an engine out fix but an "i will kill the service advisor who gave me this job" fix. Better off sticking your dick in ghost pepper sauce than to deal with replacement of a Contour V6 alternator.

Worst was catalytic converters. Subframe removal minimum just to pull out the guaranteed frozen o2 sensors. Biggest gripe with that was the subframe bolts would strip along with the threading in the body. You would basically call out sick if you found out that one needed o2 sensors. 

Damn

I chose a zx2 instead and thought it was better even before I read this.

Now I think it's way way way better

The other thought I have for this thread:

Can I fit in the car with a helmet on and a roll cage added?

Would the "if somebody paid me" cover a cage, fire suit, enough repairs to get the car running, and tires?

If so, any car can be an awesome stage rally car at least once.

Tesla

I'm surprised no one has said Land Rover Freelander. I remember all the tales of how epically awful those things were. I believe Swank Force One dubbed it the Anti-Miata, as in it's never the answer.

In reply to NickD :

yeah.... I miss Ben.

Ford EXP from the early 80's. I had one supplied by an insurance company after getting hit on my motorcycle. (My only mode of transportation at that time) They couldn't figure how to give me a loaner bike so they came up with that. 
The novelty of staying warm and dry in the winter wore off in about 10 minutes. 
My repaired bike was returned to me during an ice storm. I was so happy. 

M2Pilot said:

preach (dudeist priest) said:

Pontiac Aztec

I disagree.  Although Aztec is a running joke among car enthusiasts, it was pretty good. My son-in-law had one for several years. It was versatile and trouble free and a good value . I will concede that the styling wasn't for everybody.

They blow intake gaskets.  

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

Chrysler Concorde/ intrepid/ whatever else shared that horrible platform.
 

Here's an idea: let's put an unreasonably heavy v6 waaay out in front of the axle so the thing is so nose heavy that even thinking about the brakes makes the front drop 6", and while we're at it, maybe uncomfortable seats, steering that feels like it's made from marshmallows and coupled with telekinesis. A battery is something that people have to deal with regularly, so let's put it behind the front fender. People like road noise, right? ALL the road noise! Also, there will be no ground clearance; speed bumps will damage things, this is mandatory. And the upholstery doesn't stain, but it LOOKS stained right from the factory. Deal with it. 
Seriously, BERK whoever green lit that abortion. It's like they saw GM designing the W body, and said, "let's do that, only way E36 M3tier." "I don't know, sir, the W is pretty terrible..." "Johnson, I want to take the E36 M3tiness to 11. I want to make the general puke." Then they did. 

I had a 2000 Concorde as a company car while working a capital equipment sales job in Wisconsin and the UP.  A normal year was about 40k miles.  Yea, the seats weren't great, and I did go through a transmission at about 70k miles, but man, that was the BEST snow car ever, on regular old all season tires.  No idea why, but it was just glued to the road in slippery weather.  Replacement car was a V6 Camry that was way better in every way, except in the snow.  BTW, the UP gets a lot of snow, and my best customer was way up there, so yea.

My parents LOVE those cars, and sebrings. While none of that makes sense my dad has two sebrings right now with 200k plus on them. He says they are bulletproof. My mom drives an eclipse convertible. I know where I get it from at least.

spitfirebill said:

M2Pilot said:

preach (dudeist priest) said:

Pontiac Aztec

I disagree.  Although Aztec is a running joke among car enthusiasts, it was pretty good. My son-in-law had one for several years. It was versatile and trouble free and a good value . I will concede that the styling wasn't for everybody.

They blow intake gaskets.  

So does everything else with a 3100/3400.  It's a stupid easy fix and if you use the metal backed ones, it is a one time fix.

ShawnG said:

I used to drive by a guy's house on my way home from work, he must have had 6 or 8 Yugos in the driveway and yard.

He must have been "Yugo guy"

It was the late 80's/early 90's and a guy by my first house collected those old Saab 99's.  I always called him the "Saab guy".  Even if I drive by today I still scan the driveway.   

Not a one is my answer.

In high school, I was offered a hand me down 76 Comet sort of as pictured below, only it was gold/beige on beige interior. I6, auto

The interior looked like this:

I declared "I'd rather walk", and did, since the 4 speed V8 Javelin I spent every available penny on was perpetually broken. 

Suffice to say, tastes have changed, and a running anything beats a broken "cool" car.

golfduke said:

Chevy Corsica.  As a good racing buddy once said, 'It's so bad, It can't even be Lemons'ed'...  My mom had one, and god what an epic pile that thing was. 

 

They sold sooooooo many of them. They were everywhere. Berettas too.

What is the condition of the car?  Running and driving with a good transferable title?  Absolutely any car in usable shape as I'm with Duster on this one.

Any mid 80's GM diesel, but especially the sedans. 

If we are talking not something to modify at all, I thought of another:

Iron Duke Camaro

Although I admit it would be hilarious to hop one a bunch I don't really see why anyone would want one in stock form. Probably is the reason you never ever see them is because no one bought one anyway

Any car can be modified to be fun and interesting. People avoiding entire common popular brands are just closed minded.

yeah avoid all Chrysler products. That way you never have to own one of these:

Avoid all Fords. That way you'll never suffer the embarrassment of driving one of these:

Avoid all GM products for similar reasons.

Even when it comes down to individual models and years, there is potential in pretty much everything. For some cars with known problems, there are often new, permanent fixes (like the previously mentioned head gasket fix for the GM 3100).

I loved my SVT Contour. Would have another. Loved my '05 BMW ZHP. Shouldn't have sold it. Loved my Fiat 124 Spiders, even with the rust. Absolutely love my current MINI Roadster even with the reputation MINIs have.

If someone was paying me to take a car, even one of those Matadors, I'd find a way to have fun with it and modify it, if I had the room to keep it.

And here I thought this board was for people with at least a modicum of imagination.

dean1484 said:

Free car is like free pizza.  Free pizza is better than no pizza. 

Except that some pizza is absolutely not worth ingesting the calories, regardless of price point.

jh36 said:

Ford EXP from the early 80's. I had one supplied by an insurance company after getting hit on my motorcycle. (My only mode of transportation at that time) They couldn't figure how to give me a loaner bike so they came up with that. 
The novelty of staying warm and dry in the winter wore off in about 10 minutes. 
My repaired bike was returned to me during an ice storm. I was so happy. 

I can't be the only one here who thinks one of those would be a great commuter if only I put an SVT Focus drivetrain in there.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Its just a 1st Gen Escort underneath, including the Ford CVH drivetrain, the Ford Zetec is loosely based off the CVH.  So the swap may not be too bad to do, as far as swaps go.  Of course there was a factory turbo version of the CVH overseas that might be a slightly more "Radwood" aproved solution when coupled with some modern relibility improvements.

CAinCA said:

Any mid 80's GM diesel, but especially the sedans. 

Oh, I'll take them all.  The head gasket issue is super easy to solve and then you have a sweet, efficient diesel that can be turboed to pretty impressive numbers.

So, yes... 30 mpg and 450hp/650tq?  I'll take every last one of them.

I won't do a K-car.  If someone gave it to me, I wouldn't even waste the Sharpie ink to make a "free" sign, I would just leave the keys in it and park it somewhere it would get stolen.

Duke said:

dean1484 said:

Free car is like free pizza.  Free pizza is better than no pizza. 

Except that some pizza is absolutely not worth ingesting the calories, regardless of price point.

 

Yup. I don't want to deal with a car that I really don't want.

Almost anything Renault.  I qualify that because I don't know the whole historical Renault model line.  They might have made something worthwhile, but if they did, I'm not familiar with it.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

I won't do a K-car.  If someone gave it to me, I wouldn't even waste the Sharpie ink to make a "free" sign, I would just leave the keys in it and park it somewhere it would get stolen.

My nephew had a K-car. Body is in decent shape. He killed it somehow and after a few years of it sitting at my farm its *finally* going to join 99% of its family in the scrapyard in the sky. So I can relate to not wanting to touch one that was given to oneself

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Wait, you'll take a complete failure of GM design, AKA the diesel V8 bt you won't take a K?

Only because you magically know how to "fix" the inherent issues with the V8 diesel through the magic of head gaskets (never mind that the engines themselves really weren't ever designed or intended for diesel use, so its still a grenade with the pin pulled, especially once you add "boost") yet the K gets a pass because you vaguely remember reading in some magazine about its supposed lack of chassis stiffness, even though many people have raced them and never once complained about chassis stiffness issues (unless otherwise previously damaged by rust or accident damage) as well as many who've actually owned and worked on them stating they've never had issues with chassis sag.  I have had issues with door pins wearing out, especially on the 2-doors, but that's not a chassis twist issue, that's just wear and tear and easily replaced with new bushings/pins and isn't limited to any one manufacturer.