# POS cars you've owned



## Greg (Oct 21, 2008)

So....what piece of shit cars have you owned? Here are mine:
*1979 VW Rabbit* - I had it for 10 days, exactly as long as a temporary registration. It never passed inspection due to bad valves which resulted in a massive oil leak. The cool thing was decelerating with the thing down a hill. Oil would get sucked into the carb through the air filter housing which resulted in a cloud of blue smoke following you down the hill. Rad.
*1979 Pontiac Sunbird* - my second POS. The transmission completely fell out of it on my way home from school after 2 months.
*1972/1976 Datsun pickup* - I'm not quite sure of the year. The title didn't jive with what was stamped on the ID plate which was obviously forged. :lol: No comment. I drove it for a year. It was actually a pretty good little truck, just dangerous to drive.
*1988 Ford Ranger* - Sweet. Here we are in the early 90's and I've finally upgraded to a vehicle that was within 5 years old that my father gave me. Too bad the 2 liter 4 cyclinder (carb, no fuel injection :roll was such junk that the motor seized at like 70K miles. We had it bored out and it lasted like another 10K. I think my father bought in new for less than $7,000. It had NO options.
*1986 Mazda 626* - Actually a good little car. Had a lot of pep, but it looked like crap. An off white color with all these dents in the hood. Must be an interesting story behind that. Drove it for a year.
After these beauts I've since driven cars that were worth more than $2,000 that don't toally fit the POS category.


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## bvibert (Oct 21, 2008)

None of my cars were POS's.... Until I got my hands on them...


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## frozencorn (Oct 21, 2008)

bvibert said:


> None of my cars were POS's.... Until I got my hands on them...



Ditto. I always wished I could have ridden around in a Duster though. 

Buddy of mine pimped around in a Ford Fairmont back in high school. Going out in that thing just oozed style.


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## pepperdawg (Oct 21, 2008)

back in the mid 90s my winter car was a 83 subaru hatchback with rust holes in the drivers side floor board and no 3rd gear.....used to drive to and from Boston (from Hartford) to visit GF.....


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## RootDKJ (Oct 21, 2008)

1982 Pontiac Firebird, 6cyl stick.  Nightmares just thinking about it.


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## Hawkshot99 (Oct 21, 2008)

My first car was a 95' Ford Escort.  Parents bought it for me for my 16th birthday from a friend for $600.

It was the cheapest it could have come from the factory.  No power steering.  The passenger side mirror was a option that year, so that was not on the car.  No tach.(try learning to drive stick with out one.)  All speakers were blown.  The original owner replaced the trunk speakers with house speakers.

The previous owner had lived in it for 6 months after his apartment was sold.  While cleaning it out I found several used condoms.......


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## severine (Oct 21, 2008)

My current car is a POS.  1998 Blazer.  You know how little kids pretend they're driving?  That's me on the highway.  Driver's lock and rear passenger lock don't always unlock with the remote.  Wipers have a mind of their own - forget intermittent.  Rear wiper seizes all the time.  Rear squirter squirts washer fluid inside the truck.  No A/C anymore.  Heat is either REALLY hot or it blows cold air on you (so much for climate control :roll.  My daughter took a rock to the side of it one day - looks like it's been keyed.  Hasn't been washed in 4 years.    We won't even talk about how much food is inside it, thanks to the kids.  But it does have leather interior... :lol:

I think it's almost worse than my other POSish vehicles...

1985 VW Jetta - the rust bucket.  Never look at a car at night and then buy it on the spot.  $1000 in 1996 bought me a car that had a floor like swiss cheese.  Brian and his buddy tried their best to fix it up with some welding, but what we didn't see was that the strut towers were rusted out, too.  Ouch.  I didn't have that one long before it got junked.  Oddly, I have no memories of that car other than the night I bought it (which I had to drive it home in the dark with no lights in the dash... that was interesting) and the day it was picked up for junk.

1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer - purchased for $800 (1999, I believe) by Brian for me as a secret .  Spring popped out of driver's side lock.  Rear power window (to get into the cargo area) had to be disconnected because it wouldn't shut off.  Leaked a lot of oil.  Headliner was falling down.  Leather? seats were pretty shot.  The car tried to kill me... in the winter, in spite of letting it warm up for 15 minutes or so, invariably when I would take the left turn into the driveway at work (about 1 mile from home), it would stall leaving me stranded with oncoming traffic.  That carb hated me.

I have others that had POSish qualities, but I wouldn't necessarily label them as a POS.

_*Brian, it's more like they're not POS's until you stop putting your hands on them. *_


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## wa-loaf (Oct 21, 2008)

1982 VW Jetta a faded pale green with a blue passenger door. I had it 3 years. It actually stomped pretty good, but was a magnate for break-ins. Lost a couple stereos and a radar detector. Door handles eventually fell off and you just had to stick your fingers into the holes to open up the doors.

1983 Saab 900 hatchback. Had a bad fuel injector that didn't work well until the car got hot. Totaled it on the way back from Stowe when a chick in a Subaru spun out in front of me and I t-boned her. No one was hurt.

1986 VW GTI, pretty good car actually just didn't have a working odometer so I never really new how many miles it had. Absolutely rocked with some snow tires on it.


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## MichaelJ (Oct 21, 2008)

Chevy Monza. 'nuf said.


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## hammer (Oct 21, 2008)

1974 VW Dasher, could do 80 with the windows up.  First car.
1978 Ford Mustang w/4 cyl engine, had valve seal issues and broke a camshaft driving from NJ to Boston
197? Ford Pinto, actually ran OK for the few months I had it
1986 Chrysler Laser, turbo 4cyl, had good pickup but after a few years something broke every few months; traded in for 1990 Acura Integra which was a much better car
1993 Ford Explorer, cylinder head cracked at 15K (under warranty) and after 100k would have major problem every few months


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## andrec10 (Oct 21, 2008)

1976 Lancia=Fancy Fiat. DOHC and double points as well as 4-wheel disc brakes and a whole bunch of other wonderful things that did not work. Finally had to get rid of it when I had enough of the electrical gremlins.

1976 VW Fox An Electrical NIGHTMARE!!!!!

Had these between '82 and '84....a little shortsighted back then...


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## MR. evil (Oct 21, 2008)

severine said:


> My current car is a POS.  1998 Blazer.  You know how little kids pretend they're driving?  That's me on the highway.  Driver's lock and rear passenger lock don't always unlock with the remote.  Wipers have a mind of their own - forget intermittent.  Rear wiper seizes all the time.  Rear squirter squirts washer fluid inside the truck.  No A/C anymore.  Heat is either REALLY hot or it blows cold air on you (so much for climate control :roll.  My daughter took a rock to the side of it one day - looks like it's been keyed.  Hasn't been washed in 4 years.    We won't even talk about how much food is inside it, thanks to the kids.  But it does have leather interior... :lol:



I think we have a winner!

Chevy Blazers are just awfull. My mother bough a 2001 or 2002 brand new against my advice and the thing has been a POS from day one. Apparently the 25 year track record of the Blazers falling part and generally being one of the worst cars made wasn't enough to change ger mind. 

My only semi POS was a 1989 Chevey Beretta GT that I owned for about 6 months. It wasn't awful when I had it but it wasn't good either. It was just something to get me through until a new Jeep I ordered from the factory came in. I didn't even sell the thing, I just gave it to my younger brother once my jeep came in. He drove it for a couple of years and then passed it on to my then brother in-law after his car got wrecked. He drove the thing for a couple of more years. By then it was falling apart. The dash board and interior body panels were being held in place with hot glue and the paint was peeling off in sheets


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## Greg (Oct 21, 2008)

hammer said:


> 1986 Chrysler Laser, turbo 4cyl, had good pickup but after a few years something broke every few months; traded in for 1990 Acura Integra which was a much better car





Rad. James Earl Jones! A buddy had a turbo Daytona in college. Pretty zippy little car.


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Oct 21, 2008)

My first car was a 1990 Jetta..I bought it in December of 1995 for $4grand..it was initially good but it had all sorts of problems and I spent at least $2grand additional on repairs..it died on me three seperate times where it had to be towed..I sold it in August of 1998 for $2grand and began leasing a 1999 Jetta..then I bought a 2002 Nissan Sentra and I leased my 2006 Suburu Impreza 3 years ago and that's been my best car so far and in a half hour..I'm going to the dealership to take the option to buy...In the future hopefully my cars get nicer..


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## severine (Oct 21, 2008)

MR. evil said:


> I think we have a winner!
> 
> Chevy Blazers are just awfull.


I should add that I bought my POS used a little over 4 years ago.  And sadly, I still owe $1300 on the pooper.  But in spite of it's poopiness, it's still on the road (and the mechanical stuff became a problem early on).  Brian had a Blazer, too, that used to be his father's.  Let's see... I think it was 1995 when he acquired it and it was IIRC a 1990 or so.  Became quite the Frankenstein's monster with all the parts he changed out on it, including the transmission going from a manual to auto (quite the story about that process, too, LOL).  Sold that beast... in 2002, I think?  Sat for sale for 1 year before someone finally bought it.  Even that wasn't as big of a POS when we sold it as mine is now.  His looked like poop - mine IS poop.


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## deadheadskier (Oct 21, 2008)

1988 VW Fox - the Rasta Fox .Believe it was made in Mexico, everything but the engine pretty much blew between 88K and 100K miles.  dumped it after a year and spending $500 a month in repairs.  Had it from 1995-1996

1982 Honda Accord Hatch back - Old Gold.  great little car, lasted until 197K miles when I sold it in 99

1995 Ford Explorer - was nice when I bought it in 1999 with 82K miles on it.  It was a POS, but I put that think through hell and spent very little on repairs.  Sold it in 2005 with 198K miles on it to a guy named Eduardo who flew up from Texas to buy it for $900.  I tried to talk him out of it.  "Eduardo, you mean to tell me that you can't find a $900 truck in Texas?  No muchacho.  :lol:  I highly doubt it made it to Texas.


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## bvibert (Oct 21, 2008)

severine said:


> I should add that I bought my POS used a little over 4 years ago.  And sadly, I still owe $1300 on the pooper.  But in spite of it's poopiness, it's still on the road (and the mechanical stuff became a problem early on).  Brian had a Blazer, too, that used to be his father's.  Let's see... I think it was 1995 when he acquired it and it was IIRC a 1990 or so.  Became quite the Frankenstein's monster with all the parts he changed out on it, including the transmission going from a manual to auto (quite the story about that process, too, LOL).  Sold that beast... in 2002, I think?  Sat for sale for 1 year before someone finally bought it.  Even that wasn't as big of a POS when we sold it as mine is now.  His looked like poop - mine IS poop.



That was not a POS.  I beat the living shit out of that truck.  90% of the stuff I replaced was because I wanted to, not because it needed to.  I thoroughly enjoyed working on that truck and buying new crap for it.  The switch from it being a stick to a slush box was more of a necessity to handle my nuttiness then anything else.  I had replaced the clutch on it, but apparently the new clutch disk didn't like being engaged at high RPMs from a dead stop or being rapidly engaged while shifting into 2nd gear (both up and down shifting) at high RPM in such a matter that the rear tires would chirp.  It didn't last too long before the center of the clutch disk literally ripped out of the rest of the disk leaving me stranded.  I can hardly fault the car for that though.


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## severine (Oct 21, 2008)

It did not start out as one... but it certainly ended as one when it sat for a year with no buyer.  I added that story to show how resilient yours was compared to mine.


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## bvibert (Oct 21, 2008)

severine said:


> 1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer - purchased for $800 (1999, I believe) by Brian for me as a secret .  Spring popped out of driver's side lock.  Rear power window (to get into the cargo area) had to be disconnected because it wouldn't shut off.  Leaked a lot of oil.  Headliner was falling down.  Leather? seats were pretty shot.  The car tried to kill me... in the winter, in spite of letting it warm up for 15 minutes or so, invariably when I would take the left turn into the driveway at work (about 1 mile from home), it would stall leaving me stranded with oncoming traffic.  That carb hated me.



Don't be talking smack about the Wag!   That truck didn't owe us anything.  Just because you didn't know how to drive it isn't it's fault... :roll:

That was a sweet ride. 8)

BTW - You forgot to mention that one of the rear doors wouldn't open at the time we got rid of it.


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## severine (Oct 21, 2008)

Yeah, I couldn't master driving an automatic.  :roll:

You're such a douche sometimes.  

It was a sweet ride... would have been sweeter if it wasn't such a broken POS. :lol:  Forgot about that door.

Let's not forget we have another broken classic Jeep in the garage right now.


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## bvibert (Oct 21, 2008)

severine said:


> It did not start out as one... but it certainly ended as one when it sat for a year with no buyer.  I added that story to show how resilient yours was compared to mine.



It sat for year because it was indeed Frankenstein's monster and people were scared of it.  The only parts that were original to it were the body and frame, and possibly the gas tank.  Every other component had been swapped out, including the original maroon vinyl interior for a sweet black and charcoal interior from a later model sport edition blazer.


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## Johnskiismore (Oct 21, 2008)

1979 Mercury Bobcat, 1979 Datsun pick up, those were the two that were the biggest headaches.  Mind you they were between 9 and ten years old by the time I owned them!


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## Swamp Dog (Oct 21, 2008)

1984 Olds Omega.  'Nuff said
1986 Pontiac 2000
1996 Plymouth Breeze....don't know what I was thinking there.

A few years ago, when we reached out 20th anniversary, my husband and I realized that we had owned 1 car for each year we were married.  Mind you not all of them were POSs.  

The mid-80s Sentra that my cousin gave us after totaling it would be a POS but we didn't buy it.  Same with the '78 VW Dasher which was eventually abandoned, where, I'll never tell.

The 1985 VW Rabbit that my husband drove from TX to MA in with nothing but his huge Snap On toolbox inside (1988). Now that was a POS.  Traded a hunting rifle for it and had to have the heads machined before it would run.  Once the tool box was in it the headlights were pointing into the sky!  Good thing he had tools with him.

The Toyota we had in Okinawa 1983.  No starter.  Had to make sure you parked it at the top of a hill to pop the clutch to get it started.  Sold 2 Nishiki road bikes to pay for that POS.  What can I say, I was 20.  Came back to the states to find my "friends" had trashed my '78 Camaro.

1996 Plymouth Mini Van.  My husband loved that thing.  Called it his high performance mini van.  I despised it.  All that was missing in my life was the white picket fence. Had the 2.5 kids, house in the 'burbs, 1 dog, and a freakin' mini van.  I could not have been any more white bread.

The 2004 Honda CR-V that I'm driving now.  Roof leaks and AC died.  Only had it 1 year.

--------------------------------------------------

Good cars:

1970 Chevy Nova. it had a 307 turbo.  Loved that car, it was my first.  my brother totaled it.

1988 VW Jetta.  Loved that car, except for the auto seatbelts.  No worries.  I was hit head on 2 months after buying it and it was totalled.  Bought the '89 and ran it into the ground.  

2000 Toyota Tacoma.  My Y2K truck.  Loved that thing but it wasn't very practical for more than 2 of us.  I didn't know that when I bought it that my son would reach 6'2" and I'd be the one sitting on the back bench.  Not good.

2002 Chevy Tahoe.  Another great car.  Until gas reached $2.00.  Then I traded it in on a 2004 Honda CR-V.  But not the one I'm driving now.  Oh no.  I leased it because I had left my job and was going back to school, wanted low payments. Of course school was 100+ miles r/t, 5 times a week for almost 4 years.  I had 110K miles on it at the end of my lease and couldn't find anyone to finance the remainder of lease for me.  So I took the one they had on the lot.  The POS.

It is also safe to say that I have never bought a car that I did not get hosed on.


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## 2knees (Oct 21, 2008)

bvibert said:


> It sat for year because it was indeed Frankenstein's monster and people were scared of it.  The only parts that were original to it were the body and frame, and possibly the gas tank.  Every other component had been swapped out, including the original maroon vinyl interior for a sweet black and charcoal interior from a later model sport edition blazer.



do you still have Hondo or Honcho? whatever that thing was.  


I've owned a few garbage dumps.

A 1979 Toyota Celica.  Actually was a real nice ride but i got it in 1991, a few years past its prime.  It leaked so much that it actually had mushrooms growing out of the backseat floorboard carpeting.



1988 VW Golf.  I actually paid 5,000 for that thing in 1994 but it was nothing but trouble.  It backfired like crazy for a while.  You'd be driving down the street and watch people hit the deck when it went off.

My current ride is a dump but thats my fault.  I have an '02 civic that is mechanically sound.  Its been paid off for almost 2 years and I have no intention of getting rid of it.  No one wants to get in it, but thats fine by me.  I even took the kids carseats out a year or so ago cause they wont go near it.  They always say, daddy's car smells!


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## Sky (Oct 21, 2008)

HEH!  Great thread...I could have gone the rest of my LIFE without going over this list in public.

Let's see.....7? Plymouth Arrow hatchback.  Ooof.  I drove it for a while when I lived in Kentucky...drove it to MA when we moved...commuted with it (about 35k miles a year)...never spent much on it...(should have bought tires).  Zero compression...took about 20 seconds to shut off.  Not the pre-ignition thing....like an electric motor with a fly wheel.  Rusted out, torn seats, faded paint (where there was paint).  ugh

I tried to give it to a junk yard.  They wanter to charge me for it!

I forget how I got rid of it, but I replaced it....with a 7? Plymout Arrow Pick-up truck (aka Dodge RAM).  This POS also didn't cost me much...minimal moving parts, kept a can of WD40 to keep it running in the rain.  The radiator's thermostat was inop.  So I had a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator in the winter..it warmed up after about 20 miles or so.  The driver's door stopped opening from the inside.  Then stopped opening from the outside (you know, roll the window down and use the outer door latch while sitting in the car).  Eventually the same thing happened with the passenger side, the plywood in the bed was hidding the lack of metal in the bed.  One of my kids stepped on the bumper and it fell off.  Donated it when I bought...

A 78 S10 Pickup, extra cab with a cap on the back.  This was pretty cool...for a while.  Also cost me zero in repairs,,,,a few hundred in WD 40 to keep it running in the rain.  I raod that thing into the ground till I bought...


An 88 Taurus.  shortest POS ownership of my life.  1-1/2 years.  WHen the AC crapped out (and snapped the belt in doing so), I had the shop forgo the AC and put on the non-AC version.  One day it rolled into the driveway and never started again.  It had this awful squeaking that drove backseat passngers mad.  You could hear the squeak reverberate as you drove through a parking garage.  Awful.  Donated it.

Wife bought a 90 Dodge Caravan....can you say transmission problemS!  We put in three (how do you spell stupid?...Sky!).  

Traded it in for a new Ford Windstar (lease)...worst new car I ever owned.  Did I mention Transmission problems?  We drove about 40 miles in low gear...back roads @ night cuz we had to get home (the kids had school the next day).  Next weekend, we traded it in (and it behaved @ the dealership and they gave us a deal).  I forgot to mention the second most stupid thing I did (with a car)....we bought it after the lease was up...that's when the trany went bad.  

BEST CARS?

Well...the first ride was my grandfather's 59 Ford Fairlane, 3 speed on the column.  Sweet, two tone tan and bronze.  Classic.

In Itlay I owned a 67 Fiat 124 Spider (it was twelve years old).  Used to put the top down, stick the skis in the front seat, windows up and heat on,  Oh yeah...we were a sight.

Wife drives an 02 Chrysler Sebring convertable....nice nice.

I drive an 02 Blazer!!!  Bought it in 04 from Enterprise rent-a-car, 13K miles, for $13K.  I now have 128K miles....tires, oil, a tie rod...and an oxygen sensor in Aug (then a fuel pump in Sep).  I love it.


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## hardline (Oct 22, 2008)

severine said:


> My current car is a POS.  1998 Blazer.  You know how little kids pretend they're driving?  That's me on the highway.  Driver's lock and rear passenger lock don't always unlock with the remote.  Wipers have a mind of their own - forget intermittent.  Rear wiper seizes all the time.  Rear squirter squirts washer fluid inside the truck.  No A/C anymore.  Heat is either REALLY hot or it blows cold air on you (so much for climate control :roll.  My daughter took a rock to the side of it one day - looks like it's been keyed.  Hasn't been washed in 4 years.    We won't even talk about how much food is inside it, thanks to the kids.  But it does have leather interior... :lol:
> 
> I think it's almost worse than my other POSish vehicles...
> 
> ...



dont hate on the blazer i have the same year. it a champ. three years of vt trips. getting beat on in the city. i am close to relagating her to city car. i just can't seem to pull the trigger on the fj crusier.

my blazer is da shit.


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## MR. evil (Oct 22, 2008)

Sky said:


> HEH!  Great thread...I could have gone the rest of my LIFE without going over this list in public.
> 
> Let's see.....7? Plymouth Arrow hatchback.  Ooof.  I drove it for a while when I lived in Kentucky...drove it to MA when we moved...commuted with it (about 35k miles a year)...never spent much on it...(should have bought tires).  Zero compression...took about 20 seconds to shut off.  Not the pre-ignition thing....like an electric motor with a fly wheel.  Rusted out, torn seats, faded paint (where there was paint).  ugh
> 
> ...



I see your problem.... you have owned way to many American cars. I will not even consider buying an American car (except for a Corvette) but American pick-up trucks are pretty good and we actually own one. Until things drasticlly change in the American auto indusrty I am all about Japanese cars. Our last cat was a 2001 Nissan Maxima that I bough new and put 120,000 miles on. That car was rock solid for over 7 years. We just got rid of that and purchased a new 2009 Honda Accord Coupe. Its our first Honda and we are both hooked!


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## severine (Oct 22, 2008)

2knees said:


> do you still have Hondo or Honcho? whatever that thing was.


That moved on when he got the Passat wagon last year.  Honcho... 1983, IIRC.  Pretty interesting truck but not exactly safe nor family-friendly.  Brian went through an FSJ period for a while.


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## bvibert (Oct 22, 2008)

2knees said:


> do you still have Hondo or Honcho? whatever that thing was.





severine said:


> That moved on when he got the Passat wagon last year.  Honcho... 1983, IIRC.  Pretty interesting truck but not exactly safe nor family-friendly.  Brian went through an FSJ period for a while.



Yup, sadly it's gone.  It had so much potential when I got it too.  Just another one of my projects that didn't come to fruition.  Most people would have called it a POS, but it was solid and served me well with minimal upkeep.  Plus, as an added bonus it kept me from speeding. 8)


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## o3jeff (Oct 22, 2008)

I just googled Honcho to see what this thing was and the first link was for a magazine, after clicking I was pretty sure that that was the wrong type of Honcho. Moral of the story, make sure you put the year and name when googling it.


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## 2knees (Oct 22, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> I just googled Honcho to see what this thing was and the first link was for a magazine, after clicking I was pretty sure that that was the wrong type of Honcho. Moral of the story, make sure you put the year and name when googling it.



:lol:

was it a pic of one of the village people or something?


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## severine (Oct 22, 2008)

:lol:  It's a full-sized Jeep pick up truck.  It was pretty cool looking and didn't cost much.


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## o3jeff (Oct 22, 2008)

2knees said:


> :lol:
> 
> was it a pic of one of the village people or something?



Go ahead and google it, make sure no one is looking over your shoulder.


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## severine (Oct 22, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> Go ahead and google it, make sure no one is looking over your shoulder.




:lol: :lol: :lol:  That guy has quite the grip!  :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## ChileMass (Oct 22, 2008)

*1970 Dodge Dart - *1st car I ever owned, bought in 1981 from a friend for $200.  Had a terrific 288 cu inch slant-6 engine that ran like crazy, but the body rusted off the frame so I had to junk it.  

*1972 VW Bug - *my 2nd car, bought in 1983 for $675.  Drove it for almost 4 years until my feet went thru the floorboards.  No heat, no AC, no radio, no nothing.  Had a 2x4 for a front bumper, but it got me thru college.  It started in upstate NY winters when everyone else's cars were frozen solid.  

*1976 Subaru DL - *the ugliest car I ever owned.  Bought it off my brother for something like $500 when the VW died.  Yuck.  The oil pan leaked and smoke backed up into the passenger compartment when the car wasn't in motion.  Blecccch.   

In 1988 I finally bought myself a decent car - another Subaru, but at least it was a new one......


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## 2knees (Oct 22, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> Go ahead and google it, make sure no one is looking over your shoulder.



I'll just wait till i get home i think.


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## bvibert (Oct 22, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> I just googled Honcho to see what this thing was and the first link was for a magazine, after clicking I was pretty sure that that was the wrong type of Honcho. Moral of the story, make sure you put the year and name when googling it.



:lol:  I've heard that Honcho was the name of some 'alternative lifestyle' publication back in the day....

This is the beast to which Pat was referring:


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## drjeff (Oct 22, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> Go ahead and google it, make sure no one is looking over your shoulder.



The ladies that I employ just appreciated the cover "beefcake" shots   Now I must quickly go view some ski porn to set my world straight(pun intended  ) again!


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## SKIQUATTRO (Oct 22, 2008)

lucky enough to always had good cars

-85 VW Golf 2 dr
-93 VW Jetta
-97 Acura Integra (2dr hatchback) aweful in the snow
-99 Audi A4 Quattro
-02 Saab 9.3 Hatch
-92 Jeep Wrangler
-02 Audi A4 Avant Quattro


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## Moe Ghoul (Oct 22, 2008)

My first post college car was a used 70's VW Scirrocco which was an electrical nightmare.


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## andyzee (Oct 22, 2008)

1964 Dodge Dart, got it for $165 back in the late 70's early 80's. Freaking thing had a push button automatic transmission and came with 6 spare wheels and tires in the trunk. My parent refused to get into it, but I loved it. Had the thing for about a year. One day I was driving home late at night on the highway, fell asleep at the wheel(These were my wilder youth days) and ran up on the curb and hit an exit sign. Front wheel fell off but I was still able to drive down the exit and park it on the street, next to an auto salvage yard.Walked home and the next day came back and sold it to the junk yard for something like $25.

Another car that I loved was a Lancia Beta, believe it was a 73, Great car for it's time, small luxury 4 cylinder. At the time it had features that were not found in other foreign 4 cylinder cars. Stuff such as power windows, door locks, etc... Only problem, it was stick shift, which I wasn't used to and the motor mounts were messed up. I was never aware there was an issue with the motor mounts. When I would let off the clutch and the car/motor jumped, I just thought  it was my inexperience and this was a more touchy clutch. It was actually the motor jumping and that resulted in all kind of stuff breaking. Eventually got rid of the car.

One of my favorite songs:


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## Terry (Oct 22, 2008)

1982 Buick Skyhawk. That thing was the biggest piece of crap. Mega electrical and computer problems. I am a mechanic and this lady brought it in to be worked on. Everytime I fixed something on it, something else would screw up. We started dating, and I married her and inherited the car. It is a joke between us that she had to marry me so that I could keep her car running. I ended up trading it even for a 76 chevy wagon.


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## ctenidae (Oct 22, 2008)

I had a 1986 Ford Escort that had 110K miles when I got it (free). Drove it past 200K (including cross country, and Louisiana to NC more times than I can count).

Then I got a job.


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## kid3 (Oct 22, 2008)

My biggest POS was and is my all time favorite vehicle, a 97 Ford Tauras SHO. I bought it new and have replaced everything and now it is sitting in my yard and needs a new transmission. I will replace it when my canoe comes in. Right!

I drive a 2000 Chevy Blazer back and forth the the Loaf each day. About 84 miles round trip. I go through alot of front end parts and just replaced the fuel pump as I knew it was going. No fuel gauge for a year and sometimes it would just refuse to start. Usually at Judsons after closing and after everyone has driven away. It's the only time I think, gee I need a cell phone. She is running right now and I will leave it at that. I do like my Blazer. Very safe ride in the snow. A perfect ride for this gal.


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## Glenn (Oct 23, 2008)

SKIQUATTRO said:


> lucky enough to always had good cars
> 
> -93 VW Jetta



I had a 1994. Solid cars! Granted, it was the firebreathing SOHC 8v 2.0. :razz:  But it was a really really realiable car; and easy to work on! I did about 99% of the work myself..brakes, belts, water pump, head gasket. Nothing like those OBDI MKIII's. :beer:


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## bvibert (Oct 23, 2008)

Those 2.0 8v's were good motors.  The cross flow heads were a nice improvement over the older 8v heads.  I preferred my 2.0L with 16 valves though.  Too bad those weren't used more widely.


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## billski (Oct 23, 2008)

Yeah Andyzee, the 70's were real ugly for American cars.  you got rid of them at 60K because they literally fell apart.

65 Galaxy 500 - Engine mount bolts snapped going down a hill on Rte 495.  Engine moved forward, the driveshaft backend dropped off and continued to rotate and bang it's way into the cabin floor.  Very, very scary car.  

Scrapped it and bought a Datsun, which had serious carburetor problems.  Solved the problem by trading it for a my first Subie.

p.s., I met the manager of a Chevy design shop in Detroit in 1981.  The arrogance oozed badly.  The man saw my Subie and wouldn't shake my hand.  "you know son, you just put eight Americans out of work."  He didn't see how important quality was going to become. The quality movement clearly passed them by, and now it's too late.  American manufacturers are destined to be shell corporations with somebody else building the product.  I don't think I'd every buy American, sorry folks, the party is over.


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## amf (Oct 23, 2008)

*Oh what the heck…. I’ll add to this:*

#1 1959 VW.  No fuel gage (just the reserve tank lever), no heat (always had a couple of lap blankets).  Valves started to stick, & I would put AT fluid in the crankcase.  They had a rounded “nose” above the rear license plate lite, which I painted day-glo pink & wrote “snort” over since the thing rarely got over 45 mph & truly snorted.  That got me busted.  Engine finally seized going thru the Baltimore Harbor tunnel.

#2 1964 Ford Custom. Straight 6, three on the tree.  The original land whale. I could sleep full out across the back seat.  Things broke (like rocker arms), but were easy to fix & it kept running. Tranny died heading north on I95 – kept losing gears. Abandoned it under the highway after  I was reduced to first gear.

#3 1968 Opel Kadett. The newest car I had owned up to then, and THE biggest POS. Everything broke. Sold it to some guy who loved Opels and needed a stable to keep one running. 

#4 1959 Dodge PU.  What a beast.  Flathead straight 6. You could live in the engine compartment.  Had no oil filter. Hydraulic clutch liked to freeze up in cold weather – always made sure I parked on a grade on really cold nights. Cruise control was a brick on the accelerator . 60 was about tops, but it had a nasty piston slap at that speed. But talk about power – I pulled a Caddy out of a snow filled ditch once & had to check to make sure I had actually attached the chain, as I hardly felt any resistance.  After college, it took me to Mexico & back at which point I got a job & bought my first new car.


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## billski (Oct 23, 2008)

amf said:


> #1 1959 VW.  No fuel gage (just the reserve tank lever), no heat (always had a couple of lap blankets).  Valves started to stick, & I would put AT fluid in the crankcase.  They had a rounded “nose” above the rear license plate lite, which I painted day-glo pink & wrote “snort” over since the thing rarely got over 45 mph & truly snorted.  That got me busted.  Engine finally seized going thru the Baltimore Harbor tunnel.
> 
> #2 1964 Ford Custom. Straight 6, three on the tree.  The original land whale. I could sleep full out across the back seat.  Things broke (like rocker arms), but were easy to fix & it kept running. Tranny died heading north on I95 – kept losing gears. Abandoned it under the highway after  I was reduced to first gear.
> 
> ...



did you ever take any of those beasts skiing?   Sounds like the drive could be an adventure in any of those in the winter.

My Datsun wagon used to creak, literally when we went north.  It literally ran out of heat.  the engine was so small, it seemed designed for warm weather, there was nothing wrong with the thermostat or cooling system, we checked and check.  I literally had to decide if I would just ski at Gunstock (north from Boston) because the cold just got unbearable.  Finally decided the Datsun wasn't bred to be a ski car and traded it.


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## Glenn (Oct 23, 2008)

bvibert said:


> Those 2.0 8v's were good motors.  The cross flow heads were a nice improvement over the older 8v heads.  I preferred my 2.0L with 16 valves though.  Too bad those weren't used more widely.




I often wondered why they didn't go with a 16v as the "base" engine in the MKIII's.


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## bvibert (Oct 23, 2008)

Glenn said:


> I often wondered why they didn't go with a 16v as the "base" engine in the MKIII's.



As did I.  It was the base engine for the B3 Passat, which was cool, for it's short life span anyway.  Then they switched to the 8V for the B4.  I never drove one of the B4's, but I understand they were a little on the underpowered side for that size car.  I never understood why the 16v didn't get more love...


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## Greg (Oct 23, 2008)

MR. evil said:


> I see your problem.... you have owned way to many American cars. I will not even consider buying an American car (except for a Corvette) but American pick-up trucks are pretty good and we actually own one. Until things drasticlly change in the American auto indusrty I am all about Japanese cars. Our last cat was a 2001 Nissan Maxima that I bough new and put 120,000 miles on. That car was rock solid for over 7 years. We just got rid of that and purchased a new 2009 Honda Accord Coupe. Its our first Honda and we are both hooked!



Normally, I would agree with you, but my 2000 Chrokee Sport has been nothing but great. I'm approaching 170,000 miles and the thing just keeps on going and going. I'm hoping the 2004 Grand Cherokee (same 4 liter straight six) lasts as long. My wife is getting antsy for a new car, but I'm content with just driving these into the ground. Still I think a new Forrester is in our not so distant future so we'll be going back to a Japanese car, I guess. I'll "inherit" the Grand and hopefully it lasts as long as the Cherokee has.


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## MR. evil (Oct 23, 2008)

Greg said:


> Normally, I would agree with you, but my 2000 Chrokee Sport has been nothing but great. I'm approaching 170,000 miles and the thing just keeps on going and going. I'm hoping the 2004 Grand Cherokee (same 4 liter straight six) lasts as long. My wife is getting antsy for a new car, but I'm content with just driving these into the ground. Still I think a new Forrester is in our not so distant future so we'll be going back to a Japanese car, I guess. I'll "inherit" the Grand and hopefully it lasts as long as the Cherokee has.



The Cherokee sports are great, I will never understand why Jeep stopped making them. My father had one that lasted him 10 years with very few problems. However I know a bunch of people that have had nothing but problems with the Grand Cherokee's. They have also got panned in Consumer Reports for reliability a majority of the model years this decade.


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## Rushski (Oct 23, 2008)

1979 Chevy Monte Carlo - 
V8 305ci.
Cocoa/Creme two tone with rust stripe up the middle of the hood.
Had it a little over a year in 86 and by that time it was running on maybe five cylinders...

Real hunk of ....


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## Glenn (Oct 23, 2008)

bvibert said:


> As did I.  It was the base engine for the B3 Passat, which was cool, for it's short life span anyway.  Then they switched to the 8V for the B4.  I never drove one of the B4's, but I understand they were a little on the underpowered side for that size car.  I never understood why the 16v didn't get more love...



Either did I. Although, maybe they were developing the 1.8t at the time and wanted to phase out the "older" DOHC engine?


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## Glenn (Oct 23, 2008)

MR. evil said:


> The Cherokee sports are great, I will never understand why Jeep stopped making them. My father had one that lasted him 10 years with very few problems. However I know a bunch of people that have had nothing but problems with the Grand Cherokee's. They have also got panned in Consumer Reports for reliability a majority of the model years this decade.



Cherokee's are great! Well cared for, they last forever. I think they nixed it in an effort to go over to something more crossoverish...like the 1st generation Liberty. I want to say the production run on the Cherokee was 16 years? Not bad for a vehicle that remained, for the most part, fairly unchanged. 

I have an 03 Grand Cherokee Laredo. It's got it's quirks, but it's solid overall. I went with the 4.0 because it's just a reliable engine..IMHO.(Although, the 8 cyl that came in the 99-04's has proven reliable) The Laredo Grands tend to be fairly trouble free. The big issues with the Limiteds are the blend doors...which regulate the temp in the cabin. You have to pull the dash to fix that. But there's a kit out there where you can cut into the dash.


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## bvibert (Oct 23, 2008)

Glenn said:


> Either did I. Although, maybe they were developing the 1.8t at the time and wanted to phase out the "older" DOHC engine?



That's the only thing that I could think of, and I vaguely remember hearing something along those lines back in the day.  That's ok, because the 1.8t is pretty effing cool too!  I love mine, and I never thought I'd like it as much as the 16v.


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## JD (Oct 23, 2008)

Hawkshot99 said:


> My first car was a 95' Ford Escort.  Parents bought it for me for my 16th birthday from a friend for $600.
> 
> It was the cheapest it could have come from the factory.  No power steering.  The passenger side mirror was a option that year, so that was not on the car.  No tach.(try learning to drive stick with out one.)  All speakers were blown.  The original owner replaced the trunk speakers with house speakers.
> 
> The previous owner had lived in it for 6 months after his apartment was sold.  While cleaning it out I found several used condoms.......



Nasty.  Good karma for a car though.  My last car was a ford green escort wagon.  $350.00, got 8 months out of it.  It died on 89 near WRJ when a frost heave sent the strut thru the wheel well, thru the speaker and into the passenger area of the vehicle.  Good times.


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## bvibert (Oct 23, 2008)

Hawkshot99 said:


> No tach.(try learning to drive stick with out one.)



I learned to drive on a stick with no tach, they're mostly just fun to look at.  Pretty much the only time I look at mine is when I leave it in 3rd a little too long while getting on the highway.  When the rev limiter kicks in I look down to make sure that I was indeed exceeding the redline and that there wasn't something else wrong instead.



Hawkshot99 said:


> The previous owner had lived in it for 6 months after his apartment was sold.  While cleaning it out I found several used condoms.......



That's just NASTY. uke:


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Oct 23, 2008)

hahaha about the used condom..usually people that live in their car don't get any action..lol


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## campgottagopee (Oct 23, 2008)

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:


> hahaha about the used condom..usually people that live in their car don't get any action..lol



Wah?? You've never heard of the Shaggin' Wagon---geez


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## amf (Oct 23, 2008)

billski said:


> did you ever take any of those beasts skiing?   Sounds like the drive could be an adventure in any of those in the winter.
> 
> My Datsun wagon used to creak, literally when we went north.  It literally ran out of heat.  the engine was so small, it seemed designed for warm weather, there was nothing wrong with the thermostat or cooling system, we checked and check.  I literally had to decide if I would just ski at Gunstock (north from Boston) because the cold just got unbearable.  Finally decided the Datsun wasn't bred to be a ski car and traded it.



When I had the Dodge PU, I was mostly doing bc skiing in the ADKs & WV. I always ran studded tires in the winter, & recall driving up some steep snowy  dirt road in WV until I got to the point where the tire were spinning & wearing grooves in the rock.  Actually, my first new vehicle, a 77 or 78 Datsun PU, was surprisingly one of the best 2wd vehicles I ever drove in snow.  Something about the weight distibution with a cap on the back made it unstoppable. Unfortunately, it was also rust-prone. I could see the road beneath me within 6 years time.


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