SA Footy

We've all had them. Cars that were just shite. Here's the chance to tell us about your worst experiences with four wheeled wonders. What was it, how much did you pay for it, how much did you spend on it, how long did you put up with it and how much did you get for it when you flogged it off.

Great topic SP.

I've owned pretty much decent cars in all. My dad on the other hand - well the dealers see him coming.

Going back to my childhood, I can remember these lemons;

A lime green mini that caught fire in our driveway one morning.
A 1966 Morris Major
A 1967 Toyota Corona
A 1968 Mercedes sedan
A 1983 Gemini which just fogged up and didn't ever demist properly - THAT was a death trap
A 1985 Magna which the guts fell out of at about 70,000. The seals just disintegrated in the driveway one night.
A WB Statesman that was an obvious cut-n-shut job. It used to backfire several times a year, mostly in the morning when running on LP Gas. Funny in hindisight.
A 1995 Landrover Discovery. Well, if this wasn't THE biggest heap of sh1t going around I don't know what was. This was a diesel too, remember that! After 6 months the dashboard "lifted" and needed to be replaced. Within 60,000k he'd had a new timing chain, starter motor, engine, brakes. He worked out in the last two years of owing it he'd spent 27,000 on keeping it on the road. I finally convinced him to go and get a Falcon or Commodore sedan. We still laugh when we see a Discovery pass us commenting "we'll pass it soon when it's broken down by the side of the road".

My old man was a sales rep, so in the 60's through 70's he pretty much had new Holdens/Kingswoods as work cars which he had to drive from Adel to Melb, Adel to Syd, Adel to Canberra and the just "went", so they don't fit the lemon category!

haha yes.

My 1983 Datsun Bluebird which was possessed.

It had some sort of fuel problem which would make my car cease functioning at will, meaning I would always have to drive in the lane closest to the gutter in fear of the worst happening.

Now when I mean cease functioning - it would literally just cut out - no warning, no "chug chug chug die" it would just stop. So I'd pull over and have to wait for about 5-10 minutes before starting the car again.

SPent ridiculous amounts of money at all sorts of mechanics, auto electricians and the sort and NO ONE could fix it.

It was stolen on Mothers Day 1999 - Looks like they got as far as Hartman Avenue, Highbury and then they threw it down a ditch there.

Little did the theives know they were actually stealing a lemon and actually did me a favour

Maserati biturbo (222E) - and it was a new car - it spent 25% of the time I owned it off the road waiting for parts.
A friend with a recent model tells me that haven't improved much.

My wife's Range Rover had a couple of shots at setting itself on fire but she'd had it about 13 years before that started happening. (Pity I'd had the gear box rebuilt only the year before.)

A 1980 Sigma .Went through the juice like a V8 . Took it to Adelaide oval car park for a SANFL final( I think). We were going up the incline in the carpark and it stopped .Car Park attendant gave up on me starting it again !!! It leaked like a sive in the rain . The Headlining came off entirely when I was driving it one day.
And the strangest thing with this car every time I parked in the semaphore foodland . It would not start I think we went through batteries and starter motors every time I parked there.
Ok so at one time some nice Taperoo person (we lived there at the time ) didnt steal it they stuffed the locks up with a screw driver .Second time they did it I thought stuff it .Used to leave it everywhere unlocked no one would nick it!!!
96 Falcon this car started off great .But turned out to have so many problems .Ended up with a fuel injector issue couldnt afford to get it fixed .But mechanic said it would be ok to dive on LPG till it was fixed . You ever tried to start a LPG car in a carport in temps near or under 0 .Turned me off of LPG cars .
Ended up my parents used it for a trade in on their Falcon .And they only took it cause the car still had a year left before the tank had to be tested !!!

Holden Gemini, would not have been a lemon save for the fact that its previous owner had never looked after it and after the head cracked for the third time I traded it!

I have owned many cars.

Fortunately I have never owned a LEMON.

Sure some cars are better than others.

Look after your ride.

Is your glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty....

98 holden vectra. Stopped dead without notice so many times. Once crossing train tracks. Lucky that was when the missus was driving!

Managed to sell it for more than I paid for it, worst 6 months of car and ownership ever.

I had a '99 Vectra that did the same thing. I put up with it for 4 years before offloading it.

There was an early Morris Marina, I think it was called, in the late 70s that was prone to stopping unexpectedly.
The starter motor would also lock up so you had to jiggle it with a spanner before you could restart it.
I didn't have one but a friend did.

I had the first Magna that was a beautiful vehicle.

Until in needed electronic repairs.

2.6L 4 door. Fabulous car. Had everything.

But when something went wrong, no-one knew how to repair it.

I spent heaps of $$$ on repairing the trans, but no one was anygood.

$3600 for a recon trans that was worse than the original.

Oh yes, RAA approved. Bullshit.

The Vehicle wasn't a lemon. The repairers were fake.

I can remember working on a fleet of the early magnas, while the cars were all near new we had to change the transmission fluid on them all at least twice, each time they'd had to develop a new oil that could handle the extreme temperatures that the trans's were getting to, once the oil was good enough to do it's job without burning the transmissions were fine,

First car a 78 Sigma. The old man paid 150 for it. We got the gas reconnected and It was mine with 6 months rego. The thing smoked like a chimney in winter once you got to 50 no one could see cause of the smoke. I sold it for 350. Money was better in my back pocket.

I dont want to upset any aussie car workers . But how many of the lemons above were Australian Made ?
My Sigma was (i work with a former mits employee she raves about the sigmas mmmm)
Flacon was
And was talking to a chap at the footy said it was best to buy aussie made cars or jap built .I think he got it half right

My Vectra was German (Opel) I believe ... I think Holden assembled them here for a while though after my model

dedja wrote:My Vectra was German (Opel) I believe ... I think Holden assembled them here for a while though after my model

What i forgot the chap at the footy said to avoid european cars

Mickyj wrote:

dedja wrote:My Vectra was German (Opel) I believe ... I think Holden assembled them here for a while though after my model

What i forgot the chap at the footy said to avoid european cars

Like second hand SAAB, Renault, Fiat, Alfa, Skoda. Mercs, Audi, BMW and Volvo seem to be more durable.

Mickyj wrote:I dont want to upset any aussie car workers . But how many of the lemons above were Australian Made ?
My Sigma was (i work with a former mits employee she raves about the sigmas mmmm)

I worked on a fleet of Sigmas and said I'd never own one ,in the early 90's I paid $3000 for a '85 2l wagon, nearly 5 years later sold it, had hardly missed a beat in 4 1/2 years, took us all over SA & VIC, got $2000 when I sold it, best value car I have ever owned

Sky Pilot wrote:

Mickyj wrote:

dedja wrote:My Vectra was German (Opel) I believe ... I think Holden assembled them here for a while though after my model

What i forgot the chap at the footy said to avoid european cars

Like second hand SAAB, Renault, Fiat, Alfa, Skoda. Mercs, Audi, BMW and Volvo seem to be more durable.

From what I was told he had trouble with a renault and its brakes ,cost him heaps .
I dont have a worry with european cars personally

Ian wrote:

Mickyj wrote:I dont want to upset any aussie car workers . But how many of the lemons above were Australian Made ?
My Sigma was (i work with a former mits employee she raves about the sigmas mmmm)

I worked on a fleet of Sigmas and said I'd never own one ,in the early 90's I paid $3000 for a '85 2l wagon, nearly 5 years later sold it, had hardly missed a beat in 4 1/2 years, took us all over SA & VIC, got $2000 when I sold it, best value car I have ever owned

Ahh well unlike euro cars . I have owned a sigma it had a large engine for the size of the car .Drank petrol like you wouldnt beleive .And as i posted above it didnt like semaphore foodland . I stopped going to their carpark so it wouldnt brake down
I think we paid $2000 grand for it had a few years sold it for $250 .the people we sold it to had it for a short time and then they sold it for $100

Now my 2011 lancer no issues with