Bill Brewer wrote:
> What is the worst car other listers have owned?
>
>
In terms of time of ownership, and the number of repairs required, the
obstinance of the dealership in not wanting to fix the problems, it had
to be the `72 L-M Capri.
But, in terms of frustration, and embarrassing incidents, it probably
had to be the `64 Corvair. The crankcase and the pushrod tubes leaked,
and because of the way the heating system was designed, that meant the
heater couldn't be used much. In Massachusetts, in winter, that was a
problem. I sort of felt that the car was at odds with me from the
start, since, in the first week I owned it, it threw the
generator/engine fan belt on the way to a friend's wedding. On one
extremely cold, snowy day, a rear tire went soft and sent me up the
courthouse steps as I was trying to negotiate a rotary with only three
inflated tires. Then, lots of carburetor choke and balancing problems.
Finally, the metal pan covering the back-to-front wiring chafed through
the main power cable, causing a direct short to battery, the heat from
which melted the rest of the wiring and shorted out everything forward
of rear firewall. It was almost a relief when a shop told me it would
cost more to fix it than it was worth.
I should mention that the flip side of this question was probably a `68
VW bus. That thing got me through more bad economic times with less
money spent on it than perhaps any other car I've owned. It was very
basic transportation, but well thought out. I bought it in 1980, with
about 130,000 on it, with the engine in pieces and the upper left rear
quarter stove in, for $310. I put a junk engine in it and ran it for
three or four months until I could build a better one, then put a good
one in and ran that for six years, all around the country. In 1987, I
put a Lancia twin-cam in it out of a rusted-out Beta coupe and ran it
another ten years. Between the cost of engines, some other
modifications, ordinary spare parts and the cost of some junkyard parts
to upgrade it to front disc brakes and post-`72 rear hubs and drums, and
some rust repair panels in `88, the total cost of purchase and parts
over seventeen years was something like $2300. The transmission was
predicted to fail at about 250,000 miles, and it started to whine at
about 275,000. Threw some good gear oil and STP in it and on it went.
When I finally put it in storage, it had 315,000 miles on it. Minus gas
and oil, that beast of burden cost me about 1.2 cents per mile to
operate, and would carry a 2600 lb. payload if one were careful about
braking distances and tire pressures.
Don't ask me to add in the cost of my own labor on that, though. :)
Cheers.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM
Never let anyone drive you crazy when you know it's within walking distance....
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