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Bad Purchasing Decisions: Share Your Stories

65 messages,  Last post on Oct 19, 2007 at 5:28 AM

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Messages Page 6 of 7

#46 of 65 used one by stickguy

Feb 17, 2006 (8:46 pm)

I had my assortment of bombers back in the old days. SOme better than others, but usually I broke even, or even made a profit.
 
Not, however, with my 1975 Opel Manta. Bought it from a manager at the BK I worked at in HS and college (I was in college at the time). I think it had been sitting (for good reason) but it was way cooler than my current AMC Hornet. SHould have known it was a problem when it stalled out on my test drive, but the kid who was "working" on it got it running again (my lose).
 
Not a good idea to get the 1 year of a newish technology on an orphan car. '75 was the only year for fuel injection, and it still wasn't that commen (about 1983). Had to tow that dog at least 6 times after the plugs fouled out and the battery died. COst lots of $$ trying to fix FI parts before a Buick dealer finally figured out which sensor was the problem.
 
Also was rusted out under the battery (drivers side, rear of the engine bay). When it rained, if it was pointed uphill, I ended up with a foot of water in the rear seat footwell. Once in the winter at school I found it frozen solid, even the pail I kept in (for bailing) was frozen in place!
 
I hated that car. Really was a PITR that year, and was an expensive one too. Was real excited when I managed to unload it, but it was at least running OK by then.
 
Oh, and a car with ~10 gals for a gas tank that gets about 20 mpg on the highway can be a drag. Especially when you are driving around in the rural part of westchester NY early on new years day, and no stations are open.
 
Of all my 25+ cars, this is the only one that I truly hated.
 
OK, I feel better now.

#47 of 65 Re: used one [stickguy] by guss

Feb 20, 2006 (6:07 am)

Replying to: stickguy (Feb 17, 2006 8:46 pm)
I always thought the Opel's were neat cars. German engineering with a touch of American flair.
 
The only car I can say I hated every time I got in it was my first brand new car, a '85 Nissan Sentra.
 
This was the stripper model that they advertise as the loss leader.I soon found out why no one buys a car with no A/C, no power anything, no cassette player, no FM radio, no hubcaps, and did I mention no A/C with vinyl seats.
 
I was working my first office job, back in the day when everyone wore three piece suits, and I would look like a ran a marathon before work.I can still feel that vinyl sticking.
 
It lasted about a year, and I sold it the middle of winter. The guy at the time said he did not like a/c anyway.
 
I have since learned I need some creature comforts.

#49 of 65 early 80's cars by suydam

Feb 20, 2006 (11:14 am)

>>no A/C, no power anything, no cassette player, no FM radio, no hubcaps, and did I mention no A/C with vinyl seats.
 
That would be our 1979 Ford Fiesta, to which you could add "no power". We bought it because we couldn't afford a Rabbit (I feel better seeing posts on that car here!). Did I mention that in addition to no A/C, it had a black interior?
An older car with a few amenities would have been a much better choice!

#50 of 65 my worst move by au94

Feb 20, 2006 (1:41 pm)

was when I got my first new car, a 95 Toyota Tacoma. I had just got my first "real" job so I had no $$ for a down payment, just the trade in of my 89 Chevy Beretta. The paint was orange peeling and the interior was just ok, the biggest problem was it was a formal rental and was a 2.0 4cyl, automatic, no power locks or windows etc. Did not even have a cassette player when I got it, just AM/FM. Anyway the dealer talked me into leasing the truck and using the Chevy for a $3k down payment. As I recall, I was still paying about 250/mo for the truck. Should have been smart and saved for a few more months, but at that age I was not too smart and just HAD to have the new truck. Oh well, lesson learned life goes on. Still a big fan of leases, just not big down payments with a lease.

#51 of 65 Who would of thought a Toyota??? by bigdveedubgirl

Feb 20, 2006 (5:10 pm)

When I was tired of walking a mile every day to the bus stop to go to work, I went to one of the mega auto malls that so cal is so famous for and looked for a car.
 
I was making 7.50 an hour and I needed a payment of 100-150 a month. I had no credit other than a JC Penny and Macys card and 500 cash down. It was 1996,I was 21 all I knew how to do was buy shoes, spot fake designer bags, and tell you what bar had the best happy hour in town, I did not know anything about buying cars, but I wanted to be independent and suprise my dad by showing him I could buy a car on my own.
 
My salesperson, found me a 1988 Toyota Corrolla SR5 blue on blue with manual transmission, 76,000 miles on it I could barely drive an automatic, but my friend AKA financial advisior, assured she would teach me, so she drove it said it drove good and told the salesperson we could make a deal. I put 1000 down and paid 115 a month. We were there so late I had a migrane, and I just signed I didnt care....
 
My dad was so pissed because he had money set aside to get me a new car, and he was going to suprise ME! He looked at the car and said whoever owned the car might have changed the oil 2 or 3 times, and all the hoses were orignal. He told me I was stuck with it and not to call him if I was stuck on the side of the road broke down because it was my fault.
 
Sure enough the car had a cracked head, massive oil leaks to where I put 4 qts a week in it (I bought q.state by the case) It blew so much blue smoke that the clean air coalition saw my car on the freeway, mailed me a letter saying they reported me to the DMV and I that I was causing pollution on the highway.
 
*Sigh* It was the most fun time in my life. I even had an embroidered dash cover with my name on it.
I traded it in 3 years later when I started Working for VW for my Jetta. I still owed 4000 dollars on it and got 800 on a trade in...........
 

#52 of 65 Guilt - the worst motive for buying by prosa

Feb 21, 2006 (9:10 pm)

It's going to be hard to relate this story without sounding pretty weird, but it happened. My first-ever new car was a 1983 Chevrolet Cavalier, which cost me all of $7,000. It was a basic model but served my needs okay.
Flash forward about 18 months. I was commuting about 30 miles each way to my job and had managed to put almost 40K miles on the Cavalier. It was running fine, however, and I planned on keeping it at least a couple more years until it was paid off. Driving home from work in heavy traffic on a rain-slicked road one evening, I looked away from the road at something for just a second or two ... and the next thing I know I was standing on the brakes as I slid helplessly toward a Plymouth Horizon stopped just ahead of me. Boom! I plowed into the back of the Horizon at what was probably a final speed of maybe 15 mph.
The poor Horizon - less than three weeks old, according to the very dismayed driver - was demolished. All of the doors were jammed shut and the (fortunately uninjured) driver had to climb out the window. Its rear bumper was jammed forward and crushed up against the rear wheels. Not only was the Horizon's rear end completely caved in, but its its grille, front bumper and headlights were smashed when the force of the collision shoved it forward into an Accord (which had no significant damage). Three weeks old, and the Horizon was heading off to the junkyard.
My Cavalier? There was a small dent in the front bumper, emphasis on "small." It seemingly violated every law of physics, that it could destroy another car and suffer so little damage itself. I was absolutely overcome with guilt seeing what the Cavalier - okay, and my bad driving - did to the poor little Horizon, and just couldn't live with it any more. Soon after, I traded in the Cavalier on a Nissan Stanza even though I was at least $2,000 upside down on the loan. I also overpaid for the Stanza, and over the next few years it proved to be a complete lemon. Between that, and the higher insurance premiums I faced as a young driver with a chargeable accident, my couple seconds of inattention probably cost me several thousand dollars over the next few years. I could have limited those losses had I held onto the Cavalier, but I was so overcome with guilt everytime I looked at that car, and thought of the way it so cruelly savaged the poor little Horizon, that keeping it would have been hazardous to my mental health.

#53 of 65 i have to have my nephew read this thread by explorerx4

Feb 22, 2006 (6:17 pm)

there are some great life lessons here. he doesn't believe me when i tell him that this stuff does happen.

#54 of 65 Disposing of these cars by mstoner

May 06, 2006 (11:25 am)

How did people get rid of these cars that were such bad vehicles? Did you trade them, sell them to private parties or what?

#55 of 65 Re: Disposing of these cars [mstoner] by graphicguy

May 07, 2006 (7:54 am)

Replying to: mstoner (May 06, 2006 11:25 am)
My horror story actually happened the month I graduated college. I got my first "post" graduation job that paid me a salary (up until that point, every job I had paid me by the hour). Also up to that point, I had "disposable" cars....the kind that ran, but not without some knuckle banging weekly to keep them running.
 
Anyway....my first new car was a Ford Tempo. Should have known this was a bad car when it stalled in the middle of the interstate the day after I bought it. The dealership towed it several times over the next 12 months, but could never fix it's malady. This would happen once/week until the warranty ran out. I coudln't get rid of it fast enough. Paid it off as quickly as I could (about 14 months). Traded it in immediately to the very same dealership I bought it from. The service records on it were long and storied.....all in the glove box.
 
Dealership shined it up and put it on their used lot. About a month later a guy called me up who said he bought the Tempo and saw my name in the owners manual. He wanted to know if I had had issues with the car stalling for no apparent reason. I asked him if he read all the service receipts that were in the glove box. He said there weren't any service reciepts or records with the car. I told him the car had been stalling like that since it was new. He said he was going to take the car back to the Ford dealership to get his money back. I wished him luck.

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