What car of yours was a lemon? Mine was a Saturn. What about you? My engine went. Had to have it towed. Still owed 4000

[debm55]

Last edited Thu Nov 6, 2025, 12:42 PM - Edit history (1)

to the Credit Union for it, No trade in as mine had a moon roof no AC and major repair needed to engine. Bought a Subaru, gave to husband and bought a Jeep Liberty. then back to a Subaru. Loved the Jeep and the Subaru.

[Ocelot II]

1. My Saturn is a gem that's been running almost without incident for 15 years,

but I had an old Datsun that was a maintenance nightmare.

[debm55]

8. My Saturn's engine blew out . Still owed 4.000 dollars on it. Had to have it towed to the car delearship. I bought a

Subaru. and then a Jeep Liberty and stayed with Subaru.

[GreenWave]

2. The Ford Fairmont. Got stuck at every stop sign.

Waiting for it to say "Go"?

[debm55]

10. HAHAHHAHAHAH. Thank you GreenWave. That;s funny.

[Ocelot II]

20. My ex had one of those - he was convinced it was possessed

and that it hated him in particular.

[pdxflyboy]

3. Mine was a 1977 Chevrolet Chevette.

I bought it brand new and it died after about 60,000 miles. I had it serviced according to schedule.

[debm55]

11. Thank you very much, pdxflyboy.

[wcmagumba]

4. I had a Saturn for a few years and while it wasn't the best, I had no major problems with it...

I had more problems with a Mercury Bobcat I bought new...like when the entire stick shift came off in my hand

[debm55]

12. Did they fix it for you ? I might have gotten a bad Saturn. Because mine was bad, Worse then the Citation. --front

drive.

[wcmagumba]

19. Yep, a bolt had fallen out or something...I drove that car for a couple more years, until the timing belt broke...

Really not a good purchase for me...jazzed up Pinto that it was...

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. 1986 Chevrolet Citation.

[debm55]

13. That was another lemon. Front wheel drive. Came down my snow covered hill backward. Then I bought the lemon Saturn.

[greatauntoftriplets]

15. There aren't any hills where I live.

This car had carburetor issues as long as I owned the car.

[debm55]

38. Oh my, thank you for sharing , greatauntoftriplets.

[Hugin]

81. My Dad inherited a 1982 Chevy Citation from his Dad...

He squeezed that lemon for every drop of juice.

It had the early GM V6 in it that looked for all the world like someone had taken a chainsaw to a V8. Ran like it too.

Drive it, we did. Putting at least 250,000 miles on it before the bittersweet day it was loaded up on a tow truck and hauled to the scrap yard. I saw a tear in Dad’s eye as it limped away. Probably to become the sequel to Christine.

The most unnerving part about that death trap was how the back end tried to pass the front end on icy roads unexpectedly. Of course, Dad constantly tempted fate by driving it to the ski hill.

[debm55]

83. Thank you Hugin. I posted earlier that my Citation had the front wheel drive. I live in Pittsburgh and there is no way

avoid the hills or snow. The hill had no guardrail either. There where many days I came down the hill, back end first. And there were many days, I sat in the car at the top of the hill, put my foot down on the brake and came down in neutral. I hated that car and the car I bought after---the Saturn.

[Hugin]

84. The partial work around my siblings and I discovered...

Was yanking on the emergency brake and only using that on slick roads. My mom refused to drive it at all.

My dad eventually formalized the rear-brakes-only solution by all but disabling the front brakes. But, as you said above the front wheel drive paired with most of the weight in the front and weak brakes in the rear meant that it was only nearly a solution at best. Maybe, even more dangerous because of it’s likely failure when needed the most.

[House of Roberts]

6. '78 Ford Fairmont.

It was DESIGNED to be a lemon, however. My dad bought it used for my mom to drive. It wasn't long and he got her a '74 Chevy Bel Air that was a much better car overall.

[GreenWave]

16. My mom used to say if you want to learn car repair, buy a Ford.

[House of Roberts]

26. Fix or repair daily.

Or, Found on road dead.

My mom's brother worked as a mechanic for the local Ford dealership until he retired.

[debm55]

40. True.

[debm55]

39. Thank you very much for sharing, House of Roberts, My father always bought Chevys. We did have a Chevy Bel Air. The

Chevys were all good cars. My husband came from a Ford company; His were mostly lemon. We both switched to Subaru

[kimbutgar]

7. My parents had a Cadillac and when my Dad passed she had trouble driving and parking it

We got her a Saturn. And she had it for 8 years until she couldn’t drive it anymore and it sat in her garage for 7 years. When she passed I was shocked it started up and sold to a friend. It had some mechanical problem and she took it to this mechanic who lied and said the car was a junker. I gave her money back and then found out the guy ripped her off and resold the car.

To this day my friend gets angry she was ripped off as I am also.

[debm55]

41. I must have gotten the lemon. Thank you kimbutgar.

[PJMcK]

9. 1986 Nissan Stanza

Three transmissions
Replace AC compressor
Replaced starter twice

Never Nissan is my motto!

[debm55]

21. Wow, I agree with you, PJMcK. thank you for sharing.

[gab13by13]

14. 1963 110 Corvair Monza

Kept throwing the air cooled belt. 4 speed on the floor.

When I hit the guardrail with it, the steering wheel came up and back 3 feet breaking my jaw, and cracking my cheek bones.

[debm55]

17. Oh , I am so sorry that happened to you. I am so glad you are okay now. Thank you for sharing with us, gab13by13.

[gab13by13]

18. Thanks,

The trunk was in the front and the only thing to stop the guardrail was my set of golf clubs.

[mgardener]

22. I had a Chevy Vega

I didn't have many problems, but I didn't keep it very long...

[debm55]

42. Maybe that is a good thing. No lemons for you, mgardener.

[Nittersing]

23. '73 Chevy Vega

Apparently they were built with an aluminum engine block... which was known to crack.

And it did. And smoked. A lot. (Fill it with oil and check the gas was the saying...)

I eventually had to go to court, after my THIRD ticket for a smoking car and came armed with a letter from the fire department informing the court that the car had since been destroyed in their auto extrication classes.

[poli-junkie]

32. I had a Chevy Vega about that old.

And the aluminum engine melted. Such a POS car

[debm55]

46. Oh wow, I am sorry that happened to you Nittersing. Hope you got a better car.

[get the red out]

24. A Pontiac Sunbird

1988 model, the fuses under the dashboard always blew if I drove it very far and I had to keep extras for when it happened since at that point I was going nowhere.

[debm55]

36. That's a bummer, Thank you get the red out for sharing.

[CanonRay]

25. Probably the 84 Oldsmobile

my wife had for real estate. Only had it a few years, but the timing chain went out twice. Bought it new too, my one and only Oldsmobile.

[debm55]

35. Thank you very much, CanonRay for sharing with us.

[wcmagumba]

27. I had two different friends with Chevy Vegas and both had problems with them...

[debm55]

29. Thank you very much, wcmagumba, for sharing with us.

[wcmagumba]

28. I had a girlfriend with an AMC Pacer and while I knew her it had no major issues...

With its extra width and large rear window it made a great make out car...

[debm55]

31. HAHAHHAHAHAHHHAH. Oh you, wcmagumba. Hell, even a VW Beetle can be a make out car.

[wcmagumba]

34. True, but I was in college, living in a dorm without a car so that Pacer was the best at the time...ha ha...

[debm55]

47. You are welcome.

[Captain Zero]

30. Ford Tempo. All I could to nurse 80k mi out of it

I had Saturn that went 168k miles fairly easy, but then it was DONE.

[debm55]

33. Thank you very much , Captain Zero. My Saturn didn't last that long.

[TBF]

37. Mine was a Ford Tempo as well - bought a demo of all things

and traded it for a Mondeo before the warranty was up. The Mondeo was better, but traded that for a Subaru (kept that 10+ years - excellent car)

[debm55]

50. Yep, I like my Subaru, Great on the snowy hills of Pittsburgh.

[Dorothy V]

43. A 1975 Dodge Dart.

Bought it brand new. Always having little problems. Then, when I had it about half paid off, it threw a rod! Dad took pity and helped pay to have the damned thing fixed so I could trade it in.
Right now I am driving a 2004 Merc, a Grand Marquis. I had to have a new power steering pump put in about 4 years ago. That was the biggest repair it's ever needed. Everything else is routine maintenance.

[debm55]

52. Thank you very much, Dorothy V. You hit the jackpot with the Grand Marquis.

[John Coktosten]

44. Worst car ever!

2014 FIAT 500L Trekking.

Too much to list here. After a week, the doors wouldn't open any longer. After that issue was fixed, it would completely die if I let it sit over 24 hours. Had it towed (at dealer expense) 4 times the first month.
I can go on forever with the list. This car should've never been brought to market.

[debm55]

45. It sounds like my Saturn. I wanted it because I was driving to school and it had the button on the dash that would give

you extra traction, That really is a bummer that you had all those things wrong, John Coktoshen.Thank you for sharing.

[GreatGazoo]

64. A friend and neighbor around 1989 came over and proudly announced he had bought a Fiat X19

I had had a few beers so my filters were off and I blurted out "Does it run?"

He says "Of course it runs -- I bought it from a mechanic." ROFL.

[debm55]

98. HAHAHAHAHAH. Thank you GreatGazoo.

[iscooterliberally]

48. 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan

It's waiting for another tow now. I will never buy another Dodge anything ever again. I have a Subaru Impreza Sport now. The Dodge needed a new transmission, a valve job and now we're rebuilding the cooling system. I think we're going to be trading it in next month if we can afford it. Our repair costs are almost a payment for a new car at this point.

[debm55]

55. Yep, iscooterliberally. that was a lemon. I think you will be happy with your Subaru Imprezza. We have had the Subaru

and a Jeep Liberty-all wheel drive since the Saturn.

[sinkingfeeling]

49. My 1999 Saturn was one of the best cars I ever owned. Had it until 4 months ago when I sold it to

move to Costa Rica. I had zero major repairs in the 24 years I had it. Most expensive was a new timing belt. Think it was $350 many years ago.

My worse car was a 1986 Mazda 626. Hated it's lack of power and handling. Had it for 9 months and traded it in on a new Corvette.

[debm55]

53. Thank you sinkingfeeling. I honestly think mine was a lemon, though. That can happen to cars. One can a lemon and the

same car can be a piece of crap. Which my Saturn was.

[Wicked Blue]

51. Dodge Caravan

Five transmissions

[debm55]

57. Gee, Wicked Blue, That sure was a lemon.

[Wicked Blue]

60. Many Caravans had flaws that caused the transmission problems

and no matter how many times they replaced the transmissions, the new ones would also eventually fail because of these flaws. I've heard similar stories from other former Caravan owners.

[SheltieLover]

54. 1979 Ford Fiesta

Ex's dad bought it for me brand new, but I hated the pos.

Didn't keep it long enough to have maint problems, but it was a rattle trap pos fr9m day 1.

[debm55]

71. Thank you very much for sharing with us, SheltieLover.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

56. Never ever had a lemon.

I also never bought an American made car. Hmmmm.

I've owned VW bugs (my first car was a '59 convertible), and various Hondas. My current car is a 2017 Fit that I purchased in 2020.

[debm55]

69. Wow, you are lucky. Thank you PoindexterOglethorpe.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

72. Not lucky. Just smart enough not to drive some piece of shit

made by American car companies.

Notice that almost every single car named here is an American car. A complaint about a Fiat, and one about a Volvo, Every other post involves an American car. Hmmmm. I wonder why?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

73. Not lucky. Just always knew enough not to buy American cars.

Reread all of the posts.

[debm55]

74. Thank you for your reply.

[karin_sj]

58. Me too!

I had a Saturn sedan that I bought new and thank goodness I got the extended warranty because there were so many different problems with it throughout the years I had it. I also got a Subaru as my next car and loved it. Hardly any problems at all. when I checked it out in Consumers Reports, almost all the dots were black. Bad year for that particular car...

[debm55]

70. Thank you very much, karin_sj.

[Mad_Dem_X]

59. 1989 Ford Escort

I had problems with it from almost Day One, too many to list.

[debm55]

68. Thank you, Mad_Dem_X. I hope you got a better car.

[crimycarny]

61. MGB (British Leyland)

But oh, how fun that car was when it wasn't in the shop!

[debm55]

67. HAHAHAHhahahhah. Thank you very much, crimycarny. That is so funny.

[GreatGazoo]

62. 1975 Ford Granada -- "The Most Malaise Car Ever"

It was my parents' car. Silver with a red interior. Legendarily bad:

72 hp at 2900 rpm
0-60 time: 23.15 seconds

And my parents were gearheads so not sure how they picked that car but they sold it less than a year later.

My mother's favorite car was a 1965 Dodge Dart -- yellow with the black roof. I saw one at a car show in September and started crying. Her 2nd fave: a 1981 Honda Civic 5-speed. We were at a stoplight and the teenagers in the next car teasingly rev'd the engine on whatever they had. Mom waited for green, screamed to 6000 RPMs and then chirped the tires going into 2nd gear. Tapped the brakes. They caught up to us and they were laughing. Gave her a thumbs up.

[debm55]

66. Thank you for your great post. GreatGazoo.

[broiles]

63. 1974 Mercedes diesel purchased new. What a lemon!

[debm55]

65. Thank you very much, broiles. Hope you have a car that is not a lemon.

[Emile]

75. I have had 2 lemons. 1961 Corvair that burned

more oil than gas, and a 1965 Malibu SS convertible with major motor problems.

[debm55]

76. Thank you very much.Emile, for sharing with us. Major problems indeed.

[radical noodle]

77. A Dodge Phoenix

I'm not sure now what year, but it was the early 60s. It had push button transmission controls and had one problem after the other. At one point, any time I wanted to start the car, I had to take a wrench and bang on the solenoid to get it to start. Eventually all the wiring just crapped out.

My ex-husband bought it, but I was stuck driving it while he drove a farm truck.

[debm55]

87. That's really a lemon. Thank you for sharing with us, radical noodle.

[Mike Nelson]

78. Found. On. Road. Dead

... Ford (car, not sure about their trucks). The thing looked okay, but was just awful. AND, my friends told me afterwards... NEVER buy a Ford. They said, "FORD stands for Found. On. Road. Dead." They were correct.

[debm55]

88. Thank you Mike Nelson. That is so funny.

[FrankTC]

79. 1968 Chevy Nova

It was my girlfriend’s car and came with her when we all moved in together. It would need to be tuned up at least once a month — a problem I attributed to the primitive smog control setup (this was in California), essentially a hose running from the exhaust pipe to the carburetor. Points, plugs, gapping the distributor on a monthly basis. It would run Ok for a few weeks then run rough — smoking and missing. A small car, it still managed to wallow down the road, heaving and leaning. I pretty much hated it. In recent decades I’ve had much better luck with Toyotas (4Runner, Highlander, Sequoia), putting down hundreds of thousands of trouble-free miles. I have a phobic relationship with American cars and keep my distance as much as I can.

[debm55]

89. After a lifetime of Chevys, Fords, and AMC. Our family is staying with the Subaru.

[patphil]

80. Mine was and AMC Hornet.

It had an early electronic ignition package that would fail about once a year, without any warning. The AC didn't work well, and both doors sagged so badly I had to have them repaired. And then there was a lot of rust.
It was a typical AMC poor quality build.
In all fairness, the car was given to us by my wife's mother. She had it for about 1 year and never liked it; her brother convinced her to buy it. So, except for the constant repairs, it didn't cost us anything.
It was no wonder that AMC went out of business.

[debm55]

86. HAHAHAHA. I had that lemon, too, patphil. One door sagged so much that we used rope to tie it up. So both passengers had

to enter the same door. Floorboard on the front passenger side fell off and you could see the road. It was like sitting in the Flintstone Mobile. Get this, it passed inspection.

[patphil]

90. Oh! That's a riot! But, you know, misery loves company.

[justaprogressive]

82. Ford Tempo. Bought For $1.00

It's worth was in the negative numbers.

Only Ford I ever owned and overpriced!

[debm55]

85. HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAH, Thank you very much, justaprogressive.

[sakabatou]

91. Maybe my Nissan?

I gave it back to my brother, who was the previous owner, and it died about a year later.

[debm55]

92. Thank you very much sakabatou. So it was a combination of a lemon for both you and your brother,

[sakabatou]

93. No, the Nissan itself was a hand-me-down

My oldest brother had it first, then my older, then me, then back to my oldest. So, a combo of age and use probably did it in.

[debm55]

94. Thank you very much for the correction, sakabatou. I am sorry i got them mixed up.

[sakabatou]

95. Heh, it's ok

[Paladin]

96. VW Rabbit diesel, back in the 1970's. Absolute piece of shit. (nt)

[debm55]

97. Thank you very much, Paladin, They were pieces of shit.