User Panel
Posted: 10/13/2005 5:50:36 PM EDT
After seeing Coolio's thread on worst American cars and seeing the usual suspects (Pintos, Chevettes, etc) on the list I started thinking about it and had a harder time coming up with a huge list of Japanese cars that are objectively crappy.
Maybe that means I'm biased but what do you guys consider some of the worst Japanese cars ever made? -Observer |
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Whatever it is, it's probably better than most American cars.
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+ INFINITY |
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Some of those early japanese cars, like early civics, were little more than wheelbarrows with engines, but they were ak tough. One of my friends had an ancient corolla for years. I could not believe it kept running.
The civic del sol had a pretty bad reputation for reliability,weird for a honda. |
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Car and Driver called the Datsun F10 the last totally clueless Japanese car.
I'm not sure I'd agree about everything in the 70's and 80's. (Thinking of the Datsun 240Z, amongst others) |
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That's Korean. |
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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries aka SATAN.
Any DSMers out there know what I'm talkin about. |
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Mazda RX-3 sucked, so did their rotary engined pickup.
the first few years of RX-7's were bad too. Early rotaries were notorious leakers and didn't last long. the new ones are really good though. |
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The earliest imports to North America (1956 or thereabouts) had paint jobs that oxidized after a few years of exposure to the sun. They literally turned to dust and blew away.
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They made a shitbox hatchback and a Geo Tracker rip-off IIRC. |
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Late 60s, 70s and 80s Toyotas were good cars and the trucks speak for themselves.
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Mid 80's Datsun 200SX. Only cause my friend had one and his was a POS
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Yeah the first Hyundai's were nightmares. Seems like you always saw them along the side of the road, particularly with tranny problems. |
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Strangely enough, the Honda Del Sol was generally despised. Poor quality. Mistakes happen, even at Honda. Not sure what Honda is trying to achieve with the Ridgeline. It impresses me as well built, but I just don't like it. Get a Tacoma.
And WTF is with Subaru's abomination known as the "Baja." Couldn't they just let the BRAT legacy die? Once again, get a Tacoma. Toyota's first stab at a larger pickup, the T100, was not up to par either, as I remember. I think it was their tuition for the extremely well built Tundra. The list of Shitmobiles is pretty short with Japanese automanufacturers and unfortuneately the American list is really long, as is the European. |
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Just for the record, Daihatsu, Hyundai and Daewoo are Korean not Japanese.
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Wrong. Daihatsu is Japanese. Read and learn |
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I had a '76 Honda Civic when I was in college - a hand me down from my older sister. It was bright yellow with orange and pink stripes running from the roof down around the windows and up the sides (think metrosexual Starksy and Hutch). I couldn't kill the car. Had 300k miles on it - no exhaust, no floorboards, no heater core. I carried a couple gallons of water in the back for when it overheated driving around town - ran cool on the interstate with a dry radiator even though it wasn't meant to be aircooled.
I've had a Miata for 13 years - my daily driver for 12. Now its just a fun car. Zero prblems and still one helluva tight, quick fun car. I am sure there have been a few Japanese dogs, but not that I have owned (we've had a couple other Hondas, an Infinity and now an Acura). You want to talk horribly made cars, let me tell you about my 1959 Triumph TR3A. |
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Have you ever lived in Japan? I have and I can tell you that their list of shitmobiles is long and distinguished ("Like my..."). They just can't import their crap here. Nor would they want to. |
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I heard the Baja's didn't have great reliability records. so you're saying you don't miss the BRAT? |
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The Brat I was driving was the lone survivor in a game of follow the leader when we bought 3 4X4 for $1,000. It was a Bronco II, Brat, and a Dodge Power Wagon and we were not gentle on them |
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1988 Toyota Tercel 4x4 wagon.
Junk I guess Toyota made better vehicles. I didn't own them, nor will I own them. |
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In college I drove a '77 Corolla I Put it in 4th and held it floored to go 80, it had like a 1.2L engine Lasted me 100,000 miles, then one day, for no reason, it sounded like somebody threw a bucket of bolts in a dryer, the car filled up with smoke, and the rear tires locked up (manual, engine lock, thrown rod). Skidded to a halt, keeping it on the road, opened the hood and a complete piston and connecting rod were laying on the front suspension. It's ok tho, my brother gave it to me because he won it in a poker game and was impressed how long I ran it. I had to use "Great Stuff" foam to fill in the rusted wheelwells where the gaps would flap in the wind, and run a propane heater in the winter, but it got me through college. |
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Living here in the "rust belt" of America, virtually every pre-1980 Japanese car died a premature rusty death.
Actually a lot like the Pintos, Chevettes, MGs, Fiats and other cheaper American and European cars. |
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The toyota avalanche is the ugliest truck ever assembeled and sold to the public.
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Ummm.. chevy makes the avalanche... |
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Oh yea...what was I thinking? |
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I had a '68 Toyota Corona. Lasted forever( had it for11years) and I offroaded it, got air in it,uncountable minor wrecks,
beat the complete crap out of it. Then sold it for $300. |
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1994 Hyundai Excel.
My parents bought it used for $8,000 or so. ONE YEAR LATER! It had gone through over $11,000 in warranty work. That’s more then they bought the damn thing for. They replaced the fuel pump 7 times. A piston rod broke and I inched home on 3 cylinders and then it was towed to the dealer. It was the biggest piece of shit! 2 weeks before the warranty ran out, I drove into a wooden pole, about two foot diameter, about 15 feet long, and buried about 6 feet into the ground. The pole was the corner pole for a cow field electric fence. I hit it dead on going about 40mph. Flipped it and everything. It was fun. I will give this credit to the car. After the firemen, my Dad and I rolled it back onto its wheels, the car did start. You could not put it into gear, but it did start. |
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Hyundai's are Korean I do believe. The worst Japanese car companies are: 1) Mitsubishi 2) Subaru 3) Isuzu |
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Thats Korean |
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Well, in Japan an unpopular car that comes to mind is the Mitsubishi Pajero.
The Pajero is unpopular because it was defective and spontaneously ignited every so often. Mitsubishi tried to hide it up but didn’t succeed. I think that it is marketed under the name Shogun in the US. Link added to a story about it from the Japan Times. |
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Dad bought a new 2002 Honda Civic that was a total POS! In 8,000 miles it wen through 3 transmissions and several other electrical problems. He sold it for a Chevy Malibu which is a really nice car.
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I had a 240Z that went to 200,000. And it still went 130. It was an awesome car. I finally bent the frame on it on the ice. |
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That is funny. |
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1995 Toyota Tacoma SX, single worst vehicle I've ever owned. Flame away, it sucked.
Driveshaft vibration, shitty brakes, whistling weatherstripping, clunky steering, intermittent stalls, occasional no starts. Overfriggen priced too. Sold at 32K mi, never regretted getting rid of it. |
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The 240Z was a great car and a great look. The 280Z was just OK, but the 2+2 version looked like shit. |
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+1, I love my 72 240Z like it was a women. |
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Pretty much all Japanese cars made before the 60's were junk. Then, they hired an American management scientist, Dr. Edwards Deming. They applied quality management techniques and their cars became better. Kind of ironic. |
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