My Worst Car Ever: 1990 Pontiac Lemans
This Car was so Bad it Went to Hell- in Flames
I think my Lemans was jealous of my military lifestyle because I traveled a lot. The first thing to go was the ignition. It got so bad I had to use a screwdriver to get it started.
When our base was evacuated for a hurricane, the rear driver's side wheel decided to go flat 50 miles down the road. Thankfully I had a full spare but it stalled my escape by two hours.
When I came back from my first deployment my front driver's side wheel tried to separate from the bearing, causing $600 in damage.
My Lemans didn't like my second deployment so it started to overheat when I got back. It took $1,200, three mechanics and several overheats to figure out the fix.
The Lemans didn't want me to leave on my third deployment, either. Prior to departure, the alternator went kaput. Another $300 gone.
I had one last trip before the Lemans was gone for good. I decided to drive instead of fly. "You might make it there," my wife said, "but I doubt you'll come back in it." I drove the Lemans 500 miles to my destination with no problems. On the last hurrah back, however, I think she knew our time was up.
I was two hours into my trip when the Lemans started to lose power. I pulled into a gas station and got a jump. 30 minutes on the road I started to lose power again and came to a complete stop. This time smoke was coming from under the emergency brake. I looked under the car and a piece of my exhaust system was bright red and on fire. A kind lady pulled over to help me and said "my ex-husband is a car mechanic. It looks like your catalytic converter is burned out."
"This car doesn't have one", I replied.
"Oh. Well it looks like enough oil pooled in to where it was and caught on fire from the heat."
My wife drove four hours to pick me up. She didn't have to say "I told you so."
Published by Paul Bright
Paul Bright is a 10 year military veteran. He is also an accomplished website content producer with over 2,000 published works online through Yahoo! Voices, Demand Studios, Digital Journal and Examiner among... View profile
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- The ignition went out three months after ownership
- I always had a repair before or after a deployment
- The car died in flames.
4 Comments
Post a CommentThere were more events I didn't even include, like the fan belt/timing belt, muffler almost falling off and needing a re-weld by my brother, window handle dying. I think Marc was the only person with a worst car than me!
That car did have some good memories attached to it. We tried to take it to the Southern Belle for Marc's birthday, but the load was too much as the rear wheels were rubbing the top of the wheel well. I also remember sitting outside the back gate at Charleston with waiting on a tow truck. I think that was when the fan belt went. I think that car would have been a fine addition to someones front yard.
It's ok to laugh. I laugh about it all the time nowadays!
LOL. I think we all got a worse car story to tell. Parden me for laughing at this delightfully humorous story, sorry about your misfortune.