Had a 1973 Buick Riviera, triple white, boat tail with a 455 under the hood.
Every damn time I stepped on the gas pedal, the fuel gauge went to E. Thank goodness petro was cheap back then......
Was it in early that year? That would explain it.
Yes! I had an 85 Honda CRX back in my college days. Frequently on my drives home to Sherman, TX from Austin, that thing would start shaking badly and pulling very hard to the right. Made it very difficult to drive. It wouldn’t happen until I was almost there, so I would just muscle through it and hope that dad and I could fix it while I was there. But ... he’d take it out for a drive to try and see what I was talking about and it wouldn’t do a darn thing. Smooth as silk ... every. dang. time. This happened about 3 or 4 times. We never did figure it out ... and it never did it again. My brother ended up with the car and never once had the problem.
That thing was possessed.
I had a Chevy Astro Van that kept getting “Rear Ended”. I made sure the brake lights worked, was very cautious at stop signs and red lights, always checked the rear view mirrors when slowing down, etc, but I got rear-ended 6 times in two years.
I think it was haunted.
Only Fords.
It then goes quiet.
It did this before and worked up to the alarm going off for no reason.
I had to take it in for something else and they had to pull the fuses. When I got it back, it was cured.
Now it is starting up again.
I am thinking of going and pulling the fuses again just to see if that cures it.
Bought it in 1979 from a retired German couple in Pirmasens, Germany.
Only used to go to and from church on every other Sunday.
Didn't mention that church was in Rota, Spain!
Things I found out AFTER I bought it:
Speedo was altered...later REAL mileage was estimated at over 300000 km, versus 40000 shown. Seasoned VW mechanic marveled at the fact that it was still running.
Sunroof leaked and drain channels were plugged with rust...resulting in a bath (usually a COLD one) when stopping in reverse, from collected water splashing out of channel.
Wiring at some time had been redone...using one color of wire...red. No easy way to trace any electrical route.
EVERY lug on drivers side wheels stripped. They had been replaced with some sort of oversized bolt, installed with 5000 psi air wrench, I think. Once they were out, they were never going to go back in. Had to replace wheels, drums, etc.
Radio worked, when it wanted to. Woken by Polizei one night, about 2 AM, warned to turn off loud radio of my car, parked on the street. I had NOT turned it on, much less tuned it to Disco Synthesized AM crap station out of Frankfurt, at FULL BLAST. That happened at least 6-8 more times...once while driving down the A-6...scaring the fecal matter out of me. Did I mention that was the ONLY station it would receive?
Rear engine cover (trunk lid/hood...?) removed itself from car once on the A-6...never found by me, but returned to me by Polizei, along with ticket for 40 DM, traced through US Forces green tag...too late, since I had already bought a new-used one and replaced tag.
Heater never worked. Typical of VW's...but at least some heat comes out of most...that one: nothing, nada, zip. My wife packed at least 4 blankets for every trip she accompanied me on and I scraped ice off the INSIDE windshield every morning to get to work.
When I finally broke down and replaced the worn out engine (it actually used more OIL than gas), mechanic discovered old one was held in by two bolts. As opposed to the four it should have had.
No spring left in drivers seat...literally, no springs...someone had replaced the inner works of the seat with an office chair bottom. Looked amazingly like original, but worked like a cement block. I never knew the difference, until my wife pointed it out...and I replaced it with a junkyard seat...which was Lazy-Boy comfort compared to the old one.
Headlights had a tendency to "wig-wag"...imagine an emergency vehicle of today...another legacy of the "red wire only" rewiring job, I suppose, which I was never able to correct.
Many, many more incidents, but one good thing came from it all...paid $750 US equivalent for it, sold it for nearly $2000 US equivalent, after driving it for nearly three years.
(But I did have to put a rebuilt engine in it, for around $300 US)
My wife absolutely refused to drive it...so I had to invest in a good used Merc for her...a 250D...never had a problem with it.
Resold to a soldier for what I bought it for when we left.
I never, not once, had the thought of owning a damned VW go through my mind since that time.
Even now, I think, were someone to GIVE me a new Tiquan...I'd sell it and buy a DODGE or something...anything, anything but a damned VW.
It had a bad ground if I were guessing.
Does re-possessed count?
My car always runs better if I give it a car wash.
I had a faulty relay that controlled two gears on the transmission (reverse and second) and the fuel pump. It would not go completely open, just not pass enough current and it only did this intermittently. So I had a car that would not turn over when it felt like it, or it would buck and stall in reverse also when it felt like it. It took about two months before the problem set a code. This was before OBD II, so I had to short two wires on the interface and watch a flashing light on the dash to get a code. I got the code and looked it up in the Hayne’s manual. The explanation was cryptic. I called the dealership and they told me to get lost. Thankfully I was able to find the answer on an Internet forum. I found a replacement relay from a surplus electronics store for $2.50.
I had one in college. I’d totaled my nice little Ford Fiesta Ghia in a snowstorm, had nothing to drive and could not afford to replace it even with the (too small) insurance payout. My dad took pity, said he’d get me a car and did. A 1980 AMC Spirit hatchback. Not bad looking, slow as Christmas with a fairly agricultural four cylinder and a four speed manual, but it did run pretty reliably. It did, however, have electrical gremlins that were impossible to predict. It was bad enough that every light in the car would shut off for several seconds, then turn back on again. That was a thrill on curvy mountain roads at night, lol. Never had an accident in it despite that problem, and despite the car being notoriously tail-happy to the point that spinning out on wet pavement was a very real possibility even with the anemic four cylinder engine.
I had a Ford Tempo that went through 4 fuel pumps in a year. Thing would die after driving a few miles.
Then a Buick Regal that had an electrical problem. It would set off the security features while I was driving, lights flickering off an on or shut down entirely, leaving me to coast off of the road. Other times, it would trigger the security features starting it and lock it up. No going anywhere for 5 or so minutes. Took a couple of years to track that sucker down. Some crack in a line would get damp. I had it in for repairs at GM dealer, they had it for a week, works just fine. We drove it less than a block and it turned off. Walked back: come get it and fix it.
Then a Buick LaCrosse that I only had for 16 months before I had to give it back to GM. In that 16 months, it was not in my possession for 6 months.
Now happily in a BMW.
I had a Ford Tempo that went through 4 fuel pumps in a year. Thing would die after driving a few miles.
Then a Buick Regal that had an electrical problem. It would set off the security features while I was driving, lights flickering off an on or shut down entirely, leaving me to coast off of the road. Other times, it would trigger the security features starting it and lock it up. No going anywhere for 5 or so minutes. Took a couple of years to track that sucker down. Some crack in a line would get damp. I had it in for repairs at GM dealer, they had it for a week, works just fine. We drove it less than a block and it turned off. Walked back: come get it and fix it.
Then a Buick LaCrosse that I only had for 16 months before I had to give it back to GM. In that 16 months, it was not in my possession for 6 months.
Now happily in a BMW.
My dad once had a Fiat.