The Vega had an aluminum block. If the car overheated the engine seized up. One of my brothers had this happen to him twice while under warranty.
“If the car overheated the engine seized up.”
Yep, that’s what did my older sister’s Vega in, way back when.
To be fair, she got her money’s worth out of the car (bought it used for $125), but man what a junk bucket! Easily the worst car in the family. And my family had two Gremlins and an AMC Hornet at the time, so that’s saying something! :-)
The outcome in the case I mentioned was that both cars were fixed under warranty and sold soon after. Shame too as the Vega could have been a neat little car.