I just returned from a wetwesties campout and saw this post.  Oh yeah!  The
Chevy Vega should have had a special place on that list.  I was one of the
first suckers to buy one.  Brand spankin' new - and, like Unca Joel said,
lasted about 30,000 miles.  It was that car that first got me under the hood
with a wrench.  It was toast after a trip to Galveston and Padre Island in
the heat.  I changed the spark plugs every other week.  I fought with the
dealership but never got anywhere.

Maggie

Date:    Sun, 9 Sep 2007 16:37:02 -0500
From:    joel walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Re: 50 worst cars, and the vanagon isn't one of them

> Is the Vega in there?? Couldn't find it. It should be!
> To this day, I can't believe Chev made, or sourced, that failure of
> an
> engine with its' piston/rings scraping away on aluminum cylinder
> walls.
> How could they do that? Surely they must have known.

they knew. they just didn't care.

the air filter on the vega was $40 back then. you replaced the ENTIRE
metal air cleaner, not just a paper element. the whole thing was a
sealed unit... into the trash.

it had metric AND sae nuts and bolts all over the engine.

the interior panels were plastic, and the holes/slots for door handles
and window cranks were cut out jaggedly, as if by hacksaw.

and the killer was, my mother bought one (against my advice), and it
lasted about 30,000 miles ... but beyond the warranty! ... when the
front lower a-arm fell off the car as she was backing out of a
neighbor's driveway.

it wasn't just a failure, it was a disaster!!

and nobody sued GM, like they did with ford and the pinto.
wonder why?

OVC:  my vanagons NEVER had those problems!!! i've never even heard of
a vanagon lower (or upper!) a-arm falling off. :)

unca joel