I was doing a search for something else and found this thread.
Without a doubt the worst car i ever owned (and i have owned over 80) was a 1994 Ford Probe.
I bought this automotive abomination when it came in on trade at the DC dealer where my brother worked. It was traded in by it's original owner (this was in 2000). It was bright red and looked great. It was the 4 cyl automatic (secretary special), so i figured it wouldn't have been pounded on too much.
Well, 2 weeks after i bought it, it developed a nasty valve tap. I had gotten a 3 month 3,000 mile powertrain warranty with it, so i took it to my brother (he is the service manager). He sent it down to the Ford dealer, and they ended up putting a NEW ENGINE in the damn thing (a Jasper reman). Warranty covered it. A week after i got it back with the new engine, the tranny started slipping...back to the dealer, and they installed a reman tranny. The brakes were pulsing also, so they put new pads and rotors on it...not covered and the damn rotors were over $200!!! After i got it back, it would not idle...as soon as you shifted it out of gear, into neutral or park, it would stall. Back to the dealer that put in the tranny, and they said the tranny install had nothing to do with the problem, and suggested i take it back to the dealer who did the engine.
Well, i took it back to the dealer who did the engine, and they claimed it was some air something or other in the FI system...told me it would be almost $500 bucks to replace it, or they could try cleaning it for $100, because sometimes that worked. I opted for the cleaning and that seemed to fix it. 10 days later the exhaust started leaking, so back to the dealer. They told me it was the front pipe, and parts and labor would be $400 bucks! I took it to Midas and paid them $225 for the same job.
5 days later i was driving home and the thing quit running. No warning, just quit running. I called AAA and had it towed. $225 later it was running again...fuel pump relay ($125), plus various fuses and labor etc.
The next day that thing was on Ebay.