The Yugo is famous for something that products don’t want to be known for – poor quality. It began life in the former Yugoslavia in the early-1980s as a shortened variant of the Fiat 127. It was imported into the U.S. from 1985 to 1992 and sold well enough for a while until reports of unreliability began to surface. This 1988 Yugo GV (what they were called in the U.S.) is part of an estate sale in Visalia, California. The car is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $5,000 OBO.
Malcolm Bricklin, the noted entrepreneur who brought several automotive brands to the U.S. (including Subaru), orchestrated the importation of the Yugo, a minicar from Yugoslavian automaker Zastava. The Yugo’s main claim to fame in America was that it was the cheapest new car that you could buy at the time. And it generally proved that you get what you pay for because the car was soon ridiculed for being the worst automobile on the market. It won many “prizes” like Worst Car Ever and Worst Car of the Millennium. Despite this, Yugo sold nearly 140,000 cars over an eight-year period. Thanks, Car Sales Base, for background info on the Yugo.
The seller’s car is one of 31,583 sold in the U.S. for 1988, the brand’s third best sales year. It’s being offered as part of a large collection of automobiles, which the seller believes are all registered as Non-Op. The Yugo has been stored indoors and not touched in 18 years (as have all the cars in the group). There is no mention if the car runs or could be made to run and will not be started by the seller before being sold. The odometer reads 67,000 miles, but there is no guarantee if that is accurate. One of the rear windows is broken. The few Yugo’s currently for sale online are going for at least what the asking price is for this car, which is amazing given the brand’s reputation. Are there better ways to spend $5,000?
When I die,I don’t want to be known as “The guy who had a Yugo”.
A coworker bought a new 88 Yugo and within the first week the window crank and driver seat broke. Terrible car.
I can beat that. My folks test drove a new one and the window crank broke during the test drive.
Pretty much rather have any of the other cars parked nearby this one.
Boat Anchor.
are you sure its even heavy enough to be a boat anchor? Besides you’d likely get in trouble for all the parts falling off, polluting the water
You might be wise to come and see what a Yugo that has been taken care of and drvin properly looks like. You have no idea
I’d rather have worn out shoes and be walking, then to drive this. Of course, if you do drive this, pretty sure you will be walking soon enough.
The Yugo was an absolute disaster of a car. But even at that, there need to be a few samples preserved. Otherwise, future generations won’t know what one is when told about this terrible car from the 80s.I guarantee if one shows up at a car show, there will be swarms of people around it.
…but remember to “bring a trailer.” (Sorry, just couldn’t resist.)
Fill the gas tank and double the value of the vehucle
I have 2. A 1987 and a 1991 in like new condition. They are the talk of car shows here in Ohio and I have over 35 trophies and ribbons to prove it.
nyet!
They went for less than that when new. Are you kidding me?
Never have I, nor did I, ever expect to see the words ‘Estate sale’ and ‘Yugo’ used in the same sentence. Talk about an oxymoron. Junkyard sale yes, estate sale no.
You would be better off taking your $5000 and throwing out the window.
You would be better off taking your $5000 and throwing it out the window.
I liked my sister’s Yugo. It was fun to wind thru all four gears, wide open, and still not exceed the speed limit. I didn’t like that you had to run the A/C in the Winter due to the huge glass area, and it was near impossible to get into reverse. She let her hubby’s handymen drive it, and years later it was still running, even with the front end pushed back several inches.
Yugo is victim to the biggest myth in auto history, alongside that Tuckers can’t back up. Buyers were sold on the “disposable car” thing and so never changed or even checked oil levels or changed the timing belts every 30,000. Yes, the window cranks broke, okay. Chrysler didn’t want a $3,900 car up against their line and auto magazines were part of the badmouthing, except for Motor Trend that mourned the end of production, saying “America needed a car like the Yugo.” Everybody hated them except those who actually owned them.
Yugo erred in pushing its cheapest models first, the same mistake made by Crosley and Henry J. The first Nash Ramblers were luxury convertibles with everything standard, and the budget models came later once the public had developed a positive image.
Indeed, I had a co-worker who had a blue Yugo and got 10 good years and about 150,000 miles out of it. He was meticulous about maintaining it and lamented that most Yugo owners were too cheap and/or too stupid to properly care for ANY car.
I’m more interested in the two Honda N600 sedans parked next to it.
I’d rather have the deluxe Yugo 2 Hell model.
Or the station wagon version… We all go.
I looked at the 2 Hell model, but opted for the sportier F Yourself.
Fiat owners really like these – they have something to look down on!
I’ll take it for $800. Heck. I’ll even go get it!!!!
On this episode of “Chasing Classic Cars”…
Wayne Carini IV uncovers a 88 Yugo tucked away in a barn outside of Boston.
“These were fun little cars back in the day…..”
I have 2 a 1987 with 2400 miles on it and a 1991 automatic tranny which was unusual. I have won over 35 trophies at car shows. These units are the talk of most of the shows. My cars and a friend s car were featured in The Columbus Dispatch newspaper Columbus. These have been a lot of fun
They had to quit selling them because the crash dummies refused to get in the vehicle!
Give it to Tanner Faust.
This turd isn’t worth $5.00
Fiat 128, not 127! Same running gear and SOHC engine as the 128, same chassis but laterally sectioned to make it about 18″ shorter. My 128 had been hit and, as it turned out, not very well mended, but it served me very well for almost three years, and I still miss it. So for a while I was scouring Nashville’s cheaper car lots for a Yugo, and found a good one for really cheap. Went to negotiate a loan, came back, and it had just been sold. Now I am still looking, but #1 says I have enough cars already, so it’s become a hobby …
Sure, it is not a high quality car. It was meant to be a bare-bone transportation that you can buy for really cheap. What killed its reputation was combination of expectation that you can are somehow getting an average quality just for a lot less money. And because it is cheap then it doesn’t deserve any maintenance or care! We know how that works. Also, pretty much any car I owned had some things that break or are recalled. But, once you take it into your dealership, have a coffee, they fix it for free you tend to forget it ever happened. With Yugos, they never really established services so of course, if you have a problem (whatever it is) and it isn’t fixed, of course you would call the car a piece of junk.
Now, if you do the maintenance, and take basic care of the car it can last a very long time. I happen to have one (1988 GV) with 75000 miles on it. Of course, I don’t drive it a lot, but in 5 years that I owned it I made 3000-4000 miles in short trips. Nothing ever broke. I had it get to 90mph the other day on the interstate – no shaking, pulling or anything – it just feels light (which it definitely is) and the revs are on the high side (4 gears only).
They were going to bring out a four door and call it (all go)
Those three-decades-old “we-all-go / fill the tank / rear defroster”-etcetera comments just get funnier with each new decade.
I also like reading all the “buff-out” comments. Joe Miller must have been a car aficionado.