QOTD: Which New Vehicle is the Worst Waste of Base?
Each week, TTAC’s basic car correspondent Matthew Guy brings you an Ace of Base article. Matt’s carefully selected examples are base models which tick many desirability boxes, proving you don’t need thousands of dollars in engine upgrades, brakes, pieces of trim, or tech packages to have good and enjoyable transportation. Overall, the Ace of Base series is positive and uplifting, presenting us with the best of the best of base. The other half of the basic coin is being ignored, however, and that’s where you come in.
Today we seek your nominations for the new vehicle which best represents a Waste of Base.
Now, I know it’s hard for you all to be critical of vehicles, so we’ll have to muddle through today. Some food for thought on what makes a Worst of Base is in order.
Value is of course a primary concern for a base model, and a good starting point for considerations. Think about vehicles which, even in base trim, represent not-great value for money. Think about being relegated to wheel covers, a certain too-small engine, or infotainment from a prior generation. Maybe you can only get one or two bland, flat colors on the outside. And speaking of exterior treatments, maybe the manufacturer doesn’t try quite as hard with the exterior trim of base models as they do with higher price points in the model range. I can tell you’re waiting for an example.
Here it is — the Dodge Journey. The base Journey trim is SE, which I think stands for Somewhat Equipped. And that’s an ambitious title. Hope you like those wheel covers!
This trim also has a different and poorer-looking bumper than higher-up versions, which exchanges this sedate-looking front end for one with a more crossover-like look, plus fog lamps. The price point here is just over $21,000. As you suspected, it’s front-wheel drive, and does not contain a Pentastar V6. Nope, just a 2.4-liter four-cylinder. This engine is not a new Fiat version, but rather dates back to the dark days of the Dodge Caliber. Power heads up front via a four-speed automatic, which is equally archaic and dates from the Chrysler Sebring era.
It only seats five people in this trim (a third-row seat being $1,995 extra), and passengers won’t be making any Bluetooth calls or using any wireless device inside, unless they have a cable. The Dodge Journey SE handily earns a Waste of Base title, and buyers would be well advised to look elsewhere. Perhaps they might look across the showroom at the Grand Caravan.
What’s your pick for Waste of Base?
[Image: FCA]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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- Tassos A terrible bargain, as are all of Tim's finds, unless they can be had at 1/2 or 1/5th the asking price.For this fugly pig, I would not buy it at any price. My time is too valuable to flip ugly Mitsus.FOr those who know these models, is that silly spoiler in the trunk really functional? And is its size the best for optimizing performance? Really? Why do we never see a GTI or other "hot hatches' and poor man's M3s similarly fitted? Is the EVO trying to pose as a short and fat 70s ROadrunner?Beep beep!
- Carson D Even Tesla can't make money on EVs anymore. There are far too many being produced, and nowhere near enough people who will settle for one voluntarily. Command economies produce these results. Anyone who thinks that they're smarter than a free market at allocating resources has already revealed that they are not.
- MaintenanceCosts I wish more vehicles in our market would be at or under 70" wide. Narrowness makes everything easier in the city.
- El scotto They should be supping with a very, very long spoon.
- El scotto [list=1][*]Please make an EV that's not butt-ugly. Not Jaguar gorgeous but Buick handsome will do.[/*][*] For all the golf cart dudes: A Tesla S in Plaid mode will be the fastest ride you'll ever take.[/*][*]We have actual EV owners posting on here. Just calmly stated facts and real world experience. This always seems to bring out those who would argue math.[/*][/list=1]For some people an EV will never do, too far out in the country, taking trips where an EV will need recharged, etc. If you own a home and can charge overnight an EV makes perfect sense. You're refueling while you're sleeping.My condo association is allowing owners to install chargers. You have to pay all of the owners of the parking spaces the new electric service will cross. Suggested fee is 100$ and the one getting a charger pays all the legal and filing fees. I held out for a bottle of 30 year old single malt.Perhaps high end apartments will feature reserved parking spaces with chargers in the future. Until then non home owners are relying on public charge and one of my neighbors is in IT and he charges at work. It's call a perk.I don't see company owned delivery vehicles that are EV's. The USPS and the smiley boxes should be the 1st to do this. Nor are any of our mega car dealerships doing this and but of course advertising this fact.I think a great many of the EV haters haven't came to the self-actualization that no one really cares what you drive. I can respect and appreciate what you drive but if I was pushed to answer, no I really don't care what you drive. Before everyone goes into umbrage over my last sentence, I still like cars. Especially yours.I have heated tiles in my bathroom and my kitchen. The two places you're most likely to be barefoot. An EV may fall into to the one less thing to mess with for many people.Macallan for those who were wondering.
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I'm tempted to say Mitsubishi Mirage, but the recent redesign may be better. Or it may not.
It's a good thing this is an opinion piece then, dt, as I am forced to disagree with three of your four choices and am neutral about the other two. The Renegade is, in base form, intended more as a toy car or, at worst, extremely basic at a very tempting price for those who simply can't afford a better-equipped car at the price. They may need the size (it is surprisingly roomy) when another brand at the same price might be significantly smaller. Even I'm tempted to go with the stick in a second Renegade except for the fact that my wife doesn't want to drive stick, and if her own Renegade breaks down, she'd have to drive mine or I'd have to be the one driving her around (which is what I have to do now, anyway.) So what if it's no air. It wasn't that long ago that air was purely an extra-cost option and people did just fine without it. Some people have just become too coddled for their own good. The Hyundai Veloster is actually an innovative rig in many ways, even if slightly underpowered (by some people's viewpoints.) I've considered it more than once but honestly still need an open bed if I can at all arrange it without taking on a Road Whale™ of a mid- or full-sized pickup. They're just too big, even as a base. As for the Trax... again with the AC complaint... in a country where AC shouldn't even be necessary for 3/4ths of the year. It's a decent vehicle at base, even if it isn't great. As for the Yaris and the HRV, after my ownership of a Fiat 500, I will not disparage a vehicle I don't know just on somebody's hearsay. That Fiat proved a far better car than I ever expected and will never again dismiss a car based solely on an obsolete reputation.