The polls are closed. We’ve tallied and rank-ordered the votes. You, TTAC’s ever faithful and always vocal readers, have selected the Ten Worst Automobiles Today (TWAT) from all the vehicles for sale in the US during calendar year 2006. Some of the votes were pretty close (only 35 votes separated the 10th place winner from the first runner-up at number 11), while others ran away from the pack from the very beginning. Here they are, starting with 10th place and counting down to number one, the winners of the 2006 TTAC Ten Worst Automobiles Today awards:
10. Chevrolet Aveo Chevy likes to tout the Aveo as the “lowest-priced [new] car in America." In spite of their warning “content may vary,” it’s easy to see how they achieved that goal. From the hollow-sounding doors, bargain-basement plastics and skinny tires to the coarse-sounding engine that strains when faced with even the slightest incline, it exudes “cheap” from every ounce of its being. The Aveo also refutes the smart shopper’s mantra “you get what you pay for.” In the case of this captive Korean import, you pay little and get even less. – FW
9. Lincoln Mark LT Lincoln’s badge engineered Ford F-150 is an unholy degradation of the world-famous Lincoln Mark nomenclature. While Brother Navigator sets the luxo-truck standard for wikkid beat boxes, wood-trimmed tillers, ventilated seats and power running boards, the LT went the adhesive-backed bling route, hit the showers and called it a day. From the richly textured but rock-hard interior plastics to the exterior’s mega-dose of bottom-dollar spizzarkle, the Mark LT is a rolling testament to Dearborn’s short-term, suicidal reliance on bean-counted engineering. – SM
8. Saab 9-7x The Saab 9-7X is a Chevy Trailblazer with the ignition key between the seats. Moreover, the Saab 9-7X is a Chevy Trailblazer with the ignition key between the seats. I can't stand the fact that the Saab 9-7X is nothing more than a Chevy Trailblazer with the ignition key between the seats. And when you stop and think about it, the Saab 9-7X is little more than a Chevy Trailblazer with the ignition key between the seats. Who did GM think they were fooling when they released the Saab 9-7X, which is nothing more than a Chevy Trailblazer with the ignition key between the seats? You know what I hate most about the Saab 9-7X? It’s a Chevy Trailblazer with the ignition key between the seats. – JL
7. Subaru B9 Tribeca Subaru execs may have been stony-faced when TTAC described the front end of their new SUV as a “flying vagina," but at least they didn’t turn to stone. Given the unrelenting hideousness of the Tribeca’s design– from its genital front end to its fallopian dash to its alien eyes rear end — they should count themselves lucky. The fact that the B9 is also slow, thirsty and cramped proves that repulsiveness can be more than skin deep. Why Subaru felt the need to enter the SUV segment when it offers such a wide range of superb four wheel-drive sedans and wagons is anybody’s guess. Clearly, they shouldn’t have bothered. - RF
6. Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a wrong wheel-drive engineering joke from the late ‘80’s. But it's main claim to shame is its merciless butchering of Chevy's once decadent “personal luxury” lines. In one fell swoop, the baroque fenders went from tacky-posh to adolescently unrefined. From the front, the Asian-inspired headlights assault the muscle car values once associated with this famous coupe. At the rear, sacrilege takes the form of taillights that look like a two-way bookshelf speaker that met the business end of a heat gun. Factor in various grades of interior panel gapping, Wal-Mart spec’d polymers and parts bin swapping with zero integration and you’re done. – SM
5. Hummer H2 The Hummer H2 is a rebodied Yukotahoburbelade that’s so damn heavy the IRS will give you a tax break because you just bought a piece of commercial farm equipment. It looks like a school bus from behind and a morbidly obese Cherokee from every other angle. It doesn't handle. Braking distances are straight from 1956. It gets less than 10mpg and takes longer than 10 seconds to reach 60. The chances that its owners will take it off-road are slimmer than the odds of Nicole Ritchie eating. Even the name sucks (literally): the H2 is a sad simulacrum of the first Gulf War winning off-road champ HUMVEE. While the H2 doesn’t come with hair plugs, it tells the world that the man behind the wheel has a small penis, or brain, or both. – JL
4. Chrysler Aspen Chrysler is trying to flog this monstrosity as a blingmobile– which is like trying to sell cocaine as a sleep aid. Chrysler's barely badge-engineered Dodge Durango is ugly. It’s thirsty. It’s slow. It’s badly built. It’s cramped. It’s expensive. Although the Aspen was an inexpensive cheap way for the Dark Lords of DCX to expand the Chrysler brand portfolio, it’s a perfect example of the old adage “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” – RF
3. Buick Rendezvous Based on a 1997 minivan and introduced in 2002, the Rendezvous is a platform partner to the Chevrolet Venture, Pontiac Montana and Oldsmobile Silhouette, and a fraternal twin to the gruesome Pontiac Aztek. It’s outlasted them all, creaking along with nothing more than a few trim changes and corporate-wide mechanical updates. The ungainly Rendezvous’ ride, handling and performance are on par with… a 10-year-old minivan. In fact, the Rendezvous embodies everything that’s brought GM to the brink: penny pinching, brand dilution and chronic neglect. It’s set to be replaced by the Enclave, and not a moment too soon. – FW
2. Jeep Compass Props to DCX for trying to introduce an economical model for fans of the storied Jeep brand. A pox on their house for building the Compass. In this horror story, Dr. Frankenstein (played by the mustache-twirling Doktor Z) grafts round headlights and a seven-slot grill onto the face of a mediocre high-riding sedan (a.k.a. the Dodge Caliber). He throws the switch and an ugly, gangly, underpowered, mud-aversive half-breed staggers into the light, turning all who see it– or God forbid buy it– into grotesque, bobble-headed morons. The Compass stomps all over Jeep’s reputation as America’s purveyor of authentic off-road vehicles. It’s time to get out your pitchforks. – WCM
1. GM Minivans Talk about retro-design. Rather than simply cop styling cues from bygone classics, GM built the Chevrolet Uplander, Saturn Relay, Buick Terraza and Pontiac SV6 using 25-year-old engineering. (Though not literally true, it’s true enough.) In terms of dreadful driving dynamics, contemptible aesthetics and torturous ergonomics, no other vehicles sold in America can compete with these ridiculously-named “Crossover Sport Vans.” For their antique engineering, woeful looks, cancerous effect on not one but four GM brands and their abject inability to hold a candle to their foreign-owned competition, GM’s minivans earn The Truth About Cars’ accolade as the worst vehicles currently for sale in America. – WCM
131 Comments on “The Truth About Cars 2006 Ten Worst Automobiles Today (TWAT) Awards: The Winners...”
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In case anyone was wondering why we are closing in on the 100th chapter of the GM death watch, the TWAT awards make it very clear. 6 of the 10 winners are GM products and this is without taking into account that No. 1 on the TWAT list is actually 3 vehicles, not one. These results should be expressed to Rick Waggoner as a much needed wake up call.
Given that 9 of the 10 winners hail from Detroit, I think we should have another contest: just how many cars does Detroit make that TTAC readers think are actually good cars.
^^I second.
I bet the list would be less than 10…
I consider the Rendevous is a platform partner only to the Aztec.
The Ventures, Montanas and Silhouettes were larger vehicles developed earlier, although they shared some mechanicals they had different bodies.
Jazbo –
Different bodies, yes, but same platforms.
From Wikipedia:
Like the Pontiac Aztek, the Buick Rendezvous is based on a shortened version of GM’s 2nd generation U platform minivans.
I saw the Press Release and noted you did not abbreviate the award names “TWAT”.
Your point being?
I’ll counter that the Rendezvous is merely a CSV with swing-out doors. It previously had the option of a DOHC engine, but in anticipation of being euthanized, GM dropped it.
And just in time for its inauguration as a TWAT, the Jeep Compass now has a rebate! Speaking of which, I think just all TWATs have cash back on the hood.
A special award to Bob Lutz for GM’s domination of this year’s TWATs, as he had a hand in many of his company’s winners. He’s trying to do what he can, but his spin is nauseating.
I think the more important commonality between the vehicles selected is that 8 of 10 are weak or diluted trucks and or SUVs – things made to appeal to a perceived image, rather than a defined function/purpose.
Vehicles made for a clearly defined purpose, wether they be the original H1, or a Lotus Elise, tend to have their priorities in order, and are better off for it.
As far as my list of good vehicles from the Detroit 2.5:
1. Ford Focus – the materials it is built with are awful, but it is a good car to drive.
2. GM/Ford Full Size pickups, rwd, vinyl interior, base models. They work.
3. Cadillac CTS – same story as the Focus.
um… that may be it.
The “first Gulf War winning off-road champ” wasn’t HUMVEE, that is just how joe pronounced the acronym HMMWV, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.
I’m not sure how HUMVEE came to be accepted as the proper acronym for the military spec HMMWV, but I guess folks just spelled out the way folks phonetically pronounced the real acronym HMMWV.
But I do agree that it is well deserving of a TWAT Top 10 award.
The Hummer H2 is a rebodied last-generation Yukon…
There are many modifications. It is not just a rebodied Tahoe/Yukon. I wouldn’t dare try to take a Tahoe down the trails an H2 could traverse.
nmcheese, the problem I have with the Focus is that Ford’s penny pinching has killed it.
5 years ago, I’d agree. In Europe, I agree that the Focus is brilliant.
But in the US today? Its not a TWAT, but its pretty damn close.
The Mazda3, aka the Euro Focus, lists for $1k less, handles better, drives better, is more comfortable, doesn’t have a lot of the ford penny pinching etc etc etc…
Ford was too cheap to upgrade the tooling on the US Focus plant to bring it up to spec to the Mazda3/Euro Focus platform. Hiss-booo….
Come on, just imagine if Ford didn’t bother with the penny pinching when it came time to update the design and plant, they could have a Focus ST/SVT with a 220+hp turbo 4 in it with AWD. (The platform supports AWD, but the Mazdaspeed3 doesn’t use AWD mostly for differentiation between the Speed3 and Speed6).
Oddly, I find I cannot disagree with any of these selections. Looks like the process worked most excellently.
I am a bit surprised that the Kia Amanti didn’t make the cut, though I personally found its interior richly appointed for a car in its price range, and the car thus a decent cut-rate alternative to a Lincoln Town Car.
Other decent domestic products:
Corvette
Mustang
Viper
Solstice / SKY (yes, they have weaknesses)
Aura / G6
Lucerne / DTS (for intended mission)
Fusion
Freestyle
Wrangler
Expedition (if you need a ton of interior room)
All the big pickups
I also have a soft spot for the Malibu Maxx, but admit that’s probably just me.
nweaver
Don’t forget the Volvo S40/V50. Ford was the only one of the three that decided it would be best to keep the old platform. I’ve said it before, but that is one of the worst ideas they could have had during this current period of small-car resurgence.
Detroit had better wake up.
This list should be faxed to the heads of every department in all of the big 3’s offices.
Anyone up for the task?
nweaver,
You can buy a Focus for far less money than a Mazda3.
Comparing the ZX4 SES to the Mazda3i Touring sedan (to get comparable equipment levels), the Ford is about $1,000 less. And then there’s the $2,500 rebate, vs. 0 on the Mazda.
$3,500 is a serious price difference.
Similarly, the ZX4 ST stickers close to the Mazda3s, but then there’s that $2,500 rebate again.
Make all the comparisons you want here:
http://www.truedelta.com/prices.php
The ST always happens to be less money than the much weaker, worse handling, less fun to drive Honda Fit Sport.
At actual transaction prices, the Focus is a great driver’s car.
They shouldn’t have trashed the interior like they did. If they’d done a decent job redoing the interior, it wouldn’t much matter that they kept the old platform. The old platform rides and handles very well, and the packaging is better than that of the new platform. Compare the rear seats of the Focus and Mazda3 some time.
Anyway, I hear all the time when I criticize an interior that interior materials and design aren’t that big a deal.
At least the Focus doesn’t have bi-level instruments.
And for an even better deal, find a nearly new Focus.
My runner up for great driving cars that should be cheap used: Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart.
And does anyone else find it funny that there are ads at the top of the screen touting Mark LT’s and Asspen’s for sale?
The magic of Goooooogle. Apparently there aren’t many other sites that mention their existence.
Absolutely hysterical, especially since its true on many levels.
i am so sick and tired of all the “10 best” and “100 best” and “car of the year”. This is a perfect rebuttal.
Also interesting that u chose to release it around election day!
Thanks so much. It’s nice to laugh!
Texas:
No one takes the H2 off-road.
Texas:
The Comp-ass will see more off road duty than an H2 ever would.
Texas: “There are many modifications. It is not just a rebodied Tahoe/Yukon. I wouldn’t dare try to take a Tahoe down the trails an H2 could traverse.”
Do these trails that the H2 could traverse include parking lots and the local fast food drive-through, where the H2 front wheel has a bad habit of scurrying away from the car?
Ford could make the bog standard Focus much better by install a 65 0r 70 mm throttle body from Ford Racing rather than the 57mm plastic piece of junk that lurks under the bonnet now. The SVT shocks and springs work improve things and a decent exhaust manifold help considerable in making a sows ear into miss piggys ear.
I have to agree with the list.
The GM minivans should be a case study in How Detroit Went To Hell.
My only regret is that the factory that makes them is here in Atlanta, and is now scheduled to close. Another couple of thousand workers lose their jobs because GM can’t design a freakin’ BOX.
I was pulling for the Compass to win top honors… Otherwise looks like a great list of crap.
GM minivans as a winner just doesn’t have much zing to it… I mean it’s like calling the ugly kid who already knows they are ugly “ugly”… Noone, including the ugly kid, really cares. The GM minivans have been crap for years and everyone pretty much knows it.
The compass is a brand new ugly kid… much more fun to be had poking sticks at the new kid than the one that has been around forever.
Just my 2 cents.
I’m kind of with BimmerHead on this… the minivans are obviosly terrible… but I kind of feel like the Compass deserves it more… diluting the Jeep badge is a bigger sin than diluting the already meaningless Saturn/Buick/Pontiac brands.
But they are all TWATs for sure.
Michael. List price on a comparable focus is equal to or $1k more than the comparable Mazda3. Remember, the 3 comes with a hotter engine and more standard features, better handling, etc etc etc.
That Ford has to then knock off $2.5k+ off the sticker price of a $15k car (and we’re talking the 07s here) to move them is more a statement on how much worse the car really is!
How much is Mazda kicking back on an 06 Mazda3? El Zippo. And there is a reason why Ford Japan is able to do this: they have a better car!
We are in the time when “Small cars are HOT”. I’ve seen Honda dealers putting $2k markups on a Fit, and $2k worth of random blingage for a nice additional $4k profit margin! The Starfighter Civic is all over the roads. The Yaris is becoming a plague on the land.
That Ford has such a good small car design (Mazda3/Euro Focus), but was too cheap to JUST PAY FOR THE TOOLING, just clearly demonstrates how short sighted Ford can be.
Lets assume that it would have cost $100M for new tooling, and ford sells 100k focuses/year. That $1k/car cost for retooling would have paid for itself in ONE YEAR in reduced incentives, as we have evidence that people will spend $2k more for the better car!
There are many modifications. It is not just a rebodied Tahoe/Yukon. I wouldn’t dare try to take a Tahoe down the trails an H2 could traverse.
You are correct. The H2 has a beefier rear axle, a rear differential lock, and I believe some beefier suspesnion components. Oh, and some bigger tires to boost the ground clearance.
None of this changes the fact that it has independent front suspension and all the limited wheel travel inherent therein, or the fact that it weighs approximately as much as the Lusitania, or the fact that its bloated body makes it a nightmare on most trails.
If I were buying an off-the-lot offroader, I’d go for an H3 over an H2, an FJ Cruiser or Xterra over an H3, and a Wrangler Rubicon over any of the others.
RE: Lets assume that it would have cost $100M for new tooling, and ford sells 100k focuses/year. That $1k/car cost for retooling would have paid for itself in ONE YEAR in reduced incentives, as we have evidence that people will spend $2k more for the better car!
Dear nweaver,
That is just the stupidest idea I ever heard. Your Fired.
Bob Bean
FoMoCo
My list for good cars coming out of Detroit would be pretty short, especially when if you leave out SUVs/pickup trucks
DCX: Chrysler 300
GM: corvette, caddy CTS, maybe Saturn sky
Ford: maybe some version of the Mustang
My off the cuff list as well as the others highlight one thing: cutting costs will not save your company if you continue to build cars no one wants to buy. Right now, Detroit just doesn’t build enough cars that anyone wants.
When talking about good cars from Detroit, I don’t want to add cars like Ford GT or even Corvette. They are out of the reach of most people and thus they are economically insignificant. IMO, these cars (not interested in trucks) are nice:
1) compact: Mazda 3. If stake ownership counts.
2) midsize: Fusion. Looks nice, at least.
3) luxury: CTS. Well balanced in style, quality and price.
My bad. When I saw that the discussion today was on “TWATs”, Hummers, and flying vaginas, I thought we would be talking about Britney Spears breaking up with K-Fed, but turns out the discussion is just on some car stuff…
I wonder if I’m the only TTAC reader who will own up to having a TWAT in the driveway.
My wife loves her 2004 Rendezvous CX AWD. It literally was the absolute least expensive AWD Rendezvous made that year, having no options whatsoever.
For the price we paid after supplier discount, rebate & finance incentive I really can’t find fault with its value proposal.
It is big, roomy and dead quiet inside and though I loathe driving it, I begrudgingly admit that it has an acceptable ride quality and nice comfortable seats.
But for two stripped-at-the-factory wheel studs it has performed absolutely flawlessly over its first 40,000 miles.
Does it dilute Buick’s brand? Maybe, but who gives a crap. We’ve never owned another Buick and likely never will. But for my GTI following on the heels of a Jetta TDI neither my wife nor I has ever owned more than one car from any single brand.
I wonder if that says more about us, or about the general brand dilution out in the market today?
(I’d consider another VW if VWNA would import a 5-door R32, but I’ve given up hoping for that.)
I’m glad to see the Mazda pickup didn’t make it into the final 10. While out of date it is a low cost hauler with a decent size bed. If it wasn’t reviewed right before the TWAT award nominations it probably wouldn’t have ended up on the list.
You are right Kurt… on two counts:
1. The Mazda pickup/ford ranger is an out of date low cost hauler.
2. If it hadn’t been recently reviewed here, it’s existence would likely have been forgotten altogether.
There are many modifications. It is not just a rebodied Tahoe/Yukon. I wouldn’t dare try to take a Tahoe down the trails an H2 could traverse.
Apparently, in all the modifications they forgot about re-inforced tie rods.
Help me out here, but I can’t quite see what an H2 can do that a late-model used Tahoe with a lift kit, bigger wheels and tires, and other suspension upgrades can’t do for a lot less money.
^ It can look baller, son.
Horay, GM is the WINNAR!
I want to see this in a GM advert….
“GM has earned more twat awards than ALL other auto makers combined”
The Comedian
Hey man, if you can walk up behind the Rendezvous and not puke all over your driveway, more power to you.
Worst looking rear end of any production vehicle ever. I cringe when I pull up behind one.
A girl asked me for a hummer once. I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about…
The front’s not much better. Ugly ovoid grille intersecting nasty rectangular headlights with misaligned bezels, and topped off with some gross orange blinker/eyelid things. Just isn’t working on any concievable level.
Second vote for a possible Rendezvous owner. The wife and I are looking at one as a replacement for her vehicle. I think it’s a great vehicle for the price.
Alas – we’ll probably go minivan to get the sliding doors on the side. There is no way I’m spending $25k on a minivan, and I won’t own another Chrysler, so I may end up with either some Korean made crap-van, or a Freestar.
Oh god, and look at the interior
The horror.
Ouch. I think the dash could take out an eye or two, with that sharp corner. TWAT-worthy, yes.
(Cribbed from a bounced email I tried to send to Jonny Lieberman.)
True, the back end of that thing is horrible. I don’t know if I saw this in writing somewhere, or if it just occurred to me a few weeks ago, but that gaping hole in the back around the license plate holder combined with the alignment of the taillights puts me in the mind of the web-famous “goatse” image.
Try to get that out of your head next time you’re behind one of these things. The taillights as forearms leading up to a …
Oh well, you get the idea.
_______________
Less funny responses,
1) That’s why I back down the driveway.
2) That’s why I stay at work until it’s dark out. (Easy to do in CT.)
3) You are all correct about the looks of the ‘Vous, but it was my wife’s money, her car and her call. She deemed me good looking enough to marry, so if the ‘Vous makes her cut, I guess I’m even uglier than I thought!
I think I understand jaje’s point.
Take a look at http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml and look up the word twat. An unfortunate coincidence ;-)
so fitting that there’s a hummer on this list.
I can’t think of 10 good domestic cars (excluding “foreign” brands like Volvo and Mazda): Corvette definitely. Chrysler 300 is actually good for what it is. That is really it…
There are a lot of mediocre cars that could have been better. The Mustang has great styling, but still not a very good car otherwise. The Sky and Solstice again are better at styling than performance or feel. Perhaps these new Fords or Saturns will at least be competent, but I would really be tempted by a Hyundai.
Frankly I would almost buy a used German or Japanese luxury car over a mid-level sedan anyway, but maybe that is just me.
I’ve said it before, the General Motors CSV minivan frankensteins are really the low-hanging fruit of GM’s brain trust. Giving them a TWAT is like picking on the neighborhood kid who was the product of two cousins.
Great list. Congrats to TTAC on a job well done.
Please remember: the final ten vehicles were chosen via electronic poll.