Comments on: The Truth About Cars: Ten Worst Automobiles 2007

By: jimjam25

jimjam25 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:42:14 +0000

I would add to the list the Magnum. That thing is about as ugly as any vehicle on the road. It’s boxy and way too big externally for the room you get on the inside. The high windows and slab doors (like all Chryslers) and inexplicably oversized wheels are extremely displeasing to the eye. The gas mileage is poor and only the SXT has power, but I still wouldn’t be caught dead in one.

By: jimjam25

jimjam25 — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:38:27 +0000

The Nitro is HIDEOUS and cheap looking. I can understand people purchasing this vehicle if that’s all they can get, but the people I see in them are riding around as if they driving a new Range Rover. LOL This thing’s junk, just drive it and get dark tint so no one can see who you are.

By: unohugh

unohugh — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:10:14 +0000

GM sold 9.3 million vehicles worldwide in 2007. GM North America accounted for less than half of those sales (4.5 million). Are you really surprised that a global corporation is involved in joint ventures and foreign ownerships that bring products here from around the world? When you buy a GM product, you are buying from an AMERICAN corporation regardless of where the product is made. That’s not true of Japanese or German products. That’s why we call them FOREIGN manufacturers.

By: ionosphere

ionosphere — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:03:49 +0000

I think GM are hyprocrites, telling us to “buy american”, yet build the Chevy Aveo in Korea. What’s up with that?

By: armadamaster

armadamaster — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:21:01 +0000

“The list is good news for Ford, which somehow squeaked by without a Panther on the list.”

Pfft…a Panther belonged on that list? The only other actual really real “Ford” platform left in their lineup (except arguably Mustang & Focus(?)). The only vehicle period tested and passed for 75+ MPH rear crashes, proven good for 400K+ miles, and according to NHTSA ratings matches the “Safest Car in America” the new Taurus. Yeah…what a turd.

Good calls on the Uplander, ION, Aspen, Nitro & Compass, but there was still room to add for some desperately deserving imports.

Aveo is a turd, anybody buying one knows it’s a turd, they are buying it because it’s a turd. Look at me! I’m in a Ryder truck yellow Aveo! This is all I can afford! So follow me home and put me out of my misery!

Ford has one good sedan/wagon entry….the “new” Taurus/X. Only Ford can take a already too bland Five Hundread and make it bland and ugly with a Taurus nameplate. I could have probably filled that list up with just Chrysler SUVs.

And there’s so much stuff to choose from on the foreign side that belonged on there it’s ridiculous, Sequoia, FJ, Element, any Hyundai except Sonata, Land Cruiser, Mitsu Dakota, yet NONE made it but domestics? Uh-huh, that’s objective.

By: LarryH

LarryH — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:24:01 +0000

Personally I think domestics are getting bad raps, they to be the favourite punching bag. Do some of those cars/trucks deserve to be on the list, yes. Are there some that don’t since there is an import that should be there? Big 10-4 good buddy. Personally I think the domestics are more in tune with what the average North American wants but the media tell them they want Europeon/Asian styling and handling so the buying public says, “oh okay”. Then again maybe I am to prejudice towards the big 3. Well lets grab a case of beer, sit around the campfire and settle this once and for all!

By: davey49

davey49 — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:58:24 +0000

20 MPG is good enough for me. Any more usually involves too many compromises

By: Gypsy

Gypsy — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:16:46 +0000

“I like the way everyone assumes an SUV is a 10MPG or lower behemoth. There are SUVs that get 20 MPG or better.”
Uh 20 MPG is still a gas hog. My mother drives a Deville that gets in the mid 20’s and my Brothers Lincoln Town Car gets 22-24mpg. It does that bad because he drives hard. I used those two examples as I drive a Saturn SL that averages better than 35 mpg and my wife drives my Focus. Those cars would not be a fair comparison. I needed to use large luxury cars to even get close to the poor fuel economy that even small SUV crossovers get. How have we gotten so accustomed to bad fuel economy? In 1976 I drove a 1968 Opel Kadet that would get 40mpg. True it could only go 70 MPH and would need a tail wind to go faster but it was transportation. In 30 years we have truly gone backwards. I maintain that anything that gets less than 30 mpg is a gas hog and it’s not efficient unless it will pull over 40 mpg.

By: davey49

davey49 — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 22:35:20 +0000

I wouldn’t call the Compass an SUV but others might because it rides high and has a hatchback/liftgate accessed cargo area.
This might be a time where Chrysler is missing Plymouth. The Compass could easily be a Plymouth so the Jeep fans wouldn’t be so upset.
Gentle Ted- I’m still holding out hope for Magna purchasing Chrysler’s car operations.

By: Gentle Ted

Gentle Ted — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:50:29 +0000

I think anyone buying a Chrysler-Cebrus product is taking a chance in that just down the “short” road these vehicles including “Jeep” could be owned in China, not a nice thought to some I dont think either

By: Neely2005

Neely2005 — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:49:38 +0000

I find it humorous that the Jeep Compass is the worst car but the Jeep Patriot and Dodge Caliber (which are almost identical according to this website) don’t even get mentioned. The inclusion of the Jeep Compass on this list has nothing to do with the car itself and everything to do with Jeep Snobbery that thinks it’s not a real Jeep.

http://www.rrstar.com/homepage/x799502952

“Well, don’t believe everything you read,” Bryden said. “It’s been very good for us. It’s very good on fuel, and we’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback. I can’t say for sure whether it sells more to women. I can say it sells very good to Chrysler employees, and they know when something is a quality vehicle.”

Seems like the people who would know (the people that build cars) like the Compass.

The Compass is a Great Value for the price IMHO!

By: rommel543

rommel543 — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:41:35 +0000

I proudly own a Compass and love the feel and handling of it. When I was looking for a new vechile I test drove 3 different Mazda, a couple different Honda, Ford, Chevy, and Pontiac. The Compass easily compared to ANY of them. The handling is great, the fuel mileage if better than many others and I can get all 3 my kids in it. The interior has a better quality than most of the others that I drove (a piece of the dash fell off of the Mazda 3 when I was test driving) and has far better esthetics.

You want an ugly gas guslering, poorly designed vechile try looking at the Toyota FJ. http://www.toyota.com/fjcruiser/

My Compass has more passanger room, far better handling and pick-up, and console design.

By: Macca

Macca — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:51:58 +0000

Davey, I wouldn’t be so quick to label the Compass as an “SUV” – that’s giving it far too much credit. A reskinned/rebadged Dodge Caliber ain’t no SUV.

By: davey49

davey49 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:35:49 +0000

I like the way everyone assumes an SUV is a 10MPG or lower behemoth. There are SUVs that get 20 MPG or better.
TWA winner Jeep Compass is one of them.

By: Enright

Enright — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:36:41 +0000

It is facinating how effective the news of automotive quality effects it’s resale value in realtime. That can be viewed at Auto Auctions both online and off.

By: Gypsy

Gypsy — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:07:41 +0000

To readers.
I apologize for being so crass. I was out of line. Fuel economy is something I feel strongly about as the more gas we use the more oil price goes up the more money Arab nations make. That is what really makes me upset. Also, I try to buy American to the point of even looking who made my shirt. Unfortunately I often can’t find American made cloths, but that is for a different site. I just want a comfortable American made car that gets 40 mpg and I can’t find one.

By: Gypsy

Gypsy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:40:07 +0000

unohugh: I do believe I passed a non SS Trailblazer when I was pulling my Snowmobile and 4 wheeler back to South Dakota with my Ford Focus. When I put up a retaining wall I used 300 80 lb blocks so I had it delivered. Let’s see you haul 12+ tons plus a trailer. You go ahead and put that 454 gas pig on the road and every time you are driving it alone just think about how much cost you are accruing. Any business that needs to haul should use a truck. I like Peterbuilt’s. The rest usually just want something that makes them feel like they are driving a truck. The only time a Trailblazer is a blur is if I don’t slow down going by gas stations as they are dropping another $70.
Even bulk diesel is now over $3. and might go up and down but will keep trending up.
If you want speed look up the Tesla or Wright speed. That is the greeniemobile that will smoke any Trailblazer, SS or otherwise.
Peak oil happened around 2005. See Bloomberg News, “With oil prices so high, why are oil profits down?” It’s because oil production is down. Ask yourself, at $95 a barrel wouldn’t they be producing all the oil possible?
SUV’s are only worth the scrap metal they weigh. I guess gas is going to need to go to $4 or $5 dollars a gallon before some people get a clue.

By: unohugh

unohugh — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:14:37 +0000

Gypsy: I still can’t understand why anyone would still buy or defend an SUV.
Try hauling a car and trailer behind your Prius. Throw a 6′ ladder and six 80lb bags of Sakrete in your Camry. Try passing two tractor-trailers on a two lane uphill with your Civic. I can do all those things with my 400hp Trailblazer SS and haul four people and a Great Dane comfortably. Well, the two people in the back sometimes get a little drool on ‘em. The SS lists for less than $35k and I buy gas and diesel in bulk since I have storage tanks at my house, so I’m not worried about going broke. If you see a silver blur rocket past your little greeniemobile, wave, it may be me!

By: Gypsy

Gypsy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:45:26 +0000

I still can't understand why anyone would still buy or defend an SUV. Suuu-Veee's (Calling Hogs) have been shown to be no safer, only give the perception of having more room and cause more deaths than all other vehicles combined. I wonder how many people are now broke because they took a 2nd mortgage to buy the gas pig and now can't make the payments because they are paying $600 a month for gas. This country's love affair with gas hogs (anything that gets less than an average of 30 mpg is what I consider a gas hog) is directly responsible for the world oil price. Demand is driving price and the US demands more oil than all other nations.

By: Macca

Macca — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:28:24 +0000

Someone correct me if I’m wrong – but cars were nominated by readers, and then votes were submitted by readers.

The only bias that shows up on this list is that against purely crap vehicles.

If there was an anti-SUV bias, then why wouldn’t the “king” of SUV’s be here (Escalade) or any of it’s brethren? The point is that some of these SUVs (TrailBlazer et al) are completely archaic and have been for years, others represent fads in the worst sense of the word (Hummer & friends), one is just a painfully low-bar rebadge (Aspen), and yet others still are just re-skinned Dodge Calibers and have no business wearing the once-proud Jeep nameplate (Compass).

By: gtwildfire

gtwildfire — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:39:38 +0000

Sorry, but my first impression, having read this list and never having heard of TTAC is that 1.There is a bias against sport utilities and 2.there is a bias against American cars.

I really wonder about the accuracy of the poll results that made up the list. It’s suspicious that there was not one entry from anywhere else on Earth other than the U.S.

Reading between the lines (although the writing was definitely well-done and entertaining, honestly… Kudos) anyway the writing was inundated with much more disdain than a painstakingly fact-based or objective effort would have had.

By: westhighgoalie

westhighgoalie — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:15:44 +0000

I think the hords of voters got it absoloutely right!

I think Hummers (both of them) are the most rediculus vehicles on the earth.

My theory… Global demand isn’t raising gas prices… It’s those morons who buy hummers and get all of 8 miles to the gallon!

It’s the only way americans are going to get more respect… We need to take the absurd Hummer, Suburban, GMC Yucons, and Ford Expedition drivers and glue them (so they won’t return to their wastefull ways) into more economical vehicles.

Thats my 2 cents…

By: Gentle Ted

Gentle Ted — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 13:11:36 +0000

Regarding the person who said the Aveo was a great Car, just remember its not really a Chev, but a Daewoo!For the record GM bought Daewoo’s bankrupt Car division early in 2003 and started the same year sneaking in Daewoos under the Chevy and Sukuki banner.
Daewoo quality was a joke several years ago and its still a joke.
GM has never marketed another company’s and made money doing so(remember the 70’s Firenza) The GM/Daewoo subterfuge of selling Daewoos as rebadged Chevys and Suzukis will eventually cut into Cobalt sales as well.

By: davey49

davey49 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:37:43 +0000

Regarding the FJ vs H3 debate;
Both seem as useless or useful as each other since their performance is similar, but the H3 seems more adult. The FJ seems like a high schoolers “cute” or “cool” 4×4.

By: davey49

davey49 — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:32:26 +0000

Macca- I’ve sat in all those and I still say the Aveo is best in segment. It’s the sedan only I’m referring to, the 5 door is a different car. The Versa has a good interior, the Yaris is awful. The Fit is OK. The colors are a bit depressing
The Aveo’s interior is actually a lot nicer than other more expensive GM cars. The Saturn Aura, Pontiac G6, Impala and the previous generation CTS come to mind.
I won’t disagree that the other cheap cars aren’t better cars than the Aveo.