The votes are cast. The polls are closed. And there’s no question which vehicles our Best and Brightest consider the TTAC’s Ten Worst Vehicles 2008. The good news: there are only two new “winners” this year. The bad news: there are only two new “winners” this year. In fact, eight of last year’s Ten Worst are still in production. Even more depressing: half of this year’s winners have “won” TTAC’s Ten Worst three years running. How long can these turkeys hang on? Pass the cranberry sauce and read on.
There was no doubt about the final ten. When all the nominees were lined up in order of the number of votes garnered, there was a huge gap between numbers 10 and 11. So how did they rank? Here they are:
10. Chevy TrailBlazer / GMC Envoy / Isuzu Ascender / Saab 9-7X – What’s not to love about a refined straight six or a rip-snorting V8 in a family hauler? The miserable GMT-360 platform. No matter what iteration you pick, you get a jittery ride, third-world interior and panel gaps large enough to be seen from outer space. After years of insignificant redesigns, this rig’s corroded six brands, killed two and put three in the hospital. Die already, will ya? – sm
9. VW Routan – The Volkswagen Routan is a badge-engineered Dodge Caravan. Pros forge Monets, not Hello Kitty posters.- mm
8. HUMMER H2 – I secretly like the H2. It fits with my theory that all SUVs need to look like Patton could’ve used ‘em to invade Sicily. Problem is, the poster child for “Drill Baby, Drill!” is anything but. It’s a Chevy Tahoe in a fat suit. A body on frame anachronism that not even a G.I. Joe doll could love. – jl
7. HUMMER H3/H3T – The Edsel had a peculiar name and a “controversial” design. The wrong car for the wrong time, it was a failure from the word go. Sorry. Did I say Edsel? I meant HUMMER H3. – wcm
6. Dodge Nitro – Do you think the tropical-paradise-nuking French care that we put panties on a few prisoners’ heads? No, they abhor our conspicuous consumption and tough-guy dress-up routines. To show them we have a sense of humor, we should send them the Dodge Nitro: a slow, cramped, artless knockoff of a HUMMER H2. Either that or use the Nitro as artillery shells. - jl
5. Dodge Caliber – As the ad campaign put it, the Caliber is anything but cute. Specifically, it’s noisy, garish, heavy-footed, hard to see out of, gutless, inefficient and poorly built. By trying to tart-up a compact to look like something Americans loved (big utes), Chrysler destroyed nearly every benefit of the small-hatch form. - en
4. Chrysler Aspen / Dodge Durango – You can dress up an ancient, arthritic, gas-sucking, poorly-packaged Dodge Durango as a Chrysler Aspen, but you can’t take it anywhere. Saying that, you can give it an expensive two-mode gas – electric hybrid system and drive it to Congress to get a bailout. But then people who know cars will laugh. As they should. rf
3. Chevrolet Aveo – The Aveo continues to offer a snap-crackle-pop interior, mediocre gas mileage, roly-poly handling and gutless onramp terror. With GM touting for bailout bucks, the fact that this sad excuse for an economy car comes from Korea is painfully poignant. And just plain painful. – en
2. Jeep Compass – From droning tires to a jouncy suspension to an engine that moans more than a five-year-old denied Disneyland, this un-Jeep is a cacophony of cheap. Design-wise, The Compass is a sub-moronic riff on the brand’s storied heritage. If you need further proof that Jeep Compass is an abominable snow job, check out the fake rivets on the shift knob. Better yet, don’t. – rf
1. Chrysler Sebring / Dodge Avenger – What do you do after a tremendous, demographic-busting hit like the 300C? If you’re Chrysler, you offer up a malformed, worst-in-segment, natural-born rental car and expect consumers to buy it. When historians write Chrysler’s obituary, the Sebring will get its own chapter. – jl
You have chosen…wisely. These are surely the most putrefied products on the automotive landscape today. But what about the rest? How did the also-rans rank? Here they are, in order from number 11 through number 23:
11. smart fortwo
12. Jeep Commander
13. Pontiac Torrent
14. Chevy Colorado / GMC Canyon
15. Cadillac Escalade
16. Lincoln Mark LT
17. Scion xB
18. Kia Amanti
19. Chevy Cobalt / Pontiac G5
20. Suzuki Forenza
21. Tesla Roadster
22. Buick Lacrosse
23. Saab 9-5
And so ends yet another TTAC Ten Worst Vehicle award. Will anything change before the 2009 awards? With everything that’s going on in the industry right now, something has to change. But rest assured that unless everything changes for the better, we’ll be back in a year, looking at next year’s latest crop of automotive atrocities and singling out America’s Ten Worst Vehicles. Meanwhile, thanks for your help, support and snark. We couldn’t do this without you. Nor would we.
131 Comments on “TTAC’s Ten Worst Autos 2008...”
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I can’t really see how the Dodge Nitro fits into this list. It’s not a profoundly inferior car, like the Sebring. It’s a Jeep Liberty in a fancy dress. But it’s not a bad car…
And where’s the BMW X6? Something’s rotten here…
I can see the Nitro as an also ran, not in the top ten.
That Cobalt/G5 needs to be in the top ten. Getting great gas mileage is one thing, but detesting every minute of accumulating it is what makes it “special”.
After seeing the all of the Chrysler/Dodge efforts in Australia I cannot understand why all of the products, apart from the 300c, aren’t occupying all of the positions. From interiors that make a Kia look like a well engineered and no expense spared vehicles to unusually small interiors/large body ratios, it is no wonder that Chrysler/Dodge will go.
Hmmm…9 out of 10 for the two automakers on the brink.
The other is source from one of them.
Is there a correlation?
Liked wcm’s comment on the H3.
Bunter
The correlation is that the product is king. And that bad products for decades on end leads to shrinking sales and in this case an inevitable bankruptcy.
Hmmm…9 out of 10 for the two automakers on the brink.
And the one Ford on the list is just an F-150 in a tux (an idea whose time has long gone) that could not have cost that much to develop anyway. Hmmm indeed.
What the hell? The xB isn’t on the list! How come when the world’s most careful automaker, with a plethora of engineering resources adds OVER 600 POUNDS to a car in a redesign in what was an economy car. And to make sure the mileage drops, they add an engine 800cc BIGGER, and make it over a foot longer. Jesus, Toyota, what’s next, taking away the 1.8L VVTL-i engine from the ‘06 Corrolla XRS, so good that Lotus uses it, and replacing it with the four cylinder from a Camry? No, wait, losing the support of all Toyota enthusiasts by killing off the Supra, Celica, and MR2? Errr, I mean, making a youth-oriented brand that now appeals mainly to old people? I mean, trying to make a performance hybrid sports sedan with a seriously un-sporty CVT transmission? Uhhhh, making a track-star sports sedan with EIGHT FRIGGIN’ GEARS so you’re constantly working the paddles, and with a body kit only the typical teenage Civic owner could love, with FAKE EXHAUST TIPS? Or, ummm, making a hybrid pickup truck? Oh, wait, they DIDN’T do THAT ONE.
I don’t agree that the Jeep Commander should even have been 12th. It’s actually a nice design with an awesome four-wheel drive (Quadra-Trac II).
It’s problems were:
1) Although different in style, too much like the Grand Cherokee and just cut into Grand Cherokee sales. The XK should have been built as a big SUV (with more 3rd row leg room for adutls to shut up the auto press… as we all drive around loaded with adults all the time… rolling my eyes…), well that is if…
2) Gas prices were cheap. When the Commander came out, gas prices were just starting to go up… Jeep was late to the party.
3) Should of had a front straight axle. The Jeep crowd would be all over it. Jeep made that mistake with the Liberty (although the KJ was one of the top selling SUV’s in it’s class… so that is debatable).
Wow, all of the Top Ten are from GM and Chrysler, (I don’t care if it’s got a VW badge, it’s a Caravan). 18 of 23 are from these jokers.
What a sad testiment to the state of the NA auto industry.
Kudo’s to Ford for only having 1 on this list of 23. Show’s who’s going to make it out of all this mess alive. GM and Chryco don’t stand a chance.
I agree the Dodge Nitro is required on this list,its a Gas user for sure and sure to be a loser!
why arent the caliber and the compass combined like all the other platform sharing/badge engineered cars?
I’ve never driven a Sebring, so I decided to take a look at some of the reviews.
According to Edmunds, The Touring’s 2.7-liter V6 is actually less powerful than the Honda Accord EX’s four-cylinder, yet somehow less fuel efficient than the Accord’s 268-horsepower V6.
The D1.8 defenders claim that these companies build cars people want – is this an example? Where was management when they came up with these specs? Couldn’t someone in have stepped in and said the product wasn’t good enough and directed engineering to go back and get it right?
I’m still disappointed neither the Cayenne or Panamerica made it on this list. Both ruin the Porsche name. Oh well.
Otherwise the list is spot on. Especially #1.
If Chrylser closes, who are gonna kick around?
Wow, this article also belongs in your Bailout Watch. After all, one of the biggest arguments made in favor of the bailout is that we all still have an 80’s notion of D3 quality and haven’t noticed that they’ve changed completely and now make cars of comparable quality to the imports. This list is a powerful refutation of that argument.
I don’t agree that the Jeep Commander should even have been 12th
Well, it wasn’t top ten, so don’t complain. I think it should’ve been higher mostly because it failed miserably at being what it’s supposed to be a large SUV. It also should’ve been deep sixed at very least after the 2006 model year.
Having ridden in one, it’s not confortable for an adult in the middle row of seats, let alone the way back. Having driven one it’s slow, thirsty and in no way a “fun” to drive vehicle. Hands down I’d take a Tahoe or Expedition or Sequoia over the Jeep.
Solid front axle? Yeah, maybe that would’ve got some Jeep fan boys to buy, but would not have fixed the failings of this vehicle.
Yes, the H2 might be a “Tahoe in a fat suit” but for everything inexcusible about the H2, the Commander is as well, just without the in your face syling.
In a way it’s silly to argue about who is and isn’t on the list. It’s like, just a list, you know? To my eyes the Top 10 has a common wisdom quality to it, e.g., at this point it’s all too easy to beat up on Hummers and Chryslers. But then they do richly deserve it.
Airhen- I just had the joys of Hertz giving me a Commander for a week.
It had a few nice features: remote start, heated seats, and sat radio. And a nice flat dash with recesses…great as a field vehicle. Great stuff when doing some siting studies between Canada, Washington, Montana, and Idaho.
However, it sucked, sucked, sucked fuel. I felt like I was inside a rubbermaid container, and never did find a great seating position. Headlights (combined with foglights) were terrible in rain and snow. There were a few rattles in the rear compartment…which is fine, temps were cold and the vehicle had 6k miles on it. Also had a burning smell whenever 4WD kicked in, never used 4-Lo or Hill Descent.
I should have taken the free upgrade for a not much better looking vehicle, but probably better put together: Armada. Overall, it’s a vehicle for no one…most people that want a bigger Jeep will get a Grand Cherokee, the others will get something else that the market offers.
Just to keep within perspective…I own an 06 Mazda and 84 Volvo, but previously had an 04 Explorer 4wd (company rig) that I had no problem getting around the back trails of the Wasatch and Uintah mountain range(s).
With that said, I agree with everything else on the list.
I’ve said it once here, and I’ll say it again …. I don’t get all of the “hate” for the GMT360. They sell better than the currrent crop of GM crossovers, and everyone I know that owns one loves it (me included, as well as two of my neighbors). I bought a 2004 Rainier V-8 for my wife … actually HER PICK … and she wants to keep it until the wheels fall off. No problems in 38,000 miles. It’s comfortable, the ride is fine for a truck, it’s quite, the V-8 pulls the classic car with no trouble, and the AWD keeps the better half between the white lines in these damn Minnesota winters. I know it gets voted as “bad” here, but how many of the voters have actually OWNED one??? Sounds to me like follow the crowd, or a bit of group think.
Rant over …. for now ….
Ford continues to set itself apart from the Detroit pack.
I think the Sebring should be retired from the competition (assuming Chrysler exists next year) and become a permanent TWAT emeritus.
Whoever had the bold idea to slap a VW badge on a Chrysler must be rolling over in their grave now.
The Toyota Yaris coupe should have been on the top 10 worst list. It is by far one of the most flimsy insubstantial POS cars I have had the misfortune of driving. The rear tires are litterally 6 inches away from the back of the bumper making a rear end collision a positively explosive reality. The seats look like something out of a golf cart with 1970’s Dodge Dart seat material. The quear as a duck center mounted dash is totally distracting and leaves a huge hunk of cheap plastic facing the driver where the dash should be. The engine is noisy, slow and no better on gas than the larger Corolla and high speed driving is a pretty scary experience in windy conditions. Add in soft soggy handling, lifeless steering and a near Corolla price tag and this puking turd of a car belongs on anyones top 10 crap list.
yournamehere,
I was wondering the exact same thing.
…FAKE EXHAUST TIPS?
I’ll agree, at least partially, with your other points, but this one needs some clarification. Lexus is far from the only make that uses fake exhaust tips, and far, far from the most expensive.
There are other, much more “storied” marques with much more “heritage” that subscribe this particular sort of fakery. Lamborghini (all of them), Audi (R8) and Ferrari (California) come immediately to mind. I believe a few Porsches have used them as well.
I think it’s about time we let up on Lexus a little, no?
Just a question: core to the what should/shouldn’t be on the list is the question: “Do we vote in cars that flat-out suck (Sebring, Caliber, GMT360s), or cars who represent gross suckage (TSX, X6, xB, 9-5) but aren’t actually that bad in an of themselves”
This list seems to gravitate to the former. I’m ok with that if it’s the intent, but it does make the TWA
Ta little less industry “truth” and a little more like the bottom half of Consumer Reports. Or a Chrysler all-products brochure.The Toyota Yaris coupe should have been on the top 10 worst list. It is by far one of the most flimsy insubstantial POS cars I have had the misfortune of driving.
Drive an Aveo. It’s like a Yaris, but without any of the Yaris’ virtues.
I think the Compass/Caliber thing was discussed in another post – even though they share many of the same bits, they are marketed at distinctly different crowds. Plus, the Compass has that extra spicy bit of brand defiling to give it that extra oomph.
@psarhjinian
I think what Rev is trying to say re the fake exhaust tips is that the stacked chrome tips on the IS-F aren’t connected to the actual tail pipes, they’re just there for show and tell.
And is it any wonder that half of that top ten list are Chrysler products? does Chrysler really deserve to live with such a dismal failure as the Sebring?
I fully agree with that list though…I always wondered how nice it would be to have an Impala with a straight six under the bonnet.
Airhen –
I agree with you that Jeep Commander gets more flack than it deserves. It would have been fine as a Grand Cherokee; problem was they already had one. There’s nothing wrong with the concept of a 3-row Jeep SUV, and the excecution isn’t terrible like, for example, a Durango. It’s a wrong decade, wrong vehicle lineup, too much competition issue.
Ford made the same mistakes GM and Chrysler made, just to a lesser degree than GM and Chrysler. Ford shows they can make genuinely good cars in Europe but they chose to give the US market cheaped out models hoping the US consumer wouldn’t notice. But I guess they did in the end.
I still give Ford a chance of surviving, that is if they actually want it to survive in its current form after GM and Chryco file. On the one hand it would be very good pr for them to be the only survivor, but then again if they are subsequently stuck with uncompetitive production costs while a leaner and meaner new ‘GM (Chevrolet?)’ would not be, maybe they’d rather cut their losses too and blame carpocalypse.
Chrysler in the crapper by no other fault but their own. Let’s give them taxpayer money!
Fake exhaust tips are not always bad if you’re going for the “tips molded into the bumper” look. You put the exhaust tips against that plastic, and watch it melt over time.
In the end, I’d rather have a seperated exhaust tip from the bumper.
IMHO, the Nitro should have been above the Aveo. Stop defending this stupid car, the Nitro is embarrassing.
jerseydevil :
If Chrylser closes, who are gonna kick around?
Chrysler is closed. Tomorrow.
Ingvar :
The correlation is that the product is king. And that bad products for decades on end leads to shrinking sales and in this case an inevitable bankruptcy.
Yeup. Product is king. If you cain’t build a good product, then you should go bye-bye. Same for banks. If you cain’t stop from lending to deadbeats, then you should go bye-bye.
Now if you lend to deadbeats to buy your lousy product, then this becomes a matter of national security, and we need more of it, so you subsidize it: We bail ‘em out.
racebeer, I have to challenge your defense of the 360. My boss has one, and he regularly shares stories with me of misdiagnosed, undiagnosed problems, lengthy stays at the dealer, etc., etc. It’s a leased company vehicle and I think he will throw a company party when the lease is up. BTW, inline-6s are reknowned for their smoothness, but not his. One of those undiagnosable problems is a persistent misfire.
The top 10 truly deserve their place on this list. I agree that in future years TTAC might want to consider changing the name to ‘The Sebring Awards’. After all, you do have the Bob Lutz award.
I’d love to see someone on Congress produce this list and ask simply as ‘What’s your excuse for this?’
racebeer :
I agree. I wouldn’t say the GMT-360s are great cars, but they’re more than adequate. I had an Envoy for a rental a few weeks ago and the interior was decent, the engine was surprisingly powerful, the ride was smooth, and the handling was OK for an SUV. I don’t notice things like panel gaps, I might spend 99% of my time with a vehcile on the inside, but 99% of that time is spent looking out the windshield, not nitpicking for things that might stand out to a journalist, but don’t make any difference in real life. The Envoy was an all-around decent truck, which might not make it class-leading (I have no desire to know what the class leader is, because I have no interest in driving an SUV) but it definitely doesn’t deserve to be on this list.
8. HUMMER H2 – I secretly like the H2. It fits with my theory that all SUVs need to look like Patton could’ve used ‘em to invade Sicily. Problem is, the poster child for “Drill Baby, Drill!” is anything but. It’s a Chevy Tahoe in a fat suit. A body on frame anachronism that not even a G.I. Joe doll could love. – jl
People can like a vehicle or not, but don’t spread false information. The H2 is NOT simply a “Tahoe in a fat suit”. I dare anyone to take a factory Tahoe the same places a factory H2 is able to go. It wouldn’t get far. There are substantial differences.
Base Yaris is 12k…
It’s not near Corrolla prices at all really. 4 grand is a lot of cash at the low end of the market.
I am in consumer product development, I am amazed that many,many people: R&D, Product Marketing, Sales, and top company management sat in meeting after meeting and signed off on these designs – “Yes sir, we all agree, we need the Nitro and we want just that design to rock n roll in the market.”
It is so surprising that all of us here agree (mostly) that these cars are terrible, but somehow Chrysler and GM management all agree to develop these cars and KEEP these models going on and on. WOW.
The really scary thing about the Sebring/Avenger being #1 is that even CONSUMER REPORTS agrees (!!!).
The fact that CR and car enthusiast sites/magazines agree about what makes a terrible car is a sure sign of the (US automotive industry) apocalypse.
alright, you guys are gonna make me go out and test drive a sebring. how can it be THAT bad? (relax, it’s a rhetorical question.) i’ve never driven one or even been in one, but from pics i’ve seen it’s a matter of taste more than anything (although the materials look a bit more “plasticky” than i’d like, but i can say the same for a current-generation camry, which i have driven). the exterior, again, seems to be a matter of taste, not quality of build. i’ve got a 2009 accord with less than 1000 miles on it that i’m putting in the shop next week, under warranty, for them to fix this tail light/chipping paint issue that i’ve seen on 99% of 8th gen accords i’ve surveyed. yet somehow there’s been no recall or service bulletin. i’d just as soon leave it be, except that i’ve seen year old cars where 2 inches of paint has peeled off around the tail light over time. anyway, my point is that even honda has issues. oh well, any other point i may have had, i think i lost it.
I am in consumer product development, I am amazed that many,many people: R&D, Product Marketing, Sales, and top company management sat in meeting after meeting and signed off on these designs – “Yes sir, we all agree, we need the Nitro and we want just that design to rock n roll in the market.”
Easy to understand when the majority of voices in room are MBAs, Lawyers and Accountants who grew up and went to school in major metropolitan areas where cars were an afterthought not a day to day necessity.
It’s too late now but one thing that might have helped Detroit is if beginning in 80’s the Big 3 would have forced their top management layers in all divisions to personally purchase, drive and maintain the products they were selling. Then every six months drive an overseas competitors’ comparable product for a month.
I think what Rev is trying to say re the fake exhaust tips is that the stacked chrome tips on the IS-F aren’t connected to the actual tail pipes, they’re just there for show and tell.
And so are those on the Murcielago and R8, but people pick on Lexus because it has no “heritage”.
There are only two ways to do exhaust tips (three, if you count the econo-car “below the bumper” look): a) you either float them in a hole in the bumper, which looks sloppy as the tip can’t be flush with the body, wiggles around and/or melts the bumper plastic or b) you use moldings in the bumper and let the real exhaust float behind it, which looks clean in daylight but fake if illuminated from behind the bumper.
Again, there are legitimate beefs with Lexus, the IS and the IS-F, but the exhaust-tip meme is a cheap-shot and enthusiasts should know better.
I think the Compass/Caliber thing was discussed in another post – even though they share many of the same bits, they are marketed at distinctly different crowds. Plus, the Compass has that extra spicy bit of brand defiling to give it that extra oomph.
No, that would be the Compass and the Patriot. Why they built both is beyond me, but I’m sure it made sense the the Mercedes-led brand managers who kicked it out the door.
Oddly, the Compass sells better in Canada. Hell, all of Chrysler does well here. Maybe Magna should have bought them instead of Cerberus?
This was just a domestic bash. I hope everyone had fun.
How does this compare to last years list?
All American cars (if you count the Routan). Ouch.
I must admit I have an issue with one element of the process: it does not distinguish between bonehead marketing moves and between vehicles bad in and on themselves.
For example, the Routan is a terrible, horrible marketing error, but the vehicle itself is no different from the Dodge Caravan.
There should be 2 separate awards: one for bad marketing departments, and one for bad cars.
Then again, some are BOTH, such as the jeep Compass: a pitiful car, and a brand defiler.
“Panel gaps you can see from outerspace.”
I laugh every time I read that…
As a Scion xA (or is it Xa?) owner, I was disappointed that the xB didn’t make the top ten, as it epitomizes my anger with Scion for taking the old models and making them worse in every way. On the plus side, I expect my car will retain its value better than the new ones. Be that as it may, can’t argue with a list that was voted on by the B&B.
One thing about the collapse of the 2.8 is that with luck, and the removal of some of the onerous federal regulations, smaller independent US car makers will spring up offering more choices and better cars. The strong will survive and evolve into giant automakers that will get bailed out in a hundred years.
-volvo-
Point taken and I agree with you …the people making the decisions that move a model forward from R&D thru the process to Production should be living the cars. It is all too easy to get caught up with the hype of new designs. E.g. the chilled cupholder or the ‘cool’ camping accessories for the doomed Aztec – I think Detroit somehow loses focus of the model when their competitors don’t, and this survey is an indicator of that.
Well-written as usual. Congrats on another fine list Robert et co.
I think the Amanti would have placed higher if it was actually on anyone’s radar.