Look at it this way. An Avenger has easy to read instruments and logical controls, the seats are comfortable, at least for my 5′10″, 150# body, and, even with the much-maligned 2.7 engine my rental had, it drove ok. The 2.7 is thirsty for its performance, but it gets the job done. Cars have come a long way, and worst-in-catagory is a whole lot better than it was, even a few years ago.

I would not buy one of these cars; the competition is better, but I understand some people buying them, just because they want more “interesting” styling than most of the Asian competition.

mcs: “The D1.8 defenders claim that these companies build cars people want – is [the Sebring] 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 read somewhere (maybe here on TTAC) that someone working at DCX explained that during that particular period, DCX management had a decidely undiplomatic way of car design and engineering where any feedback which questioned the propriety of any facet of a design was simply not allowed. An autocratic management style of being told what to do, then doing it (or else) ruled the day.

If true, it would go a long way to understanding how much of the dreck which constitutes the majority of the current Chrysler line-up came into existance.

I came across a year old USATODAY review on online that give the Sebring a positive write up. In fact the author liked it better than the current Malibu!
Unlike the Malibu, at least the Sebring offers a navigation screen.
What really troubles me is Chrysler’s inaction in replacing the Sebring. They have heard most of the reviews, and you think they would want to improve the car. However, with no-action Nardelli in charge nothing will probably happen. He is sucking the life out of Chrysler just like he did at Home Depot.
Nardelli actually makes Way-goner and Putz look good.

What a disgrace!!!!

niky: “It’s not even the worst car in Toyota’s stable. That slot is reserved for the Yaris sedan.”

What about the FJ Cruiser? It would seem to have the biggest flaw of the small Toyotas (appearance), plus it’s a big, expensive, inefficient gas-guzzler. That would seem to handily trump any other faults of Toyotas like the Yaris, Prius, Corolla, etc. It’s Toyota’s ugly version of the Hummer, whose only saving grace is that it doesn’t have any of the Hummer’s quality issues.

As far as ‘bad’ Toyotas go, it’s tough to fathom how the Scion xB could be number 17 and the FJ Cruiser is nowhere to be found.

But after driving it… I have to admit… it’s a great commuter car. Its only sin, really, is being too expensive for the task… but then, almost anything from Audi, BMW or Mercedes is too expensive for said task, too… (honestly… you’re buying a 1-series with an automatic to… what?).

It’s not even the worst car in Toyota’s stable. That slot is reserved for the Yaris sedan. :D

I agree with you. The crisp lines of the 87-90 Caprice were elegant and looked great. The upside down bathtub of ‘91 is absolutely horrific. WTH!

I drove a Nitro on a business trip a few weeks ago. I cannot believe that Cry-sler management agreed that this car would be the one that hits the target. WOW. Don’t they do any market research or benchmarking at Chrysler?

Ah the Durango; I know some one whom was a huge Beemer fan.
He had a 5 series. Talk about being punished. He got married, and his wife forced him to move to Southern PA. He came up to visit and his ride is now a hemi Durango. There should a lawsuit against Chrysler for taking one of the coolest towns in the USA and sticking on a real turd of vehicle. It too is well deserved to be placed on this list.

It’s kinda of amazing, when you think about it, that 80% or more of Chrysler’s lineup is worse than the Kia Amanti. Of course, being in the Auburn Hills area this week means that I get to see the Dodge Nitro all over the roads.

The Prius should be on the list.

If the Prius-haters really want a current production hybrid on the list, it should be the Malibu. The premium GM wants over that of the non-hybrid version is outrageous when the mpg benefit is so miniscule.

Ironically, that wasn’t originally the case with the Malibu Hybrid. The original price increase was something like $1800 for the hybrid. With a $1300 tax credit, that effectively made the premium $500 for the hybrid, which was reasonable for the tiny improvement in fuel economy.

But then when gas went to $4/gal, in typical GM fashion, GM jacked the price up to where it’s now around $3000 more for the hybrid. Needless to say, the few sales there were fell off dramatically.

The Toyota Prius, personally, is useless in terms of economy, simply because the price premium, in the absence of frivolous “greenie” tax breaks, outweighs the savings on fuel prices, unless you drive very far and long. But as a car per se, the new Prius, in the absence of fuel-saving tires, actually drives pretty well. It’s spacious, very economical, very quiet and comparable in performance to most compacts, while returning fuel economy as good as or better than a subcompact. I wouldn’t buy one… but if my office issued me one as a company car, I’d feel very lucky, indeed.

Just because you may dislike it for political reasons, doesn’t make it a bad car… same with the Tesla. The Tesla is about as useless as a bugatti Veyron… and just as overpriced. Doesn’t make it a bad car.

OK, then price out a GTI at VW’s Euro website. Or a Passat. Or a 135i. A Focus isn’t the same price as a 128i. It’s a cheaper alternative to a Volkswagen in Europe. Comparing European Ford prices, wich include VAT, to American BMW prices, which don’t, doesn’t work.
Also, cars are so much cheaper in the U.S. that there are companies that import US-Spec German cars back from the U.S. into Germany, convert them to German-spec and sell them for 30% less than German MSRP. Works with Cayennes and Touaregs, for example.

* 50mpg, yet lots of spa ce for your stuff and your family
* bombproof reliability for 300k
* not a bad car to drive, as some owners on these boards will tell you. In fact, fun, although not in the sense of a roadster. But in the world of family four door sedans, it’s damn good.
* technological tour de force

Mind you, I’m not a fan of hybrids. I like my internal combustion straight up, just the way I like my bourbon. But I can’t deny Toyota’s accomplishment with this car.

Now, you were kidding a out wanting to put th ePrius on teh bad car list, right?

I have a 1998 Sebring Convertible with 98K trouble free miles. Not even a minor rattle.

This was by far the most clever and funniest of the mini-reviews.

The Routan is especially sad because the concept of the New Microbus was so cool. The ads for the Routan just made me want to toss my cookies

All that Chrysler junk is amazing. Almost every last one of ‘em is worse than the vehicle it replaced, which is quite an achievement. Why would a car company design and build a vehicle intentionally to be no better than seventh- or tenth-best in its market segment? You can’t undersell the competition by enough to overcome that kind of deficiency.

As for 11-23, I wouldn’t put the Tesla or the Smart in a ‘worst’ bucket, though their competencies are very narrow (and in Tesla’s case the car’s far better than the company that builds it.) The Buick Lacrosse is not bad, it’s just not as good as it needs to be, and the Saab 9-5 is still a nice enough piece of hardware though it’s well past its sell-by date.

And while the base Cobalt is nothing special (and the Pontiac G5/G6 are trash) the Cobalt SS is absolutely the most fun you can have for $24K, it’s fast and most importantly (and unusually for Detroit) it drives like a ball of silk even when it’s going stupid-fast, by comparison the Mazdaspeed3 feels rough and badly set-up and the VW GTI feels like a ton of sand. Cobalt interior’s barely up to the Mazda and nowhere near as good as the VW, and it’d be nice if the four-door were a hatchback, but it’s still huge fun.

I bet an easy driven Lobalt will on the hwy also.

My point is that driven by the same people (rather than an anecdote by someone of unknown driving habits and math skills) in the same conditions, a Lobalt (even the -gasp- XFE)consistently gets mpg (23-25) typical of a midsize sedan. That’s unacceptable.
The Corolla and Civic, under the same conditions, with the same drivers, consistently get higher mpg (29-32 typ). I think CR got close to 40 on their hwy loop with each.

One test could give an odd result. I have seen numerous tests of each and the Honda and Toy always beat the Chevys mpg very easily. The Lobalt is a bit quicker (not much).
I suspect 14 out of 10 economy car buyers will take mpg over speed every time. ;^D

A worse built car that does it’s primary job poorly. Bigger outside, heavier, smaller interior. Crappy fit and finish.
The Lobalt belongs.

Regards,

Bunter

I’ll have to rent one next time I’m traveling but I have driven an ‘09 Focus and was saddened to see what they did to the original which was a good car and offered the versatility of a 5-door model. I think I’ll go check Craigslist for a used SVT Focus 5-door with the Euro package…