Chrysler Tops Bottom of Consumer Reports' 11 Worst

by Frank Williams

Published: March 10th, 2008

chrysler tops bottom of consumer reports 11 worst

CNN Money [via Yahoo! Finance] lists Consumer Reports' (CR) 11 worst vehicles. Not surprisingly, the list is SUV-intensive. In a move bound to anger snow belters, mud pluggers and boat luggers, CR rated all SUVs "as most people would drive them in the SUV category." In other words, without taking their off-road abilities into consideration. Chrysler can't be too happy; they manufacture four of the 11 losers (one Dodge and three Jeeps but no Sebring). GM has three cars on the list, Toyota has two, and Suzuki and Ford each have one. Four of TTAC's Ten Worst Automobiles appear on CR's list. Here are their 11 worst, with scores out of a possible 100. Those with the double ignominy of being on both Consumer Reports' and TTAC's lists are marked with an asterisk (*).

Jeep Wrangler – 17

Hummer H3 (5 cyl) – 27*

Jeep Liberty Sport – 27

Chevy Aveo5 – 32*

Dodge Nitro SLT – 33*

Toyota FJ Cruiser – 36

Toyota Yaris – 36

Suzuki Forenza – 36

Jeep Patriot Limited – 42

Chevy Trailblazer – 43*

Mercury Grand Marquis – 43

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4 of 49 comments

Johnster on Mar 10, 2008
Michael Karesh: So, basically we have a list of vehicles evaluated based on a formula which has never been publicly released. Who else could get away with that? Oh, J.D. Power, or just about any of the buff magazines. Most of the magazines seem to just sort of make it up as they go along and the formulas they use vary from test to test, even within the same issue of the magazine. While I take Consumer Reports rankings with a grain of salt, more often than not their road test results (with the exception of their reliability ratings) seem to be pretty much the same as what the other magazines report. No we don't know the exact formula Consumer Reports use, but as the CNN Money article clearly states, off-roading capabilities are listed as being the "highs" of 4 of the 6 SUVs listed. Clearly the off-roading capabilities of these vehicles are NOT IGNORED in spite of the misleading headline and content of this item. Consumer Reports is certainly not the only source of information I use for things automotive, but all things considered, I've never been able to find a more objective, broader, or better overall source of automotive information. Until something better comes along...

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KixStart on Mar 10, 2008

Michael Karesh, "On the Yaris: I think they found the handling unsafe at the limit. Let’s face it, if CR doesn’t like a Toyota…" The stick Yaris was rated a 36. The auto Yaris was rated over 50. The one has problems handling at the limit and the other doesn't and is way better? Yaris owners LOVE their little cars: ">Yaris Owners on Edmunds And it's available for pocket change!

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Pch101 on Mar 10, 2008

I have yet to figure out what it is about Consumer Reports that sends some people into a froth, but perhaps some correct interpretations are warranted here: -CR tests for off-road ability, but the results don't affect the score. Using a bit of deductive reasoning, the goal of CR's road test is to measure performance while **on** the road, not off of it. -CR conducts surveys to determine reliability, but those survey results don't affect the score, either. Again, using a bit of deductive reasoning, the goal of CR's vehicle testing is to review how the car behaves, regardless of its reliability. So it's pretty simple -- the scores reflect on-road performance, independent of reliability. If you want to know about off-road performance and reliability, those are shown separately.

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Landcrusher on Mar 11, 2008

If you ask the wrong question, the correct answer could kill you. Simple as that. That is all the list is about.

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