Forbes: The "Most Overpriced Cars of 2010" Are Trucks And Utes

The only “real car” on Forbes’ most overpriced list is the Chrysler 300. Really. Despite being based on the compact Cobalt, Chevy breaks sales of its HHR out as a “truck,” in search of improved CAFE performance. And despite an MSRP of under $20k, the PT Cruiser-inspired wagon was still one of Forbes’ most overpriced vehicles of 2010. The rest of the list’s 11 models are unquestionably trucks, or truck-based utes, and save for Nissan’s Titan and Armada, they’re also all from Detroit automakers as well. If you’re looking for more reasons to build a cheap, utilitarian compact pickup truck ( ahem, General Motors) this list has got ’em. Hit the jump for Forbes’ list of most overpriced vehicles, and the magazine’s formula for deciding who makes the cut for this dubious distinction.

Forbes’ Hannah Elliot explains the process of finding the vehicles that are least worth their asking price:

To find them and others, we looked at April market price figures. This data, supplied by automotive industry analysts at Vincentric, is updated each month to reflect marketplace inventory, demand, rebates and incentives, and to represent the price that a buyer actually pays for a given car. We ruled out any vehicles where the gap between market price and MSRP was less than 15%–a natural breaking point in the data that left a list of about 40 overpriced models (with trim variations making it 150 total vehicles) to pare down.

We then used 2010 customer satisfaction information from Consumer Reports to better determine whether certain vehicles meet the expectations their brands promise–essentially, whether they justify their sticker price.

The data considers a wide range of factors, including price. Vehicles that scored 65 or less (on a scale of 100) made our list. We then ranked the remaining 11 vehicles according to their market price vs. MSRP ratio.

The list is as follows:

• Ford F-250 XL Regular Cab 2WD: Worth 25.2% less than its $25,300 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 58
• Nissan Titan XE KingCab 2WD SWB: Worth 23.6% less than its $26,320 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 63
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Regular Cab 2WD: Worth 23% less than its $20,850 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 58
• Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Regular Cab 2WD SWB: Worth 22.8% less than its $27,465 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 59
• GMC Sierra 1500 Regular Cab 2WD: Worth 22.6% less than its $20,850 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 58
• GMC Sierra 2500 Regular Cab 2WD LWB: Worth 22.5% less than its $27,465 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 59
• Chrysler 300 Touring: Worth 21.1% less than its $27,260 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 52
• Nissan Armada SE 2WD: Worth 18.9% less than its $37,210 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 65
• Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 2WD: Worth 17.3% less than its $30,710 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 64 (V8), 52 (V6)
• Jeep Commander Sport 2WD: Worth 17.2 percent less than its $31,575 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 54
• Chevrolet HHR LS: Worth 15.8% less than its $19,030 MSRP, CR satisfaction score: 61

Check out mealy-mouthed responses from the offending OEMs’ PR guys here.