QOTD: Which New Vehicle is the Worst Waste of Base?
Each week, TTAC’s basic car correspondent Matthew Guy brings you an Ace of Base article. Matt’s carefully selected examples are base models which tick many desirability boxes, proving you don’t need thousands of dollars in engine upgrades, brakes, pieces of trim, or tech packages to have good and enjoyable transportation. Overall, the Ace of Base series is positive and uplifting, presenting us with the best of the best of base. The other half of the basic coin is being ignored, however, and that’s where you come in.
Today we seek your nominations for the new vehicle which best represents a Waste of Base.
Now, I know it’s hard for you all to be critical of vehicles, so we’ll have to muddle through today. Some food for thought on what makes a Worst of Base is in order.
Value is of course a primary concern for a base model, and a good starting point for considerations. Think about vehicles which, even in base trim, represent not-great value for money. Think about being relegated to wheel covers, a certain too-small engine, or infotainment from a prior generation. Maybe you can only get one or two bland, flat colors on the outside. And speaking of exterior treatments, maybe the manufacturer doesn’t try quite as hard with the exterior trim of base models as they do with higher price points in the model range. I can tell you’re waiting for an example.
Here it is — the Dodge Journey. The base Journey trim is SE, which I think stands for Somewhat Equipped. And that’s an ambitious title. Hope you like those wheel covers!
This trim also has a different and poorer-looking bumper than higher-up versions, which exchanges this sedate-looking front end for one with a more crossover-like look, plus fog lamps. The price point here is just over $21,000. As you suspected, it’s front-wheel drive, and does not contain a Pentastar V6. Nope, just a 2.4-liter four-cylinder. This engine is not a new Fiat version, but rather dates back to the dark days of the Dodge Caliber. Power heads up front via a four-speed automatic, which is equally archaic and dates from the Chrysler Sebring era.
It only seats five people in this trim (a third-row seat being $1,995 extra), and passengers won’t be making any Bluetooth calls or using any wireless device inside, unless they have a cable. The Dodge Journey SE handily earns a Waste of Base title, and buyers would be well advised to look elsewhere. Perhaps they might look across the showroom at the Grand Caravan.
What’s your pick for Waste of Base?
[Image: FCA]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
More by Corey Lewis
Latest Car Reviews
Read moreLatest Product Reviews
Read moreRecent Comments
- EBFlex This doesn’t bode well for the real Mustang. When you start slapping meaningless sticker packages it usually means it’s not going to be around long.
- Rochester I recently test drove the Maverick and can confirm your pros & cons list. Spot on.
- ToolGuy TG likes price reductions.
- ToolGuy I could go for a Mustang with a Subaru powertrain. (Maybe some additional ground clearance.)
- ToolGuy Does Tim Healey care about TTAC? 😉
Comments
Join the conversation
I'm tempted to say Mitsubishi Mirage, but the recent redesign may be better. Or it may not.
It's a good thing this is an opinion piece then, dt, as I am forced to disagree with three of your four choices and am neutral about the other two. The Renegade is, in base form, intended more as a toy car or, at worst, extremely basic at a very tempting price for those who simply can't afford a better-equipped car at the price. They may need the size (it is surprisingly roomy) when another brand at the same price might be significantly smaller. Even I'm tempted to go with the stick in a second Renegade except for the fact that my wife doesn't want to drive stick, and if her own Renegade breaks down, she'd have to drive mine or I'd have to be the one driving her around (which is what I have to do now, anyway.) So what if it's no air. It wasn't that long ago that air was purely an extra-cost option and people did just fine without it. Some people have just become too coddled for their own good. The Hyundai Veloster is actually an innovative rig in many ways, even if slightly underpowered (by some people's viewpoints.) I've considered it more than once but honestly still need an open bed if I can at all arrange it without taking on a Road Whale™ of a mid- or full-sized pickup. They're just too big, even as a base. As for the Trax... again with the AC complaint... in a country where AC shouldn't even be necessary for 3/4ths of the year. It's a decent vehicle at base, even if it isn't great. As for the Yaris and the HRV, after my ownership of a Fiat 500, I will not disparage a vehicle I don't know just on somebody's hearsay. That Fiat proved a far better car than I ever expected and will never again dismiss a car based solely on an obsolete reputation.