QOTD: Worst Standard SUV Design of the 2010s?

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis

Last Wednesday we pondered the best exterior styling found on SUVs and CUVs of the 2010s. This week, flip the question and consider the visually challenged rides of the past decade instead.

If I recall those distant 2010s correctly, there are plenty of designs upon which one might spill some Haterade.

First, a few guidelines. Like last week, we’re living by an affordability principle. All selections offered up today must cost less than $48,000 as new. That figure automatically rules out any one-offs or custom builds seen in random Internet places. Included for consideration are SUVs and CUVs of all shapes and sizes. And though some of you complained, there simply isn’t a large enough selection of SUVs to consider them in their own category. Sad! Finally, since we’re considering a single decade, all your picks must be of model years 2010 to 2019.

It took me a minute to scan my memories and decide on a singular worst-looking design for this category. A couple “maybe” choices were passed over once I’d recalled this abomination:

Part Accord, Part Outback, and not related to the similar-looking Acura ZDX, the Accord Crosstour is my selection for an awful CUV design. It debuted for the 2010 model year, playing the size-down alternative to the Pilot (really?). Considered a part of Honda’s SUV lineup, it had two rows of seats, a hatch, and a sort-of cargo area that bridged what you’d find in an Accord sedan and a CR-V.

Known as Accord Crosstour for the first two model years, Honda decided it didn’t want to associate it with its successful sedan any longer and renamed it simply Crosstour in 2012. It was available with front- or all-wheel drive, and with a 2.4-liter I4 (front-drive only) or the more-often-selected 3.5-liter V6. It was refreshed in 2013 (seen above) to look less Accordy and more Outbacky, suiting its mission.

Crosstour’s primary competition was the equally out-of-place Toyota Venza, and it died in much the same way: through slow sales. Crosstour’s strongest year was 2010, when sales nearly reached 29,000. By 2015 Honda shifted just over 9,000 of them. It was cancelled that year, but some Crosstours lingered on, unsold. There were 726 sold in 2016, and five more in 2017.

The Crosstour lacked purpose in Honda’s lineup, and in its design. Customers saw it, too, and instead chose one of the many other options available in the Honda family. It is undoubtedly one of the worst CUV designs of the 2010s.

What’s your pick?

[Images: GM, Honda]

Corey Lewis
Corey Lewis

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.

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  • MartyToo MartyToo on Apr 16, 2020

    The crusher is more likely than a trade-in. Else they would be seen on the road.

  • DownUnder2014 DownUnder2014 on Apr 18, 2020

    Ah, the 2010s. If you count ones sold in the 2010s in Australia: - BMW X6 (and anything similar) - Dodge Caliber - Jeep Compass (especially pre-facelift) - Mercedes-Benz ML (2G and 3G pre-facelift too) - Ssangyong Actyon (WTF is that rear) - Ssangyong Kyron - Subaru B9 Tribeca (the facelifts were far better) Dishonourable mentions: - Holden Captiva (pre-facelifts have ugly rears) - More recent Lexus CUVs/SUVs - Nissan Murano (the first gen has aged awfully, the second gen is slightly better) Ones that are generally okay but have a few odd styling elements (to me) - Porsche Cayenne (1G, just the front (a little bit)) - Ssangyong Rexton (1G, not ugly per se but just not a fan) - Volkswagen Tiguan (pre-facelift, just not a big fan of the rear)

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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