Forbes: Worst Made Cars on the Road
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Safety Car
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Forbes: Worst Made Cars on the Road
If you want to drive something dependable and long-lasting, steer clear of these vehicles.
With a 22% improvement in sales last month, and despite the six-month, $4.3 billion loss it announced Wednesday, General Motors is likely to have its strongest spring and summer in years. Plus, the automaker had critically acclaimed new products at the recent New York Auto Show and the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt is due out this fall.
Year-over-year sales of GM's Cadillac division alone are up almost 76%; sales in the Buick, Chevrolet and GMC divisions were each up more than 40% for March. The industry as a whole was up 24.3%.
Unfortunately just because GM's cars are selling well now doesn't mean they're the best bet for durability or value -- yet. It'll take awhile before GM's new direction shows up in tangible new products at the dealership.
Four of the seven vehicles on our list of the worst-made cars on the road come from GM brands. And all of the cars on the list -- including Chrysler's Dodge Nitro and Jeep Wrangler -- are made by Detroit's Big Three. Only one car on the list is made by Ford Motor (NYSE: F).
Cadillac Escalade
Segment: Luxury SUV
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Fair
CR Value Score: Rated among the worst in value
CR Safety Score: Rated among the worst in safety.
CR Overall Score: 61 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $62,495
Chevrolet Aveo
Segment: Compact Car
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Not rated among the worst in overall value
CR Safety Score: Not rated among the worst in overall safety.
CR Overall Score: 36 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $11,965
Chevrolet Colorado
Segment: Pickup Truck
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Not rated among the worst in value
CR Safety Score: Rated among the worst in overall safety.
CR Overall Score: 41 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $16,985
Dodge Nitro
Segment: SUV
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Rated among the worst in overall value
CR Safety Score: Not rated among the worst in safety.
CR Overall Score: 33 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $22,335
Ford F-250
Segment: Pickup Truck
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Rated among the worst in overall value
CR Safety Score: Rated among the worst in overall safety.
CR Overall Score: 37 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 3 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $28,020
Behind the NumbersSegment: Luxury SUV
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Fair
CR Value Score: Rated among the worst in value
CR Safety Score: Rated among the worst in safety.
CR Overall Score: 61 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $62,495
Chevrolet Aveo
Segment: Compact Car
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Not rated among the worst in overall value
CR Safety Score: Not rated among the worst in overall safety.
CR Overall Score: 36 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $11,965
Chevrolet Colorado
Segment: Pickup Truck
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Not rated among the worst in value
CR Safety Score: Rated among the worst in overall safety.
CR Overall Score: 41 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $16,985
Dodge Nitro
Segment: SUV
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Rated among the worst in overall value
CR Safety Score: Not rated among the worst in safety.
CR Overall Score: 33 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 2 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $22,335
Ford F-250
Segment: Pickup Truck
CR Predicted Reliability Score: Poor
CR Value Score: Rated among the worst in overall value
CR Safety Score: Rated among the worst in overall safety.
CR Overall Score: 37 out of 100
J.D. Power Dependability Score: 3 out of 5 Power Circles
MSRP: $28,020
To determine our list of the worst-made cars on the road, we started with the lowest-rated vehicles from four reliability and performance studies conducted this year. Those studies are all from Consumer Reports: The Most Reliable Cars Report; Best and Worst Values Report; Best and Worst Safety Performance Survey; and the CR overall scores for 2010 vehicles.
We then added to the list any vehicles that received fewer than three out of five power circles in this year's Vehicle Dependability Study from J.D. Power and Associates. Any car, truck or SUV named among the worst in at least three of those five total studies made the final cut to be on the "Worst-Made" list.
The biggest surprise on the list, given recent automotive news: It includes no Toyota (NYSE: TM) made vehicles. In fact, Toyota reported a 40.7% gain in sales last month over March 2009; its Lexus division was up 42%. (Generous buyer incentives greatly contributed to those numbers.) And although Consumer Reports has removed its "recommended pick" distinction from Toyota vehicles involved in the current recall, many analysts are standing by their previous assessments of Toyota's well-made products.
"Toyota and Lexus both were fairly steady on their quality" in the dependability report released last month, says Dave Sargent, J.D. Power's vice president of global vehicle research. "Toyota has both good quality and a high consumer perception of their quality -- so Toyota is very much in line."
GM's Chevrolet hasn't fared as well. Overall sales at Chevrolet are up, but sales of the $16,985 Chevrolet Colorado were down 21.9% year-over-year. Sales of the truck are down 32.2% for the year to date.
The $11,965 Chevrolet Aveo made our list too -- but probably won't in the very near future. When the 2012 Aveo comes out next year, it'll feature styling improvements (large vents in the front, 19" wheels, circular headlights) and performance upgrades (likely a 1.4-liter, four-cylinder turbo-boosted engine with 138 horsepower and a six-speed manual transmission). Early photos and speculation from experts like Jake Fisher, the senior automotive engineer at Consumer Reports, indicate it'll hold its own against Nissan's Versa and Honda's Fit -- two reliable, affordable, strong sellers.
Tough Trucks?
Aside from the Aveo, though, most of the worst-made cars on our list aren't cars at all -- they're trucks and SUVs. Besides the Colorado, GMC's $16,985 Canyon and Ford's $28,020 F-250 received some of the lowest scores of any vehicles we considered. The Canyon SLE, for instance, was listed by Consumer Reports as one of the worst values of any 2010 vehicle and as one of the least reliable new vehicles on the market this year. It received just two out of five power circles on J.D. Power's overall dependability rating.
The F-250 Lariat earned both the "worst value" and "worst safety performance" distinctions from Consumer Reports this year. It received an overall score of just 37 out of 100 points for predicted reliability, fuel economy, depreciation, ride, owner costs, accident avoidance, front-seat comfort, acceleration and owner satisfaction.
Copyrighted, Forbes.com. All rights reserved.
#6
Not Registered
I think the title of "Worst Made" is a joke. The Escalade is well made 5 star safety, with On-Star emergency response... The only thing bringing it down is resale sucks and it's not a good value buying one new. Other than that, it's a joke to be on this list IMO. A Range Rover cost $20k more, has way more problems and resale is one of the worst of any vehicle made, why is it not on the list?
#7
Runs on Dunkin
F-250's and Escalades are poorly made? Granted the newer Powerstrokes aren't as reliable as the 7.3 was, but still...theres way worse vehicles on the road
Last edited by 1slo23; 04-12-2010 at 10:01 AM.
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#10
The sizzle in the Steak
#11
Senior Moderator
#12
Escalade?
Really?
Granted, it wasn't one of the newest generation models so I'm not sure if they've gone downhill, but the 'rents had a 2002 Escalade back in the day and there was only one time that they ever had a problem with it. Something quirky happened with the electrical and the thing wouldn't start. I guess that could be a problem, , but it was a champ for the 4 years or so they did have it. They bought it for just under $50K, then privately sold it and got back $25K for it.
And worst in safety? Not only for the escalade, but the F-250?
Those things are tanks.
Really?
Granted, it wasn't one of the newest generation models so I'm not sure if they've gone downhill, but the 'rents had a 2002 Escalade back in the day and there was only one time that they ever had a problem with it. Something quirky happened with the electrical and the thing wouldn't start. I guess that could be a problem, , but it was a champ for the 4 years or so they did have it. They bought it for just under $50K, then privately sold it and got back $25K for it.
And worst in safety? Not only for the escalade, but the F-250?
Those things are tanks.
#13
Former Sponsor
iTrader: (1)
The Nubiras were horrendous for front end problems, we were gonna propose that the lower control arms and sway bar links were changed every 15K, because that's when they failed....but the Lanos and Leganza were pretty bulletproof.
One funny sidebar, at a Daewoo factory training course that I attended, they told us that the one most important piece of info to bring back to our dealerships was that the oil filters had to be cranked on when installed. The threads were poorly made, and that they'd been having instances of the filter falling off the car after an oil change, despite using proper torque.
Now that's confidence in a car brand
#14
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i think the title of "worst made" is a joke. The escalade is well made 5 star safety, with on-star emergency response... The only thing bringing it down is resale sucks and it's not a good value buying one new. Other than that, it's a joke to be on this list imo. A range rover cost $20k more, has way more problems and resale is one of the worst of any vehicle made, why is it not on the list?
#15
Senior Moderator
You know, Daewoos weren't really bad cars, as long as you replaced the timing belt before 40K.
The Nubiras were horrendous for front end problems, we were gonna propose that the lower control arms and sway bar links were changed every 15K, because that's when they failed....but the Lanos and Leganza were pretty bulletproof.
One funny sidebar, at a Daewoo factory training course that I attended, they told us that the one most important piece of info to bring back to our dealerships was that the oil filters had to be cranked on when installed. The threads were poorly made, and that they'd been having instances of the filter falling off the car after an oil change, despite using proper torque.
Now that's confidence in a car brand
The Nubiras were horrendous for front end problems, we were gonna propose that the lower control arms and sway bar links were changed every 15K, because that's when they failed....but the Lanos and Leganza were pretty bulletproof.
One funny sidebar, at a Daewoo factory training course that I attended, they told us that the one most important piece of info to bring back to our dealerships was that the oil filters had to be cranked on when installed. The threads were poorly made, and that they'd been having instances of the filter falling off the car after an oil change, despite using proper torque.
Now that's confidence in a car brand
#17
Banned
You know, Daewoos weren't really bad cars, as long as you replaced the timing belt before 40K.
The Nubiras were horrendous for front end problems, we were gonna propose that the lower control arms and sway bar links were changed every 15K, because that's when they failed....but the Lanos and Leganza were pretty bulletproof.
One funny sidebar, at a Daewoo factory training course that I attended, they told us that the one most important piece of info to bring back to our dealerships was that the oil filters had to be cranked on when installed. The threads were poorly made, and that they'd been having instances of the filter falling off the car after an oil change, despite using proper torque.
Now that's confidence in a car brand
The Nubiras were horrendous for front end problems, we were gonna propose that the lower control arms and sway bar links were changed every 15K, because that's when they failed....but the Lanos and Leganza were pretty bulletproof.
One funny sidebar, at a Daewoo factory training course that I attended, they told us that the one most important piece of info to bring back to our dealerships was that the oil filters had to be cranked on when installed. The threads were poorly made, and that they'd been having instances of the filter falling off the car after an oil change, despite using proper torque.
Now that's confidence in a car brand
Pontiac badge = kiss of death.
#18
The Dumb One
iTrader: (1)
we had a rental aveo and put mcdonalds trays under the rear tires with the E-Brake engaged and went driving in an abandoned parking lot. <-- funny shit
that little car help up just fine to our abuse back then.
#19
F-250 and the Escalade?
The Aveo is terrible though.
The Aveo is terrible though.
#22
Evil Mazda Driver
Take Consumer Reports with a grain of salt. They really got caught with their pants down when they decided to automatically recommend the redesigned Camry when it came out in '06 (as an '07). They even awarded it an 'excellent' reliability score before the car hit showrooms, something they said they don't do.
Well six months or so went by and isn't life grand? The Camry wasn't as great as they said it was...V6 engines having problems, transmissions going out, and all sorts of nefarious evil. The eating of words began; the recommended badge was removed and the reliability score went from excellent to average. Then they went about trying to cover up the fact they'd gushed over the car before it had even been offered for sale. I didn't like CR before that but since, I don't trust a single word they say because they seem to be too easily influenced by outside sources.
Well six months or so went by and isn't life grand? The Camry wasn't as great as they said it was...V6 engines having problems, transmissions going out, and all sorts of nefarious evil. The eating of words began; the recommended badge was removed and the reliability score went from excellent to average. Then they went about trying to cover up the fact they'd gushed over the car before it had even been offered for sale. I didn't like CR before that but since, I don't trust a single word they say because they seem to be too easily influenced by outside sources.
#24
Yeah, but Consumer Reports rated the vehicles, and even then they've been questionable. Portland already covered the part about CR.
The Forbes writer probably hasn't even spent more than a day with the aforementioned vehicles; they probably just scoured the net for vehicle ratings and found a popular name (CR) and used CR's ratings as a reference. No anecdotal experience whatsoever, and without any real time with the car, they predict that the Aveo may not be on this list in the near future simply because of some new features
The Forbes writer probably hasn't even spent more than a day with the aforementioned vehicles; they probably just scoured the net for vehicle ratings and found a popular name (CR) and used CR's ratings as a reference. No anecdotal experience whatsoever, and without any real time with the car, they predict that the Aveo may not be on this list in the near future simply because of some new features
#26
I disagree with unanimity
iTrader: (2)
Responses from the Big 3....
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/07/wor...responses.html
From Chrysler Group LLC:
Consumer Reports' and J.D. Power and Associates' assessments of new vehicles are based on the previous three years of reliability and durability, respectively. Chrysler Group has taken aggressive actions to improve the quality and reliability of our vehicles over the past three years, and those efforts have shown significant progress. Internal data shows that warranty claim rate per 1,000 vehicles sold is cut in half from 3 years ago. Additionally, more than 75% of our product line will be refreshed by the end of the year. We look forward to demonstrating the numerous quality advancements we've integrated into the design, development and building of all Chrysler Group vehicles.
***
From Brian Rathsburg, Super Duty marketing manager, Ford Motor:
We appreciate the opportunity to respond. F-250 is part of our Super Duty lineup--that is our heavy-duty F-Series truck--and that is probably the most complicated vehicle line in the entire Ford Motor Company.
The theme that we are seeing with Super Duty in general and F-250 specifically is that we are seeing very marked improvement in terms of durability and reliability over the last couple of years. We always start with the customer point of view, and they vote with their purchase decision and with their pocket book. We've been the best-selling truck for 33 straight years, and Super Duty's a big part of that. If our sales position and our market position continues to dominate the segment, and if reliability and durability are at the forefront of the customer's mind, that tells us that at least in the near term, the last couple of years, the track record we see of reliability improvement is certainly ringing true with the customer as well, otherwise they wouldn't be buying our truck.
From Jamie Hresko, vice president of global quality, General Motors:
We put a lot of value in these surveys, because they in many cases do line up with reality. And that's why we have put forth a very aggressive customer-focused quality initiative over the past three years. Since 2007, the volume of dealer claims on a per-vehicle basis has dropped 45% across our portfolio. We have seen literally hundreds of thousands fewer claims in the U.S. market, so we're not saying we're perfect and we've got a lot of work to do, but we have substantially cut our warranty claims.
Now the Aveo has been a very low performing scorer in Consumer Reports, but we have a new one coming. It's going to start being built next year at our Orion Township plant in Michigan and it has the same type of engineering capability as the Equinox, Camaro, the Malibu--all of our fresh products. So expect that to be a knockout from a performance perspective.
The Escalade is a tough one because that is one of our lowest warranty vehicles that we have today, and it's a pretty good vehicle. The Colorado and Canyon are cars that are going to have to be refreshed at some point. They're not the premium vehicles like you see launched today, but we've got a plan for that as well.
We got past the debate three years ago in the company about whether or not we were going to listen to this survey or that survey, whether it was Consumer Reports or J.D. Power. And we decided we better win them all. We won't rest until absolutely every product is at the top.
When we build our cars today, we actually take Consumer Reports test procedures and we integrate them into our vehicles as we build them, so we've changed our whole philosophy on how we design and build cars over the past few years, which I think is one of the reasons that we're selling them. Because we've listened to [the test reports], and now it's starting to pay off.
Consumer Reports' and J.D. Power and Associates' assessments of new vehicles are based on the previous three years of reliability and durability, respectively. Chrysler Group has taken aggressive actions to improve the quality and reliability of our vehicles over the past three years, and those efforts have shown significant progress. Internal data shows that warranty claim rate per 1,000 vehicles sold is cut in half from 3 years ago. Additionally, more than 75% of our product line will be refreshed by the end of the year. We look forward to demonstrating the numerous quality advancements we've integrated into the design, development and building of all Chrysler Group vehicles.
***
From Brian Rathsburg, Super Duty marketing manager, Ford Motor:
We appreciate the opportunity to respond. F-250 is part of our Super Duty lineup--that is our heavy-duty F-Series truck--and that is probably the most complicated vehicle line in the entire Ford Motor Company.
The theme that we are seeing with Super Duty in general and F-250 specifically is that we are seeing very marked improvement in terms of durability and reliability over the last couple of years. We always start with the customer point of view, and they vote with their purchase decision and with their pocket book. We've been the best-selling truck for 33 straight years, and Super Duty's a big part of that. If our sales position and our market position continues to dominate the segment, and if reliability and durability are at the forefront of the customer's mind, that tells us that at least in the near term, the last couple of years, the track record we see of reliability improvement is certainly ringing true with the customer as well, otherwise they wouldn't be buying our truck.
From Jamie Hresko, vice president of global quality, General Motors:
We put a lot of value in these surveys, because they in many cases do line up with reality. And that's why we have put forth a very aggressive customer-focused quality initiative over the past three years. Since 2007, the volume of dealer claims on a per-vehicle basis has dropped 45% across our portfolio. We have seen literally hundreds of thousands fewer claims in the U.S. market, so we're not saying we're perfect and we've got a lot of work to do, but we have substantially cut our warranty claims.
Now the Aveo has been a very low performing scorer in Consumer Reports, but we have a new one coming. It's going to start being built next year at our Orion Township plant in Michigan and it has the same type of engineering capability as the Equinox, Camaro, the Malibu--all of our fresh products. So expect that to be a knockout from a performance perspective.
The Escalade is a tough one because that is one of our lowest warranty vehicles that we have today, and it's a pretty good vehicle. The Colorado and Canyon are cars that are going to have to be refreshed at some point. They're not the premium vehicles like you see launched today, but we've got a plan for that as well.
We got past the debate three years ago in the company about whether or not we were going to listen to this survey or that survey, whether it was Consumer Reports or J.D. Power. And we decided we better win them all. We won't rest until absolutely every product is at the top.
When we build our cars today, we actually take Consumer Reports test procedures and we integrate them into our vehicles as we build them, so we've changed our whole philosophy on how we design and build cars over the past few years, which I think is one of the reasons that we're selling them. Because we've listened to [the test reports], and now it's starting to pay off.
#27
#28
Senior Moderator
I dont buy that list, especially the Escalade and F250
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