What's The Worst Production Car Sold in the US since 2000?

"hethoughtofcars" (hethoughtofcars) 03/22/2014 at 00:16 • Filed to: tragic cars

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Inspired by MattBartlett's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I thought I'd see what you guys thought was the worst car sold in the US since the turn of the century.

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My nomination is definitely the 2001 Hyundai Accent 3 door. I had a girlfriend who owned one and two things still stand out for me:

1) Instead of foglights, or even covers for the foglights, it simply had HOLES in the bumper. Nothing else, just two round holes where the foglights would have gone if she'd paid for that feature.

2) It had a place for a digital clock. Notice I said "place" and not actual clock. A digital clock, which can't cost more than a couple dollars, WAS OPTIONAL.

That was a sad, depressing car. It also had oil burning issues and sounded awful. Luckily I helped her trade it in and buy a new 2010 Mazda3 GT 6MT ...right before we broke up!

So what does OPPO think the worst car of this century was/is?

puddler > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 00:22

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that's one of the most difficult questions I've ever encountered. I also had a girlfriend with an accent. it was all of the above @ $750(it needed an oilchange, sparkplugs, and various lights) at 3 years old. I welded an actual coffee can to the exhaust & she let me get away with it. kinda miss her.

i'd have to vote for small SUV's. all of them, for killing the wagon.

The Dummy Gummy > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 00:23

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I'd like to know why you let her go after getting her such a nice ride

hethoughtofcars > puddler 03/22/2014 at 00:28

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The wagon was already dead by the '90s I'd say. Minivans had taken over and baby boomers didn't want to be associated with the station wagons they grew up with. Hopefully, this generation will not want to be associated with the SUVs THEY grew up with.

But yeah, those Accents were horrible.

puddler > puddler 03/22/2014 at 00:29

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I also ducted one of those holes to an airbox w/o a filter, and set the idle @ 1200 rpm because racecar. it was my most favorite purple car ever. had furry lime green seat covers/steering wheel.

sr20 of why I might be biased...good memories

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 00:42

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This is my go-to lousy car for that time period. The Dodge Caliber (with the possible exclusion of the SRT4, though I can't vouch for that). Just so...indifferent and lousy. I'm sure there were some well-meaning engineers working on it, but the bosses who let this thing be released should be...I dunno what. Something bad.

hethoughtofcars > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny 03/22/2014 at 00:48

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Really? I've never heard anything good about the Caliber but was it really that awful?

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 00:53

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I thought it was pretty awful. Like they just threw a bunch of parts in a blender and hoped for the best. The Neon at least tried, and could be fun around a track. The Caliber was just like they took all the worst parts from different cars and somehow stuck them together, and then added stupid geegaws instead of getting the fundamentals right. The cupholders have their own hipster lighting, great. How about doing something about the drivetrain?

I sound cranky.

hethoughtofcars > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny 03/22/2014 at 01:04

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But did it have a clock?

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 01:06

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That's a fair point...it may well have had one but I was too distracted by the lousy noisy CVT to notice.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 01:08

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At least the Accent was so bad that it had character. My vote for the worst car goes to the Suzuki no-self-Esteem, possibly the most forgettable car ever produced. They made eleventy-billion of them, but I have only ever seen one in person, at least that I can remember.

thebigbossyboss > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 01:13

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I have never even been in one...but they seem like they suck

Boxer_4 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 03/22/2014 at 01:27

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I saw an Esteem wagon recently. Although, the one I saw was black.

JasonStern911 > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 01:35

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tough one. life is too short to drive shit cars, so I can't make that educated of an opinion.

I mean, the 2004 RX-8 is my go-to choice. unreliable hand built motor with a piss poor initial build quality in order to try to price it enough under its contemporaries (S2000, 350Z) that people could overlook the poor fuel economy and disappointing torque and horsepower numbers. but even with $120 sun visors that cracked every two years, heater controls with faulty solder joints that dealerships would refuse to cover under warranty and demand replacing a $700 heater unit, etc., the chassis was Mazda amazing, especially for the price.

so maybe a E39 BMW 540i? M5 reliability without the performance, but at least it cost significantly more than its 525i/530i contemporaries...? but it's still an E39, so it isn't even the worst 5 series.

so, backing away from personal experience, and just speculating, I would have to say the 2012 Mitsubishi Galant. now, the 2004 Galant was a nice car. not a great car, but nice. not as nice as the eighth generation Galant, but by that point, Mitsubishi had given up on styling, innovating, etc. unfortunately, Mitsubishi actually was innovative. they had the brilliant idea that instead of making a new car, they could sell the same car for nearly a decade without any real changes or innovation, and hopefully people would still pay for a new model over a depreciated, lower mile one. and while it didn't work for them, Toyota and Honda took notice.

Tehjew93 > thebigbossyboss 03/22/2014 at 01:35

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I've been in the sedan version of about this same age, they do indeed suck. In the one I rode in: the window cranks go backwards, all speakers but one were blown and completely non-functional, the miserable four speed auto held onto gears too long (like, you let off the gas and wait for it to shift and it keeps the gear for at least 20 seconds), incredible body roll, and it had a bowtie on the front.

CRider > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 02:06

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The CODA sedan. An electric car, made in China, based on a Chinese Hafai Seaboo, itself based on the 90s Mitsubishi Lancer. Slow, ugly, expensive and outdated years before it even went on sale it is without doubt the worst car sold in the US in the past 14 years.

Greasemonkey > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 03:12

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Because daewoo, and suzuki

Dsscats > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 03:39

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I've got to go with the new Mitsubishi Mirage or whatever they called it. (The 3 cyl one)
Reviews have ranged from, "dear got this is horrible" to "get me out of this shit box!"

Mercedes Streeter > Dsscats 03/22/2014 at 03:48

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Can confirm, it's almost as if Mitsubishi looked at the first generation Daewoo Kalos (Chevy Aveo) and thought: "This is a good idea!"

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny 03/22/2014 at 04:44

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I've driven an SRT4 Caliber and it was awesome. but yeah the caliber is shit

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 03/22/2014 at 05:13

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A friend and I managed to get a dozen people into an Esteem, when we were in high school. Because band nerds.

TinFoil Knight > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 06:08

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it was really that AWFUL.I still have nightmares from my 2 experiences in the hateful excuse for a vehicle. manufacturer should have to apologize to everyone who ever had to ride in one.

Firewrx234 > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 07:34

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What do I win?

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny 03/22/2014 at 09:05

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Idk, I really like the look of those cars. They are a rare sight here in Europe, and they look pretty good. They can look pretty badass too. I remember watching some rally show some years back and they rallied a Caliber.

I really like the orange color they came in. Also this:

jkm7680 > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 09:15

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The Daewoo Lanos.

A shit, unreliable car. That could only take around 100,000 miles.

"You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos motherfucker."

jkm7680 > thebigbossyboss 03/22/2014 at 09:20

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It's somewhat the same experience of a School Bus, Or delivery van.

It's Terrible, in other words.

sellphones2493 > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 09:40

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Chevy Venture/Olds Silhouette/Pontiac Montana.
Simply because it's a family car, bound to have children in it. Yet, when you crash, you get this:

shop-teacher > sellphones2493 03/22/2014 at 11:39

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Now they're even worse. I see them running around with the rocker panels completely rusted away. Might as well be driving around in a beer can.

AMC/Renauledge > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 12:03

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The Daewoo Lanos. Everything about it (except the rear 3/4 sedan styling) was shit. The interior quality made the Acc(id)ent look and feel like a Lexus. I used to sell 2001 Accents new. We took a year-old Lanos on trade once, and it burned oil, shambled down the road, and the alternator was shot. After 1 year .

The owners were so far upside down in their loan, you wouldn't believe it.

hethoughtofcars > AMC/Renauledge 03/22/2014 at 13:02

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I was kind of hoping Daewoo hadn't made it into the 2000s. They just seemed like such awful, awful cars. No one has picked the Nubria...yet. Of course, they lived on in cars like the Aveo.

Hard to imagine being upside down on like a 7000 car, but I've done some massively stupid creative financing of my own....

Do you still sell Hyundais?

hethoughtofcars > Firewrx234 03/22/2014 at 13:03

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Is that a Malibu "Classic"?

hethoughtofcars > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 03/22/2014 at 13:07

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At least the Accent was so bad that it had character.

Maybe a Range Rover can be so bad it has character. An Accent? No, it just sucks. The Esteem is a definitely in the running, though. Especially because of that name!

fhrblig > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 13:07

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I can understand faulting your Accent for the oil issues and all, but it's kind of unfair to fault a cheap car for being cheap. Sure, it didn't have a clock, but up until the new model the base Nissan Versa sedan didn't even have a radio. I had an '01 Accent that I put 110k on in about a year and a half working as a courier, and the mechanical problems weren't fun (new trans & clutch at 89k), but the rest of it wasn't bad. I sold it to my stepdad with 150k on the odometer and he kept it another three years. He liked it so much he bought an '05, which doesn't have near the mechanical issues.

I would have to say the worst would have to be the PT Cruiser, though. I always liked the idea and the design of it, but they had to give it that shitty 2.4 engine and terrible transmissions. It had so much potential that went to waste.

hethoughtofcars > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully 03/22/2014 at 13:07

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With instruments??

hethoughtofcars > thebigbossyboss 03/22/2014 at 13:08

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Daewoo strikes again!

hethoughtofcars > Dsscats 03/22/2014 at 13:13

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It managed to rack up 50 points in the Jalopnik review ...I think the puts it just out of the running for "worst".

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hethoughtofcars > fhrblig 03/22/2014 at 13:19

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I understand what you're saying but for $5 they could have fixed those issues. It's one thing to be cheap, another to be just lazy. Later generations of the Accent obviously were much better, in every way.

I've never been in a PT Cruiser but they sure did sell a ton of them!

Dsscats > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 13:47

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The part that makes it extra shitty (aside from ride, build quality, power, options...) is Mitsubishi actually thought they could just throw something together, make it cheap and call it a day.

fhrblig > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 14:20

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I rented one once, when I was given a choice between the PT and a Jeep Liberty. I should have taken the Jeep. The PT was awful and got bad gas mileage to boot.

Firewrx234 > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 16:12

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Absolutely. They had terrible power trains. The engines and transmissions disintegrate on command.

Suuuubaru > Boxer_4 03/22/2014 at 16:48

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"A herd of Subaru Outbacks looks on at their lesser brethen."

hethoughtofcars > Dsscats 03/22/2014 at 16:56

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Lol but that's all Mitsubishis!

AMC/Renauledge > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 19:38

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Daewoo sold the Lanos, Nubira, and Leganza in the US through 2002.

And Daewoo was bought by GM in 2003, but they were already making the Aveo and about to launch the cars we know as the Suzuki Reno/Forenza (Nubira replacements) and Verona (Leganza replacement).

And Buick still sells the Forenza in China as the Excelle, and GM's new Chinese Baojun brand sells a highly modified and downgraded version of the same car.

I think in some markets, the Cruze is actually still marketed as the "Chevrolet Nubira" because some people still can't get enough of that Daewoo-GM connection.

epidemike > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 20:00

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Anything made by pontiac, even the GTO.

Aztek and Sunbird FTW

hethoughtofcars > epidemike 03/22/2014 at 20:28

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GTO?!? No, I think that's a future classic. Also, two more that definitely don't belong on this list: Solstice coupe and G8.

Sunfire is a candidate, if only for this:

Every time you hit the brakes, the Pontiac logo would light up!

epidemike > hethoughtofcars 03/22/2014 at 20:51

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lol, there is nothng future classy about the GTO IMO.

Great engine but everything else is bleh and bland. The Solstice looked nice but it was a complete failure in its market segment. I liked the G8 but look at its sales numbers.

hethoughtofcars > epidemike 03/22/2014 at 22:11

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I was actually about to write a rebuttal, but just found it's already been done for me:

Why the Pontiac GTO is a Future Classic

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As for the others, I don't see how market share or sales figures determine if a car is worst, much less even bad. People buy 400,000 Camrys a year and it is number one in its market, but does that mean it's the best?

trynthink > epidemike 03/23/2014 at 00:23

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Remember the G8 was basically stillborn. The car was offered for sale starting in 2008, and even though GM had not yet declared bankruptcy, it was on the ropes. Pontiac was starved for product. What would have brought anyone into a Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership in 2008 except for GMC trucks? The G8 didn't have any marketing muscle behind it, there were no (or little) fleet sales, which were propping up numbers for most of GMs other, much worse, full-size offerings. You can't argue the G8 was a bad car just because people didn't buy it.

epidemike > trynthink 03/23/2014 at 01:18

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Ok, it was a bad car beacuse it was a high powered RWD sedan that wasnt in the luxury segment. Pontiac, didnt have any reason to put out a car like the G8 so that coupled with the stillborn effect you mentioned makes it a bad production car.

Car manufacturers need to know there segments and target audiences.

feather-throttle-not-hair > epidemike 03/23/2014 at 02:47

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Do you see the mk iv supra as a bad car? Was a pretty bad sales flop, Toyota badly misjudged the market.

Also gto's are awesome, though admittedly the styling doesn't do it for me either. But having driven a nice ls2 one (sideways at times) they're quite a hoot.

jdrgoat - Ponticrack? > JasonStern911 03/23/2014 at 03:26

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The part about continuing on a chassis for too long may have actually been something Mitsu thought they could do because GM was doing it with the W-body. There are a helluva lot more GM people than Mitsu people, though. And Toyota and Honda have a lot of people in their hands like GM did in the 90s, too. It will probably come to bite them.

epidemike > feather-throttle-not-hair 03/23/2014 at 09:45

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I dont see the mark IV Supra as a bad car. Now that car is a future classic. During that time almost all of the car makers had a sports car coupe in their lineup. Nissan had the 300ZX, Acura had the NSX, Mazda had the RX-7, Mitsubishi had the 3000GT. They all fit the same mold in terms of target audience.

I cant recall but during the time the G8 was released, what non luxury V8 performance sedan was available in the US?

Maybe the GTO is fun to drive but interior and exterior the car is an eyesore IMO.

Side note: I did a Gotham dream car tour and got to drive a Bentley. I was shocked that some of the interior componets look like they were pulled from a Hyundai Sonata

JasonStern911 > jdrgoat - Ponticrack? 03/23/2014 at 14:58

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but even with the W-body cars, there was variation in the external looks of the cars. Mitsubishi went eight years with just a grille, headlight, and taillight change. and unlike GM, Toyota, and Honda, Mitsubishi never had volume. a niche manufacturer refusing to make even incremental improvements beyond the stereo receiver only works if you have an ultra-desirable car to begin with, like a Lotus Elise. and unlike a manufacturer like BMW, the Galant was never best in class when it was released, so it wasn't like the other manufacturers were playing catch-up...

Bizz'n > AMC/Renauledge 03/25/2014 at 14:53

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Didn't they have a buy one get one free promotion IIRC?

AMC/Renauledge > Bizz'n 03/25/2014 at 15:14

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Back in the post-9/11 "Keep America Rolling" days, a lot of dealers did buy one/get one free promos.