Oppo-pinion Time!

"Connqr" (connqr) 04/15/2016 at 22:44 • Filed to: None

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I guess this is sort of a semi regular thing now. 3 days in a row (although the first day wasn’t called Oppo-pinion). So anyway, for today’s question. What car was the biggest mistake to badge engineer? It can be for many reasons, a crappy car to begin with, a car not suitable for the new market it was pushed into. Really anything. Tell me the dumbest badge engineering experiment. My submission is the Toyota Cavalier. If you don’t know what that is, It’s a standard Crapalier with some leathery bits standard and Toyota badges slapped on it, along with some other minor differences. It was only sold in Japan, and like the Crapalier in North America, It was a pile of crap. It was a bad Idea to bring over a car that no one likes in the first place. What is your dumbest badge engineered car?

not for canada - australian in disguise > Connqr 04/15/2016 at 22:50

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Suzuki Equator anyone?

lone_liberal > Connqr 04/15/2016 at 22:56

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All of the iterations of the Chevy Citation (X-body). That would include the Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile Omega, and Pontiac Phoenix. Why foist that horrible, horrible car on to more brands? Also, it ruined the once great Skylark name with this.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Connqr 04/15/2016 at 23:01

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Jack Does Cars > not for canada - australian in disguise 04/15/2016 at 23:03

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The Equator is badass, I fuxxx with that truck.

carcrasher88 > not for canada - australian in disguise 04/15/2016 at 23:13

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Personally, I think the Equator looks better than the Frontier that it was a badge engineered version of.

Not really a terrible experiment for the product itself, just how badly it sold, because it was badged as a Suzuki, a brand that was suffering in the US before it was released, and did nothing to bolster the brand, just like the similar Isuzu I-Series was to the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon.

Both were rebadged versions of established midsize pickup trucks, both flaunted a better powertrain warranty than the originals (Suzuki: 7 year/100,000 miles, Isuzu: 7 years/75,000 miles), were sold through dwindling dealer networks, and both sold under brands that were suffering in the US before their releases and after, leading to the brands being withdrawn from the passenger car market (Suzuki is still here with motorcycles, Isuzu with commercial trucks).

carcrasher88 > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 04/15/2016 at 23:15

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Yeah, even though it was better looking (in my opinion), and apparently had better handling than it’s Chrysler/Dodge counterparts, the lack of stow-n-go seating configuration or the notoriety of it’s Chrysler and Dodge counterparts, it was doomed to fail from the start.

VW Max > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 04/15/2016 at 23:27

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It's an imposter vw bus!

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Connqr 04/15/2016 at 23:43

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Cadillac Cimmaron.

/Gamesetmatch

marshknute > Connqr 04/15/2016 at 23:53

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Scion: an overwhelming success story!

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Connqr 04/15/2016 at 23:54

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I'm saying the Land Rover rebadged as a Honda was pretty stupid

Round headlight enthusiast > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/16/2016 at 02:04

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Dammit, I thought I was the only one who knew of that...

Flavien Vidal > Connqr 04/16/2016 at 08:38

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Aston Martin Cygnet of course!!

Connqr > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 04/16/2016 at 09:33

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I bet that’s GM’s biggest regret. Soiling the once powerful Cadillac name. I still can’t understand why anyone thought that was a good idea. Hell, the crapaleir itself was a bad idea.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Round headlight enthusiast 04/16/2016 at 10:16

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I was actually talking to someone about it yesterday.

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > Connqr 04/19/2016 at 23:24

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I’ll vote for the Toyota cavalier, pretty sure that fooled nobody.

Amoore100 > Connqr 06/06/2016 at 23:03

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All of them: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/tag/ridiculous…