Worst car you could buy today?

[lambo]

Agreed. The Cummins is about the only reason to buy a dodge.

Speaking of cummins, word is our locomotives are going to be retrofitted with dual Cummins engines in a few years. Looks like the old EMD 2 stroke turbo diesels are on the way out. (Not for freight though)

Yepp. Besides the Ram's I wouldn't touch any dodge/chrysler/whatever.

[UlrichFennec]

Yeah, not all Ferrari products turn into investment grade vehicles that are whisked away into collections. There are a number of sub $100k, a couple sub $75k, and even some sub $50k. Haven't checked the 308 market lately but I was seeing incredible cars sell for $24-30k a few years ago...!

You can pick up a Mondial for even cheaper. I've seen some around CO going for around 20-25k.

[flyboyx]

Yeah, not all Ferrari products turn into investment grade vehicles that are whisked away into collections. There are a number of sub $100k, a couple sub $75k, and even some sub $50k. Haven't checked the 308 market lately but I was seeing incredible cars sell for $24-30k a few years ago...!

i understand that. however, any 2 seater v12 car from the 60's and 70's is crazy money. (like 1+ million and up in good condition) testarossa's are crazy. dinos.....

before i started a new job, i was looking really seriously at buying a 550. a mere 6-8 months ago, they were about 65k. now it would be pretty hard to touch one for under 90. that would be one hell of an investment for such a short period of time.

the argument is still that a ferrari isn't a daily driver however.

[mrsleeve]

my vote is pretty much anything made by the company with the pentastar logo. i have rented perhaps 20 different chrysler products over the last 10 years or so. each and every one of them was a stupid cheap ass piece of crap. horrible interior rattles on cars with less than 3000 miles. horrible ergonomics....... i can't figure out how they stay in business.

i know it doesn't fit the scope of this thread but one of my friends has an 06 dodge pickup with the cummins. his opinion of the vehicle is that the engine is absolutely awesome. the rest.....well.....

Mostly agree with this right here, Posting from a work truck with a cummins in it, that fires up at 6am and never shuts off till at least 6pm, sometimes 24+ hours shifts. Yes the engine in this particular pentastar product is quite good, though its has an auto soot burn function that saps any and all power below 1500rpm, and any semblance of linear power deliver when trying to go slow and maneuver in tight spots on uneven surfaces (we do that a LOT every day) . There is NO WAY to postpone, or shut off this god dam cycle off and it ALWAYS occurs in the middle of when you really need the power or predictable power delivery. The rest truck is very very meeehhh, even the upmarket Larime I have right now is clunky and rattle trap like on the inside and it only has 4300 miles on it and when I picked it up at the shop it had 63 yes 00000063 miles and its been like this since day one

[markd248]

The Jeep Patriot was awful that I rented. I just rented a Kia Sorento and loved it. Not having driven any other Kias, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the place to go towards (Kia, Hyundai). They seem to be making really competent daily drivers.

Also, I'd steer clear of Mitsubishi since it sounds like they are getting closer and closer to leaving the US market.

[nando]

Anything Chrysler. you guys see the Wired story about how they shut off the brakes of a Jeep remotely and made the test driver crash? WTF?

The tech companies can barely handle cyber security. I don't think it's even on the automaker's radar screen. With all the cars coming out with built in internet and basically full computers now, it was only a matter of time before somebody found a really poor design such as the Jeeps (and any other Fiat/Chrysler car that comes with the same computer system).

Plus they're just awful in general.

[nando]

Mostly agree with this right here, Posting from a work truck with a cummins in it, that fires up at 6am and never shuts off till at least 6pm, sometimes 24+ hours shifts. Yes the engine in this particular pentastar product is quite good, though its has an auto soot burn function that saps any and all power below 1500rpm, and any semblance of linear power deliver when trying to go slow and maneuver in tight spots on uneven surfaces (we do that a LOT every day) . There is NO WAY to postpone, or shut off this god dam cycle off and it ALWAYS occurs in the middle of when you really need the power or predictable power delivery. The rest truck is very very meeehhh, even the upmarket Larime I have right now is clunky and rattle trap like on the inside and it only has 4300 miles on it and when I picked it up at the shop it had 63 yes 00000063 miles and its been like this since day one

you can delete it with a flash and some sort of kit, but seeing how I'm guessing that is a work truck you probably can't do it. Also, that stupid system is mandated by the EPA to reduce emissions. It seems silly because it actually burns more fuel than not having it at all!

[redsubdivisions]

Anything Chrysler.

+1. I've hated this company for as long as I can remember. Whenever I hear "Mopar or no car", I usually fire back with something along the lines of "quit living in the past, Mr. 1974" or "what's it like being told what to do by the Italians?".

[nando]

I like old Dodges & Plymouths. But yeah, this is the company that brought us the K-car. Not to mention the horrid minivans, the Neon, the PT Cruiser, and a slew of other terrible cars that should never be forgiven.

[goskidmark]

This list might aid you as to which car manufacture to buy from. This was a Forbes article. I just pulled the numbers here folks, so please take these with a grain of salt. I did not check their sources.

Here is a full list of least and most recalled car lines since 1985, with the given recall rate being relative to sales registered in the U.S. from 1980 forward:

#1. Mercedes-Benz USA: 2.1 million recalled/5.2 million sold; 0.41 recall rate.

#2. Mazda Motor Corp: 5.2 million recalled/9.4 million sold; 0.55 recall rate.

#3. General Motors: 99.3 million recalled/153.2 million sold; 0.65 recall rate.

#4. Nissan North America: 19.1 million recalled/26.8 million sold; 0.71 recall rate.

#5. Subaru of America: 4.3 million recalled/6.0 million sold; 0.73 recall rate.

#6. Kia Motors: 3.7 million recalled/4.9 million sold; 0.77 recall rate.

#7. Toyota Motor Corp: 38.6 million recalled/48.1 million sold; 0.80 recall rate.

#8. BMW of North America: 5.1 million recalled/5.7 million sold; 0.90 recall rate.

#9. Ford Motor Co: 97.0 million recalled/104.7 million sold; 0.93 recall rate.

#10. American Honda Motor Co: 31.1 million recalled/32.9 million sold; 0.94 recall rate.

#11. Chrysler Group: 63.2 million recalled/63.2 million sold; 1.00 recall rate.

#12. Volvo Cars of North America: 3.3 million recalled/3.1 million sold; 1.05 recall rate.

#13. Volkswagen of America: 10.2 million recalled/9.7 million sold; 1.06 recall rate.

#14. Mitsubishi Motors North America: 5.3 million recalled/4.8 million sold; 1.09 recall rate.

#15.Hyundai Motor Co: 9.9 million recalled/8.7 million sold; 1.15 recall rate.

[nando]

how could Hyundai recall 9.9 million cars if they only sold 8.7 million?

also, the cars made from 1980-2010 or so are vastly different from what you'd get today..

[goskidmark]

how could Hyundai recall 9.9 million cars if they only sold 8.7 million?

also, the cars made from 1980-2010 or so are vastly different from what you'd get today..

Hyundai recalled the same models twice over. It happens when the engineering department of the manufacture redesigns a part, and it passes a QA (Quality Assurance) inspection, yet it fails again when pushed out to the consumer.

The list is just a cumulative list of recalls over the years to give a general idea about the companies are as a whole when pertaining to recalls.

[nando]

yeah, but like I said, way different eras, way different cars. Hyundai in the 80's were horrid, horrid cars. The ones they make now are realistically some of the best quality on the market. you can't compare them because the quality has changed drastically.

It would be like comparing the costs of a car in 1980 to 2015 without adjusting for inflation.

Also, GM for example should have recalled far more cars for the ignition switch issues than they actually did. I mean, they aren't going to a recall a car just because the quality is bad - they do it based on a risk/reward ratio. So maybe Hyundai has a higher recall rate because they are more willing to fix issues, while GM knew about ignition switch failures (that killed people) and Toyota hid issues with it's electronic throttles (that also killed people) but neither recalled any cars until they were forced to.

so really it doesn't even tell you about quality because it's up to the company to decide if it's worth a recall rather than getting hit with a lawsuit. Ford has done the same thing, quite famously as well.

[goskidmark]

yeah, but like I said, way different eras, way different cars. Hyundai in the 80's were horrid, horrid cars. The ones they make now are realistically some of the best quality on the market. you can't compare them because the quality has changed drastically.

It would be like comparing the costs of a car in 1980 to 2015 without adjusting for inflation.

Also, GM for example should have recalled far more cars for the ignition switch issues than they actually did. I mean, they aren't going to a recall a car just because the quality is bad - they do it based on a risk/reward ratio. So maybe Hyundai has a higher recall rate because they are more willing to fix issues, while GM knew about ignition switch failures (that killed people) and Toyota hid issues with it's electronic throttles (that also killed people) but neither recalled any cars until they were forced to.

so really it doesn't even tell you about quality because it's up to the company to decide if it's worth a recall rather than getting hit with a lawsuit. Ford has done the same thing, quite famously as well.

I agree. Some car companies are dirt bags when it comes to reporting major issues due to affecting sales.

[chadthestampede]

I work at a Kia dealer and they're alright. Great of you just want something to get you around. Plus they have a decent warranty. We just replaced a complete engine on an 08 Rondo with 80k miles because the owner didn't do regular maintenance. All under warranty. The biggest problem with Kia is the people that buy them don't take care of them.