Worst Cars Of 2007

Nissan and Hyundai aren't American...

The new Sonata, the Azera, the upcoming Tiburon replacement, and several other new and up-coming Hyundais and Kias seem like very respectable cars, and while they may not be entirely original, at least they're more original than the average Toyota/Lexus/Honda/Acura/Nissan/etc., and if Toyota calls Hyundai "a great enemy" then there's definitely something to both fear and respect. Also, don't believe/buy everything you hear/read about American cars being "awful" - many new American cars are miles away from past efforts by Detroit. It's also been proven by independent researchers that the average person actually has a preconceived notion that Japanese cars are better than American cars, which was proven by reskinning American cars as Japanese cars and Japanese cars as American cars and testing out the public's reactions to both cars, which, interestingly enough, seemed to show almost every time that the potential buyer will simply convince him/herself that the "American" car they got to test was much worse than the "Japanese" car they got to test in pretty much every way imaginable. I don't trust people's opinions and misconceptions. Hell, even now with the continuously (and might I add, rapidly) deteriorating and sorry state that Toyota's quality, reliability, and real world gas mileage seem to be slipping into, every single person out there still believes there's nothing as reliable and "high-quality" as a Toyota. Meanwhile, a friend's old Pontiac is still going strong without any problems after 9 years of continued hard work, and no one seems to notice.... And I don't even LIKE most American cars - sad then that it takes for someone like ME to point out what should be glaringly obvious....

That's what they said, but even Chrysler's own internal management admitted that they screwed themselves over. They had access to all the parts and technologies the Daimler-Chrysler group (thanks to Mercedes-Benz) could throw at them, and they did next to nothing with it.... The best use they found for any of it was to reskin an old E-Class as the 300C/Charger/Magnum/etc. and to make the Crossfire from the old SLK. In fact, it was MB who dumped Chrysler because they'd had enough of Chrysler's mismanagement and lack of profit generation.

Looks aside, German estate not only "compete" but quite easily outdo the Magnum. Let's not forget the M5 Estate, the E63 Estate, or the cheaper but still impressive New Passat R36 Wagon. And the reason the Magnum is dynamically competent enough to be on this list is because it's based on the old E-class.

It's almost obvious that there's a good deal of bias against American cars going on on this list. Sure, the average American car is pretty bad, and I'd be the first to admit it, but this goes too far.... This definitely seems to be mere opinions than anything else.

i said '03-'04. used. goto autotrader.com and see for yourself. use a zip code like 90210 and search all of america. german supercars are not expensive because they aren't produced in limited numbers, especially amg cars. some of the best engines on the road. the s7 isn't timeless, sir. what car is with that many wings, vents and louvers? 300c is a flying brick with a hacked off rear. i hate fords with a passion but i think the new 'stang is way more beautiful than the mondeo. the big three is self destructing with all these retro cars they make. you are supposed to learn from the past, not live in it. long live the vw group. (audi,bentley,bugatti,porsche)

Have fun with your faulty auto computer systems which in return makes you visit the dealer very frequently. I like Audi, they have some beautiful cars out, but I don't think I would ever buy them because they are unrealiable. Plus, it would feel like just an expensive VW. I'd rather go with a Ferrari than a Lambo (not a true Italian car anymore). Only two brands that I like in the VW portfolio are the Porsche and Bugatti (Bently is just not my style). Sorry, I just prefer BMW's or Mercedes Benz. You just seem to be very biased towards VW. I will agree that the Chrysler 300C is a flying brick, but it did receive the reaction "now that's a car" from millions of people, which in turn also made it one of the most award winning cars of this generation.

stop, i'm starting to weep. impressive - toyota and honda. when think of who makes good auto product, longevity and resale are what i look for. the VW 'family' can't do quality the way toyota and honda do. not even close. and thats a fact.

Actually, MiracleWhipp, your false opinions and illusions about quality are laughable, if not outrageous. Toyota and Honda aren't even close to impressive. They spend billions of dollars every year on improving quality and reliability of their cheaper cars under NORMAL driving, and they still can't quite pull it off. The only reason German cars aren't considered as reliable as Toyotas and Hondas is because A) they're driven MUCH harder than your average Honda/Toyota and B) because the British and American motoring press hate Germany and German cars and don't even do a great job of disguising that fact, and C) because reliability isn't even the kind of business they're really in (and yet they do a great job because they focus on quality, which reflects itself as reliability in certain departments at least), and D) the average German car weighs a lot more and has a lot more power and torque and expensive and technologically/electronically complex equipment than the average Japanese car, and THAT is a FACT, not what you read in a tuner magazine or a "report" in edmonds or autotrader or TopGear or at your local shop where they focus on the immediate results without focusing on the causes, and plentifully sprinkle some good old fashioned bias to force their unfair opinions onto the unsuspecting public as "fact". Longevity is relative as is, like it or not, coming from a family that has owned several German AND Japanese cars, I can say with at least SOME certainty that none of the Japanese cars we've owned (including our current 2002 Camry) are anything CLOSE to reliable or even good quality in either build, fit or finish, or engineering/dynamics, whereas even our 1978 5-series exceeded expectations. As for resale: the numbers speak for themselves; that's why no one on a tight budget will be able to afford a second-hand German car, save maybe a very cheap and badly bruised old VW. I know because I'm in the market for one myself, and I can find whole fleets of used and relatively new Japanese cars that are dirt cheap for almost no reason other than the fact that the owners know they can't push the pieces of dull crap for any more green.... Toyota and Honda (and ESPECIALLY Toyota) are actually slipping in the quality and reliability department anyway, which means what little they had left is already disappearing.

A few things you said are far from the truth, johnnyg. Faulty auto computer systems, for one, aren't exactly a common occurence on VWs, especially the brand new ones.... As for Audis feeling like expensive VWs: hasn't happened to anyone yet. VWs themselves feel higher quality than the typical image of VW that everyone has built into their minds, and Audis are still higher quality than that - in fact Audis (just on the interior finish and design both inside and outside of the car alone) are in a world of their own.... And I doubt your "reliability" argument is based on experience, because I know at least 4 Audi owners who happen to both love and drive their cars to death, and don't report even the slightest hitch, save a broken front fender here and there, which is actually the result of hard driving through tough terrain.... Undernormal use, rarely do I hear people complain too much about their Audis/VWs (at least here in Canada). As for the Ferrari vs. Lamborghini argument: I wouldn't even go there. Ferraris are exciting and continuously improving cars, but Lamborghini is still ahead, and beating them where it counts. I see no reason why being "Italian" is great in and of itself - in fact, since the VW/Audi ownership of Lambo began, they've been doing much better, both in the quality and reliability department, and in everything else that makes Lamborghini what they are (except for perhaps the designs, which have admittedly taken a bit of a "hit" with the German common-sense playing its part). A true Italian car? Pfft, I don't even care.... I'd sooner buy an Alfa or a Maserati or Pagani or Lamborghini or a Lancia Stratos if I wanted a "true" Italian car. And all this from a person like myself who is a BMW/Porsche man first, and a VW/Audi fan 2nd, if not 3rd or lower.... Also, I actually agree with your comment about the 300C - it's a succesful car because it's dynamically good enough, and has the attitude/style bit nailed on the head; I actually stopped and stared at it the first time I saw it displayed at a local mall in Vancouver a few years back (and that was AFTER having already seen it in Magazines and online) - but then I can't ignore the fact that it truly IS a brick, and not a driver's car by any means. Sure, it'll do fine in a straight line, and it's got the flash, but that's pretty much it. A successful and high-selling atractive brick on wheels. And not to deliberately damage the car's reputation more so, but I've heard of more than one instance of engine failure on the 300C and the SRT-8 (even on the 300's relative, the Charger), and even witnessed one on the Hemi 5.7 Charger myself, where a brand new example of the car was delivered on the owner's birthday, and died right after he first ignition (engine simply refused to start, and was pronounced dead shortly after). I never heard what exactly went wrong with the engine, but if the story is true (which has a higher-than 50% likelihood of being so), it would simply serve as further proof for the kinds of woes that have been slowly killing the Chrysler group. Hopefully LLC can turn things about a little bit....

Much of their bad reputation is unjustly attributed to them, though.... I'd actually buy an old S-Class from the early 90's or late 80's over anything else, seeing as to how they run forever without problems and seem to please their owners almost 100% of the time.... But I agree with the first thing you said - I wish we had Peugeots, Citroens, and Renaults here.... French cars are really in their own dimension most of the time - if they were a bit more reliable they'd really get the job done. Too bad we don't get them here.... :(