Forbes: 15 New Cars To Avoid

by Jim Gorzelany of www.forbes.com

New cars just aren’t what they used to be. No, we’re not getting all crotchety and decrying the evolution in styling and technological breakthroughs that have literally reinvented the automobile during the last quarter millennium. Rather, we’re bemoaning the fact that, unlike as in past model years, there’s a dearth of truly wretched cars on the market for us to openly and readily ridicule.

We consulted J.D. Power for the latest results in the company’s initial quality and long-term reliability surveys and its scores for performance and design; rankings for resale value depreciation came from the automotive valuation experts at ALG. Finally, we weighed in with no less an expert source than Consumer Reports to check which models received particularly paltry scores for performance and overall value.

-Click on the text of each car to see what they said-
 
15. Smart ForTwo

14. Scion iQ

13. Nissan Titan 

12. Nissan Armada

11. Mitsubishi Mirage 

10. Mitsubishi iMiEV 

9. Lincoln MKT 

8. Lincoln MKS

7. Jeep Wrangler/Wrangler Unlimited 

6. Jeep Patriot 

5. Jeep Compass

  4. Fiat 500L

3. Dodge Journey 

2. Cadillac XTS

1. BMW 7 Series 

BMW’s flagship sedan seems to have lost its edge in recent years. It’s wrapped in languid styling and just doesn’t feel as sporty as it did in earlier renditions; an odd product lineup includes an expensive and not especially efficient gas-electric hybrid model. Consumer Reports takes the 7 Series to task for being “a ponderous, technology-laden vehicle with ungainly handling,” and is included in the publication’s lists of lowest-scoring cars, worst overall values and most expensive operating costs in its class. Not to pile on, but it also gets a rock-bottom resale value rating from ALG and a below average performance score from J.D. Power.