Forbes magazine did its annual “Worst Cars on the Road” review and you may be disturbed to learn that you own nine of the eleven on the list.
Don’t run out to the garage looking for them. You only own them because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner “invested”$80 billion of your tax dollars in General Motors and Chrysler.
Here’s the bad news from Forbes:
… with three exceptions–the Mercedes-Benz S550, Smart Fortwo and Nissan Titan–all of the cars on this year’s list of the Worst Cars on the Road are (still) made by domestic companies. That includes the Dodge Dakota, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and Chrysler Town & Country. The only American car company with zero vehicles on the list? Ford.
Ford? You mean the same Ford that declined your tax dollars? The same Ford that now has the largest share of the new car market? The same Ford that is reporting record profits?
Yes, that Ford.
Oh, by the way, just in case you were wondering, here’s the complete list of the Loser Eleven: Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Dakota, Mercedes Benz S550, Chrysler Town and Country, Chevrolet Colorado, Chevrolet Aveo, Jeep Liberty and Nissan Titan.
Source: Forbes
This post was last modified on April 26, 2011
View Comments (29)
WOW. I had no idea I struck a hornet's nest about Ford. I am not downgrading the Ford Company. I am just saying that guaranteed sales, paid for by the government, had to have helped their overall bottom line. If each department had bought vehicles wherever (and what a mess THAT would have been) that money would have been spread out over a number of manufacturers. As it is, Ford was the chosen supplier and got all of it. And they have had their own issues with poorly built vehicles.
Just keep in mind that Ford did not need additional bailout money because they were essentially getting it all along. Check outr government cars-sherrif, police, constables, national governements, local governments. Nearly all of them have fleet cars purchased from Ford. Nice bit of income, that.
Trying to compare apples to oranges Deb? Ford has been the lowest bidder for government vehicle contracts so they get the sales. I remember when most government vehicles were GM products, Crysler products, even AMC products. There is a lot of difference between building a car or truck that meets the specs for all the different types of vehicles needed by different government agencies and handing a company a billion dollar check just to stay in business.
That makes Ford number one in my book. They are furnishing quality vehicles to local, state and federal agencies for the lowest cost to the taxpayers. And they never had to take an extra dime, Obummer Bailout Money, to do so.
The major difference between the bailouts and government agency support of Ford, is that Ford actually gave a product in return for the money given them. What you're saying, Deb, is kind of like saying that the construction industry gave Ford a bailout by buying thousands of Ford trucks every year. No, Ford makes the best, longest lasting, toughest truck out there, and the entire construction industry knows it, so they buy the trucks.
Buying Ford cars and throwing money into a fireplace like GM are two different things.
They are supporting Ford, by buying their product, not tossing billions of tax dollars into a decrepit company like GM, who makes nothing but trash, overpays it's CEOs to come up with the next grand failure.
In other words, GM and Chrysler are demonstrating WHY they needed to be bailed out and WHY they will likely need to be again.
You are right Rich, it doesn't sit well saying I/We told you so.
Nissan Titan? We own a 2006 and have driven it from Ak to southern Ca,across to WV,NY,DC,and down to Fla. Only problem we have ever had with it was a loose C-clamp on the power steering line. Seems sad they are on that list.
This list is so bitter sweet for other reasons. I hate to see an american company in a negative light,but I am pleased to see what we all told the Dems and Obama come to pass.
I knew this was a pisspoor company even before Obummer took over it.
I bought a factory delivered 2005 Saturn ion with 8/10 of a mile on it and the POS was falling apart from day 1.
It took 3 years to figure this out:
The car starts and runs fine.
you go to the store.
shut off the car.
do your thing, come back out, turn the key, nothing.
after replacing the starter,clyinoid,cables,wires, and ignition, they gave up and said toughshit on your extended-overpirced-warrenty that covers everything.
That sounds like a ford tempo I had once.
Maybe they finally are on the right track but I've heard this comeback story before. The big 2.5 have a long way to go building their brand back up in my mind. Features and profitability are one thing but durability and life-time costs are another for a durable good like a car. For some reason, detroit came to the conclusion that if they self-financed consumers with the help of Greenspan's party-time policies cars could be a disposable item.
If you do any of your own vehicle maintenance and try to drive them well past 100K miles you know the differences in the fit, finish and design of the European and Japanese autos vs. american ones. The foreign cars look absolutely futuristic and they last relative to the domestics. No fighting rusty bolts, no rotted out panels after 2 years, no dirty electrical contacts or non-working amenities.
The only decent american car I can say I ever owned was a Jeep cherokee (not the grand) with a slightly updated inline 6 that was designed in the 60s or 70s. that thing was bullet proof and I only had to get rid of it after the body rusted away around it (in the places a small oil leak didn't coat the metal and protect it).
Sounds like an '05 Saturn Ion to me. My girlfriend owns one. We call it the Piece-of-S*%t Car.
just so you know "POS" is short for piece of sh*t
Yes, I know.
These American Car reviews make me laugh. I *love* my Smart Cabrio...rides like a dream! It reminds me of this Administration's farsical swindle on Toyota (everybody panic!), to try to send GM/Chrysler more business.
I read Ford did indeed get billions from the government. It just wasn't advertised. Just sayin'. Something to look into if you haven't.
Wes, all the car-makers received a cash injection for immediate expenses from Bush, who then quite rightly left any future decisions to the newly elected Obama. Ford said no thanks to additional govt. financing and reorganization, as they had already cleaned up their own house by hiring a new manager a few years earlier. GM was clueless, so Obama bankrupted them, screwed their stockholders, expensively closed down car brands instead of selling them off, gave unions a big chunk of ownership while arranging for taxpayers to pay for retired workers, and blackmailed the Canadian govt. into investing as well. Chrysler was already in private ownership, but Obama took everything anyway, including the 20% Mercedes owned, and gave over half to the unions, and talked FIAT into taking a little chunk, thus giving away Jeep, which probably could have been sold for quite a lot. All the cash injection money has been paid back, but the future of GM and Chrysler looks pretty complicated, to say the least.
If Ford had any brains, they would pull out of Michigan completely & move to a right-to-work state. Getting rid of the UAW would be another thing to consider, since they are in an ownership position with Ford's compitition at GM, & the whole Chrystler thing ain't exactly kosher either. They need to really seperate themselves completely from the rest of the "Big 3". That would allow them to really establish themselves as the #1 American car company.
Those that can do.
Those that cannot teach.
Those that FU everything they touch go into government.
How long after Ford reports continued record profits before the Communist King decides that they need to "share the wealth". It is just not fair that they be rewarded for their work and Government Motor Corp. not enjoy the benefits.
I'm sure that Eric and his jackboots will dispatched to investigate how Ford is using/abusing the people to gain such profits.
They'll start having "union problems" before long.