GCBC’s The Bad 8 has been abridged for 2014. These are the vehicles that would be least welcomed in GCBC Towers’ driveway, perhaps even rejected. Want to get us something for Christmas? Don’t get us any of these vehicles.
They’re grouped here for a number of reasons, some for just one reason. Whatever the reason, it’s bad enough to cause your sales analyst of choice to reject the car so completely that I’d prefer to own anything else on the market; to reject the car so completely that you, too, should strongly consider rejecting it.
One key premise behind modern car reviewing suggests that, in 2014, there’s no such thing as a bad car. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do better. In the case of these eight cars, you can definitely do better.
Click any of the images to be taken to the model’s Sales Stats page. Don’t forget to check out GCBC’s The Good 12, the list of vehicles you should definitely park in GCBC Towers’ driveway on Christmas morning.
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Acura RLX
With all the personality of a bar of unscented soap, the RLX interests only the most avid (and well-off) wallflower. And it doesn’t interest them very much.
Alternative: Cadillac CTS |
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Buick Encore Awkward proportions. Bizarrely high pricing. Tremendous lack of front seat comfort. Buick’s lowest-quality cabin. Glaring lack of horsepower. Enough said. Alternative: Mazda CX-5 |
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Chrysler 200 Convertible You may not view this as the golden age of motoring, but there’s no denying that there are so many ways to avoid driving the ghastly 200 droptop. Choices are all but unlimited. Anything is preferable. Alternative: Almost anything |
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Fiat 500L Perched on its tiptoes with a greenhouse that appears to have been styled by a designer who wasn’t aware of the slab sides, the 500L lacks so much of what makes the original reincarnated 500 so good. Alternative: Kia Soul |
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Honda Crosstour
It’s ugly, but perhaps you can get over that. Still, why would you want to pay $37,040 (USD) for an AWD EX-L V6 when you could have a less ugly, more practical vehicle for less? |
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Kia Sedona
An aging design that wasn’t class-leading when new, the Sedona doesn’t make use of traditional Kia price strategies and consumes 17% more fuel than the Honda Odyssey on the highway and 11% more in the city. |
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Mitsubishi Mirage
I love the people who live in third world countries, but I don’t necessarily love the new cars they’re offered. Moderately high equipment levels won’t change the fact that the Mirage feels wildly out of place in a developed automotive market. |
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Nissan Versa Sedan
Take some time to learn more about $7000 used cars. Most of them are better than a new $12,000 Versa sedan. Probably all of them are better-looking than a $12,000 Versa sedan. Except pre-owned first-gen Versa sedans. |
RECOMMENDED READING
2013’s The Bad 8
2012’s The Bad 8
Every Vehicle Ranked By November 2013 YTD U.S. Sales
Every Vehicle Ranked By November 2013 Canadian Sales
2014’s The Good 12
