Buying a new car is a significant investment, so it’s crucial to find one that will be dependable and last a long time. A good piece of advice is to read and investigate the least reliable cars, so you know which ones to avoid.
Buyers should steer clear of these cars, SUVs, and trucks since they have a bad record of reliability based on member responses on Annual Auto Surveys.
You Should Avoid These Cars
Mitsubishi Mirage:
This car is marketed as smart, social, and fun, and it is also backed by a 10-year 100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty.
Yes, the car is cheap and gets excellent gas mileage, but it’s not the smoothest ride there. It has a tiny three-cylinder engine that vibrates and makes the car shake.
It has just 78 horsepower under the hood, which means acceleration is very slow, and other driving aspects are just as bad. The ride can be stiff, handling is dull and harsh noise, and you can hear vibration from the powertrain.
Most cars with underpowered engines offer significant savings at the pump. To its credit, the Mirage does excel in this regard. The sedan version with the manual transmission returns 33 mpg in the city and 40 mpg at highway speeds. With the CVT in the hatchback version, you’ll get 37 mpg on city roads and 43 mpg on the highway.
While these numbers are impressive on paper, you may have difficulty applying them in real-world driving. Because the Mirage has such poor acceleration, you constantly have to floor the gas pedal to get anywhere, and this causes your fuel economy to decrease.
The seats have little padding inside and offer almost no support. The driver’s seat position is also an awkward situation, so taller drivers may have difficulty getting comfortable.
Sometimes a price that’s too low can be a red flag. Unless you are on an incredibly strict budget, we recommend looking elsewhere.
Chevrolet Spark:
Another small car on our list is the Chevrolet Spark.
Despite its design, affordable price and decent equipment, it is a very crude car to drive with limited space, poor ride and handling, not to mention a slow engine and poor performance.
In previous models, there have been a lot of safety reports due to the airbags not deploying. According to the Safety Test from The IIHS, the dummy’s head contacted the frontal airbag but nearly slid off the left side, leaving the head vulnerable to contact with the forward side structure.
The side curtain airbag deployed but did not have sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with the forwarding side structure and outside objects.
This is a big concern, especially for those travelling with their families and children. One can never be too sure to ensure that you will not be involved or have a car accident.
You want to be sure your car has the best and adequate safety security features, especially airbags.
Our advice is to look for something else if you buy a compact car.
Jeep Renegade:
What looked like a good idea on paper turned out to be a pretty clumsy vehicle in real life.
We can approve the concept of a small and capable SUV. Still, the Renegade is just a tiny and cheaply built car with no actual off-road usability, limited interior space, and quality problems.
- Heavy oil consumption
The 2.4L engine, which holds 5.5 quarts of oil, could consume up to a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. To make matters worse, the engine could stall if the oil level falls below 3.5 quarts, and oil levels can fall without the low oil indicator light appearing.
- Intermittent vehicle shut-offs
A complaint from a 2015 Jeep Renegade owner notes that their vehicle constantly shuts off without warning. The owner had this happen three times before driving the car to a repair shop for service. However, the service advisor found nothing wrong with the vehicle.
Four months after the service visit, however, the vehicle shut off yet again. Approximately eight hours passed before the car was jumped and taken in for service. Again, technicians could not find a cause for the sudden shut-off.
- Transmission shift quality problems
Many owners have reported exceptionally harsh shifts through the first three gears and delayed transmission engagement when attempting to accelerate from a complete stop. Others noted the transmission remains in 2nd gear for too long and very harsh shifts from 2nd to 3rd.
The 9-speed transmission was also plagued with improperly installed sensors that could cause the vehicle to suddenly shift into neutral.
- Electrical problems
In a complaint filed in March of 2020, a 2015 Jeep Renegade owner reported a complete loss of electrical power, which subsequently caused the vehicle to stall. The owner notes that the problem occurs frequently, but it’s not caused by moisture, extreme temperatures, bumps, and excessive vibration.
The owner had the battery tested and replaced. They also took the vehicle to the dealer, where the owner was told it needed a software update. Despite this, the vehicle still loses electrical power randomly.
Dodge Journey:
Journey is another older Dodge model which is still on the market despite being outdated. Furthermore, Journey has less interior room and worse fuel consumption than its competitors.
It also has some quality issues and less than average crash protection. The only thing Journey has in its favour is the price, but that is not enough to make it a good purchase.
Affordable doesn’t mean sacrificing quality
At House of Cars Calgary, we offer several refinancing options. Whether you don’t have a credit score or have a bad credit history, you can still get a car loan.
We offer car financing solutions to all Alberta customers, regardless of credit history. We’ll work with you to ensure you receive a car loan with terms that work for you.
If you are looking to buy an affordable car but don’t want to put your loved ones in danger, we recommend contacting our sales consultant.
Click here to talk to one of our sales consultants and get more information!
