QOTD: What Car Had An Undeserved Reputation?
Today, one of our TTAC content creators argues on his YouTube platform that the Mercury Bobcat wasn't as bad as some folks said.
Given my relative youth, I don't know about the Bobcat. But between testing cars for nearly 20 years and being around plenty of different cars before that, I've driven a few vehicles that got a bad rap but weren't that bad.
The usual example I use here is the Pontiac Aztek. It wasn't horrible to drive and had some genuinely interesting features -- it was simply just ugly. I'll also defend the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky twins. Even the PT Cruiser wasn't as bad as you remember it.
I got stuck with a PT Cruiser rental for a month once while my Honda Accord got surgery -- a fellow driver had wiped out on black ice and took me out, NASCAR-style. I had to tool around town in the PT while the body shop waited on parts, and I found it to be, well, not good, but not horrid. Better than I expected, at least.
What say you? What car or truck did you think sucked until you drove it?
Sound off below.
[Image: Stellantis]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
More by Tim Healey
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Easy question for me to answer from personal experience...Dodge Caliber *if* equipped with the 5-speed manual. Daily drove one for 12 years, could fold down the rear/passenger seats for an 8' long totally flat floor. Hauled thousands of pounds of stuff in that thing (lumber, concrete, you name it), then could unfold the seats and carry 4 people in comfort. Mine was a 2010 with the redesigned interior, powertrain was solid, never had an issue with the TIPM. It had the few niggling issues most Chryslers of that vintage had and the rust eventually got to it in a bad way, but overall one of the best cars I ever owned.
The last generation of GM minivan. Not the best looking vehicles but they were solid, and rode well. Siblings in many ways to the Aztek but much more functional.
The 5th generation Malibu. Came only with a 6 cylinder engine and auto transmission which if you followed regular maintenance were long lived. And the styling has aged well.
The 1st generation Versa hatchback. An astonishing amount of interior space. Great visibility. Still see quite a few on the road.
The PT Cruiser. Another with functional interior space. If you got it as a manual, then it was not that bad to drive.