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[Rich B]

Automotive turkeys of 2004


The Ford Explorer Sport Trac was given the highest probability of roll
over for a sport utility vehicle by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Commission.


By Dan Lienert

During Thanksgiving, reflections on the things for which you should be
thankful traditionally take place over turkey â€" but the turkeys
you're about to see here are not savory, and the reflections on this
year's auto industry you're about to read are not of the fond variety.
In this, our annual carving of automotive turkeys, we look back on the
worst of this year's cars â€" but the group of last-place vehicles
gets less unsightly every year as automotive design, engineering,
manufacturing and quality continue to improve. To keep our assessments
objective, we devised four standards with which we could hunt down the
car business' biggest turkeys.


(1) the car that has been recalled the most this year,

(2) the new car with the lowest projected reliability,

(3) those cars which had the worst crash-test results and

(4) those which are projected to retain the lowest percentages of their
values.


Automotive turkeys 2004

Dodge Neon SE sedan (tie)$13,745•

Ford Taurus LX sedan (tie)$20,320•

Mercury Sable GS sedan (tie)$21,595•

Ford Explorer Sport Trac pickup $23,690•

Ford Focus ZX3 coupe$13,270•

Kia Rio sedan$10,390•

Lincoln Navigator sport utility$49,225•

Mitsubishi Lancer sedan (tie)$13,597•

Nissan Sentra sedan (tie)$12,740•

Porsche Cayenne sport utility$41,100


*Projected to retain the lowest percentage of its original value.
Source: Forbes.com• Two of those issues need a bit of clarification.
First, we got our crash-test results from the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (or NHTSA, pronounced "NIT-suh"), the section of
the U.S. Department of Transportation that administers highway safety
laws. NHTSA's tests, which include frontal- and side-impact crash tests
as well as tests to determine a vehicle's rollover resistance, use
scales of one to five stars, with a five-star rating being highest.
Among all of NHTSA's 2004 model crash tests, only one resulted in a
one-star rating: the performance of the rear seat of Ford Motor's Focus
ZX3 two-door in side-impact collisions. Because NHTSA performs so many
tests beside this one, we decided our turkey shoot should include the
next lowest rung on the ladder as well and feature all 2004 models with
two-star ratings.


The other issue that needs a closer look is projected reliability, which
is the most subjective of our standards. It is even more so than
estimates about residual values, which also involve predicting the
future; both figures come from current data, but a car with poor
reliability ratings often has them because it has a picky clientele. The
cars that tend to rank lowest in reliability ratings are often built by
upscale manufacturers, such as Ford's Land Rover and DaimlerChrysler's
Mercedes-Benz subsidiaries--brands whose names can be tarnished by high
expectations. Calling a car unreliable involves complaining about it in
the first place. Whereas 40 years ago you might have expected your new
car's dashboard clock to work for the first afternoon and then never
again, the owner of a modern, $90,000


Mercedes is much more likely to scrutinize his vehicle for things to
have the dealer fix--to say nothing of the fact that as technology gets
more complex, automakers are increasingly discouraging of home repairs,
placing plastic covers over engine bays in order to hide your car's
inner-workings and force more visits to the dealer. That said,
reliability is a crucial issue for new car buyers, and we got our
information on the subject from the gold standard: Consumer Reports.
While that publication and the Kelley Blue Book Residual Value Guide
involve the future for new cars, we wanted this piece to be a look back
on the year. Therefore, the discussion in the slide show is about 2004
model cars, even though many 2005 models are now on the market. We also
wanted to avoid dying or dead model lines, so when we make statements
such as "the Focus ZX3 was the only car with a one-star rating," we are
excluding lame ducks such as General Motor's Chevrolet Cavalier, which
is being replaced by the Cobalt, as well as '04 models that have been or
are being replaced with overhauled 2005 models, such as the new Ford
Mustang. The slide show also excludes cars that are headed for
discontinuation without replacement, such as the unlamented Chevrolet
Astro van.


The presence of a car on our turkey list is not a condemnation of the
vehicle, because thanks to improved manufacturing and higher standards
few cars these days can be called complete stinkers. However, it can be
illuminating to see which supposedly well-engineered models still manage
to score poorly. For example, the model that has the distinction of
being the most recalled car this year (we won't give it away here) is
also the one that is projected to retain the highest percentage of its
original value. The cars on our list are not bad across the board; they
just own certain dubious statistics.


But when it comes to making a buying decision, consumers should remember
that Thanksgiving comes only once a year but you'll be stuck with these
turkeys every day.

© 2004 Forbes.com

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
There are two classes of pedestrians in these days of reckless motor
traffic - the quick and the dead.
~ Lord Dewar 1933 ~

Climbing into a hot car is like buckling on a pistol. It is the great
equalizer. ~ Henry G. Felsen 1964 ~

[Guest]

The fruth is, in the real world very few vehicles ever
'rollover.' If the height of a vehicle was the cause of vehicle
rollovers one would see one hell of a lot of six wheel trucks
rolledover. The roll over myth is foisted by the shark lawyer to
sue and the environuts effort to get people to stop buying the
vehicle they want. It takes some extreme forces or and object to
elevate the side of a vehicle to a point it will roll over rather
than fall back on its wheels. Watch all the SUV's that you see
spin in circles in chases shown in movies and on TV that never
rollover. To get any vehicle to turn over the stunt people need
to run them up ramps four of five feet high.


mike hunt



Rich B wrote:

[« Paul »]

BenDover@mailcity.com wrote:

[Eugene]

Full_Name wrote:

[Phillip Schmid]

"« Paul »" <"stayp"@notsuoh .rr.moc> wrote in message
news:fZKsd.115189$jq5.78261@fe2.texas.rr.com...

[Full_Name]

On Sun, 5 Dec 2004 16:14:24 -0600, "Phillip Schmid"
<schmste8@hotmail.com> wrote:

[« Paul »]

Phillip Schmid wrote:

[Jonathan Race]

Here oare some of my personal observations from 20 years in fire/rescue:

(These concern single vehicle rollovers only with no outside influences)
Full-size vans are more prone to roll over than SUV's.
SUV's are more prone to roll than large cars (Chevy Caprices, Lincoln
Towncars and the like).
4wd SUV's are more prone to roll over than 2wd SUV's.
Smaller cars are more prone to roll over than larger cars.
Empty 2wd (not lifted or with larger tires) pick-ups have about the same
tendency to roll over that larger cars do.

It's not only the overall height, although that is one factor. I find the
largest factors in single-vehicle rollovers not having to do with operator
error or equipment malfunction involves the overall weight of the vehicle
versus the track width of the vehicle. The Toyota Echo and Matrix, and the
Ford Focus are all lightweight cars with narrow tracks and significant
height vs. width ratios. All of these are very prone to rollovers.
Speaking from personal experience, it's hard to get a Towncar or full size
2wd pickup truck to roll over even using a forklift!

Cheers - Jonathan
--
Jonathan A. Race
Lieutenant, EMS Supervisor
Orange County (FL) Fire Rescue Department

(This message may contain personal opinions and/or information not related
to my employment or employer)
<BenDover@mailcity.com> wrote in message
news:41B373FE.B9C91D9D@mailcity.com...

[Peter car 469]

oh yes 18 wheeler and jack knife what fun that is, that sounds alot like swift
truckers ha. yeah i admit i had a trailer start to come around and bend only
thing you can do is hold on and pray. but people have to remember to drive more
safe and think fast. if you travel alot you see some stupid idiots out there

[Guest]

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 15:47:58 -0500, BenDover@mailcity.com wrote:

[Matt Keefer]

[Guest]

Every day? You must therefore see a LOT of cars rolled over as
well, since the same thing happens with cars as SUV's, they
slide...... unless some other force acts
upon the vehicle during the slide that would cause any vehicle to
roll over. 'Rollover' is a catch word for the shark lawyers and
the environuts. The facts are that years of statistical evidence
shows that slightly less than 8% of ALL vehicles sold in the US
will ever be involved, in its lifetime, in a accident sufficient
to deploy the SRS. Less than 2% of those are involved in a
rollover.. Statistically you are twice as likely to be hit by
lightning as involved in a roll over accident. ;)


mike hunt



« Paul » wrote:

[Isaiah Beard]

BenDover@mailcity.com wrote:

[Isaiah Beard]

« Paul » wrote:

[Full_Name]

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 08:27:44 -0500, "Matt Keefer" <mkeefer@cogeco.ca>
wrote: