We’re all used to getting grades. We received them going to school, and we get performance reviews from our places of work. Consumer Reports is a well-known products and services reviewer that gives grades to the best, the worst and everything else in between.
A recent report from them lists cars that racked up some of the lowest scores from its expert testing panel. If you are thinking about buying one of these cars, you may want to reconsider your choice.
.How the Scoring Was DoneA total score of 100 points is possible for each car tested by Consumer Reports. Various attributes such as handling, acceleration, ride quality, performance, interior comfort, added features, quality, value, and reliability were used in determining the scores for these vehicles.
The top rated cars received the highest scores, while those that failed to impress were given substantially lower ones. The following list of cars were some that scored the lowest in tests.
Mitsubishi Mirage Score: 29/100It seems that the name of the car is suited to what it represents as far as value and quality. This small hatchback gives impressive mpg, and a pretty low sticker price, but this is where the mirage ends and reality kicks in. The car has a tiny three-cylinder engine that makes the Mirage under-powered, slow, and noisy. It also fails the IIHS tests for crash safety.
Chevy Spark Score: 40/100The Chevy Spark can be a very affordable car, if you forgo all the extra options, but even when you to that, it still may not be worth it because of the many downsides such as a very uncomfortable ride, super slow acceleration, a very noisy ride, and not very impressive mpg for such as small car: 31 mpg. All of these negatives will wear you down over the long haul.
Scion tC Score: 44/100Value is probably where the Scion tC suffers from the most because for about $20,000 you’ll get a car that has a substandard transmission, a harsh and bumpy ride, a cheap looking interior, and mediocre handling. While the styling of the car looks like it can go fast, the actual performance is quite under par.
Toyota Yaris Score: 47/100The Toyota Yaris has long been seen as an affordable entry level car, and for about $15K, for the base model, you can get one for your very own. But in spite of the 2015 makeover to improve its styling, it falls short in the areas of comfort, rear view visibility, radio controls, quality of the car, and front seat comfort. Added to this is the very noise ride. For starter cars, there are other brands with more features and better performance.
Fiat 500L Score: 50/100One thing about the Fiat 500L, it is consistent—consistently bad on the worst cars list on the Internet and car reviews. While the small, cute styling is an eye catcher, you’ll also catch more than your share of a very jerky automatic transmission, weird uncomfortable seat positions, stiff rides, poor handling, and poor scores in the IIHS small-overlap crash test. It also scores very low in terms of reliability.
Source:
Consumer Reports