Ford…

With Chrysler and Toyota as the runners up.

Ford Motor Company (Recall 07V336, 07V553, and 07V156)

• Recall 07V336 (August 13, 2007) involved 3.6 million Ford vehicles, including the Bronco, Crown Victoria, E-150, E-250, E-350, E-450, Explorer (Sport and Sport Trac), F-150 Lightning, Ranger, and Taurus SHO.

• Problem- The speed control deactivation switch was found defective through 1,472 complaints and 65 full-on accidents and/or fires. Whether engine is running or turned off a short circuit develops that in turn causes a fire in the engine compartment.

• Recall 07V553 (January 2008) involved 1.2 million Ford vehicles, including the F-series Super Duty, E-series, and Excursion with 7.3-liter diesel engines.

• Problem- The camshaft position sensor was found defective through 1,595 complaints and 14 full-on accidents and/or fires. The most significant danger occurs if the switch malfunctions and stalls the vehicles engine, the driver will be left with the potential of an accident.

• Recall 07V156 (April 23, 2007) involved 446,460 Ford vehicles, including the Escape Sport Utility equipped with anti-lock brakes.

• Problem- The anti-lock braking module connector was found defective through 120 complaints that all resulted in either a accident and/or fire. The electrical short first causes the warning light to illuminate, and then as heat builds in the unit it can begin to smoke and then actually lead to an eventual fire.

Chrysler Corporation (Recall 07V555 and 07V092)

• Recall 07V555 (December 2007) involved 576,418 vehicles, including the Dakota, Durango, Ram Van, and Ram Pickup Truck with automatic transmission.

• Problem- The ignition/park shifter interlock system can malfunction, allowing the shifter to move out of the park position, which ultimately could lead to the vehicle taking its own trip down the road without owner consent. Chrysler has not allowed the data to be publicly released as to exactly how many cases have been documented.

• Recall 07V092 (April 2007) involved 328,424 vehicles, including the Durango.

• Problem- A circuit in the instrument cluster controlling the interior lights was found to overheat through 213 complaints and 78 occurrences of accident and/or fire. The overheating in some cases led to an instrument panel fire that was within range of the front passengers.

Toyota (Recall 07V013)

• Recall 07V013 (February 2, 2007) involved 533,124 vehicles, including the Tundra and Sequoia

• Problem- The front suspension ball joints were found to wear prematurely through the complaint of 120 consumers (14 confirmed failures and 6 injuries). As the ball joints wear overtime, they can eventually malfunction completely, leaving the driver with little control of the vehicles steering.

There were also a few cases of serious recalls by Volkswagen and Nissan, but none of them had any public confirmations to actual incidents. So, either they were caught in time, or the danger associated with the recall had a low possibility of actually occurring.

Nobody likes to hear or see the word “Recall”, but those manufacturers that admit to the problem quickly and take swift public action should be commended. There have been many injuries and deaths throughout the United States history that could have been avoided if only the maker would have taken care of the situation immediately, rather than covering it up until being forced by the government to make the changes.

We’re not talking about the quarter mile here folks… this is a straight on 0 to 60 mph in 10 seconds or more. With todays technology in lightweight materials and engine efficiency it is hard to believe that we would still have a few 10-second dogs roaming around in 2008… but we do!

Let’s take a look at a few of the (dare I say) winners this year:

1. 
   2008 Smart ForTwo- This little car has had a rough year this year, and while we’d hate to rub any more salt into its already fleshy wounds, this would have to be one of the all around slowest cars you could purchase today. With a feather 1,650 lb curb weight, this car can drop from a 12 second 0-60 sprint to nearly 15-seconds, depending on how many donuts you ate that morning. Seriously though, according to Motor Trends, this car has been known to take 14.70 seconds to reach 60 mph using its 70 horsepower/68 lb-ft torque electric motor.

2. 
   2008 Honda Fit Sport- Probably the best part of the Fit’s #2 spot on this list, is that the word “sport” is actually part of this cars character. If your sport is to be the slowest possible, you know you might at least come in 2^nd from the Smart ForTwo with its solid 11.9 seconds (according to Motor Trends). We are only talking about a little over 100 horsepower and torque we realize, but at 33 mpg city, you’d expect perhaps a little more out of the 1.5 liter engine.

3. 
   2008 Chevrolet Aveo- Obviously not from the same mold as the new Camaro and Z powered Corvette, the subcompact Aveo features a 103 horsepower/107 lb-ft torque 1.6 liter, that according to Edmunds.com can propel its rather hefty 2,542 lbs from 0-60 in 10.8 seconds. Kind of makes us wonder just what we’d be looking at with the 3-door Aveo featured at the Geneva show that had only 84 horsepower. On a positive note, the Aveo knocks out 34 mpg fairly comfortably, which seems to make consumers awfully happy.

4. 
   Ford F-450 King Ranch Dually- Enough picking on the little guy… let’s get to some V-8 muscle. While the Toyota Yaris and Hyundai Elantra could easily be among our next in ranks of slow compacts (depending on whose numbers you follow), the Ford King Ranch with its massive 6.4 liter (350 horsepower/650 lb-ft torque), needs roughly 10.5 seconds (according to Motor Trends) to reach 60 mph. Of course, this truck weighs as much as several elephants (9,000 lbs), so it’s clearly meant for pulling heavy loads (5,526 lb payload capacity), rather than sprinting the quarter mile. But for close to $20,000 less, you could be rolling in the 8.3 second range with the Ford F-250, whose payload capacity (2,977lbs) would still suit most heavy-duty needs.

Well, by popular opinion anyway… We must say that before we start, we are by no means trying to put down someone else’s ideal dream car. If you own one of these vehicles we are about to portray and love it, we say that is but more power to you. Just because one person, or even an entire battalion of Internet personalities say that a car is ugly, does not mean that in actuality it is. If you happen to like one of the cars we are about to mention, feel free to counter these opinions with your own opinions. It’s thankfully still a free country where we can all express our own opinions. So without further adieu, let’s get our ugly on…

2007 Chevy Avalanche

The Chevy Avalanche is not a bad looking vehicle in some respects, but what really does it in, is its over abundance of cheap looking plastic. There was a time when a tough truck was meant to look sturdy and purposeful, and unfortunately for the Chevy Avalanche, that time is still present. The proportion of these trucks is also rather odd, with an open bed the size equivalence to a Subaru Baja, and that alone is enough to give the Chevy a few more ugly points. The front end around to the first set of doors was a good start, now all Chevy needs to do is peel away some of that plastic and get back to the basics!

2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser

There was a time when the uniqueness of the car gave it a respectable stance on the streets. Today, there are more of these cruising around on the streets than there are New Beetles, and those darn near got onto this list, but were excused due to their overall cuteness factor. The PT Cruiser is not cute, its not really cool, it is only slightly functional, and quite frankly is trying to be too many cars rolled into one. It is a nostalgic weekend cruiser, SUV substitute, four door family wagon, and a daily driver. It is shaped to be adored by woman, yet have the hotrod lines to appease the men. There was a time and a place for a PT Cruiser, but quite frankly, it has now outlived their time and is in need of a serious update. There is only so much room for nostalgic vehicles, which brings us to the next vehicle on the list, the Chevy SSR.

Chevy SSR Pickup

If this isn’t a wanna-be PT Cruiser, I don’t know what else is. It has the same nostalgic hot rod features mixed with modern innovation to create was many believe to be rather ugly. Once again we have a car that is just trying to be too many things, none of which it does well enough to give it a proper excuse for its overall odd appearance. It is a good thing that Chevy is about to redeem themselves with the new Camaro, which is a nostalgic masterpiece in automotive design!

Toyota Scion

Yes, the Toyota Scion is ugly, but for many it is ugly in the Chihuahua kind of way. It is actually so ugly, that in the right light it actually becomes kind of cute and quirky. The after market for this car is just tremendous and people are clamoring to customize these. This is the reason that we can’t claim these as completely ugly, as some people absolutely adore these cars. The real problem here, is they are just too boxy for the millennium. Perhaps 100 years ago these would have been acceptably beautiful… but today, no!

Pontiac Aztec

The looks of this particular automobile is very disorganized. The mismatched lines, angles, disproportionate headlights, and gray plastic body accents just do not add any beauty to this vehicle at all. The flat rear end is a common complaint from consumers who claim the Aztec looks as if its rear half was designed entirely by a different team than the front half. While trying to refrain from anything to negative here, that would seem to be a fair assumption. This is abviously Pontiac’s attempt to steal some of the Honda Element and Toyota Scion atention away… and it does succeed, but just not in the best way!

Honda Element

It actually makes one heck of a chia pet. The Honda Element is just another “element” similar to the Pontiac Aztec and Toyota Scion. Customers have claimed the basic look to be of a “Hummer—fresh out of a trash compactor.” Once again we are dealing with a very boxy vehicle that is trying to be very different from the crowd, but to most tastes, it is just too odd. The one salvaging feature is its washable interior floorboards, which give it a few brownie points. As love/hate relationships go, the Honda Element will continue both be loved and hated by its consumer market… but maybe that’s what gives it part of its appeal. Some people just love to be different from the rest of the crowd!

And there you have it, a hand full of some of the worst looking vehicles that the last two tears have had to offer. This coming year has some hopeful contenders, but we shall wait to comment… at least long enough to give the all important consumer time to formulate their ultimate opinion!