(Un?)Popular Automobile Opinions.

[kenarmy]

So yeah continuing my little opinion series lol..

- Dodge is my favorite brand.. I was DEEPLY hurt when the Grand Caravan was discontinued and it could've stuck around.
- Kia> Hyundai
- The Mustang Mach-E is a bad naming scheme.
- Honda Accord> Toyota Camry
- The new Nissan SUVs are HIDEOUS! They all resemble the discontinued Juke..
- I think Nissans in general are just terrible now. Besides maybe the Frontier.
- Something about Acura is gross.
- BUICK should've been discontinued a while ago. It's lineup is a disgrace now.
- ^Pontiac def. should've been kept instead.
- Suburban> Tahoe


- Nissan has flushed Infiniti down the drain.. The Q50 is outdated, the Q60 is just.., the QX80 has been on the current generation for 11 years and its more redundant bc of the newer Armadas, the QX50 is tired, the QX55 is just.. idk, and the QX60 is nice although the new generation isn't as appealing as the previous one.

And I have a lot more but.

[Bruce]

Unpopular among this crowd I suppose:

Trucks are way too damn big. I, a fully grown adult man, should be fully visible when crossing the street in front of a truck, not hidden behind the hood.

[Max Rockatansky]

Unpopular:  There aren't enough bargain basement compacts and subcompacts anymore on the American automotive market.

[7/8]

Unpopular among this crowd I suppose:

Trucks are way too damn big. I, a fully grown adult man, should be fully visible when crossing the street in front of a truck, not hidden behind the hood.

Yes! So many people say you have a better view from up high, but it just makes your blindspots bigger (not to mention higher hoods are more dangerous for others in a collision).

[Max Rockatansky]

Unpopular:  CUVs are amalgamations of station wagons, SUVs and mini-vans but don't offer the full utility of any of the three.

[CtrlAltDel]

Headlights, at least some of them, are too bright. There needs to be a maximum standard of some kind.

[LM117]

Ford forgot how to build a transmission. Their 10-speed automatic (10R80) is shit. They make Dodge's infamous 46RE transmission from the 90's look bulletproof.

[formulanone]

Ford forgot how to build a transmission. Their 10-speed automatic (10R80) is shit. They make Dodge's infamous 46RE transmission from the 90's look bulletproof.

There's actually only a handful of transmission manufacturers, and all of the 10-speeds have been problematic.

It's also annoying to manually-select the desired gear; getting any sort of serious engine braking from 9th/10th gear involves clicking down 4-5 times.

[Ned Weasel]

Front bench seats are great because they make it easy to exit the car from either side without having to climb over the console.  And it's not like they don't have a console; it just folds up and down so it's only there when you need it and isn't always in the way.  Carmakers should bring them back.

[epzik8]

Chevys are not good cars

[hotdogPi]

Unpopular opinion: Brands and sub-brands don't matter. They're all just cars. Yes, you should look for one with high MPG and lifespan, but brand means nothing. Corollary: those who spend more than $60,000 (purchase price, not counting interest) on a car that isn't fully electric are wasting their money.

Also: Pickup trucks are not trucks. If you don't have to follow truck restrictions, you're not a truck.

[Max Rockatansky]

Unpopular opinion: Brands and sub-brands don't matter. They're all just cars. Yes, you should look for one with high MPG and lifespan, but brand means nothing. Corollary: those who spend more than $60,000 (purchase price, not counting interest) on a car that isn't fully electric are wasting their money.

Also: Pickup trucks are not trucks. If you don't have to follow truck restrictions, you're not a truck.

60k on any car is a waste of money.  Most people domestically purchase far more to fulfill their wants than their needs.  This is reflected by the average purchase price of a new car in the U.S. being about 48k.  Even in EV territory a new car can be had for well under 48k. 

[thspfc]

Headlights, at least some of them, are too bright. There needs to be a maximum standard of some kind.

new Toyota Highlanders . . . yikes.

[Takumi]

Suspension geometry is more important than drive wheels when it comes to handling and cornering.

[formulanone]

Seems like a lot of people hate on touchscreens in cars. I disagree, I much prefer a touchscreen to an assortment of knobs and buttons.

It varies: some touchscreens are intuitive and responsive, others require some trials and patience. CarPlay integration helps streamline some of the mystery.

I do like climate control buttons and knobs over touchscreens for most situations.

[MATraveler128]

The Jeep Wrangler looks cool, but why would you bother to lift it and put 40 inch tires and just use it to take the kids to soccer practice or the mall?

[Max Rockatansky]

Seems like a lot of people hate on touchscreens in cars. I disagree, I much prefer a touchscreen to an assortment of knobs and buttons.

It varies: some touchscreens are intuitive and responsive, others require some trials and patience. CarPlay integration helps streamline some of the mystery.

I do like climate control buttons and knobs over touchscreens for most situations.

I don't hate touch screen, I hate when they aren't ergonomically friendly and poorly positioned.  A lot of touchscreens are more form than actual function. 

[JayhawkCO]

The Jeep Wrangler looks cool, but why would you bother to lift it and put 40 inch tires and just use it to take the kids to soccer practice or the mall?

No different than bubbas doing the same to their trucks. I have a Wrangler Rubicon, but I assure you it gets itself dirty on rough roads (just not as often as I would like).

[jeffandnicole]

Buying a used car for certain reasons.

There's a lot of good reasons to buy a used car. One I never liked is because "new cars lose 10% of their value the moment you drive it off the lot".  It's not that it lost its value. Its because a car dealer isn't going to take it back and give you 100% of what you paid for it. They will have to check it out and clean it, no matter how long you had it or drove it. That costs money.
I'm pretty sure a used car salesperson came up with this excuse.

But, and this is my point...if you bought a used car, and returned it, you also wouldn't get 100% of what you paid back either. They would still take 10% or so of the value off your return, because they will need to check it out and clean it too!

(And yeah, I know there's some places that say you can return a car in X days or X miles...there's little gimmicks that they use that may or may not really work in your favor.)

[CoreySamson]

Unpopular opinion: Brands and sub-brands don't matter. They're all just cars.

I think they do matter, but not for the reason you think. Reliability differs wildly from brand to brand (Toyotas are generally reliable, Chryslers are generally not). Some brands work as hard as they can to provide consumers with as many safety features as their money will buy, others don't. Some brands are going all in on electric cars, but others aren't. I guess it all comes down to doing some research before you buy so you have an idea what you're getting.

Now for my own opinions:

- Brand cachet is absolutely meaningless.
- Pickup trucks are way too popular for what they are. An SUV with a trailer can probably handle 95% of what a pickup can do. Also, I will never buy a pickup because they are too expensive (and I'm saying this as a guy who lives in truck utopia).
- Even so, I think compact trucks are cool.
- Automakers should bring back really stripped down base models and subcompacts.

[Max Rockatansky]

Unpopular opinion:  Brand reliability is nominally different across the automotive landscape, how an owner keeps up with preventative maintenance means far more.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Headlights, at least some of them, are too bright. There needs to be a maximum standard of some kind.

THANK you.

I drive delivery at night and some of the light setups just boggle the mind. How many headlights do you need? 'Fog' lights? This is northern Colorado, practically the desert.

[skluth]

Unpopular:  There aren't enough bargain basement compacts and subcompacts anymore on the American automotive market.

Also true of inexpensive pickup trucks. My first new vehicle was a 1990 Nissan pickup which had a standard cab and short bed. Short beds are still available but it seems they all come with extended cabs. You might be able to order one, but you can't find one on any dealer's lot.

[Henry]

- BUICK should've been discontinued a while ago. It's lineup is a disgrace now.
- ^Pontiac def. should've been kept instead.

I can do one better with one that will really rile them up:

Get rid of Cadillac, and bring back Oldsmobile.

The former is because it's not anything like it used to be. Sure, change will happen from time to time, but the former Standard of the World has changed too much to keep up with its German and Japanese rivals. As for the latter, I was such a huge fan of that brand because it once was an innovator in many ways (first automatic transmission in the late 1930s, first muscle car with the Rocket 88, first turbocharged model with the Jetfire, and ushering in a new wave of front-wheel drive with the Toronado), and I also have fond memories of riding in my dad's 442 convertible, then driving my Calais after I got my first license. I definitely felt a big loss when GM discontinued it in 2004.

The Corvette is the best American-made sports car.

Well, now it's the only American-made sports car out there. Dodge had a worthy competitor in the Viper, but it's not made anymore. As for Ford, there really is no Corvette competitor that I can think of (and the GT doesn't count). The closest thing to that is a Mustang, but it's a pony car like the Camaro, so there you go.

[Bruce]

Seems like a lot of people hate on touchscreens in cars. I disagree, I much prefer a touchscreen to an assortment of knobs and buttons.

Much like the old T9 phones of days long past, physical knobs and buttons are easier to manipulate without looking and are thus safer. Touchscreens are good for media and maps, but for climate control and driving-related functions it should be banned. Been in multiple cars (a Tesla, a Jeep, and a Honda) where the touchscreen crashed and thus made me unable to change the AC or even see my speed in the Tesla's case.