Vehicles that rate/score high...

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...by the famous automotive press however, after you've driven(at length) or have owned, you would have slammed the doors as har as you could just prior to kicking that vehicle over a cliff. And what I mean^^^by driven at length is, not after a 10-15 minute test drive but lived with a vehicle such as a week with a rental or you drive your friends/family members vehicle from time to time. This can be any vehicle, any year/generation even from your distant past. I personally have several vehicles and one that might surprise you.

I've owned vehicles that I didn't care for after owning the for even a short time but, I didn't want to set them on fire like the ones I listed.

Chevy Chevette
Chevy Avaio
Honda Fit
Lexus IS250
 
Had to live with a 2018 Altima for a week. I preferred my 2012 Caliber to it. The Altima seemed nicer at first, but after a week it felt just significantly less sturdy than the Caliber. Yeah, the Caliber was a sea of hard grayscale plastic, but I could throw things into it and not damage anything. The Altima felt very fragile in comparison. Couldn’t wait to give the Altima back and get my 300 back. Even the Dodge Journey rental I had was better.
 
I do realize that 2 of my mentioned cars were not of the higher scoring nor rated/recommended car as my title states but still meet the criteria. The Altima mentioned isn't either( high scoring/rated) but still makes the cut.
 
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2004 Nissan Maxima SL

Great powertrain, **** rest of the vehicle. I liken it to the 1990s Dodge Rams with the Cummins diesel.
 
I rented a 4-door Geo Metro automatic for a 280 mile round trip years ago. That car deserved to be pushed off a cliff.
 
...by the famous automotive press however, after you've driven(at length) or have owned, you would have slammed the doors as har as you could just prior to kicking that vehicle over a cliff. And what I mean^^^by driven at length is, not after a 10-15 minute test drive but lived with a vehicle such as a week with a rental or you drive your friends/family members vehicle from time to time. This can be any vehicle, any year/generation even from your distant past. I personally have several vehicles and one that might surprise you.

I've owned vehicles that I didn't care for after owning the for even a short time but, I didn't want to set them on fire like the ones I listed.

Chevy Chevette
Chevy Avaio
Honda Fit
Lexus IS250
What did you dislike about the IS250? They seem like a good little car?
I can't say I've driven too many cars that I would push off a cliff based on how they drove when working well, I guess I'm not that picky! I have had a few that were annoying due to mechanical issues that needed to be resolved.
I think the most disappointing car we've had was our 2006 CRV. I didn't help it with putting slightly larger AT tires on it which made the mileage worse, the road noise worse, and it couldn't hold 5th gear much at all on the highway... Then we had a mechanic near my wifes work that was jerking us around on repairs, just seemed we couldn't win with it.
 
I not only dislike the IS 250, I hated it...for $40,000+ in 2008.
We had it on loan for 4-5 days while our 2001 RX300 was in the Lexus dealership waiting for a resonator. This IS was the 1st or 2nd year of the 2nd gen IS. It was terribly cramped, uncomfortable, terrible outward vision, stereo looked and sounded like it belonged in a Corolla(gray & dismal), the door armrest & center armrest were at completely different heights(way off from one another). I think Lexus still has this generation today athough severely refreshened several times over the past 12 yrs.

And when driving with the CC on, I always felt like I was driving tilted because of the armrests positions. When driving straight down the Hiwy for 200 miles, I like to set the CC in a vehicle, hold the steering wheel below 9 & 3(i.e. 7 & 5)and rest my arms/elbows on the armrests. They weren't even close in their height. It was just a very uncomfortable, claustrophobic Lexus with lots of blind spots. It was an automatic tranny car but the pedal placement sucked like they were an after thought.

It handled decent and took bumps quite well for having such low profile tires( good pump absorption). It had a quiet/isolated interior...which I did expect for a Lexus. But lathargic and poor mpg for as gutless as it was. Nowhere as good as the 3 Series. Not my type of Lexus...I don't care what the auto press says or how much owners say they liked it. This car needed to be kicked off the cliff.

And there's more! I just can't remember all the things I hated about the IS from over a decade ago. And this is my opinion from ~2008. Ask CR mag in 2015-16 how badly they rated & hated it. I beat'em to the punch.
 
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I drove a 2020 IS loaner for a day. It seemed chintzy in comparison to our GS. It was at best OK, certainly nothing to get excited about.
Espcially at its price point.
I couldn't wait to get our GS back.
 
Having driven hundreds of rental cars at this point in my life, you are exactly right about the door and center console arm rest height.
And when driving with the CC on, I always felt like I was driving tilted because of the armrests positions. When driving straight down the Hiwy for 200 miles, I like to set the CC in a vehicle, hold the steering wheel below 9 & 3(i.e. 7 & 5)and rest my arms/elbows on the armrests. They weren't even close in their height.
 
Anything built after the mid 90's. I've had dozens of vehicles. I never had any problems with anything worth mentioning until the last 20 years or so. Since them my vehicles have progressively gotten worse and worse.
 
The automobile press has to praise automakers; they exist based on advertising.
They offer a ton of valuable information, but beware opinion atricles.

Otherwise a Pacer and Gremlin would be in high demand, right?
Extra credit for a Vega...
 
I drove my boss's Jeep Cherokee back in 2008-2009 pretty regularly. That thing was a blindspot on wheels to me, I was accustomed to a lot more visibility than it offered and loathed having to use it.
 
My MS3 received acclimation on this side of the pond- not so much in Europe. I was unhappy with some issues during the warranty, but once it hit 60k miles I was very happy with it- and I kept it to 158k miles. The E90 3er we passed on to our son was uniformly praised; my only complaint was the comfort level of the non-sport front seats. My 2 Series was loved by most every magazine on both sides of the pond- save R&T. I've had no complaints aside from the lack of a standard mechanical LSD. Conversely, our E83 X3 and E84 X1 garnered few positive reviews yet we kept the X3 to nearly 200k miles and we like the X1 quite a bit.
The two cars I'm currently considering to replace the 2er are also well liked- the M2 Competition and Supra. I do look to a few magazines for guidance and suggestions, but the final call is mine- or my wife's, if it's going to be her car.
 
kinda the opposite, but the automotive mainstream media slammed vw’s 2.5, 5 cylinder, n.a. engine. when i got my passat in 2014 i had a choice of two cpo s models, a 2.5 and a 1.8tsi. i happily chose the 2.5 after several long test drives. 75k miles later the 2.5 has proven to be a fine, robust, thrifty package. i essentially havent read any automotive msm since then.
 
It was just a very uncomfortable, claustrophobic Lexus with lots of blind spots. It was an automatic tranny car but the pedal placement sucked like they were an after thought.
I went to look at an ISF but being 6’5 it was almost undriveable.... there’s probably more room in a miata
 
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We had a 2014 Jeep Cherokee as a rental for about a week and a half or two weeks while our vehicle was being fixed after being hit and we absolutely hated that thing. Not only was it ugly. The 2.4 engine was severely underpowered we actually kept stopping and raising the hood because we thought something was wrong. Then we read more on them and found they were all like that except the 3.5. So we didn’t like that and no I’m not bashing them I’m just saying that vehicle needed some improvement but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt is it was a first year model of that body style and the first Cherokee since 2001 so it may have not been the best design it could of been. We also got stuck with a 2018 Chevy Suburban as a rental for a trip we didn’t like it because of the push button start which took some getting used too and having Massachusetts plates lol. Also was a little uncomfortable in the very back 3rd row.
 
kinda the opposite, but the automotive mainstream media slammed vw’s 2.5, 5 cylinder, n.a. engine. when i got my passat in 2014 i had a choice of two cpo s models, a 2.5 and a 1.8tsi. i happily chose the 2.5 after several long test drives. 75k miles later the 2.5 has proven to be a fine, robust, thrifty package. i essentially havent read any automotive msm since then.
The 2.5 is a good solid NA engine. VW has pretty much perfected the 4 cylinder turbo engine however so the 2.5 days were numbered.
 
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