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The 20 Least Reliable and Durable Cars of Model Year 1985 This page lists the 20 worst cars of model year 1985 by reliability-and-durability grade point average (R-D GPA). 1985's Bottom 10 Cars: The Ten Worst The 10 worst cars of 1985 are listed below in ascending order of Reliability-Durability GPA (worst first), together with the corresponding R-D Grade.
Manufacturers of the 10 Worst General Motors Corporation's share of the least reliable-durable cars in 1985 increased from 2 in 1984 to 5 in 1985, while Chrysler Corporation's share of the worst decreased from 4 in 1984 to 3 in 1985. American Motors' share of 3 in 1985 decreased from 4 in 1984. Ford Motor Company accounted for none of the 10 worst in 1985, as it did in 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, and 1980. None of the then Michigan 4 manufacturers (American Motors Corporation was absorbed by Chrysler Corporation in 1987) accounted for 1985's best cars, 1984's best cars, 1983's best cars or 1982's best cars. The following chart depicts each manufacturer's percent share of the Bottom 10 of 1985.  1985's Next 10 Worst Cars The remaining 10 of the 20 worst cars are listed below in ascending order of Reliability-Durability GPA (worst first), together with the corresponding R-D Grade.
The short-lived Merkur XR4Ti was the brainchild of Bob Lutz, then a vice president of Ford Motor Company. Manufacturers of the 20 Worst General Motors Corporation accounted for 45% of the 20 worst cars of model year 1985 - up from 35% in 1984 and down from its 75% in 1983 and 1981, 80% in 1982 and 50% in 1980. Chrysler Corporation accounted for 30% of the 20 least reliable-durable cars of 1985 - same as in 1984 and up from its 10% in 1983, 1982 and 1981 and 25% in 1980; Ford Motor Company - 10%, same as in 1984 and 1982 and up from 0% in 1983, 1981 and 1980. American Motors accounted for 15% in 1984.
The Detroit 3 manufacturers (General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford) accounted for 17 of 1985's 20 worst cars and the Michigan 4 (General Motors, Chrysler, American Motors, and Ford) accounted for all of the 20 worst. The following chart gives each car maker's percent share of the Bottom 20 of 1985. 1985's Next 10 Worst Cars
Manufacturers of the 30 Worst Each manufacturer's percent share, rounded to the nearest percent, of the 30 worst vehicles by R-D GPA is:
Chart of the 30 Worst Cars of 1985 The following bar graph depicts how much below average the Bottom 30 cars of 1985 are. The 30 worst are listed in ascending order (worst first).  Noteworthy is that although only 29 of the 30 best have a Reliability-Durability GPA above a straight B (that is, above 3.00), all of the 30 worst have a Reliability-Durability GPA well below that of a straight D (that is, below 1.00). This means that the bottom end is considerably more densely populated than the top end. Consequently, blindly choosing a car is likely a worse idea than blindly choosing many other products, say laundry detergent.
1985's Next 18 Worst Cars
There are 48 car models with a Reliability-Durability GPA below 1.00. The remaining 18 are:
Manufacturers of the 48 Worst Each manufacturer's percent share, rounded to the nearest percent, of the 30 worst vehicles by R-D GPA is:
Computations To compute the reliability-durability grade point average of the MY 1985 cars, Consumer Reports' reliability ratings for the age ranges 4-to-5 years and 5-to-6 years are used. CR's ratings are converted to numerical values following the standard academic pattern: a grade point of 4.0 (an A) is accorded a rating of Much Better Than Average, a 3.0 (a B) is accorded a rating of Better Than Average, a 2.0 (a C) is accorded a rating of Average, a 1.0 (a D) is accorded a rating of Below Average, and a 0 (an F) is accorded a rating of Much Below Average. Then, for each age range, the grade point of CR's overall reliability rating is weighted 2/3 and the average of the grade points of the category ratings is weighted 1/3. Finally, the average for the two age ranges is taken. The Chevrolet Sportvan Inline 6, Mercury Capri 4-cylinder, and Cadillac Cimarron 4-cylinder offered only one age range of data. Best and Worst Vehicles of Each Model Year The Best Cars of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Worst Cars of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 Additional Resources The Best Car Brands of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Worst Car Brands of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Best Car Manufacturers of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Worst Car Manufacturers of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 Best Car Brands by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Worst Car Brands by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Best Car Makers by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Worst Car Makers by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 For additional car quality information, visit www.AutoOnInfo.net and CarsOnInfo.net.In particular, for additional durability information, see:
www.CarQualityInfo.net: The car-quality website for the brighter-than-average North American consumer.
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