Car Brands - Worst Brands of MY 1985

The Least Reliable and Durable Car Brands of Model Year 1985 by CR's 1991 List of Used Cars to Avoid

This page lists the worst car brands of model year 1985 by two measures, both of which employ Consumer Reports' list of Used Cars to Avoid. Both measures use the 1985 models on the 1991 list of Cars to Avoid, when the 1985 cars were about 5 ½ years old, i.e., in the age range 5-to-6 years old. 

1985's Worst Car Brands by Share of CR's 1991 list of 1985 Cars to Avoid

The 10 (16 by tie) worst car brands of 1985 by share of CR's 1991 list of 1985 Cars to Avoid are listed below, together with their corresponding shares.

  • Chevrolet line, accounting for 19.2% of 1985 Cars to Avoid in 1991
  • Buick line, accounting for 13.4%
  • Dodge line, accounting for 11.5%
  • Ford line, accounting for 11.5%
  • Oldsmobile line (now defunct), accounting for 7.7%
  • Pontiac line (now defunct), accounting for 7.7%
  • Jeep line, accounting for 5.8%
  • Chrysler line, accounting for 5.8%
  • Mercury line (now defunct), accounting for 5.8%
  • Merkur line (now defunct), accounting for 1.9%
  • North American Renault line (now defunct), accounting for 1.9%
  • GMC line, accounting for 1.9%
  • Isuzu line, accounting for 1.9%
  • Subaru line, accounting for 1.9%
  • Cadillac line, accounting for 1.9%
  • Plymouth line (now defunct), accounting for 1.9%
The Ford brand leads the list of the worst in model years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 (a tie with Chevrolet), 1991, 1992, and 1994.
 
The Chevrolet brand leads the list of the worst in model years 1985, 1986, 1990 (a tie with Ford), 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006.
 
Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Geo, GMC, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Saturn are lines of General Motors Corporation. Geo, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Saturn are defunct lines of General Motors Corporation.
 
Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, and Merkur are lines of Ford Motor Company. Mercury and Merkur are defunct lines of Ford Motor Company.
 
Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle, Jeep, and Plymouth are lines of Chrysler Corporation/Chrysler Group/Chrysler LLC from 1987. Before 1987, Jeep, Eagle, and Renault were lines of American Motors Corporation. Eagle, Renault, and Plymouth are defunct.
 
The following bar graph depicts each brand's share of the 1985 Used Cars to Avoid in 1991 at an approximate age of 5 ½ years.

This is a bar graph of the brand shares of the worst cars of 1985 by CR’s 1991 list of 1985 Used Cars to Avoid. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 20 March 2012.

Although Ford's share of the worst of 1985 is sizable, Ford has made advances in quality improvement (relative to General Motors' Chevrolet). See the worst brands of 2006.
 
1985's Worst Car Brands by Number of Brand's 1985 Cars to Avoid Divided by All of Its 1985 Cars Rated in 1991

For this quality measure, we divide the brand's number of 1985 models on CR's 1991 list of Used Cars to Avoid by the number of its 1985 models rated in CR's April 1991 Reliability Tables. This computation is done with the intent to garner a rough estimate as to how likely a brand's models will be among the Cars to Avoid at about 5 ½ years.

The 10 (11 by tie) worst 1985 brands by this quality measure are, in descending order (worst first):

  • Jeep line, with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 3 rated models
  • Merkur line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 1 rated model
  • North American Renault line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 1 rated model
  • Buick line, with a quotient value of 0.58 based on 12 rated models
  • Mercury line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 0.50 based on 6 rated models
  • Chevrolet line, with a quotient value of 0.37 based on 27 rated models
  • Dodge line, with a quotient value of 0.35 based on 17 rated models
  • Oldsmobile line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 0.33 based on 12 rated models
  • Chrysler line, with a quotient value of 0.33 based on 9 rated models
  • GMC line, with a quotient value of 0.33 based on 3 rated models
  • Isuzu line, with a quotient value of 0.33 based on 3 rated models
All of the brand quotients for model year 1985 are depicted in the following bar graph, with worst first.

This s a bar graph of 1985’s worst car makers by dividing the number of the manufacturer’s 1985 Cars to Avoid in 1991 by all of its 1985 rated cars in Consumer Reports’ April 1991 Reliability Tables. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 20 March 2012.

The Nova, a rebadge of the Corolla, is not included in the above computations.
 
Note: A comma between cylinder counts doubles entry count in CR's April 1991 list of 1985 Cars to Avoid.
 
Additional Resources

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

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 

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

For additional car quality information, visit www.AutoOnInfo.net and CarsOnInfo.net.

In particular, for additional durability information, see:

http://www.AutoOnInfo.net/SharesOfHighMileageVehicles.aspx 
http://CarsOnInfo.net/ToyotaAgeEquivalents.aspx 
http://CarsOnInfo.net/ToyotaMileageEquivalents.aspx 
http://CarsOnInfo.net/Top25OfAutoonInfosHighMileageRoster.aspx

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