Car Brands - Worst Brands of MY 1992

The Least Reliable and Durable Car Brands of Model Year 1992 by CR's 1998 List of Used Cars to Avoid

This page lists the worst car brands of model year 1992 by two measures, both of which employ Consumer Reports' list of Used Cars to Avoid. Both measures use the 1992 models on the 1998 list of Cars to Avoid, when the 1992 cars were about 5 ½ years old, i.e., in the age range 5-to-6 years old. 

1992's Worst Car Brands by Share of CR's 1998 list of 1992 Cars to Avoid

The 10 worst car brands of 1992 by share of CR's 1998 list of 1992 Cars to Avoid are listed below, together with their corresponding shares.

  • Ford line, accounting for 21.7% of 1992 Cars to Avoid in 1998
  • Chevrolet line, accounting for 15.2%
  • Dodge line, accounting for 10.8%
  • Pontiac line (now defunct), accounting for 8.7%
  • GMC line, accounting for 6.5%
  • Plymouth line (now defunct), accounting for 6.5%
  • Volkswagen line, accounting for 4.3%
  • Chrysler line, accounting for 4.3%
  • Mercury line (now defunct), accounting for 4.3%
  • Oldsmobile line (now defunct), accounting for 4.3%
The Ford brand leads the list of the worst in model years 1993 and 1994.
 
The Chevrolet brand leads the list of the worst in model years 1985, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006.
 
The brands that account for the remaining 13% of 1992 cars on CR's 1998 worst list are Jeep, Lincoln, Saab, Subaru, Cadillac, and Geo.
 
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. Eagle and Plymouth are defunct.
 
The following bar graph depicts each brand's share of the 1992 Used Cars to Avoid in 1998 at an approximate age of 5 ½ years.

This is a bar graph of the brand shares of the worst cars of 1992 by CR’s 1998 list of 1992 Used Cars to Avoid. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 20 March 2012.

Note that Ford's share of the worst of 1992 exceeds Chevrolet's, as it often does in the second half of the 1980s and first half of the 1990s. To see the strides Ford made in quality improvement (relative to General Motors' Chevrolet), see the worst brands of 2002.
 
1992's Worst Car Brands by Number of Brand's 1992 Cars to Avoid Divided by All of Its 1992 Cars Rated in 1998

For this quality measure, we divide the brand's number of 1992 models on CR's 1998 list of Used Cars to Avoid by the number of its 1992 models rated in CR's April 1998 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 worst 1992 brands by this quality measure are, in descending order (worst first):

  • Volkswagen line, with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 2 rated models
  • Pontiac line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 0.80 based on 5 rated models
  • Ford line, with a quotient value of 0.67 based on 15 rated models
  • Chrysler line, with a quotient value of 0.67 based on 3 rated models
  • Chevrolet line, with a quotient value of 0.54 based on 13 rated models
  • Jeep line, with a quotient value of 0.50 based on 2 rated models
  • Lincoln line, with a quotient value of 0.50 based on 2 rated models
  • Saab line, with a quotient value of 0.50 based on 2 rated models
  • Subaru line, with a quotient value of 0.50 based on 2 rated models
  • Dodge line, with a quotient value of 0.45 based on 11 rated models
If the list of the worst brands of model year 1992 were restricted to brands with 4 or more rated models, the above list narrows to:
  • Pontiac line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 0.80 based on 5 rated models
  • Ford line, with a quotient value of 0.67 based on 15 rated models
  • Chevrolet line, with a quotient value of 0.54 based on 13 rated models
  • Dodge line, with a quotient value of 0.45 based on 11 rated models
All of the brand quotients for model year 1992 are depicted in the following bar graph, with worst first.

This s a bar graph of 1992’s worst car brands by dividing the number of the brand’s 1992 Cars to Avoid in 1998 by all of its 1992 rated cars in Consumer Reports’ April 1998 Reliability Tables. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 20 March 2012.

The Prizm, a rebadge of the Corolla, is not included in the above computations.
 
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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