Car Brands - Worst Brands of MY 2003

The Least Reliable and Durable Car Brands of Model Year 2003 by CR's 2009 List of Used Cars to Avoid

This page lists the worst car brands of model year 2003 by two measures, both of which employ Consumer Reports' list of Used Cars to Avoid. Both measures use the 2003 models on the 2009 list of Cars to Avoid, when the 2003 cars were about 5 ½ years old. 

2003's Worst Car Brands by Share of CR's 2009 list of 2003 Cars to Avoid

The 10 worst car brands (12 byt tie) of 2003 by share of CR's 2009 list of 2003 Cars to Avoid are listed below, together with their corresponding shares.

  • Chevrolet line, accounting for 13.6% of 2003 Cars to Avoid in 2009
  • GMC line, accounting for 9.9%
  • Chrysler line, accounting for 8.6%
  • Volkswagen line, accounting for 8.6%
  • Dodge line, accounting for 6.2%
  • Ford line, accounting for 6.2%
  • Saturn line (now defunct), accounting for 4.9%
  • Audi line, accounting for 4.9%
  • Cadillac line, accounting for 3.7%
  • Kia line, accounting for 3.7%
  • Pontiac line (now defunct), accounting for 3.7%
  • Saab line, accounting for 3.7%
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 Ford brand leads the list of the worst in model years 1993 and 1994.
 
Noteworthy is that although the Toyota line has nearly 50% more 2003 models rated in Consumer Reports' 2009 reliability tables than does the Chevrolet line (reflecting U.S. consumers' growing disinclination to buy GM vehicles and General Motors' resulting market share reduction), the Chevrolet line accounts for 13.6% of 2003 Cars to Avoid in 2009 and the Toyota line accounts for none.
 
The brands that account for the remaining 22% of 2003 cars on CR's 2009 list are BMW, Mini, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, Volvo, Buick, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercury (now defunct), and Oldsmobile (now defunct).
 
The following bar graph depicts each brand's share of the 2003 Used Cars to Avoid in 2009 at an approximate age of 5 ½ years.

This is a bar graph of the brand shares of the worst cars of 2003 by CR’s 2009 list of 2003 Used Cars to Avoid. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 01 March 2012.

2003's Worst Car Brands by Number of Brand's 2003 Cars to Avoid Divided by All of Its 2003 Cars Rated in 2009

For this quality measure, we divide the brand's number of 2003 models on CR's 2009 list of Used Cars to Avoid by the number of its 2003 models rated in CR's 2009 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 2003 brands by this quality measure are, in descending order (worst first):

  • Jaguar line, with a dividend-divisor ratio of 1/0 based on 0 rated models
  • Land Rover line, with a dividend-divisor ratio of 1/0 based on 0 rated models
  • Oldsmobile line (now defunct), with a dividend-divisor ratio of 1/0 based on 0 rated models
  • Saturn line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 4.00 based on 1 rated model
  • Pontiac line (now defunct), with a quotient value of 3.00 based on 1 rated model
  • Chrysler line, with a quotient value of 2.33 based on 3 rated models
  • Volkswagen line, with a quotient value of 2.33 based on 3 rated models
  • Audi line, with a quotient value of 2.00 based on 2 rated models
  • GMC line, with a quotient value of 1.60 based on 5 rated models
  • Cadillac line, with a quotient value of 1.50 based on 2 rated models
  • Saab line, with a quotient value of 1.50 based on 2 rated models
The brand quotients for model year 2003 are depicted in the following bar graph, with worst first.

This s a bar graph of 2003’s worst car brands by dividing the number of the brand’s 2003 Cars to Avoid in 2009 by all of its 2003 rated cars in Consumer Reports’ 2009 Reliability Tables. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 01 March 2012.

The Vibe, a rebadge of the Matrix, 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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