Car Makers - Worst Manufacturers of MY 1988

The Car Manufacturers with the Least Reliable and Durable Cars of Model Year 1988 by CR's 1994 List of Used Cars to Avoid

This page lists the worst car manufacturers of model year 1988 by two measures, both of which employ Consumer Reports' list of Used Cars to Avoid. Both measures use the 1988 models on the 1994 list of Cars to Avoid, when the 1988 cars were about 5 ½ years old, that is, in the age range 5-to-6 years old. 

1988's Worst Car Makers by Share of CR's 1994 list of 1988 Cars to Avoid

The 10 worst car manufacturers of 1988 by share of CR's 1994 list of 1988 Cars to Avoid are listed below, together with their corresponding shares.

  • General Motors Corporation (renamed Motors Liquidation Company in a bankruptcy proceeding), accounting for 35.0% of 1988 Cars to Avoid in 1994
  • Ford Motor Company, accounting for 30.0%
  • Chrysler Corporation, accounting for 17.5%
  • Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru), accounting for 5.0%
  • Volkswagen AG, accounting for 2.5%
  • Mazda Motor Corporation, accounting for 2.5%
  • Honda Motor Company, accounting for 2.5%
  • Nissan Motor Company, accounting for 2.5%
  • Hyundai Motor Company, accounting for 2.5%
  • Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, accounting for 2.5%
General Motors Corporation is first among the worst in model years 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 (tied for first), 1992, 1993, 1995 (tied for worst), 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.
 
Chrysler Corporation/Chrysler Group/Chrysler LLC/Chrysler Group LLC is first among the worst in 1991 (tied for first), 1994, and 1995 (tied for worst).
 
Ford Motor Company is first among the worst in 1991 (tied for first).
 
General Motors Corporation, with debts far exceeding assets and declining sales, filed a bankruptcy petition in 2009 and changed its name to Motors Liquidation Company. A newly incorporated and U.S.-government-financed company took the name General Motors Corporation and acquired many of the assets, including the old manufacturing plants, as well as many of the employees, of Motors Liquidation Company, now mainly a shell.
 
The following bar graph depicts each car company's share of the 1988 Used Cars to Avoid in 1994 at an approximate age of 5 ½ years.
 
This is a bar graph of car maker shares of the worst cars of 1988 by CR’s 1994 list of 1988 Used Cars to Avoid. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 20 March 2012.
 
Note that in 1988, as in most of the late 1980s, General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company run neck-and-neck in an apparent quest to be the worst.

1988's Worst Car Manufacturers by Number of Manufacturer's 1988 Cars to Avoid Divided by All of Its 1988 Cars Rated in 1994

For this quality measure, we divide the car maker's number of 1988 models on CR's 1994 list of Used Cars to Avoid by the number of its 1988 models rated in Consumer Reports' April 1994 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 1988 car manufacturers by this quality measure are, in descending order (worst first):

  • Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (Subaru), with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 4 rated models
  • Hyundai Motor Company, with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 1 rated model
  • Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 1 rated model
  • Ford Motor Company, with a quotient value of 0.80 based on 30 rated models
  • General Motors Corporation, with a quotient value of 0.51 based on 55 rated models
  • Volkswagen AG, with a quotient value of 0.50 based on 4 rated models
  • Chrysler Corporation, with a quotient value of 0.44 based on 32 rated models
  • Mazda Motor Corporation, with a quotient value of 0.33 based on 6 rated models
  • Honda Motor Company, with a quotient value of 0.29 based on 7 rated models
  • Nissan Motor Company, with a quotient value of 0.22 based on 9 rated models
All of the car company quotients that are greater than 0 for model year 1988 are depicted in the following bar graph.

This s a bar graph of 1988’s worst car makers by dividing the number of the manufacturer’s 1988 Cars to Avoid in 1994 by all of its 1988 rated cars in Consumer Reports’ April 1994 Reliability Tables. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 20 March 2012.

Worthy of note is that Hyundai Motor Company went from one of the worst (second worst by this measure of reliability-durability) in 1988 to one of 2006's 3 best manufacturers.
 
The Nova, a rebadged Corolla, is not included in the above computations.
 
Note: A dash between engine sizes or a conjunction between drivelines doubles entry count in 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

www.CarQualityInfo.net: The car-quality website for the brighter-than-average North American consumer.
 
To help support independent car quality information, shop Amazon.com by clicking a link from this site.
Comments