Car Makers - Worst Manufacturers of MY 1998

The Car Manufacturers with the Least Reliable and Durable Cars of Model Year 1998 by CR's 2004 List of Used Cars to Avoid

This page lists the worst car manufacturers of model year 1998 by two measures, both of which employ Consumer Reports' list of Used Cars to Avoid. Both measures use the 1998 models on the 2004 list of Cars to Avoid, when the 1998 cars were about 5 ½ years old. 

1998's Worst Car Makers by Share of CR's 2004 list of 1998 Cars to Avoid

The 7 (9 by tie) worst car manufacturers of 1998 by share of CR's 2004 list of 1998 Cars to Avoid are listed below, together with their corresponding shares.

  • General Motors Corporation (renamed Motors Liquidation Company in a bankruptcy proceeding), accounting for 48.4% of 1998 Cars to Avoid in 2004
  • Chrysler Group, accounting for 21.9%
  • Ford Motor Company, accounting for 10.9%
  • Volkswagen AG, accounting for 9.4%
  • Volvo (then part of Ford Motor Company), accounting for 3.1%
  • Isuzu Motors Ltd, accounting for 1.6%
  • BMW AG, accounting for 1.6%
  • Daimler-Benz AG, accounting for 1.6%
  • Honda Motor Company, accounting for 1.6%
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.-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 1998 Used Cars to Avoid in 2004 at an approximate age of 5 ½ years.

This is a bar graph of car maker shares of the worst cars of 1998 by CR’s 2004 list of 1998 Used Cars to Avoid. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 10 March 2012.

Note that Ford Motor Company's share of the worst is very small by comparison to General Motors'.

1998's Worst Car Manufacturers by Number of Manufacturer's 1998 Cars to Avoid Divided by All of Its 1998 Cars Rated in 2004

For this quality measure, we divide the car maker's number of 1998 models on CR's 2004 list of Used Cars to Avoid by the number of its 1998 models rated in Consumer Reports' April 2004 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 9 worst 1998 car manufacturers by this quality measure are, in descending order (worst first):

  • Volkswagen AG, with a quotient value of 1.20 based on 5 rated models
  • Isuzu Motors Ltd (then a General Motors' affiliate), with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 1 rated model
  • General Motors Corporation, with a quotient value of 0.79 based on 39 rated models
  • Chrysler Corporation, with a quotient value of 0.70 based on 20 rated models
  • Volvo Personvagnar AB, with a quotient value of 0.50 based on 4 rated models
  • Ford Motor Company, with a quotient value of 0.35 based on 20 rated models
  • BMW AG, with a quotient value of 0.25 based on 4 rated models
  • Daimler-Benz AG, with a quotient value of 0.25 based on 4 rated models
  • Honda Motor Company, with a quotient value of 0.10 based on 10 rated models
All of the car company quotients for model year 1998 are depicted in the following bar graph.

This s a bar graph of 1998’s worst car makers by dividing the number of the manufacturer’s 1998 Cars to Avoid in 2004 by all of its 1998 rated cars in Consumer Reports’ April 2004 Reliability Tables. Chart by James Benjamin Bleeker, 10 March 2012.

From the chart, we see that Ford Motor Company's fraction of the worst is small compared to General Motors', but General Motors' and Chrysler's are very similar.
 
Honda Motor Company made 1998's list of worst companies due to its marketing of the Passport, a rebadged sport-utility vehicle by Isuzu Motors Ltd, then an affiliate of General Motors Corporation.
 
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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