Car Makers - Worst Manufacturers of MY 2003

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

This page lists the worst car manufacturers 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 Makers by Share of CR's 2009 list of 2003 Cars to Avoid

The 7 worst car manufacturers of 2003 by share of CR's 2009 list of 2003 Cars to Avoid are listed below, together with their corresponding shares.

  • General Motors Corporation (renamed Motors Liquidation Company in a bankruptcy proceeding), accounting for 38.3% of 2003 Cars to Avoid in 2009
  • Chrysler Group, accounting for 16.0%
  • Volkswagen AG, accounting for 13.6%
  • Ford Motor Company, accounting for 9.9%
  • BMW AG, accounting for 4.9%
  • Saab (then part of General Motors Corporation), accounting for 3.7%
  • Kia Motors Corporation, accounting for 3.7%
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 2003 Used Cars to Avoid in 2009 at an approximate age of 5 ½ years.

This is a bar graph of car maker 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 Manufacturers by Number of Manufacturer's 2003 Cars to Avoid Divided by All of Its 2003 Cars Rated in 2009

For this quality measure, we divide the car maker'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 worst 2003 car manufacturers by this quality measure are, in descending order (worst first):

  • Jaguar (then part of Ford Motor Company), with a dividend-divisor ratio of 1/0
  • Land Rover (then part of Ford Motor Company), with a dividend-divisor ratio of 1/0
  • Volkswagen AG, with a quotient value of 1.57 based on 7 rated models
  • Saab (then part of General Motors Corporation), with a quotient value of 1.50 based on 2 rated models
  • General Motors Corporation, with a quotient value of 1.35 based on 23 rated models
  • Kia Motors Corporation, with a quotient value of 1.00 based on 3 rated models
  • Chrysler Group, with a quotient value of 0.93 based on 14 rated models
  • Volvo (then part of Ford Motor Company), with a quotient value of 0.67 based on 3 rated models
  • BMW AG, with a quotient value of 0.57 based on 7 rated models
  • Ford Motor Company, with a quotient value of 0.44 based on 18 rated models
Worthy of note is that Toyota Motor Corporation, with more 2003 rated models than General Motors, had not one 2003 model among the 2009 list of Used Cars to Avoid.
 
All of the car company quotients for model year 2003 are depicted in the following bar graph.

This s a bar graph of 2003’s worst car makers by dividing the number of the manufacturer’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.

Note that although General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company have a similar number of rated cars (23 and 18, respectively), General Motors has a much larger fraction that are among 2003's worst.
 
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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