10 Most Unreliable Cars of 2009

Unexpected repairs are a nightmare for any new car buyer. After investing thousands in a new vehicle the last thing you should be burdened with are repair bills. Fortunately we can tell you which cars to avoid. Consumer Reports recently released their 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey, using this and five-year repair-cost data Forbes.com has complied a list of the 10 most unreliable cars to buy.

1. Volkswagen Touareg
    Consumer Reports Rating: 66
    Five-year Cost of Repairs: $907
2. Mercedes-Benz GL450
    Consumer Reports Rating: 77
    Five-year Cost of Repairs: $1,509
3. Lincoln MKS
    Consumer Reports Rating: 73
    Five-Year Cost of Repairs: $869
4. Jaguar XF
    Consumer Reports Rating: 72
    Five-Year Cost of Repairs: $1,301
5. GMC Canyon
    Consumer Reports Rating: 41
    Five-Year Cost of Repairs: $718
6. Ford F-250
    Consumer Reports Rating: 37
    Five-year Cost of Repairs: $969
7. Dodge Caravan
    Consumer Reports Rating: 60
    Five-year Cost of Repairs: $807
8. Chrysler Town & Country
    Consumer Reports Rating: 64
    Five-year Cost of Repairs: $807
9. Chrysler Sebring Convertible
    Consumer Reports Rating: 45
    Five-year Cost of Repairs: $770
10. Chevrolet Colorado
    Consumer Reports Rating: 41
    Five-year Cost of Repairs: $798

The car with the best Consumer Reports reliability rating was the Honda Insight, followed by numerous Toyota, Honda, and Nissan models.

Chrysler Dealers Face Foreclosure as Financiers Bicker

Despite the sunny outlook for Chrysler, at least 40 Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge dealerships face foreclosure due to a continued conflict between Chrysler Financial and GMAC. According to the Detroit Free Press  GMAC is expected to take over wholesale financing operations from Chrysler Financial. This transition could be the end for many dealerships across the country.

In the past Chrysler Financial accepted the value of the dealerships inventory as collateral for loans. Now GMAC is telling dealers this isn’t enough. Many of these dealerships are looking to draw on their mortgages, however Chrysler Financial (the holder of some of their mortgages) refuses to relinquish its stake in these properties.

The dealerships are unable to turn to commercial banks for assistance either. According to Dick Huvaere, a dealer from Richmond, Michigan, "today, there's not a bank on the planet that will loan a dime to any Chrysler or GM dealer."

A Chrysler spokesperson said they are not concerned that critical dealerships are in danger. They suggest consolidation of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep sales into one dealership. Chrysler dealer’s prior optimism regarding the company turn-around has now been smothered by worries of foreclosure.

Chrysler Makes Some New Global Alliances

Chrysler recently announced a new production agreement with Nissan and most experts are calling the new agreement a smart step for the ailing company. All in all, the pairing of these two manufacturers seems like a promising alliance that could have long-term partnership potential depending on how things go.

Chrysler will be building pickup trucks for Nissan, and Nissan plans to produce a small car to help Chrysler meet the new demand for smaller, more efficient vehicles amongst US buyers. If things go well for both companies, this could definitely put Chrysler in top position to become Nissan's North American partner.

Chrysler has also been in discussion with Fiat recently. And reports are saying that it's possible that Chrysler may build Alfa-Romeo's here in North America. As David Kiley in BusinessWeek points out, now might be a good time for Chrysler to allocate more money towards foreign language training within their engineering ranks.

The Town and Country Is a Premier Minivan Once Again

With a new redesign this year with over 35 new updates, Chrysler's Premier minivan steps up to competition from Honda and Toyota in a segment that they created over 20 years ago. With tons of family-friendly features, improved comfort and handling, plus upscale touches; the Chrysler Town and Country is worth serious consideration this year.

The ride in the new and improved Town & Country is geared towards comfort and has many new additions to improve the overall quietness of the ride. You can also keep the kids quiet with plenty of tech-savvy equipment including optional rear seat DVD players and Sirius TV. The seats also swivel around so passengers can watch something together or play cards at a removable table. There are side roll-down windows to minimize the minivan claustrophobia of days past. The interior is roomy and versatile to fit all sorts of family traveling and cargo needs. There's also a full set of standard safety equipment and various V6 powertrain options to choose from.

So how does the new Town & Country stack up against some import competitors? Pretty well. Both the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey cost a few thousand more, but they do come with a third row standard, which you get with Chrysler's offering on the two higher trims. The Odyssey has more power to offer and the Sienna has AWD and a CD changer standard.

Only A Few Years Left for the PT Cruiser

Since 2001 there has been a stylish retro wagon on our roadways. But the latest announcements indicate that Chrysler will soon be discontinuing the convertible version of the PT Cruiser. And the last year for the entry-level hardtop wagon will be 2009. So, if you have been looking for a wagon that looks unique and is rather competitive in terms of price and features, the BuyingAdvice Team recommends purchasing a PT Cruiser soon.

Although the waiting lists of buyers has long since died down, the PT Cruiser still remains a compact offering with personality, style and best of all, a practical price. Safety scores are in the 4 to 4.5 range and side airbags come standard. However, things like anti-lock brakes and traction and stability control do not. The reliability history since the PT Cruiser’s debut has not been great. It has been recalled about eight times. However, the model is now mature enough that most of the kinks have been worked out. As far as the ride, the PT Cruiser offers plenty of room, power and a nice interior design.

The most direct model to compare is the retro-inspired Chevrolet HHR, which costs over $1,000 more and lacks standard side-airbags. If you are interested in odd-looking wagons of all kinds, the more youth-centric, boxy Scion xB has loads of standard safety features, but costs about $600 more.

The Chrysler 300 - A Sedan With A Bold Personality

The Chrysler 300 is one of the more daring models to come out in recent years. Debuting in 2005, Chrysler designed a roomy, upscale sedan that was one of the first to return to a rear-wheel drive platform, though all-wheel drive is an option on some trims. Even after a few years on the market, the BuyingAdvice Team believes that the Chrysler 300 is still a strong sedan with style and a fair amount of value.

This year the 300 features an updated interior with improved controls and there are a lot of new multi-media options. The exterior has also been updated, but has kept its unique and bold look. The Chrysler 300 has generous passenger space and provides a tight, agile ride with strong steering and handling. The V6 engine options are not as strongly recommended as the more impressive, and of course more expensive, HEMI V8. The base trim does not have many of the modern safety features standard, like ABS, stability and traction control, standard; although all are options.

If you are looking for a bit more power and more standard safety, a good bet might be the Buick Lucerne. But it costs about $2,000 more. For about $3,000 more you can get about 80 more hp and more standard safety from the Toyota Avalon.

2007 GM Trucks Have Hidden Costs

U.S. automakers have hidden costs that their Japanese counterparts don't face. $1,000 of the price of each new Chevy Silverado goes to paying the health benefits of retired factory workers. Japanese brands can use that disparity to spend more money on improving its vehicles to lure more American buyers.  Soaring sales of the Tundra truck helped lead Toyota to record U.S. sales in June.

Competing with the Toyota Tundra is getting more and more difficult for the Silverado and GMC Sierra. That is why cutting the retiree health-care bill tops the U.S. automakers' agendas in this month's contract talks with the United Auto Workers union. The money used by GM to pay for retiree health benefits siphons about $4 billion a year in working capital from the Detroit automaker, said Standard & Poor's equity analyst Efraim Levy in New York.  Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler face the same dilemma on their large pickups.

Survival for the Big Three may depend on their ability to cut costs to compete with the Japanese powerhouses.

Diesels Are Reappearing in the U.S.

In this age of high-priced gasoline, diesel engine cars are looking pretty good.  That is why automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagon and Jeep have all included them in their line-ups.  Not only do the diesel engines get better gas mileage, the diesel gasoline costs less too.

These diesels are not the same ones you remember, loud, foul-smelling and polluting the air, the new diesel engines are designed to not only meet strict federal clean air requirements but also to be as quiet and odor-free as gasoline engines, increase fuel economy by 25 to 40 percent and provide enough torque to please even the fussiest American drivers.

In 2010, GM is planning diesel passenger cars for their Cadillac and Saturn line-ups.  GM will be joining diesel front-runners such as DaimlerChrysler AG, Volkswagen AG, as well as diesel creator, Mercedes-Benz.  Audi is also in the game with the world's first twelve-cylinder diesel engine which gains the title of being the most powerful diesel engine for a production series.  This engine, which sprints from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds, is available on the 2007 Audi Q7 V12 TDi.  If gas mileage is important to you, consider going diesel!

Will Automakers Finally Give Us Better Gas Mileage?

It's not that Americans don't want to be environmentally friendly, we just have limited choices right now. It's hard to go from a Toyota Land Cruiser to a Toyota Prius. Most Americans wouldn't consider that much of an option. Do automakers understand what we really want - a comfortable and roomy vehicle with much better gas mileage?

In late June, the U.S. Senate passed an energy bill that would raise gas mileage standards for cars and light trucks for the first time in 20 years. If the Senate bill becomes law, car manufacturers would have to increase the average mileage of new cars and light trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, an increase of 10 miles per gallon from today's average of 25.

U.S. automakers, however, had fiercely lobbied for a lesser requirement of 30 miles per gallon. Is this good business? A 2006 study by University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) found that financially strapped domestic automakers could turn their losses into profits by improving fuel-economy performance across their model lineups. Ford, GM and Chrysler have gotten themselves in a big hole by not listening to their consumers. The question is: are they willing to do what's necessary to dig themselves out?

Big Three to Focus on Profit, Not Market Share

The Big 3 U.S. automakers are now focusing more on profitability than dominating the U.S. new car market.  As a result, GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler made up only 50.2% of the domestic market share in June.  That was down from 56.1% last June and a high of 81% in April 1984.

Profitability has been exceptionally challenging in recent years.  The big 3 U.S. manufacturers have had a difficult time getting away from the steep discounts, 0% interest rates and cash incentives they started offering after September 11, 2001.  Consumers have come to expect a "deal" when buying American and plan their purchases around times when auto makers offer big sales.  By reducing the amount of cars sold at deep discounts to car rental companies, the piece of the pie owned by Ford ,  GM   and Chrysler   will continue to shrink.  The big three auto manufacturers are realizing market share, without much profit, isn't all it's cracked up to be.