What Car Let You Down The Hardest?

Automakers believe in their products. They wouldn't spend so much time and money developing vehicles and trying to get you to buy them if they didn't. That belief can end up as an echo chamber, however, leading to bizarre ideas and designs making it to showrooms when they should have been strangled in the cradle. It doesn't matter if the car sucks, though. You've come this far, so time to sing its praises. 

Today I want to know what car let you down the hardest. Your answer can be anything. Maybe you are still really bummed about Jaguar's Type 00 concept, or maybe the whole notion of Elio Motors makes you shake your head in disbelief. You could go for a historic flop, like poor Edsel Ford and his mid-sized sedans, or something modern that you were really hoping would be good, but you ended up hating. Yes, there's so much to be bummed out by! 

This question came to me over Easter, when my brother-in-law bemoaned his piece of crap Jeep Renegade. It brought me back to my first year in automotive journalism in 2013, when the buzz was around a rumored "Jeepster" model. In the news room we imagined a sporty little two-door Jeep with Jimny levels of tiny cuteness and utility. Instead we got... the Jeep Renegade. 

It was fine. Just fine. Clearly a Fiat product wearing a Jeep badge, all of our high hopes deflated that fateful Geneva Motor Show. I remember getting into one for the first time and being so disappointed. It was a success overseas, but just didn't really hit with Jeep fans after its first year. It didn't feel like a real Jeep. Then giant SUVs took over the market and the Renegade faded further from view. It died in 2023, though Jeep did introduce the electric (or hybrid) Avenger in Europe as a sort-of replacement.

But that's just a disappointment I got to experience personally. There's so many more, like how boring the reborn Chevrolet Blazer is, or the absolute dogshit engine and handling of the Plymouth Prowler. Whatever car let you down the most, we want to hear about it.