These Cars Are Only Driven By People Who Know Nothing About Cars

As car enthusiasts, we can tell a lot about someone by what car they drive, but we can also tell when they definitely don't give a crap about cars. There are just some cars out there that nobody with even a modicum of car knowledge would even dare to purchase, and that idea is what led me to the question I asked you all last week.

I wanted to know what car you all thought was only driven by people who knew nothing about cars. What car would an enthusiast never find themselves behind the wheel of because they know better? There are plenty of reasons for us to avoid cars: they can be boring to drive, unreliable,  inefficient, or uncompetitive in their class compared to the competition. I'm sure we'd all lead easier lives if we didn't know so much about cars, but this is who we are.

In any case, that's enough about me. How about you all head on down below and check out the cars your fellow Jalops say are only driven by people who know nothing about cars. If your car is on the list, I recommend you do some real soul searching, because our word is gospel. Of course, if you don't own a pre-recession Chrysler product, you're probably good.

Man, my life would be so much more simple and less expensive if I didn't know anything about cars. I sometimes envy the folks merrily commuting along in their cheap, comfortable, fuel efficient little pieces of inconspicuous metal and plastic. A Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, etc.

But those people were at least aware enough to purchase something with a shred of reliability and positive reputation. So I'll go with someone driving a Vinfast VF8. They saw an affordable EV SUV and jumped on it...clearly doing zero research on the quality or support they could expect.

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VinFast VF8. It quickly became known for being awful in every metric and was panned hard by critics. Each time I see one on the road, I always think the owner just wasted their hard earned cash. Everyone has been nominating Tesla in this discussion but even that would be a better buy for your money.

Submitted by: SantaCruzin & Giantsgiants

Dodge Dart, the 2013-2016 version. They weren't good cars, and their competition was much better.

Submitted by: Psycho78

Any Nissan crossover. Are they good cars? No

Are they a good price? No

Reliable? Not really

Is it better than the competition in any way? No

What is the upside to one of these?

Submitted by: Gerrit DeBoer

This question has some nuance that I think most of the responses are missing. We're talking about dreadful cars that have appeal on some level...just enough to get some sales from folks who wouldn't know better. I'm not thinking about cars I personally don't like or driver groups that are ... frustrating.

My first thought was the most recent Chrysler Sebring convertible. It was from the same era as the Nitro, so it kinda makes sense. My MIL bought one (ignoring my advice to look at a Lexus IS convertible) and I got to drive it. She was SO proud of that car... it was her Rolls Royce. Except the seats were as uncomfortable as they get, the interior was cheap, plasticy, and not well put together, the paint was wafer thin and showing excessive swirling at a month old, and the engine and transmission were a woeful pairing leading to an absence of athleticism, reliability and efficiency. The convertible top was slow and didn't fit the car well, and I don't think it was designed well (it would later prove to be prone to failure). All my MIL saw was "4-seat hard top convertible." None of the other issues mattered, or were even considered.

Submitted by: doslh

Coupe SUVs from Mercedes, BMW, Genesis, Volvo, or any other luxury brand.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. "What I really want is the poor handling and fuel efficiency of an SUV with the small cargo capacity of a sedan. Don't forget to toss in poor visibility and ugly styling."

Submitted by: Brewman15

Unfortunately I can't forget the Dodge caliber. I drove my friends caliber a few times and it was a total joke in every way. The cvt transmission would regularly overheat while just cruising on the freeway and the car would go into limp mode.

Submitted by: Ethan Smith

Ford Ecosport, Super small with no storage capacity, ugly, underpowered, with 25mpg. I can't fathom anyone test driving it and buying it anyways! Ignoring that it was also a unreliable POS for the same money you could get a full size low trim Camry with 32mpg! So its not good at performance, not that cheap, super small with not great fuel economy, ugly, and unreliable!! Why would anyone buy one?

Submitted by: Ryan Stage

I swear VW... I mean Lamborghini made it just to fleece influencers who know nothing about cars.

Submitted by: RC350F

Kia Soul. Especially people who bought them long ago for the dancing hamsters.

Submitted by: Michael 

You were so close...
The correct answer is the Dodge Journey.
It's the minivan for people who hate minivans. It's an unreliable, badly built, absolute joke of a vehicle that only sold so well and for so long because of rental fleets and subprime lending. Anybody that bought one didn't know a damned thing about cars, they just knew it was car shaped and that their local Dodge dealership could get them financed for one.

Submitted by: MustangIIMatt

Seriously though, the Tesla Model Y is the top of this list. Add the fact that the primary attraction to Teslas is not even having to know how to drive.

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Yeah, it's the model Y.
Cheap cars like the rogue or journey or stuff like that are driven by all sorts of people , mostly for financial reasons.
The model Y is not. It's driven by people who heard it's cool and trendy and practical who never cross shopped or did a second of research in their lives.

Submitted by: potbellyjoe & JaredOfLondon