These Are The Cars That People Are Surprised You Hate

As car enthusiasts usually our friends know and understand our tastes and takes, but sometimes you might trash talk a vehicle that people are shocked to hear negative things about, whether that’s because of general popularity or your usual preferences. Earlier this week I asked you lovely Jalops to share what cars people are surprised that you hate, and boy did you deliver with more than 250 comments! That’s the kind of QOTD response we like to see, folks. Some of the replies made sense, but others definitely surprised me, so job well done. Like, someone said they hate Porsche wagons? What the hell is that about?

I did feel justified that a bunch of commenters agreed with my hatred for the horrible Studebaker Avanti, which was my personal example. Some of you were even ruder than I was, and I appreciate that. Keep reading to see what cars your fellow Jalops hate in a way that surprises people.

*Flame suit on”

I have never liked the Porsche 911. I’ve not driven one, but the styling does nothing for me. Everyone who ragged on the Nissan Juke saying it looked like a frog needs to take a long hard look at the 911.

Also, their insistence on keeping it rear engined seems foolish. Now that the Cayman exists, it only looks more foolish. With its superior mid-engine layout, Porsche keeps hamstringing it to keep it from overshadowing the 911.

“Runs away”

Air cooled Porsches. I drove these a lot back when they were new, and never liked them. Back in the 90’s, they had nowhere near the aura they have today. They were still kind of quirky and for the committed few, no doubt they had followers, but old ones were still cheap and unloved. Floor hinged pedals, iffy handling as they could swap ends in a second, upright and awkward driving position. Also, by the 993 generation they just felt dated. If you drove an NSX and a 993 back to back, there is no way you could honestly say the 993 was even in the same league. Modern Porsches are fantastic, but as a result the Porsche hype engine has raised the air cooled artifacts to a pedestal that they simply don’t deserve.

So, as a similar but different opinion, I would like to mention the Porsche 911, specifically the 997 and later models. Why the 997 and later 911s? Because they gave in to customer demand and gave up on evolving the design. The 996 was certainly a controversial 911. Many 911 enthusiasts probably want to burn it or beat it with an axe. And the biggest reason is probably the design. Porsche underestimated the risks and took on too many challenges, knowing that their customers would not want change. But I think this was a necessary challenge for the 911 to stop “copying past 911s”. But in the end, they gave in to the demands of people who wanted them to copy past 911s and they themselves admitted that this challenge was a failure. What happened to the 911s after that? I’m sure that in the Porsche design room, the original 911 is placed in the center of the floor with a propaganda poster saying, “Das ist das perfekte Design, Sie müssen es nur noch kopieren.” The ultimate in stale design that has stopped evolving, the “status quo” of this overrated icon will continue…

Suggested by: Stillnotatony, Bill, BlacktopGTO

Plymouth Prowler. Most non car people think they are cool, so when I a car person say I don’t like them they are surprised. Then I tell them they look but cool their engine and transmission are pretty paltry. 

Suggested by: RC350F

Saab’s. With my automotive preferences, I should absolutely love them, but there was an abandoned old 900 parked in front of my elementary school for like 5 years that drilled into my head that they are all crap, and I can’t get past that formative memory. 

Suggested by: Alphonze Mephesto

Anything with a turbocharger. I am disappointed when I don’t get at least about 200,000 miles out of a car (and I’m not disappointed often), and don’t like the thought of changing the oil every thousand miles (or so), and even my car-savvy friends don’t understand why I would be so fussy about it. It seems inevitable, much to my disdain, that my next car almost certainly will have one of these devices apparently designed to expel the engine from the car, in small pieces.

Suggested by: Namesakeone

I seem to get the most clapback for my stance on “modern muscle” and the supremely hideous C8 Corvettes. I’d literally take the bus before driving either.

Corvette C8……. Sacrilege. White socks, black tenny’s & jorts. Flappy paddles only (yuck). Looks like a parts bin of EVERY supercar made post 2014. You couldn’t pay me to own one, wouldn’t even wanna drive one (I’m not a fan of driving and puking).

Suggested by: Rando, BigChochMcGee

Fox Body Mustangs. I have worked at a Ford dealership for 23 years, and at least a few times a year, someone brings their 80’s era Mustang into the store to show it off. They aren’t well styled, or well built, they aren’t fast, they aren’t comfortable, and they don’t do anything else particularly well. They always remind me of the awful early 80’s Escort that my Dad drove when I was a kid that broke in half in the driveway after a handful of Michigan winters. I certainly appreciate the Mustang’s place in automotive history, but why this generation is so celebrated will never make any sense to me. 

Suggested by: Shoelundo

I have friends who like them, but I find the current Tundra with its ridiculous gaping grille to be the worst looking truck on the road, maybe the Cybertruck is worse, but it’s a tossup. I had thought the last-gen Tundra had taken the giant grille/electric razor look as far as it could go until I saw the GM heavy-duty trucks, but Toyota said “hold my beer” and took back the crown. Looks like a cartoon truck, or a crappy toy. I find the spindle-grilles on Lexus products awful as well, and the vehicle’s worst feature, so of course they increase the size of it every year. Eventually the whole front end will be grille. About the only place I’ve seen worse grilles is on Chinese minivans.

Suggested by: Dan60

Jeep Wrangler. Never understood why anyone would want one as a daily driver as you see so many people do. If you lived offroad like on a farm or something I could understand it. Otherwise it just makes no sense to drive around town in.

Wranglers, everything about em . driving dynamics, performance, looks, culture and it’s only gotten so much worse since they introduced the 4 door, at least before then you could count on at least 30% of them to see mud at some point in their life, now it’s all angry eyes, thin blue line punisher stickers and stanley mugs

Suggested by: Gerrit DeBoer, JaredOfLondon

Taycan Cross Turismo and/or Panamera Sport Turismo (and this is coming from someone who daily drives a Taycan sedan). I get loving sports cars but needing a touch more practicality than a Boxster or a 911, but the sedans are practical enough. Taking some gorgeous cars and turning them into station wagons is a bridge too far for me.

Suggested by: Mike Szekely

The F50 was my breaking point on Ferrari’s “striking but NOT beautiful” design aesthetic. As a kid, I bought dozens of Ferrari books, but the romance is now gone for their modern cars.

Right there with you, my friend. That’s about when Ferrari looks and uniqueness lost it for me, too. Seems like they’ve been just one similar thing after another since then.

The styling downfall of Ferrari started with the F50. Enzo was even worse, La Ferrari looked just like any vapor ware exotic concept, nothing unique and no style worthy of the badge. Pretty much all Ferraris of late are just out of the usual cookie cutter exotic design school.

Ferrari Enzo. The last Ferrari that I liked was the 328GTB. After that I was meh until the Enzo, which I couldn’t stand. It didn’t help that it marked the moment where they stopped selling cars, and fully committed to selling personalities.

Suggested by: Guest007, BuddyS, Christian Longwolf, Steve65