You are a savvy car buyer. You know that buying a barely used car from a dealer or used car lot can save you thousands of dollars over a new car. However, it is important that you ask why this car is being resold to begin with. While there are car buyers who upgrade to a new car every year, thus placing gently used cars on the market, there may be another reason a car under a year old is being sold at significant savings. One likely reason is that the car had multiple mechanical defects when it was new and was returned as a lemon. Consumer Reports offers a list of the worst lemon cars of 2016 to help used car buyers avoid a bad deal.
Worst Cars of 2016
Consumer Reports ranked 2016 model year cars in different categories. Below is a list of the lowest scorer in each category and CR’s description of the chronic problems they have:
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Mitsubishi Mirage (subcompact). A weak, vibrating three-cylinder engine that delivers sluggish acceleration and “raspy” noises.
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Fiat 500L (compact). “Worst reliability of any new car” in a survey of more than 740,000 vehicles. Stiff ride, flat seats and a road test score that should have been much better.
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Chrysler 200 (mid-sized sedan). Poor road test marks, clumsy handling, rough ride. The transmission has proved to be a reliability albatross.
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Mercedes-Benz CLA250 (compact luxury). Poor reliability, noisy, engine, transmission lack refinement.
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Lincoln MKS (mid-sized luxury). This large, Ford Taurus-based sedan is outdated and outclassed.
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Dodge Journey (family SUV). A gas guzzler (worst fuel economy in its class), below-average reliability.
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Land Rover Discovery Sport (luxury compact SUV). Suffers in comparisons against even mass-market small SUVs. Expect reliability to be well below average.
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Cadillac Escalade (large luxury SUV). Stiff-riding, nimble as a tractor. Reliability of the redesign ranks worst in class.
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Chrysler Town & Country (mini van). Worst mileage of all minivans. Uncomfortable second-row seats.
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Mitsubishi i-MiEV (green). Noisy, cramped, and anxiety-inducing range (only 56 miles between charges).
Except in cases when a used car is still under warranty, you cannot make a Lemon Law claim for recurring problems in a used car, so when considering one of these vehicles—buyer beware!
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