The Best and Worst of the Decade, 2000-2009
initial ballot compiled by TurboAWD
Thank you for participating in the Allpar Best and Worst of the Decade Survey. We had 497 responses, after duplicates were eliminated. Thanks to TurboAWD for compiling the numerous nominations into the five lists on the ballot.
The best of Chrysler
The top pick was hardly surprising: fans love the Dodge Challenger, with a whopping 44% of votes coming in for the LX-bodied, retro-styled, surprisingly faithful rendition of the ill-fated E-body. The new Dodge Challenger looks remarkably similar to the beloved original, until posed side-by-side, making it obvious that the two cars have very different dimensions and proportions. Those who use 1970 E-body sales instead of current auction prices could be shocked by the love, though! A smooth ride, good cornering, and powerful acceleration with the Hemi - or just very well-balanced performance with the V6 - help to seal the deal.
The #2 choice was a little surprising; 31% of the respondents chose the Chrysler 300/300C, making it a clear consensus pick. As Sergio Marchionne said, despite falling sales, it's still a good car. The similar Dodge Charger only garnered 14% of the vote, preventing an LX 1-2-3 victory.
Third place went (if you don't add the minivan generations together) to the 2009 Dodge Ram. We thought it would score higher; it's a big leap forward and is still clearly ahead of its competitors. We were also surprised that the Ram Heavy Duty and Chassis Cabs barely showed up.
Fourth place goes to the minivans. If you add up the minivan scores - 14.4% for the 2001-2007, and 5.5% for the 2008-2009 models - you get 19.9% of the vote (the 2000s bring it up to 22.9%). That's not surprising, since the Chrysler minivans have long been a major strength, and in Canada they still hold, collectively, a 70% market share, while in the US they've slipped to a "mere" 40% during the year of Chrysler's bankruptcy. (You may wonder why 22.9% is behind the 2009 Ram's 20%. The answer is, if we'd added all the Rams together, as we did the minivans, they'd have come between the vans and 300C.)
Fifth place went to the Chrysler PT Cruiser, with 16% of the vote. We were surprised by how much love for the PT has dropped off, though the cheapening 2006 "refresh" seems to mark the point between "car people love and aspire to, and buy with lots of options" and "we only seem to sell base models." If we'd done this in 2006, the PT would probably have come in at first or second place.
From there, we had the aforementioned Charger at 14%, the Viper at 13.6%, and the Wrangler at 9%. The next two entries were surprising - the Magnum at 9%, and the Chrysler 300M at 8%. The 300M was particularly slow to leave the showrooms, with its high price; I recall many people waiting to get an off-lease or used 300M, and it could be that those who get it, still get it.
Anchoring the bottom of the list with 2% or less of the vote were the 2004-2008 Durango and Aspen, the Jeep Patriot (we really thought it would do better), the Avenger sedan, and the Ram Vans, taking the bottom of the list with a mere four votes. Ram Vans have their loyalists, but they might not be Allpar fans; just four people chose them.
It occured to us after reading these comments that we could have gotten much different results if we had restricted voting to those who commented... since they seemed to have thought about their choices fairly well.
The worst Chrysler of the decade
Will anyone be surprised that the Jeep Compass took first place, with 22% of the vote? The Compass is not a bad car overall, people tell us, but it sure isn't a Jeep. Had it been badged as a Dodge, it probably would not have been as disliked.
Taking second place (18.5%) was the Compass' compatriot, the Dodge Caliber, which had the misfortune of being first out the gate. Early models were a major step back from the outgoing Neon in most ways, but Chrysler quickly went to work on addressing key issues of tuning and noise. Still, not until the Fiat deal did the Caliber really get the attention it needed; we still haven't seen the 2010 versions.
The Chrysler Sebring sedan was truly sad, initially garnering tepid praise; then Jeremy Clarkson declared it the worst car ever made, ever (actually he said this about the convertible), which seems like more bluster than usual even for him. Suddenly all the critics were tripping over themselves to condemn the Sebring, most of them never having been inside one. It garnered 16% of the vote.
The Chrysler Crossfire, which I thought would be the top scorer if the Sebring didn't get there first, got 15% of the vote. It wasn't a bad car, really (we actually liked the SRT6 version, and some German reviewers preferred it to the actual Mercedes), but the idea was terrible and the delivery (given that Chrysler wanted to use its cheaper, superior 3.5 liter V6) offensive.
The next up was the Dodge Nitro, with 12% of the vote; the bold exterior styling wasn't matched by the interior or performance.
Best Chrysler Concept that never made it to production, 2000-2009
As you can see in the table, the recent Chrysler 200C is the big winner, though the ME4-12 was leading by a small margin at first. The Dodge Copperhead came in third, which shows that Allpar folk have a longer memory than the last three years; the Copperhead should have made it into production, where it would easily have eclipsed the Solstice/Sky and Miata. But Daimler was in charge by then, which may also be why the Evoq was built but not the Firepower.
The electric cars garnered very little support; the surprise for me, though, was how far down the Tomahawk and Razor were on the list, despite tremendous interest from people outside of the Mopar faithful.
Here is how the vote went for the sample concept cars we posted - numerous others were built, but we didn't provide an exhaustive (and exhausting) list.
initial ballot compiled by TurboAWD
Thank you for participating in the Allpar Best and Worst of the Decade Survey. We had 497 responses, after duplicates were eliminated. Thanks to TurboAWD for compiling the numerous nominations into the five lists on the ballot.
The best of Chrysler
The top pick was hardly surprising: fans love the Dodge Challenger, with a whopping 44% of votes coming in for the LX-bodied, retro-styled, surprisingly faithful rendition of the ill-fated E-body. The new Dodge Challenger looks remarkably similar to the beloved original, until posed side-by-side, making it obvious that the two cars have very different dimensions and proportions. Those who use 1970 E-body sales instead of current auction prices could be shocked by the love, though! A smooth ride, good cornering, and powerful acceleration with the Hemi - or just very well-balanced performance with the V6 - help to seal the deal.
The #2 choice was a little surprising; 31% of the respondents chose the Chrysler 300/300C, making it a clear consensus pick. As Sergio Marchionne said, despite falling sales, it's still a good car. The similar Dodge Charger only garnered 14% of the vote, preventing an LX 1-2-3 victory.
Third place went (if you don't add the minivan generations together) to the 2009 Dodge Ram. We thought it would score higher; it's a big leap forward and is still clearly ahead of its competitors. We were also surprised that the Ram Heavy Duty and Chassis Cabs barely showed up.
Fourth place goes to the minivans. If you add up the minivan scores - 14.4% for the 2001-2007, and 5.5% for the 2008-2009 models - you get 19.9% of the vote (the 2000s bring it up to 22.9%). That's not surprising, since the Chrysler minivans have long been a major strength, and in Canada they still hold, collectively, a 70% market share, while in the US they've slipped to a "mere" 40% during the year of Chrysler's bankruptcy. (You may wonder why 22.9% is behind the 2009 Ram's 20%. The answer is, if we'd added all the Rams together, as we did the minivans, they'd have come between the vans and 300C.)
From there, we had the aforementioned Charger at 14%, the Viper at 13.6%, and the Wrangler at 9%. The next two entries were surprising - the Magnum at 9%, and the Chrysler 300M at 8%. The 300M was particularly slow to leave the showrooms, with its high price; I recall many people waiting to get an off-lease or used 300M, and it could be that those who get it, still get it.
Anchoring the bottom of the list with 2% or less of the vote were the 2004-2008 Durango and Aspen, the Jeep Patriot (we really thought it would do better), the Avenger sedan, and the Ram Vans, taking the bottom of the list with a mere four votes. Ram Vans have their loyalists, but they might not be Allpar fans; just four people chose them.
It occured to us after reading these comments that we could have gotten much different results if we had restricted voting to those who commented... since they seemed to have thought about their choices fairly well.
- The Jeep Wrangler JK and 300 series were game changing in their markets. The Challenger was a revival of the Dodge heritage.
- I purchased a 2004.5 Ram 3500 diesel dually quad-cab with about 5,600 miles on it to tow my Dart Sport race car and 26' enclosed trailer. Overall average weight has been at about 19,000 lbs. It now has 78,245 miles on it and has performed flawlessly. The engine, trans and rear has been serviced regularly, but it still has its original brakes and only needed the original tires replaced less than a year ago. (Almost all highway mileage throughout the eastern 1/2 of the U.S.) Nothing else has broken or worn out. Comfort, power, room and reliabilty is what I was looking for and I couldn't be happier with what I got.
- The Dodge Stratus was one of the nicest and classiest cars that I had seen. To this day I drool at my friend's 2004 Stratus. The Dodge Charger was the vehicle that has turned Dodge completely around. From its introduction to today, it countinues to turn heads and remains reliable. Don't believe me? Ask the Florida Highway Patrol...They're phasing Chargers into their police fleet. In 2009, the new Ram decended from heaven and this new truck has brought me hope for Chrysler's future. The 2010 HD winning TOTY is a great second step. I hope like its grandfather the 1993 Ram, the 2009 Ram can be looked at at the car that rebuilds the brand permanently.
- I have a 2000 Dodge Caravan Sport (SWB) with the 3.8 liter, purchased from original owner in 2003 and it's the best vehicle I've ever owned. It looks sharp (bright red, rear spoiler), will carry a ton of stuff with the rear seats removed (and keeps it dry too, unlike the open bed pickup my teenagers wanted me to buy) and goes like stink when you want it to (SWB + big motor).
- Challenger, Dakota, Ram 2009+.... should be self evident IMO. If I could put in 4 votes I'd add in the 2005+ Dakota.
- Dodge Journey. Finally, a MOPAR crossover that has it all. All the cubbies all the bell and whistles, an actual engine instead of a hamster on an exercise wheel, and the option of all-wheel drive. Plus, it looks pretty good in comparison to many previous attempts. No, it's not my much loved TJ Wrangler, but it's quite the "every-vehicle." A nice convergence of ideas in a good looking package, with the options to make it anything from a college kids first car to a well appointed and not underpowered, sporty daily driver. Although it was a late-comer to the last decade's list, it makes a solid entrance and a strong showing for itself, since you asked me. ... The Magnum. Need a family truckster but don't wanna be the typical soccer mom? It's hard to beat a Magnum. With it, you get a comfy sedan feel with room in the rear for the soccer gear. I like the fact that, unlike the minivans, there is the option of melding the family truckster NEED, with a fun, performance oriented WANT, all in one vehicle. The Magnum R/T does this well IMHO. Fast, fun and functional. Now, if they could have just done something with the grill/headlight design. That's my humble opinion, and I'm sticking to it.
- When they built the minivan...they still asked the customer what they wanted..it always relected that. The new product, vans included do not reflect customer desires....it reflects factory desires.
- PT Cruiser, my wife's 2001 is a great car, nothing done but standard maintenance, and as she says "I walk up to it in a parking and can't help smiling" My 2000 Neon, replaced my 1993 Sundance, bought it used April 2008 and I love it, comfortable, roomy I had to change the rear struts in 2009 (used Monroe easy struts) and the battery died. I buffed the headlight lenses and replaced all of the light bulbs (all had a 1999 date stamp, all made in North America, no Chinese made crap).
- 76,000+ miles, no repairs outside of routine maintenance, 25+ MPG over 176,000 miles....what's not to like???
- The Neon and the Caravan were reliable vehicles for a decent price. The new Ram is an awesome pickup.
- 300C, Innovative styling, appeal and success in the marketplace. PT Crusier, innovative styling, features, practicality, uniqueness, 2009 Ram, Fresh thinking, solid engineering, good styling.
- The Challenger is awesome in every way, wish it were in my range of affordability. The Challenger is a nice looking car, available in a number of engine and other option choices (wish I could afford this one too). The Dakota is just the right size for me, with a range of engine choices.
- The 300C was an agressive change in platform and style, both of which worked wonderfully. The Viper is a specialty vehicle that has earned nothing but positive press from everyone except the Chevy guys. My wife's 2003 Liberty has performed absolutely flawlessly for over 140,000 miles, an excellent vehicle.
- The Charger is Chrysler's ticket back into the Police fleets. The Pacifica broke ground as the first XUV. The PT Cruiser is the only retro-styled vehicle that really works.
- The minivans: They are the minivans. They were always exactly what they needed to be, they were practical - and a true "work horse" Chrysler 300/300C: Same reasons as anyone else, I did not expect it to succeed, it looked odd. It is probably the only Chrysler brand car released in the decade to get much positive press, let alone awards. Dodge Ram 2009: Might become known as the first vehicle of recovery. That excludes the Challenger, but that car is a niche vehicle. Great truck, critics loved it, and after several years of vehicles that had been savaged by the critics it was refreshing.
The worst Chrysler of the decade
Will anyone be surprised that the Jeep Compass took first place, with 22% of the vote? The Compass is not a bad car overall, people tell us, but it sure isn't a Jeep. Had it been badged as a Dodge, it probably would not have been as disliked.
Taking second place (18.5%) was the Compass' compatriot, the Dodge Caliber, which had the misfortune of being first out the gate. Early models were a major step back from the outgoing Neon in most ways, but Chrysler quickly went to work on addressing key issues of tuning and noise. Still, not until the Fiat deal did the Caliber really get the attention it needed; we still haven't seen the 2010 versions.
The Chrysler Sebring sedan was truly sad, initially garnering tepid praise; then Jeremy Clarkson declared it the worst car ever made, ever (actually he said this about the convertible), which seems like more bluster than usual even for him. Suddenly all the critics were tripping over themselves to condemn the Sebring, most of them never having been inside one. It garnered 16% of the vote.
The Chrysler Crossfire, which I thought would be the top scorer if the Sebring didn't get there first, got 15% of the vote. It wasn't a bad car, really (we actually liked the SRT6 version, and some German reviewers preferred it to the actual Mercedes), but the idea was terrible and the delivery (given that Chrysler wanted to use its cheaper, superior 3.5 liter V6) offensive.
The next up was the Dodge Nitro, with 12% of the vote; the bold exterior styling wasn't matched by the interior or performance.
- Compass should have been dropped and the money spent making the Patriot/Caliber better. Nitro should have been dropped and the money spent making the Liberty better.
- Compass seems to have numerous problems and Sebring was canned by magazine testors that are too pro Japan....
- The Nitro was a car that plain didn't need to be built. It was probably more successful in canibalizing the Liberty sales, and Chrysler didn't need to compete with itself. As much as I like the minivans, the 2008 redesign hurt a lot of the good things that made the minivans practical. The styling is fine, but if you can get those vans to perform the tasks that the older models could (like fitting a sheet of plywood in the back) then the redesigned models can be salvaged.
- Sebring in both its iterations. It's become a symbol for how Chrysler has lost its way. The Airflyte styling didn't transfer well to the platform. I can't vote against the Dakota, I own one and love it.
- rossfire. A thinly disguised Mercedes design, and not a very good one. What was wrong with the Prowler? Why not keep and refine IT instead? I don't think the Crossfire really did anything well, did it? It wasn't terribly quick, it's not a very good looking car, (I'm being kind here), and it isn't a stellar handler. It really does nothing great. It has no redeeming values. A true question mark on wheels. Patriot. Is it me, or does this look a lot like a Cherokee Classic, but with much less power and "trail-rated" ability than the old Classic? If the Liberty was to replace the Classic, why was the Patriot made? Again, keep the Cherokee Classic, refine it with modern tech and appointments, give it a nice CRD turbo-diesel engine as an option and sell a ton of 'em!! Why is Chrysler missing this? A solidly selling, popular platform can be, if done correctly, kept, upgraded and still stay popular and sell well. (Think Corvette, Mustang, CJ/WRANGLER!!)
- The Magnum was never a customer driven product same as the crossfire. Look, when you tell everyone it's like a CLK for less it is clear you are a copy cat and a sellout to try and grab a buck. Not original, no sale.
- I've driven a Patriot (new 08) and just felt its ride and performance was awful, for some reason much worse than a Compass and Caliber. Never driven a new Sebring, but voted for it simply because of the damage to Chrysler it has caused.
- 2.7 engine was a disaster
- Caliber was an ugly, ugly car - like a Mopar version of the Pontiac Aztec. I've heard horror stories about the Sprinter, but the overall consensus was that it was junk.
- Drove the Avenger as a rental recently - most frequently made comment "I'm not sure what it is supposed to avenge, but it really needs power from a source other than Singer." I was VERY disappointed in the 2.4L VVT 4-cyl. engine. Rest of the car seemed very cheap as well, and it had a TREMENDOUS blind spot over the driver's left shoulder.
- Caliber is just plain ugly. Tell Chrysler to quit designing with a trowel and get back to the finesse it is noted for. I would have put the latest version of the Sebring in that group, as well, if I could have made a third choice. Hope that was Mercedes' legacy and will be the last of that we'll ever see.
- The new Sebrings are a mess. Narrow, tall, wasted trunk space: it looks like something the military uses. Caliber is cheap looking and handles poorly. Noisy.
- The Sebring looks like two designers came up with two different sedans and a third designer just combined the two cars into. A visually repugnant mismatch of styling concepts that I wouldn't want to be seen in. Caliber: A small hatchback is a good idea, but having having heavy and gas sucking all wheel drive in a small hatchback drove up the price and handle like pig during a test drive. The price went up but the value didn't go up at all.
- My Mom owns a v-6 Sebring. Lots of road noise and lots of plastic. Before she had a 89 Lebaron 2.2 turbo II. Quieter and just a little plastic. We are suppose to go foward with quality. My wife, when I married her, owned a Toyota Camery. I put pads on it twice. I never lub the caliper bolt or the slides like I have to on a mopar. The have stainless steel clips the pads slide in so the does rust and hank up and the bolt and grommet design is better because I have never lubed them and inside the are 100% rust free. So the don't hang. This should be normal for every car built. And yes the car does have problems. They are not great. The press just praises them more and they advertise better. Such as the fuel economy campaign before the recession. Yet all that time GM led that category. But GM didn't tell us then.
- The Crossfire was overhyped, overpromised, overpriced, undersized, underpowered, and underdelivered. The full-sized Durango / Aspen was too much, too late.
- As the volume selling vehicles for Chrylser they did nothing but hurt the companies reputation. Pour materials, workmanship, and overall quality plagues these vehicles. Consider this; these are the lower priced vehicles from Chrylser. Will a first time new car buyer purchase another Chrysler product after owning one of these vehicles?
- I picked the Jeep Compass because it isn't what a Jeep is supposed to be, it has a very low amount of stand equipment for the price, it's ugly, and its weak while it doesn't even get good fuel economy. I picked the Chrysler Sebring/Convertible/Dodge Avenger because of not so much the interior, I actually like the interiors of the three. But they are very un-reliable and very expensive to own, while they don't have much standard for the price.
- The 2007-2009 Chrysler Sebring to me is a joke. It's just an all around sub-optimal car. The styling is nice, but the lackluster powertrain, chintzy interior, and everything else is what hurt's Chrysler's brand perception in my opinion. I really like the Compass but I think Jeep made it too 'cheap'. The idea sophisticated urban Jeep crossover sounded wonderful but the execution to me is cheap looking with a bland interior and a weak engine.
- My answers are more disapointment of what could have been produced than anything else. At the time Chrysler was taken over by DCX the destruction of the company started. The Dodge Caliber is the car no one can love. Heavy, poor fuel economy for the class, UGLY, cheap interior. All this for a vhecile that will hopefully bring new buyers to Chrysler? Then the $4 a gallon gas hit and Chrysler had no 30+ mpg city vehicle. The Pacifica was a beautiful car but poorly placed by DCX. I wanted one bad but I found the intro vans were $40K. Plus, as big and heavy (500 lbs more than a T&C) as they were, they had little interior cargo volume and would not hold a 48" wide sheet of plywood. All of the good performance & versitility traits that the original minivan had were tossed out like they were unimportant. I guess DCX was going to sell them to Mercedes customers instaed of the Chrysler minivan faithful.
Best Chrysler Concept that never made it to production, 2000-2009
As you can see in the table, the recent Chrysler 200C is the big winner, though the ME4-12 was leading by a small margin at first. The Dodge Copperhead came in third, which shows that Allpar folk have a longer memory than the last three years; the Copperhead should have made it into production, where it would easily have eclipsed the Solstice/Sky and Miata. But Daimler was in charge by then, which may also be why the Evoq was built but not the Firepower.
The electric cars garnered very little support; the surprise for me, though, was how far down the Tomahawk and Razor were on the list, despite tremendous interest from people outside of the Mopar faithful.
Here is how the vote went for the sample concept cars we posted - numerous others were built, but we didn't provide an exhaustive (and exhausting) list.
Chrysler Concept Car | Votes | Chrysler Concept Car | Votes | |||
Chrysler 200C | 19.5% | Dodge Circuit EV | 3.5% |