12 Cars That Turned Out to Be Big Buyer Regrets

Some cars are made to thrill, while others are made to… disappoint. From flashy exteriors to slick marketing promises, these vehicles seemed perfect at first glance. But after a few months or a few thousand miles owners realized the truth: expensive repairs, poor reliability, and frustrating quirks can quickly turn a dream ride into a nightmare. Here are 12 cars that left their buyers wishing they’d driven in the opposite direction.

Chrysler PT Cruiser

Ugh, where to even start with this one. I mean, it looked so different, right? That weird retro-van thing it had going on. And honestly, for like five minutes in the early 2000s, it was kinda cool? But then… you actually had to drive it. The build quality was just, um, not great. Like, plastic everywhere, and it drove like a sad, underpowered sponge. I think you could get one for, what, maybe $20,000 new? But the real cost was the regret, you know? It aged so, so badly. It’s like that trendy shirt you buy and then a year later you’re like, “what was I thinking?”

BMW 7 Series (E65) with iDrive

Okay, so this is a weird one because it’s a beautiful car, like a proper luxury sedan. But that iDrive system they introduced in the early 2000s… oh man. It was a nightmare. It was supposed to control everything – the radio, climate, navigation – but it was so complicated. You needed a PhD just to change the station! And the repair bills? Don’t even get me started. We’re talking a car that was like $70,000-plus new, but the maintenance… it’s like a money pit with a fancy badge. A real “heart wants what it wants, but the wallet says no” situation.

 Ford Focus with the DPS6 Automatic Transmission

This one is just… ugh. It should have been a great little car! The manual Focus was fine, totally fine! But the automatic, specifically that “Powershift” transmission from around 2012 to 2016… it was a disaster. It would shudder, jerk, hesitate… it felt like it was learning to drive as you were going. And Ford had so many lawsuits over it. You’d see them for maybe $15,000, but the transmission was basically a ticking time bomb. Such a shame.

Jaguar X-Type

Hmm, this is a tough one. I kinda have a soft spot for it? It was basically a fancy Ford Mondeo, which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but… you were paying Jaguar money, you know? Like, $30,000-plus, for what was, deep down, a pretty average family car with some leather glued on. And the reliability, oh the reliability. Electrical gremlins for days. It tried to be all things to all people and ended up being a bit of a mess. A handsome mess, but a mess.

Chevrolet SSR

What even was this? A pickup truck? A convertible? A retro… thing? It was so confused. It had a retractable hardtop and a V8, which sounds awesome on paper, but it was heavy, handled poorly, and the bed was practically useless. And the price! I think it was around $40,000? For that money, you could get a proper sports car and a proper truck. It’s the automotive equivalent of a spork – tries to do two jobs and does neither well.

 Fiat 500L

Okay, so the little Fiat 500 is cute, right? Adorable. So they thought, let’s make it bigger! And the 500L was born. And it’s… not cute. It’s kinda frumpy. And the driving experience is just so bland. And then there’s the reliability stuff, which, you know, it’s a Fiat, so it’s kind of expected, but still. For like $20,000, you got a car that was less reliable and less fun than its tiny sibling. A real “why does this exist?” car.

Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet

A convertible… crossover? Who asked for this? Honestly, who? It was based on the regular Murano, which is fine, but then they chopped the top off and it just looked… bizarre. And it was heavy, and expensive! Like, over $40,000 for a Nissan that couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a beach buggy or a grocery-getter. It’s such a specific, weird regret. You’d have to really, really love the idea of it to ignore, well, everything else.

Volkswagen Phaeton

This is the king of “what was I thinking?” in a way. Because it was incredibly well-made. Like, silent, luxurious, over-engineered in that classic VW way. But it was a Volkswagen that cost over $80,000. It had a W12 engine! But it just looked like a big Passat. So you’re spending BMW 7-Series money, but you get none of the prestige. And the maintenance… oh boy. Fixing that W12 is a mortgage payment. A brilliant car that totally missed the point.

 Cadillac Catera

Remember the “Caddy that Zigs” commercials? Yeah. It was basically a rebadged Opel from Europe, and it was… fine? But it was supposed to be a sporty Cadillac for a younger crowd, priced around $30,000. The problem was, it wasn’t particularly sporty, and it wasn’t particularly reliable. It just felt cheap for a Cadillac. It zigged when it should have zagged, and people ended up regretting it pretty quickly.

 Pontiac Aztek

I know, I know, it’s the obvious one. But you can’t talk about buyer regrets without it! It was just so… aggressively ugly. The plastic cladding, the weird shape. But, and this is me changing my mind mid-thought, it was actually kinda practical! It had a built-in cooler in the center console, the rear seats folded flat… it was almost a minivan in disguise. But for about $25,000, you had to live with that face. And nobody was ready for it. It’s the car everyone loves to hate.

 Land Rover Range Rover (L322 generation)

Okay, don’t hate me, because they’re gorgeous. They’re absolute status symbols. But if you bought one used, especially out of warranty… you were playing financial Russian roulette. The air suspension, the electronics, the… everything. A new one was like $80,000, but a used one for $15,000 could easily cost you another $15,000 in repairs in the first year. It’s a heart-over-head purchase that can leave you stranded and broke. Beautiful, but brutal.

Smart Fortwo

This one seems like such a good idea in theory! Tiny car, easy to park, great gas mileage. But driving it on the highway was… terrifying. The automated manual transmission was so jerky, it felt like you were being rear-ended at every stoplight. And for around $15,000 new, you got a car that was just not pleasant to live with day-to-day. It solved the parking problem but created about ten new driving problems.