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Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In

Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In

The 2000s were a bad time for car interiors, especially from Dodge, Chrysler, Chevrolet and BMW.

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Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Dodge

I can forgive an exterior design snafu, but a bad interior is nigh unforgivable. It’s just so much worse to be forced to spend time in a miserable cabin than having to look at questionable exterior design, such as BMW’s big grilles.

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According to readers, BMWs of a certain vintage — Bangle era bimmers — are guilty of subjecting owners to crappy cabins. But Chrysler and Dodge cars from around the Y2K scare were repeat offenders in this regard. So many Dodge Calibers in the comments! And, yet, Dodge and Chrysler insisted on reusing their bland and tired interiors — likely to save money. But at what cost?

I’ll still never forget the debut of the redesigned Chrysler 300 back in the mid-aughts. Back then, I was willing to overlook the 300's resemblance to icons from the likes of Bentley, but the 300 stood no chance of redemption once I saw its interior: a smattering of grayscale surfaces and a dim green(ish) backlight that just looked lethargic. That clinched it for me: I loathed the 300. And that’s the power of a car’s interior, which can make or break any model. We asked readers to tell us of the worst car interiors they’ve been in, and these were their answers:

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2 / 18

Dodge Caliber

Dodge Caliber

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Photo: Dodge

I call your 1990's GM and raise you early 2000s Dodge Caliber. I had a new, low mileage rental once.

[...]

It wasn’t just that it was all molded plastic but the thinnest, cheapest molded plastic ever molded. When driving the interior sounded like a toddler carrying a sack of loose Legos while wearing squeaky shoes.

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Submitted by: Dean Beyer

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3 / 18

Tesla Model 3, Model Y And Model S

Tesla Model 3, Model Y And Model S

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Photo: Tesla

Tesla, full stop

I know those tesla elon fanbois stan keep saying bout futuristic minimalism but I can’t just like those full screen interior

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Submitted by: hayase

And...

The thing about minimalism is that simply hiding all the complexities behind a screen (that’s only ever off when you’re not using the car) doesn’t count. You’re just taking complexity and moving it to a different, less intuitive, less accessible interface. Doing minimalism well is really, really tough - it means keeping all of the functionality of a complex system and organizing it in a much more simple, clean, intuitive way. Tesla doesn’t do that, at least in my opinion. Most car companies moving towards large screens instead of buttons, don’t.

Submitted by: TheWalrus

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4 / 18

Chevrolet Lumina

Chevrolet Lumina

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Chevrolet

I once owned a Chevrolet Lumina sedan as a poor college kid. Bulletproof engine, but the interior drove me nuts. The instrument panel was cheap plastic tacked on as a whole assembly to more cheap plastic. And at eye level, where YOU WILL ALWAYS NOTICE, was the connection line between the two different types of plastic. It didn’t line up. The edges were different, uneven, and the gap changed (see pic below). I thought I just had a crappily assembled car. Nope. Mine was perfection compared to most other Luminas I examined. Their gap lines varied much more than mine.

How the hell do you release something like that, especially in a part of the car that the driver is guaranteed to notice? And see. And never unsee. It still makes my ass twitch.

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Submitted by: Maha

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5 / 18

Nissan Quest

Nissan Quest

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Nissan

The mid-to-late aughts Nissan Quest interior was garbage. Not only did the center console look like a plasticky R2D2, but the instrument cluster was an eyesore (not to mention hard to read while you were driving), and the whole thing was an ergonomic nightmare. We had these as company fleet cars and I assure you, the unlucky saps that ended up with one couldn’t wait to give them back.

Nissan truly gave GM and DaimlerChrysler brands a run for their money when it came to cheap interiors in the 2000's.

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Submitted by: paradsecar

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6 / 18

Mitsubishi Galant

Mitsubishi Galant

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Mitsubishi

[...]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2005 Mitsubishi Galant. You can actually smell this picture.

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Submitted by: Honesty

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7 / 18

Oshkosh FMTV And AM General HMMWV (Humvee)

Oshkosh FMTV And AM General HMMWV (Humvee)

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Oshkosh

[...]

Turret Leaks also [...]

Anything labeled H1 is the civilian spec. This is an M1098 or something similar

Submitted by: Bob

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Wikicommons
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8 / 18

BMW 7-Series (E65) And Other Bangle Era Models

BMW 7-Series (E65) And Other Bangle Era Models

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Photo: BMW

Gonna go a bit left field on this one, but some of the worst interiors for the year and price were Bangle-Era BMW’s. I actually think the exteriors aged quite well, the interiors not so much. Early iDrive was and still is terrible. Crappy shifter that would either feel like a fisher price toy or break. The worst point is all the rubberized plastic coating on touchpoints like the turn stalk all wear off in this odd sticky substance after a couple of years. They are also way more rattily then they should be. Door cards felt like early ‘90s product in 2004. Not a fan. Of course way better than a Dodge but for the money, not good.

[...]

Submitted by: rakrakrakrak

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9 / 18

Chevrolet Uplander

Chevrolet Uplander

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Photo: Chevrolet

My mom’s old Chevy Uplander. Ugh the wood trim to apparently spice things up was actually the most tackiest part of the whole thing...But I can’t harp on it too much, at 200K miles the thing was super entertaining to drive and oddly enough it was really reliable.

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Submitted by: darthspartan117

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10 / 18

Saturn Ion

Saturn Ion

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Saturn

The first new car I ever bought was a 2007 Saturn Ion. Acres of the cheapest plastic that GM could find (and GM knows where to look for cheap plastic!), steering wheel material that just felt “wrong”, a dashboard that seemed like it reached out to the middle of the hood, and while I get the business case for the central gauge pod, in practice it’s a seriously dumb setup.

As a bonus, I had the sporty “Quad Coupe”, giving it back doors that were absolutely useless, the structural rigidity of a playing card, and wind noise while standing still!

The best thing a Saturn Ion ever did was get thrown at Spider-Man.

[...]

Submitted by: TRath

And...

My mom had a Saturn Ion

[...]

It was both cheap, poorly designed from an ergonomic standpoint, and pretty ugly.

I will also second any motions for early nineties GM.

Submitted by: glemon

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11 / 18

Ford Maverick (1970-1977)

Ford Maverick (1970-1977)

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Photo: Wikicommons

My mother briefly owned a Ford Maverick with an avocado green interior, similar to this:

[...]

Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I

And a counterpoint...

We’re looking for worst not best.....

Submitted by: ThatVanGuy

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12 / 18

Chevrolet Astro Van

Chevrolet Astro Van

1985 Chevrolet Astro Van Commercial

(In lieu of a photo, watch this monument to the ’80s and the Chevy Astro!)

1986 Chevy Astro. The gauges looked like they were made out of the remnants of a duel between plastic and cardboard, and the passenger footwell had barely enough room for one foot, let alone two.

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Submitted by: scramboleer

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13 / 18

Jaguar XK8

Jaguar XK8

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Jaguar

Jag XK8, just an amorphous blob, the interior manifestation of the worst of 90s “melted bar of soap” styling. Also, looks like something only old white guys is sansabelt slacks (think Ted Knight in Caddyshack, white shoes and polyester pants) would think of as fancy and fashionable.

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Submitted by: glemon

And a counterpoint...

This car is pure sex. You’re out of your fucking mind.

Submitted by: Flavortown69 [user name checks out]

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14 / 18

Dodge Journey

Dodge Journey

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Dodge

Dodge Journey.

It is like this but on the inside:

[...]

All-time worst car candidate... but lets just talk about the shifter.

[...]

Notice how the PRND is basically cartoon letters. Worse, the void space for P, R, and D in the letter is just electrical tape blacking out the cartoon moldings.. The quality shows for an item you look/touch every time (and more) you get into the vehicle.

Then you look up from the horrific shifter with mismatched bubble letters and see, “oh good lord, I am in a Dodge Journey. My life is bad.” because the cartoon goes on forever. Hard lines around the steering wheel, blob ovals around the HVAC, circles for the controls, and even Dodge didn’t even know the screensize for the console.

[...]

It is like the Dodge designers decided to take a mid-90 Ford Taurus exterior, apply it to the interior so that those tradingin their 1998 Taurus would feel at home.

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Submitted by: FutureDoc

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15 / 18

Dodge Durango And Contemporary Chrysler Cars

Dodge Durango And Contemporary Chrysler Cars

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Dodge

Any Cerberus-era Chrysler product - this was the saddest era of cost-cutting and bottom-line design, at least in my conscious memory.

Here’s the interior of the one I’m most familiar with - a 2008 Dodge Durango SLT. We used one as a parts shuttle at an old job, so I ended up spending a lot of time behind the wheel.

To call the design “uninspired” would be a compliment. Every expense was spared for every component of this cabin. The plastics are hard, yet flimsy, the seats felt like folded bedsheets laid over cardboard and were about as supportive, the steering wheel was uncomfortably thick, complete with mold flash, that weird pebbled texture, and a strangely slippery feel that always made it unpleasant to hold. The overall design was like that of an industrial product - cold and and straightforward, deliberately artless, styled with an outright contempt for the senses. I guess its job as a work truck was the best way to experience it. I can’t imagine how depressing a road trip in this would have been for those who used it as a family car.

It did ride quite nicely, so there’s that.

Submitted by: Aldairion

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16 / 18

Chevrolet HHR

Chevrolet HHR

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Chevrolet

I always have to mention one of my rental Chevy HHRs because barbs in the plastic surrounding of the door and corner mirror angle actually made one of my fingers bleed. The design is the usual anodyne fare from GM in the Naughties, but the quality and finishing of the materials was truly appalling. And the visibility was also pretty crappy, not to mention the worst handling of any car I’ve ever driven this side of a 1973 Land Rover Defender...

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Submitted by: GTO62

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17 / 18

Porsche 911 And Other Stuttgart Models From The 2000s

Porsche 911 And Other Stuttgart Models From The 2000s

Image for article titled Here Are The Worst Car Interiors You've Ever Been In
Photo: Porsche

Just a quick reminder of how bad Porsche interiors used to be in the early naughts:

[...]

Saturns, Chevys, Dodges are at least somewhat excused because they are cheap. Your 2004 911, however, came in at a healthy $75k+

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Submitted by: FistFullofNeutral

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