These New Cars Already Look Old

We're at a bit of a turning point in car design, where models like the Rivian R1T, Porsche Taycan and Lucid Air are starting to look like the cars of the future that sci-fi has been promising for decades. But alongside these sleek, modern models are a raft of cars whose designs are stuck in the past. The kind of cars that might be brand new but look like they already need a refresh.

To find some of the worst offenders, we turned to you and asked what new cars are already looking old? Here are some of the top responses we received.

"To me the Ford Mavericks always kinda looked like it was from 2006

"Oversized looking headlight areas, the plain blobby rounded sides – (there is more design on the tailgate than anything between the A pillar and bed), recession era tail light treatment.

"The prior 'explorer sport' actually looks more modern... ok no, but the 'normies' might mistake the Maverick for an Explorer sport."

Despite only hitting the streets earlier in 2022, the Ford Maverick looks a million miles from the sleek pickup styling we've seen from the likes of Rivian.

Suggested by: futuredoc

"If we're talking about cars that you can buy new but look dated, the Teslas are all there. They used to look futuristic and new, now they look like background cars in a movie that were purposely obscured to mask the brand."

Bland blobs that, in the case of the Model X pictured here, need gimmicky doors to standout from the crowd. Next.

Suggested by: Nate Churchel (Facebook)

"This is a 2004 Kia.

"Oh, never mind. It's the 2023 Honda HR-V for the US market."

The latest generation of Honda's HR-V is fine, it looks kinda cute and is probably as much car as most people need. But, it's not a patch on the HR-V the Japanese automaker offers elsewhere, which manages to make SUVs look sleek.

Suggested by: maha

"Most of the Ford line up is retro styled and looks old to me the bronco sport looks like a 25 year old Nissan most of the Subaru line up hasn't changed in far to long they just stick more plastic crap on the car and call it new."

While the full-size Bronco looks retro and cool, the smaller Bronco Sport has looks that have aged like a curry left out for a few days.

Suggested by: Scott Lewis (Facebook)

"Grand Wagoneer. It's hard to make a black car look bad, but the chromed windows are just Ew.

"2008 Escalade for reference, darn near the same car.

"Oh god the woody version looks even more outdated."

We tried it in white to see if the chromed windows look any better, but no they don't.

Suggested by: darthspartan117

"The Ghibli, if you include cars that are still on sale as 'new'. That back end has been dated since it was released."

The Ghibli might be getting killed off by Maserati in favor of an all-new GranTurismo EV, but we can still talk about its aging styling before that happens.

Suggested by: Drew Young (Facebook)

"The current VW Jetta, it looks fine, the perfect generic car, but that means it looks like it is a few generations old already."

Despite being given a mild refresh for the 2022 model year, the Jetta still looks like a car that has been lingering past its use-by date. It's more than four years since VW gave the car a proper refresh, so maybe a spruce up is due.

Suggested by: citronc

"All Ford trucks. Minor facelift after minor facelift. But especially the Lightning. Not only does it fit the description above, but it's a $100k truck with the styling cues of the previous generation F-150."

They say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But if you're shelling out between $40,000 and six figures on a truck, you'd maybe hope for a little glitz or glam to stand out from the crowd.

Suggested by: @spencer_cooper (Twitter)

"Sigh. The 5th gen 4Runner. The current facelift is from 2014 model year (released in 2013, nine years ago). And, looks aside, don't get me started on the age of the mechanical underpinnings/platform of these things.

"And I say all of this as a huge 4Runner fanboy and current owner of two 4Runners and past owner of 4 more.

"Only way I can tell visually that this picture is a pre-2019 or 2020 is the lack of c-pillar emblem andno radar rectangle on the lower grille under the Toyota badge."

The Toyota 4Runner looks old because it is old! The current fifth generation model was unveiled way back in 2009 and, despite a few facelifts here and there, still looks pretty similar today.

Suggested by: oldmanmckenna

"The Chevy Blazer. When it was brand new it looked like a Nissan that was due for a refresh."

If you think this Chevrolet looks like an outdated Nissan, how old do you think the Blazer looks?

Suggested by: Jacob Stair (Facebook)

"Someone else already mentioned the Charger/Challenger, but I'm gonna say the 2023 Chrysler 300.... even though I've got an order for the 300C.

"The body dates back to 2011 when the 300 got a significant redesign. In 2015, the Charger at least got a significant redesign of the front and rear ends. The Challenger got a revision, although not quite as heavy as the Charger. The 300 got the least amount of revision in 2015. Most 'normies' wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the 2011 and the 2023."

I went to the American Museum of Natural History recently and they actually have a fossilized Chrysler 300C front end perfectly preserved alongside all the dino bones.

Suggested by: magnumsrt8

"The Hummer EV. Doesn't look much different than an H2 with a grill full of lights. And the whole interior just looks like a slapped together after thought. Two screens stuck on a very boring, very unimaginative conglomeration of rectangles. It's like entire vehicle was designed by some CEO's seven-year-old, and then they rushed it out as quickly as possible."

It's too tall, too wide, too long and too heavy. But apparently is the blueprint for the future of American motoring. What a world we live in.

Suggested by: hotsauceisthebest

"The new Renault Clio, because it looks almost the same as the one that came out a decade ago."

The fifth generation Clio was only launched by Renault back in 2019. But, despite some tweaks to the headlights, it still looks remarkably similar to the previous model from 10 years ago.

Suggested by: Jakub Gurba (Facebook)

"Toyota have made vehicles that were clearly of an time. Remember the clear plastic tail lights that they had on the Prius, RX300, and others back in the early 2010s? They SCREAM older car today.

"Toyota introduced their 'death star' styling in 2016 and have covered the roads in a sea of ugly vehicles that have more wrinkles and creases than a 95 year old sun worshipper ever since.

"Now for 2022, they come up with a brand new Sienna that keeps on this six-year-old 'controversial' (aka fugly) design language that is already starting to seem like something of the late 2010s rather than the 2020s.

"And the problem with the Sienna is that it won't be replaced until around 2030. So Toyota is stuck with a vehicle that screams 'of a certain era' for years."

Here's how I imagine the design meeting for the 2022 Toyota Sienna went:

"Stay with me on this one, lads. What if we made the look minivan evil? Would that be a good look?"

Suggested by: yeardley68

"The new ZR2, especially with all the bits on it, looks like a truck concept from the 90s."

A second commenter chimed in to try and defend the ZR2 by saying that it looked like Marty McFly's truck at the end of Back to the Future. The Toyota truck from the movie is famously from way back in 1985, so maybe that's not the defense you first thought.

Suggested by: jordanmielke

"Anything with internal combustion."

Anything with a tailpipe might soon be considered vintage, retro or outdated as the EV rollout continues.

Suggested by: @jameskarst (Twitter)