Year of the lemon: Five worst cars to buy in 2025

A Jeep Grand Cherokee is the subject of a massive recall by Chrysler in the US.

Don’t get bitten by a bad car this year of the wood snake. Here’s the five (unluckiest number because it sounds like “w”, which is an onomatopoeia for crying and whimpering like you will be if you shell out for one of these) worst cars to buy in 2025.

Jeep

Any model is bad enough to ruin your year. Independent tester Consumer Reports rates nearly every model 21/100 for predicted unreliability.

As the trade mags say: “Stellantis prioritised cost-cutting and efficiency. The brand went from enjoying record sales on several of its models to being synonymous with faulty and expensive vehicles.” This week in the US, Chrysler recalled more than 60,000 Jeep Cherokees because the vehicles could lose power.

Kia

Any of the nearly electric, somewhat electric or fully electric Kias will give you a shock. So far, the EV recall count is in six figures. It’s petrol cars have a few issues as well. Last year Kia Australia issued a recall of more than 100,000 vehicles due to a serious defect that could lead to fire in the car’s anti-lock braking system, even when the car is parked and switched off. Then this year Kia recalled another 10,000 cars.

The 2024 Land Rover Defender 130 has a reliability issue, apparently.

Land Rover Defender

Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson rates them as “overpriced gimmicky unreliable garbage”; reliability is garbage and overall rating is avoid like the plague.

Clive’s Dog & Lemon Guide says: “Every liability survey shows that Land Rovers are complete garbage. But otherwise clever people keep buying them. Why?”

Consumer Reports rates them 21/100.

Porsche Taycan

A brilliant drive with serious reliability issues. Recalls in the US and Australia for brake and battery issues. As the Aussie government says: “A short circuit could cause a thermal overload and result in a vehicle fire over time.” We say don’t charge it in your garage. What Car? says: “In our 2023 What Car? reliability survey, it placed last out of 20 cars in the electric car class.” We said: “To put it nicely it’s a dog. If you’ve spent $200k-$350k buying one, then good luck on resale.”

Mercedes Benz EQE SUV

Consumer Reports says: Distracting controls and mushy brakes bring down it’s road-test score … and Mercedes’ below-average brand reliability hurts its overall score. Predicted reliability 30/100. Last year recalled because a sudden loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.

And on the watch list are anything made by GWM, MG (particularly the MG4 and the MG ZS E4), most cars from the Stellantis stable and Quad Lock.

If you don’t want to buy a dog or lemon, head to the 1975 Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance on Cockatoo Island at the end of the month. There’ll be the usual 40-plus classic cars from around the globe, supercars, superyachts, electric boats and motorbikes for temporary Australians and others. There’ll be a lot of Porkers, a very rare 1959 356 Carrera GT Speedster and one of two 1958 356 T2 Speedsters and an outrageously powerful turbocharged five-litre 12 cylinder 973 Porsche 917/30, which has been brought to Cockatoo Island by its Australian owner specially for the Concours. This was the most expensive Porsche ever sold directly to a customer by the factory at the time and without doubt the best example around.

Of course, there are three Bugattis: a 1930 Type 46 Semi-Profilée Coupé, a 1933 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante, and a 2014 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the last one built. The earliest car is the 1905 Automobiles Eugène Brillié 20/24 HP Coupé Chauffeur, which is probably the last surviving example of its kind. Then there’s an incredibly beautiful, streamlined 1933 Alfa Romeo 6C1750 Gran Sport by Figoni. This Alfa won Best in Show and the Coppa d’Oro at the 2012 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

Now we don’t offer political advice but the conservatives in our most eastern state are reversing Labor’s blanket speed limit reductions. New Zealand Transport Minister Chris Bishop told this column (and anyone else who would listen): “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads.”

But it’s not a petrolhead free for all. “We are prioritising the safety of Kiwi kids by introducing reduced speed limits outside schools during pick-up and drop-off times. By 1 July 2026, local streets outside a school will be required to have a 30km/h variable speed limit.”

And, not surprisingly, multiple $200k Cybertruck owners say they have been victims of “anti-Elon Musk motivated hate crimes”. Some owners suggest giving each other Musk’s “My Heart Goes Out to You” salute in order to show solidarity in public, says Torque News. Maybe that’s why, as our own Jared Lynch reports: “Tesla sold almost 39,000 Cybertrucks in the US last year, according to estimates from Cox Automotive, but overall reported its first year-on-year sales decline, delivering 37,845 fewer units”. Or it could be, as the other JC said: “If you are clinically insane, by which I mean you wake up in the morning and you think you are an onion, this is your car.”

And if you’re looking at investing in a classic, look at the 2025 Bull Market List: Hagerty’s annual list of cars most likely to go up in value. No.1 is the 1961 to 1964 Jaguar E-Type S1 3.8. Hagerty’s say: “The highs: Just look at it; a genuine delight to drive; still causing hearts to throb wherever it goes; the lows: Cramped for taller folk; coupes get warm inside; lots of old British machinery stuffed into a small space – what could possibly go wrong?” We say unless you get good advice never buy any car for an investment. I did lots of times and I’m stuck writing this column.

And F1 tell us the next 20 most exciting up-and-coming talents on the road to F1 in 2025 include six women, and four Australians: Christian Mansell, 19, from NSW Hunter Valley; James Wharton, 18, from Bundoora in Victoria; Louis Sharp, 17, from Christchurch in our most eastern state; and 14-year-old (yes you read right) Kenzo Craigie.

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