Worst Cars Ever Part II: Japanese & Korean Cars

I have to be honest: compiling a list of the worst Japanese and Korean cars ever made in the past ten years is not easy to do. First of all, Japanese cars--and increasingly Korean cars--routinely top reliability and owner satisfaction lists the world over--and have done so for the past decade or so.

Second, while it's important to remember that American car manufacturers aren't alone in designing, building, and flogging design lemons on the unsuspecting car buying public, coming up with a list of worst Japanese & Korean cars is, well, close to impossible. Why? Because even the bad ones are pretty darn good.

So with this in mind, we've put together a slightly different list: the "Top 6 Worst of the Best Japanese & Korean Cars Ever Made (in the past 10 years or so)". Awesome title, we know.

Why only six? We're still tracking down the final four...

While this isn't a list of lemons or worst cars ever, it is a list of cars that should be a lot better than they are.

Here they are (in no particular order):

1. Toyota Corolla
Shock and awe: someone who doesn't love the Toyota Corolla, the best selling car on earth. Well, this is a car that should have ended decades ago. It takes very little skill or effort (these days) to produce a reliable, competent, well mannered and efficient automobile--even the Koreans are doing it. But it takes a lot of effort to produce something so bland, so uninspired, so positively boring, and so frustratingly 'perfect' that it's practically invisible. The car itself is not the worst ever, but the concept of mass producing uninspired boredom really is. End the cookie-cutter car madness!

2. Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder
There's something about a poseur--something pretending to be something it's not--that puts me off. If you're going to make a car that looks hot, make it hot. Otherwise, why bother? While the Mitsubishi Spyder looks pretty sweet--and might impress the average driver--what's missing is more noticeable than what's there. It handles like a dog for the size and specs, lacks turbo-charged oomph, feels cheaply made, and suffers considerable torque-steer (what, no LSD?). It looks the part, but lacks the parts that suit the looks.

3. Hyundai Tiberon
Come on, a car named for a shark and designed to look like a shark? Really? With that 'inspiration' behind one of Hyundai's first forays into the international sports compact market, it's no surprise the Tiberon's disappointed in more ways than one. If there is anyone on earth who doesn't find the first generation Tiberon at least a little ugly, I'll buy you one right now. But ugly doesn't make a bad car, so fortunately there's more: the handling was lethargic for the car's size, and the engine noisy and underwhelming for the specs. While some Tiberon's had average reliability, many more suffered from Hyundai's public beta testing of a model that needed more time in the oven.

4. Kia Sephia
Marking Kia's first entry into the lucrative family car market, the early Sephia really brings down the average for Asian cars in general--and belongs on a worst cars list of its own. But we'll include it here for the simple fact that they stopped production in 2004 so it can't come back to haunt us. Poorly made, poorly rated, and plagued with reliability problems en masse the Kia Sephia is what the Toyota Corolla would be if it had been assembled on a Friday afternoon. The day before Christmas. By drunk elves. On acid. Too far? Perhaps. Suffice to say the Sephia is a car Kia would like to forget, which is what we've included it here. Lest we forget true car crap!

5. Subaru Tribeca
It's not easy to understand how one of the highest ranked brands in terms of reliability and owner satisfaction can drop the ball and build what is surely one of the worst looking and unfocused automobile designs this side of France. Yet here it is, the Tribeca. The name harks back to a TV show that also shared many characteristics with the car: it was flashy but lacked substance, over hyped but left you wanting, had all the right ingredients but missed the mark. For 2009 the Subaru Tribeca gets some much needed attention in the design department and looses the snout-like front end, which is overdue. Subaru isn't a company that takes a vehicle failure standing still, so watch for a turnaround in the Tribeca's fortunes.

6. Toyota Celica
For a car that's well into its seventh generation, one would think Toyota has had pretty much every opportunity to iron out the wrinkles of the Celica platform. But with each new Celica generation comes new imperfections--the latest ones being relative gutlessness, uninspired styling, and a high price for what you get. The Celica also suffers from a lack of engine grunt, fake hood scoops that do nothing but add plastic bling, and design that is way too slick for what's underneath--they are stylish but not good looking, sleek but unbalanced, aggressive but mild mannered. In other words, a car that doesn't quite add up. Throw in a few gearbox problems and an engine crying out for turbo charging, and you have a car that should be among the best coming up as one of the worst--over promising, under delivering.

We're still working on digging up four more Worst of the Best Japanese & Korean cars, and when we do you'll see them here. In the meantime, if this doesn't hit hard enough for ya, post your comments and tell us your picks.

Worst of the Best, Best of the Worst, or Worst Ever. Bring 'em on..