What cars do people consider overrated but are scared to admit it? Dozens of consumers answered that question. How they replied may come as a surprise to many people.
Putting trucks aside, and depending on where you look, the most popular cars in the United States are the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V, and the Tesla Model Y. Also making many lists are the Chevy Equinox, the Toyota Camry and Corolla, and the Honda Civic. The ranking of these cars may vary, but almost every list places them at or near the top.
The question is whether consumers secretly consider any of these cars overrated, despite their popularity.
To find out, people on Reddit were asked, “What car is overrated but people are scared to admit it?” After over 1,700 comments, we appear to have some good answers.
The most popular responses
The top-rated answer read: “Toyotas now are cheaply made but overpriced. They’re living off their old reputation. Why is a Toyota Camry with options the same price as a Lexus?”
“I’ve been saying this for years, yet Toyota owners attack me for this,” a popular follow-up response read. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Toyota, but I feel like they are very overpriced, especially the new ones.”
Those responses led to an interesting discussion about what people would consider an equally reliable (or more reliable) alternative at the same price or cheaper. It turns out that many people would choose a Mazda over a Toyota.
“Yep, no reason for Camrys of similar mileage, age, and features to be going for $5-6k more than Mazda6,” one consumer reasoned. “RAV4 vs CX-5 [has] an even bigger gap, and I like the CX-5 more.”
Consumers also secretly think these cars are overrated
The next car to garner significant negativity was the Range Rover. “Far too expensive to be that unreliable,” read a comment that was liked by over 360 people.
Another consumer added, “They don’t hold their value particularly well, so finding a decently or well-priced used one is fairly easy.”
Tesla, perhaps not surprisingly, also made the list. “If you have any issue, it’s a nightmare to get repaired,” read one popular comment.
“Cars for people who don’t like cars,” another person wrote. “They have a deeply nerdy personality at its core (and not in a good way). Car version of an Allbird sneaker.”
The rest of the secretly overrated
Other cars that consumers mentioned more than a few times and/or received negative comment upvotes for being secretly overrated include Subaru, Honda, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus.
Subaru: “They all felt anemic, depressing, and sucked gas so bad that there’s no way people are getting past 30 on the highway unless they’re doing the bare minimum speed posted.”
Honda: “Your base model 90s s— box isn’t fast, I don’t care how many custom builds on YouTube you’ve seen.”
Jeep: “Loud, uncomfortable, unreliable, annoying.”
Mercedes-Benz: “Used to be the yardstick for durability and quality, arguably has neither now.”
Lexus: “I admit they have some of the best build quality in the luxury space, but goddamn we’re letting Lexus/Toyota get away with the worst pricing ever.”
