Cars

"As our new vehicles come in, as we continue to launch vehicles, as we continue to do exceedingly better, I think the perception that we've noticed is already turning," Woychowski says. "I look forward to the next year or two when we continue this momentum to where it simply becomes a [good] reputation."

Woychowski expressed the same frustration with the ratings that Chrysler's Betts did. He noted a 45% reduction in GM-brand warranty repairs since 2007 and said cars like the Aveo won't be on lists like this much longer anyway.

"We get paid to get smarter every day," Woychowski says. "When we build that last Aveo, it will be the finest one we've ever made ... because the person who goes to buy this vehicle this afternoon, we want them to have the best vehicle we've ever produced." By all accounts, Detroit's Big Three automakers have begun producing better-made, longer lasting, more efficient vehicles. It's a distinct change from the 1990s and early 2000s, when they fell behind their European and Asian counterparts in each category.

"This change is not even a gradual thing," says Christine Overstreet, an automotive consultant and director of Heels and Wheels. "It's like they've said, 'OK, we really want to step it up, we really want to compete, we're ready.' After past years of being so bad, they've really stepped up their game."

To determine our list of the worst-made cars on the road, we started with the lowest-rated vehicles from six reliability and performance studies conducted this year by Consumer Reports.

Any car, truck or SUV named among the worst in at least two of those studies made the final cut to be on the "Worst" list.

We should note that the Mercedes S550 is the only vehicle that qualified for our list because of a high cost of ownership, low fuel efficiency and a low rating for overall value, not because of any problems with reliability, safety or performance, which affected every other vehicle in the top 10. Indeed, luxury vehicles like that sedan and the Cadillac Escalade are arguably at a disadvantage on lists like this--their luxurious interior upgrades, high-quality trim and powerful engines work against them.

"The worst value, the highest cost of ownership--you've got to remember there is a numerator and a denominator in these things," says Terry Woychowski, the vice president for quality and global launches for General Motors. "To use an analogy of a watch: If you looked at dollars to buy a watch vs. accuracy of time, you'd probably buy a Casio. [Compare that] to the price and value in a Rolex--you'd