Things seem to have gone badly awry in 2025. The 2025 automotive landscape isn’t just a minefield; it’s a full-blown “Complexity Crisis.” Manufacturers are so desperate to hit emissions targets and look “tech-forward” that they’ve stopped building reliable cars and started building rolling beta tests.
The biggest “own goal” right now is the Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV). According to the latest data from Consumer Reports and NHTSA filings, these are officially the most trouble-prone vehicles on the road, suffering from 80% more issues than traditional petrol cars. You’re essentially buying two different powertrains—a high-pressure turbo engine and a complex electric system—and then asking them to play nice together. In 2025, they aren’t playing nice.
Take the Ford F-150 PowerBoost. It sits at the absolute bottom of the reliability barrel with a score of 7/100. While Ford is moving over 600,000 F-Series trucks, the PowerBoost owners are the ones dealing with rear axle bolts that literally snap off while driving (NHTSA Recall 25V191000). It’s a truck that can’t even hold its own wheels on properly while its 10-speed transmission “clunks” through gears like a box of loose hammers.
Then you have the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, the undisputed “Recall King.” It’s reached a level of absurdity where the manufacturer has officially warned owners not to park near buildings or charge the battery because of fire risks. If you can’t park your family minivan in the garage, what exactly did you buy? It’s a $50,000 paperweight with a sliding door.
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ABOVE: Cars to avoid
| Vehicle Model | Reliability Score | Sales (2025 YTD) | The Real Problem (Metric) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford F-150 PowerBoost | 7 / 100 | ~554,704 (F-Series Total) | NHTSA reports of rear axle bolts snapping. High-voltage battery drain occurs if left for 48+ hours. |
| Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid | 14 / 100 | ~35,000 (USA/Canada) | Official NHTSA fire risk warning. Owners told to park 15m from buildings and avoid charging. |
| Chevrolet Colorado | 15 / 100 | ~80,000 (North America) | Fragile electrical architecture. A jump-start surge can fry the Body Control Module (BCM). |
| Rivian R1T | 28 / 100 | ~18,000 (Global) | "Vampire drain" loses 15km range overnight. 5km/h dings cost $30k+ due to unibody design. |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 30 / 100 | ~220,000 (Global) | Software crashes "brick" the cabin. Door handles can fly open at speeds up to 15km/h. |
| Jeep Wrangler 4xe | 27 / 100 | ~128,000 (Global) | "Death Wobble" steering vibration. 2.0L turbo is overstressed hauling a 250kg battery. |
| Volvo XC60 | 21 / 100 | ~110,000 (Global) | Android-based infotainment loses LTE/GPS data, disabling 360° cameras and SOS safety. |
| Jeep Grand Cherokee | 26 / 100 | ~150,000 (Global) | Total engine shut-off at 110km/h. "Shift to Park" glitch prevents the vehicle from turning off. |
| Lucid Air | 31 / 100 | ~12,000 (Global) | Recalls for motive power loss. Software handshake errors can cause sudden deceleration. |
| Nissan Frontier | 23 / 100 | ~47,000 (USA/Canada) | 9-speed transmission shudders at highway speeds. Warped rotors before 12,000km. |
Over in the EV space, the Volkswagen ID.4 is a software disaster. VW made the “idiotic design” choice to put almost every cabin control—AC, mirrors, volume—inside a laggy touch screen. When that screen “bricks” itself (and it will), you lose the car. Even worse, over 99,000 units have been recalled because the doors can literally fly open while you’re driving at 15 km/h.
If you think luxury saves you, look at Rivian and Lucid. The Rivian R1T is a masterpiece of engineering, but it’s a nightmare to live with. Owners are losing 15–20 km of range overnight just to “vampire drain” while the truck sits in the garage doing nothing. And because of the single-piece body stampings, a minor 5 km/h bumper tap can cost you $30,000 to repair. Meanwhile, the Lucid Air has been recalled because its wiring harnesses were designed too short, causing them to snap and lead to a total loss of power while you’re doing 110 km/h on the freeway.
The 2025 market is full of these high-tech traps. Whether it’s the Jeep Wrangler 4xe’s “Death Wobble” or the Chevy Colorado’s fragile electrical system that fries its own brain if you try to jump-start it, the message is clear: the industry is rushing, and the buyers are the ones paying the price.
#CarReliability, #CarRecalls2025, #PHEV, #AvoidTheseCars, #AutoIndustry, #GayCarBoys, #FordF150, #JeepWrangler, #VWid4, #NHTSA, #ConsumerReports, #CarBuyingTips
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