Safety ratings are as important as style and performance when it comes to a new car. As such, if a car has some glaring safety issues, it’s destined to become notorious among drivers for the ways that driving it can go wrong. Here are the ten most unsafe cars every made.
Toyota Pickup Trucks
In the early 80s, Toyota had to recall almost a million pickup trucks it manufactured from 1981 to 1983. These vehicles were affected by an issue with their steering relay rod, which could crack and cause the car to completely lose steering power. Yeah, that’s about as unsafe as it gets!
Tesla Cybertruck
As of the time of this writing, Tesla’s hideously ugly new Cybertruck vehicle has been recalled no fewer than four times since it was introduced in late 2023. It’s already been at the center of controversy due to its problematic rollout, with many social media users ridiculing the car, its owners, Tesla, and Elon Musk for the debacle.
Toyota Tundra
Toyota has had some trouble making a safe pickup truck. The 2000 and 2001 Toyota Tundra models were impacted by a recall that was spurred by a corrosion issue with the spare tire. This corrosion could cause the spare to fly off the vehicle—a potentially deadly complication for other drivers if it happens at highway speeds.
Toyota Prius
We promise we’re not picking on Toyota here, they’ve just had a lot of really notable recalls. In 2014, they recalled nearly 2 million Priuses made between 2004 and 2010 due to a problem with the hybrid powertrain. A software issue could cause the vehicle to lose power while driving, stalling out and potentially causing huge problems in crowded traffic scenarios.
Chevy Cobalt
GM recalled vehicles including the Chevy Cobalt in the early 2010s due to a faulty ignition switch in the engine. This faulty switch could disable engine power, which would also turn off the airbags, even while going highway speeds. The issue was directly linked to 124 deaths.
Volkswagen Tiguan
Volkswagen’s many recalls are well-documented by this point, but one particularly pernicious issue popped up with the 2007 to 2010 Tiguans. VW recalled around 2.6 million of them to address a fuel system leak that could cause engine fires. Combine that with the emissions fiasco in 2015 and it seems bizarre that anyone would buy a car from the company.
Ford Explorer Tires
The poor design of the 1991-2001 Ford Explorer led to it being not-so-affectionately known as the Ford Exploder. Over 13 million Firestone tires on the aforementioned vehicles were recalled in the early 2000s due to design flaws that led to a disproportionate number of rollovers.
Subaru Ascent
Subaru recalled around three hundred 2019 Ascents due to an issue that they were missing key welds on their B pillar. In English, this means some of the car’s critical infrastructure was welded improperly and would literally blast apart in a car wreck. All but nine of them were destroyed because of the issue.
Read More: These Are the 10 Worst Cars Ever Made
BMW 7 Series
BMW recalled over 45,000 7 Series vehicles manufactured between 2016 and 2017 due to an issue with their door hinges. The doors could look closed but actually be unlatched, leading to the doors flying open while the car was driving on the road. It’s easy to see how that would be extremely dangerous!
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Ford Pinto
The most legendary design flaw in automotive history is likely the Ford Pinto’s glaring problem. Its gas tank was in the back of the car, which meant that a rear-end collision could cause it to explode. It was recalled for the issue, which led to decades of people clowning on the ill-fated disaster car.
Read More: The 10 Ugliest Cars Ever Made
