13 Worst 4x4s That Are Practically Useless Off-Road

Like them or hate them, SUVs and 4x4s look like they are here to stay, as nearly every automotive manufacturer produces them. Even Ferrari and Lamborghini are now producing SUVs. Just don’t call Ferrari an SUV; it’s an FUV.

With so many in production, it’s no surprise that a few rotten eggs slip through the net. Not only are these useless off-road, but they are no better for driving on tarmac, either.

These 13 SUVs are better left alone if you value your style and off-road adventure.

Matra-Simca Rancho

What might look like a baby Land Rover or early Range Rover is nothing more than a pickup truck with a new body. Launching in 1977, the Matra-Simca Rancho was a Simca/Talbot 1100 pickup with a new body section bolted onto the bed location.

Matra then strengthened the chassis and produced a polyester and glass fiber body, and the unusual looks did give the Rancho a certain charm. However, it is deceiving, as, despite its off-road appearance and some of the publicity shots, the Rancho is only a two-wheel drive. Plus, under the hood, it only has a small, 1.4-liter 80-hp engine with which you feel the lack of oomph on any normal road.

Pontiac Aztek

The Pontiac Aztek is one of those cars that needs no introduction. Under the skin, it is a relatively competent crossover with good cabin space and is pretty reliable. But Pontiac’s “Xtreme“ futuristic styling made the Aztek so controversial, and ultimately, that was the SUV’s downfall.

The public didn’t take too kindly to the strange proportions, unusual front end, and awkward-looking tailgate. The Aztek became one of the most publicly criticized cars ever, and Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist Dan Neil named it one of the 50 worst cars ever. Even its starring appearance on Breaking Bad couldn’t save the Aztek from mediocrity.

Chevrolet Avalanche

Part of the problem with the Chevrolet Avalanche is determining whether it is an SUV or a pickup truck. Chevrolet attempted to merge the two, with the Avalanche sporting a pickup bed and a spacious cabin with SUV styling across most of the body.

However, the pickup bed was too small to be used. Plus, it took away practical storage for a lot of luggage, making it useless if you took the family on holiday. No one would want to pack their valuables into a pickup bed like that. It didn’t help that the Avalanche had a leaking midgate, dashboard crack, poor driver visibility, and decidedly average off-road performance.

Ferrari Purosangue

There is a lot to like about Ferrari’s new SUV. In pure performance terms, the Purosangue is exceptional, with a massive 6.5-liter naturally-aspirated V12 under the hood producing 715 hp. The Purosangue is also fast, and BBC Top Gear gave the SUV a rating of 4.5 stars out of five.

But the Purosangue is outrageously expensive, costing $393,350 MSP in the United States, almost double the Bentley Bentayga’s cost. Plus, the Purosangue is confusing as while we all see it as an SUV, Ferrari doesn’t and instead calls it a “four-seater, four-door sports car“ or an FUV that happens to have four-wheel drive. But would you want to take such a ferocious, expensive, and luxurious, not-SUV off-roading? Probably not.

Jeep Renegade

Including any Jeep on this list might seem controversial and odd. The American manufacturer is famed for its off-roading prowess, but the Renegade SUV is not without its problems despite this. You only have to look at the forms and Reddit to see what some users have said.

A look at Jeep Problems reveals that there have been at least 557 complaints about the Renegade over seven model years. For example, the 2.4-liter Tigershark engine is prone to burning excessive amounts of oil, which is not suitable for the engine and is inefficient. The nine-speed Z.F. transmission can suffer from hard shifting and lurching issues, while a wiring harness defect can even send the car straight into neutral.

Gmc Hummer EV SUV

Just because an SUV has electric power doesn’t mean it can escape this list. The biggest issue with the new GMC Hummer EV is that it shows everything wrong with the automotive world and how there is so much excess in it and in the electric vehicle segment. For a car that offers little extra room over a standard SUV, the Hummer EV weighs a massive 9,000 lbs. No manufacturer should be producing a car so heavy.

The Hummer EV costs over $100,000. It’s too big for regular city and town driving, and the extra space over other SUVs is so minimal that it isn’t worth the price tag. The Hummer EV is a metaphor for how far in the wrong direction the industry has gone, with our vehicles needing to be smaller, not the size of tanks or small boats.

Mercedes-Maybach Gls

The Mercedes-Maybach GLS is another product of opulence and luxury and another example of how it defeats the whole point of an SUV. At an MSRP of over $160,000, the Maybach GLS is only affordable to a specific clientele, and it is a large, brash, and ugly-looking SUV that offers at least a lot of luxury inside.

Yet it’s not an SUV to go off-roading in. Any scratch to the paintwork would likely cost a lot to repair, and while it has all-wheel drive, how many customers will use it for off-roading? While its 4.0-liter engine with 550 hp might sound impressive, does a car for daily driving and comfortable cruising really need that much power?

BMW IX

If anyone says that they think the BMW iX is a good-looking car, you must question them further. The vast majority would likely agree that the iX is a hideous-looking vehicle, with the awful fake grille, gigantic proportions, and strange, angular likes down the side and around the front. It is one of the very worst-looking modern BMWs,

It has one or two good points. It has a comfortable interior, a large infotainment screen, and plenty of technology, such as Apple and Android connectivity. But it is too flashy and expensive to take off-road. This monster currently starts at $87,100 MSRP, which is an enormous amount of money in a world that is becoming much more expensive overall.

Fiat 500X

Fiat relaunched its iconic 500 city car in 2007, recreating the classic of the 1950s. Yet the Italian manufacturer wanted to create more than one version of the 500, much like they did with the original. However, unlike the original, these variations have some of the blandest designs of any European vehicle.

Fiat created the 500X, an SUV version of the 500 that only vaguely resembles its small city car sibling. Even worse, the 500X is not capable off-road and has reliability problems similar to the primary Fiat 500 model. Sales have also dropped significantly over the years. The peak was 104,931 sold in Europe in 2016, to just 31,519 sold in 2023. Nor is it very practical as an SUV, with other mid-size options offering much more space.

Suzuki X-90

Suzuki had already endured a nightmare run with its early Samurai SUV, the forerunner to the eventually excellent Jimny. However, it wanted to make amends and thus introduced the X-90, yet first appearances certainly didn’t do this new compact SUV any favors. It takes just a glance at an X-90 to see its weird proportions.

Under the hood, things were no better with a small, 1.6-liter, 16-valve engine producing just 95 hp. So, the X-90 was ugly, average off-road, had no real space inside, and was slow. Like the Samurai, the X-90 tended to roll over in sharp cornering situations. Its reputation was set in stone and has followed it ever since. Even as recently as 2013, Top Gear Magazine placed the X-90 on its list of the 13 Worst Cars of the Last Twenty Years.

2010-2013 Acura Zdx

Like Pontiac, Acura is another brand that has fallen into the trap of creating a radical-looking vehicle to boost sales. The culprit for Acura is the 2010-2013 ZDX, a car that Car and Driver joked in 2010 stood for “zero demand expected.”

The publication was proven right, as after just three years of production, Honda’s luxury division ceased production of the awkward-looking ZDX. Acura tried to say that the ZDX “blurred the distinction between coupe, sedan, and sport utility vehicle,” but few consumers, if any, believed their messaging. The ZDX also offered no extra performance over rivals; thus, it was a commercial failure. However, a new, much better-looking ZDX will join the Acura lineup in 2024.

Lamborghini Cheetah

The Lamborghini Cheetah is the forerunner to the manufacturer’s formidable LM002 SUV, but sadly, the Cheetah had one of the most troubled upbringings of any SUV ever built. The design of the Cheetah was in response to a U.S. military requirement that called for a new, all-terrain troop-carrying vehicle. Lamborghini stepped up to the challenge despite its lack of off-road vehicle experience, but problems quickly arose.

It soon became apparent that Lamborghini had copied the FMC XR311, and FMC then sought legal action against Lamborghini and its project partner, MTI. If that wasn’t enough, the placement of the rear-mounted V8 engine gave the Cheetah poor handling characteristics. The U.S. military would instead order the AM General Humvee, having neglected to even test the Cheetah due to its problems.

Lada Niva

It does feel somewhat cruel to place the Lada Niva on this list. The compact Soviet SUV was a product of the Cold War; as such, it is evident that modern counterparts would outclass the plucky Lada. Yet the fact that the Lada Niva is still in production means it can’t escape criticism; compared to modern SUVs, it is largely terrible.

The Niva’s positives include its basic and simple design, which makes it easy to maintain. Yet despite its basic nature, the Niva is rugged and tough, and videos online show that it is pretty capable off-road. It is also currently the longest-production-run off-road light vehicle still manufactured in its original form. Remarkably, Lada was estimated by 2020 to have sold over 650,000 units of the Niva.