As the cars' fuel economy increases, and with space and utility being in high demand, SUVs are becoming the most popular segment in the car industry. Still, a lot of people probably buy these things without actually needing them, and they do clutter up the roads, which is probably not great for the environment. But, they are here no matter how you feel.
And like any car, they are not exempt from issues - the most common of which has always been rust or corrosion. It creeps up in hard-to-spot places and slowly eats at your car's metal parts and structure until it's too late to fix. That's why rust also happens to be a great indicator of how well a car's been kept and even how long it's been owned - for you buying used cars out there. Rust lowers the value of the vehicle immensely.
Luckily, rust also happens to be one of those issues that are easy to mitigate with good car maintenance. The best tips to fend off rust include regularly washing, waxing, and storing your car in dry places, away from the elements. But, there's only so much we can do to try to keep our cars rust-free, and some vehicles are just notoriously prone to it, and SUVs are no exception. Here are the most notoriously rust-prone SUVs from the '00s.
15 Range Rover Sport
The Range Rover Sport is an incredibly popular SUV. And it always has been. But Range Rovers have also always been famous for their lack of of …ruggedness? Well, not entirely, but rust has been a problem with the cars for some years and the Sport has been one of the biggest sufferers. A shame that it has been, as it's a great SUV.
14 Jeep Wrangler
The Jeep Wrangler is actually one of the best SUVs that you can buy. It performs amazingly well off-road and provides a fairly comfortable experience on the road as well. But, no matter how rugged Wranglers are, they've always suffered from rust. A new Wrangler could go off-roading and come back with all sorts of paint damage, and they rust up very quickly if not looked after right.
13 Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan is a brand that you normally associate with reliability and ruggedness. They are one of the best Japanese carmakers out there. But, they too have suffered at times. The Pathfinder is one of those that has been prone to rusting up. The model has improved and is still in production, though it's facing discontinuation in 2021.
12 Toyota RAV4
Despite making so many reliable and well-liked cars, there's also been a few bad apples in Toyota's lineup over the years. The RAV4 is one of those cars. Though it's one of the safest and most reliable machines out there and has been for years, it has never been able to escape corrosion. Even now, this is still an issue with the newer models.
11 Suzuki XL7
We wouldn't exactly call the Suzuki XLa looker. Forgetting the rust issues for a moment, it really does look terrible. Apart from that, it also had a pretty appalling reliability record, and it's just a very subpar product in general. Rust was never its worst issue, but it just added to the problems the car faced.
10 Jeep Compass
Jeep seems to have a bit of a habit of making cars that are great off-roaders but seem to suck when it comes to ruggedness. The Compass is another of those vehicles. The issue is simply a lack of build quality with most of these machines, but the Compass does at least fare better than the Wrangler.
9 Buick Rendez-Vous
The early 2000s saw a bit of a boom for mid-range SUVs, and Buick naturally wanted to capitalize on that boom. Enter, the Rendez-Vous. A stupid name for what turned out to be a bad car. It was a bland-looking machine, and the interior was rubbish too. Not only that, corrosion issues on the unibody chassis and the hood scuppered its chances.
8 Pontiac Aztek
The Pontiac Aztek is an interesting one. We've seen a few people recently comment on how much they like the car, but it's hardly a ringing endorsement for the company. It was slow and ungainly, and as with a few other Pontiac cars of the time, rust was a problem for the Aztek. A shame, as it could have been a great SUV.
7 Saturn Relay
Saturn is a brand we don’t really think about much these days. Maybe because we only really remember the bad cars it made. The Relay was one of those bad cars, experiencing a short and disappointing two-year production run between 2005 and 2007. Part of the reason it was in production for such a short period of time was surely the rust that would frequent both the exterior of the car and its chassis.
6 Mitsubishi Shogun
The Mitsubishi Shogun is one of the better SUVs on this list when it comes to dealing with rust. Yes, it's still an issue, but not as much as on the Wrangler or the Rendez-Vous. Nevertheless, it has always been an ugly, slow, and underwhelming machine that leaves a lot to be desired. Overall, it’s just a poor effort.
5 Suzuki Samurai
The Suzuki Samurai, also known as the Suzuki Jimmy, has undergone a few changes and iterations over the years. Predominately now a Kei car, it has fared well in its homeland of Japan. But looking at it, you can perhaps tell that it has had various issues with rust over the years. It’s a cheap car, so we're not surprised.
4 Chevrolet Avalanche
The Chevrolet Avalanche is a hell of a confusing machine. Is it a pickup truck? Is it an SUV? Well, it’s a bit of both. It’s a crossover and not the worst looking one out there. But, as with a few other Chevrolet cars (such as some Silverado models), rust is one of its main issues.
3 Chevrolet Tahoe
Apart from the Silverado and the Avalanche, the Tahoe is another very rust-friendly Chevrolet from the '00s. However, what we'd like to emphasize here is that, despite the rust, these are not bad cars; as long as you keep the rust problem in check by washing the car and inspecting its underbelly.
2 Ford Excursion
The Ford Excursion is a really puzzling thing to look at. Frankly, we'd say it's one of the ugliest SUVs on this list. It hasn't had the easiest time in its history, and the problem of rust has always followed this model to make it even less appealing to potential buyers.
1 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Surprised to see another Jeep on this list? We aren't either. The Grand Cherokee has had its ups and downs; some models being pretty good, and some models being awful and falling short of expectations. Like with the Wrangler and the Compass, corrosion is something you should look out for when buying a Cherokee, but still not quite to the same extent to the Wrangler.
Sources: Wikipedia, Cherokee Forum, Corvette Forum, Let Go, Car Domain