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A car’s interior should match its exterior. A sleek ride on the outside should be sleek on the inside. But sometimes, that is not always the case. Although a car might look cool, a step inside might change a buyer's mind. For some reason, it didn't change the buyer’s mind when people bought these cars, which although some of them had some real benefits and were arguably good cars, many of them ended up floundering because of all the engineering mistakes made in their cabins.
Some had too many gauges, some were too disorganized, and some gave you so many buttons to push you might as well be on a space shuttle. Here are some of the worst car interiors to come out of the first decade of the 2000s.
10 Ford Mustang 2009
Mustangs as a whole are great cars and have a long and reliable track record of both performance and affordability. Their exteriors have been some of the most admired ever since the car's conception in 1964. The interiors of the classic models are just as popular too.
However, for some reason, the designers at Ford in 2009 decided to forgo the simplicity of their previous interiors in favor of something much too drab for a Mustang. Although not as hideous as some other cars on this list, there is just something about the 2009s interior that is just drab and uninspired. Also, like many of the cars on this list, there were just far too many buttons for one driver to handle.
9 Mercedes E Class 2003
Again, a great car with a not-so-great interior. Although the 2003 E Class had a lot going for it, like a V6 engine and a decent fuel economy (20 MPG city and 27 highway), its interior lacked that sense of luxury that makes a Mercedes what they are.
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The weird oval shape of the central air duct clashed with the other awkwardly angled central control pieces, and the color was a dreary gray in most models, and like the Mustang it had too many buttons.
8 Alfa Romeo GTV 2002
Although far less busy than the previously mentioned interiors, the Alfa Romeo GTV might have the opposite problem. While the insides of the previous cars were too busy and disorganized, the inside of this one might be too bare, too minimalist to offer the driver or passenger for that matter any real control.
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It does have fewer buttons, which is good, but the trimmed leather seats do more to clash with the car’s looks than they do anything to help.
7 Honda Civic 2006
Although some argue that the 9th generation Civic had the ugliest interior of any Honda, the eighth generation of 2006 was not far off from its unattractive younger sibling.
Although some were not bothered by the interior’s simplicity, some thought it was too simple, too bare. The following generation would have the opposite complaint from customers.
6 Chevy Cavalier 2005
The Chevy Cavalier is widely considered one of the ugliest car interiors, not just of the 2000s but of any time. Once again, the engineers equipped the controls with far too many buttons, especially on the HVAC controls, and customers panned the seats as lumpy and uncomfortable.
The Cavalier ended production in the United States in 2005 and is considered one of General Motor’s most notorious North American flops. The car was still made for China until 2021 and is still being produced in Mexico.
5 BMW 7 E 65 2001
BMWs are notorious for their sleek, comfortable, all leather interiors and for their ability to balance both driver control with all-out luxury. So for BMW to make a car with a bad interior, they practically have to try to fail.
The BMW 7 E 65 from 2001 is that kind of a failure. For one thing, the layout of the controls was impractical and required pretty long arms to reach certain elements, and there was just something impractical about the way the infotainment system and HVAC controls were so close together. Overall, the E 65 was not a smash hit for BMW.
4 Dodge Avenger 2008
Too much plastic was the major complaint levied against the inside of the Dodge Avenger. The heavy use of plastic gives the car sort of uninspired quality, and the generic design and layout of the switches just felt drab to consumers.
The Avenger is not the worst or even the ugliest, car that GM has ever given the world, but it is also far from their best.
3 Nissan Quest 2004
The interior of the Nissan Quest is far from practical. The company was desperate to compete with the Toyota, which at the time was dominating the market with cars like the Camry and the Sienna. But in that desperation, they completely missed the mark and delivered something very awkward for their buyers.
Most awkward was the layout of the gear shift, HVAC, and infotainment system, also confusing was the decision to put the speedometer in the center of the dashboard instead of in front of the driver. The layout could remind one of a science fiction film like Star Trek, only much less cool.
2 Chevy Camaro 2010
Like the 2009 Mustang, the Chevy Camaro fails to match the design that makes its exterior worth noticing. The 2010 Camaro heavily relied on plastics for its design, and this was the first Camaro where the windows were redesigned into their letterbox shape, which looks fine from the outside but from the inside lose the sort of muscular mystique that made previous Camaros great.
The layout of the gages and gear clusters is not as bad as some other cars, but it still falls flat. It was also almost as if the steering wheel was too highly placed over the speedometers as well.
1 Pontiac Grand Prix 2000
Pontiac's fall from grace broke the heart of many fans of these American classics, but one car that signed the brand’s death warrant was the Grand Prix that made the rounds from 1996-2000. There is only one word to describe this interior, hideous.
Not only did this car, once again, have too many buttons and controls, but it had an awkward layout with three of the airvents standing directly over the HVAC and infotainment controls. While not as bad as the infamous Grand Prix with control buttons directly into the steering wheel, they were not far behind that flawed design. The 2000s would be the last decade of the Pontiac Grand Prix.