Top 5 Ugliest SUVs Which Broke Cover During the 21st Century

I mean, even the revered cult classics and sleek, high-end sports cars have both lovers and haters, though there are indeed cases when opinions lean heavily towards the negative side. While such occasions can often be the result of lackluster performance, cringe-worthy stylistic decisions are what we’ll be focusing on today. “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” some may say, but it’s hard for us to see past certain vehicles’ questionable looks when they quite literally make our eyes hurt!

Given the bulbous proportions characteristic of their style, SUVs are inherently more likely to raise enthusiasts’ eyebrows and be labeled as ugly. You will, of course, encounter many great-looking models in the sport utility segment, like the elegant Jaguar F-Pace, Mercedes’ imposing G-Wagen, or the revived Ford Bronco, to name a few.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, you’ve got the four-wheeled abominations whose faces only a mother can love, and we’ve seen plenty of those entering production since the dawn of the millennium. Among them, the following five may just take the cake for being the most visually repulsive SUVs to hit the assembly line during the 21st century, but let us give you a quick disclaimer before we kick off our list.

It’s totally fine if you happen to like or own any of these cars, as we’re not aiming to judge your taste and tell you what you should be driving. At the end of the day, all of us are different and happen to like different things, so try not to get personal or take our little roast too seriously, okay? With that being said, let’s go ahead and look at the top five ugliest sport utility vehicles unveiled by automakers since the year 2000.

5. Subaru B9 Tribeca (pre-facelift)

Up in fifth place there’s the Subaru B9 Tribeca – more specifically the pre-facelift iteration produced until 2007. We’ve no idea what was going through the minds of Subaru designers when they came up with this atrocity, but the fact that it only lasted two years before getting restyled makes us breathe a sigh of relief.

The production version debuted at the North American International Auto Show in January 2005, subsequently going on sale as a 2006 model during the summer of that year. Offered as a five- or seven-seater, the Tribeca came with a three-liter EZ30 flat-six good for up to 250 hp and 219 pound-feet (297 Nm) of torque.

It certainly wasn’t a bad car on a mechanical level, and the cabin packed no shortage of desirable creature comforts for an upscale experience. Materials were high-quality, storage room, abundant; yet all these pros couldn’t excuse the massive con that was this midsize crossover’s appearance. Even though it looked just fine – albeit rather dull – on the flanks and rear, the front end is quite literally the stuff of nightmares.

To their credit, Subaru took note of the public’s criticism, realized they messed up, then proceeded to give the nameplate a thorough refresh for the 2008 model-year. Besides looking a hell of a lot better, the new Tribeca also boasted a larger 3.6-liter powerplant, and it managed to stay in production up until 2014.

4. Buick Rendezvous

For the number four spot, we went with the stomach-churning Buick Rendezvous produced by General Motors – a car that looks horrific from just about every angle. Built in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico from 2001 thru 2007, this was Buick’s very first venture into crossover territory at a time when manufacturers were scrambling to jump on the bandwagon.

GM went through a pretty weird phase in the early 2000s from a design standpoint, spawning oddities like the Saturn Ion, Chevy SSR and, of course, the Rendezvous. A total of three engine options were made available across the SUV’s various trim levels and model-years, with the largest being a 3.6-liter V6 capable of producing 245 ponies.

Its force travels via a four-speed automatic gearbox to either the standard front-wheel or optional all-wheel drive setup known as Versatek. Now, the topmost powertrain configuration might’ve been quite adequate, but the 3.4-liter, 185-hp counterpart found on the base CX variant was nothing to write home about.

What Buick’s midsize crossover did have going for itself was a spacious and undeniably cozy interior teeming with sweet amenities, as well as abundant space for cargo once the rear seats were folded down. However, nothing could compensate for the Rendezvous’ repulsive exterior styling and proportions, so it finally got the axe in 2007 to make room for the far better-looking Enclave. Let’s move on to the top-three podium now, shall we?

3. Nissan Juke (first generation)

Third place is dishonorably occupied by a vehicle that yours truly simply cannot stand – the first-generation Nissan Juke. Millions of years of human evolution, over a century of development in automotive design, and this is what we come up with? To be fair, it was rather tempting to award this spot to the Murano CrossCabriolet, another infamous anomaly produced by Nissan in recent years.

But at least you get to enjoy an open-top experience when driving the CrossCabrio, while the subcompact Juke really doesn’t excel in any way. Its tiny rear windows result in terrible visibility, the cabin is small and almost as gruesome as what lies outside, and storage capacity can be described as humble at best.

Same goes for the turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four found under the hood, because its power output digits top out at a measly 188 hp and 177 pound-feet (240 Nm) of twist. Due to underperforming sales, the four-wheeled eyesore that is the Juke got discontinued for the U.S. market as of 2017 - around seven years after it had first been introduced to Americans at the New York International Auto Show.

In September 2019, Nissan debuted a second generation over on the other side of the Big Pond, and we’ll have to admit it does look considerably better than its forerunner. One may still find it hard to forgive the Japanese automaker for ever unleashing that egregious first-gen Juke, but awesome cars like the GT-R and the Z do make it a little easier, right?

2. Lincoln MKT

Ford’s luxury division Lincoln comes in at number two with the MKT, which was first shown to the world as a concept at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Although Lincoln is known to produce some gorgeous machines for individuals with much fatter bank accounts than you or I, we all have our bad days every now and again.

The MKT wouldn’t even be on this list if it weren’t for that dreadful grille and awkward taillight assembly, yet those are reason enough to give it the silver medal of dishonor. Using the same D4 platform as the Ford Flex and fifth-gen Explorer, Lincoln’s lavish full-size crossover was put into production at the Ontario-based Oakville Assembly Complex in July 2009. Originally, its standard 3.7-liter V6 had 270 ponies on tap, while the optional 3.5-liter turbocharged mill was rated at 355 hp.

For the 2013 model, these figures were raised to a beefier 300 and 365 horses, respectively. Other standout features include lane assist, adaptive cruise control, and an interior that oozes opulence but was quite dated by the time the MKT met its end in 2019. All things considered, this really wasn’t a bad car on a mechanical level, so it’s a real shame that the exterior styling language turned out to be – for all intents and purposes – ugly as sin.

1. Pontiac Aztek

And finally, first place was a bit of a no-brainer, as well as the second GM nameplate to be mentioned in today’s video – I told you the early 2000s were weird or General Motors, didn’t I? The Pontiac Aztek, ladies and gentlemen, is widely regarded the most disgusting thing to ever bear the SUV label. Funny enough, the Aztek was penned by Tom Peters, the same guy who’d later designed the sleek C7 Corvette for Chevy.

Unlike the beloved ‘Vette, however, the former was anything but well-received or commercially successful, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering its wretched looks and iffy build quality. Manufactured alongside the Buick Rendezvous in Mexico, this thing stayed on the assembly line until 2005, without ever achieving the annual sales target set by the parent company.

GM hoped to sell about 70,000 units on a yearly basis and needed at least 30k to break even, yet only 27,793 Azteks got purchased by customers in 2002 – the model’s best year. The Aztek could be bought as both a front- and all-wheel drive configuration, with power coming from the same 3.4-liter, 185-hp V6 employed by the base Rendezvous.

Despite fading into obscurity once production ceased, Pontiac’s scarecrow saw its name revived a few years later when it was featured as Walter White’s daily driver in Breaking Bad. Since then, it managed to gain a bit of a cult following among cinephiles, though this doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the biggest design flops in recent automotive history.

Conclusion

That finally brings us to the end of our list, and we’re sure not all of you will agree with these picks given how much personal taste can differ from one individual to the next. Indeed, the market saw its fair share of unsightly cars over the years, so people disagreeing on this topic is just bound to happen all the time. To conclude, we’ll go ahead and leave you with this: whenever you’re having one of those gloomy days, just take a deep breath and remember you’re not GM’s crossover lineup two decades ago.