Designing an all-new product is one thing, but manufacturers must also keep their existing lines fresh year after year. Over the course of a nameplate’s life, comprehensive updates are often needed, and many times a car will improve enough to overcome the shortcomings of its predecessors. Cars.com took a look at some long-lived models and picked out the ten “most improved” vehicles over the past decade and a half. Take a look and you might be surprised at what’s gotten a lot better since you last checked in.
“Sometimes changes to these cars were as simple as a fresh interior and new parts under the hood, and sometimes the outgoing model of a car was so poor that automakers gave the new version an all-new name,” said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com editor-in-chief.
Improvement doesn’t necessarily mean more horsepower, high-dollar luxury items or racetrack prowess, and the list is populated by real-world vehicles accessible to the average consumer rather than the latest and greatest from premium manufacturers. Cars.com’s list includes vehicles like the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze and 2013 Dodge Dart, which far surpassed their predecessors, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2004 Toyota Prius, which represented quantum leaps above the previous-generation cars with the same name, and the 2005 Ford Mustang and 2011 Hyundai Elantra, which made incremental changes to make good cars into great ones. The all-new 2014 Chevrolet Impala, updated 2011 Kia Sportage and 1999 Honda Odyssey, and re-imagined Chevrolet Sonic round out the list.
Cars.com recommends that all of the models on its list garner a place on the shopping lists of appropriate customers, new or used, as the vehicles in question represent good examples of manufacturers listening to the needs and desires of drivers, and meeting those expectations in fine form. For more information on the top 10 most improved cars, visit blogs.cars.com.
