When the Dodge Hornet launched, it almost seemed like a cut-priced Porsche Macan for the rest of us. For its first mainstream crossover sold in America since the Journey, Dodge swiped Alfa Romeo’s Tonale off the windowsill while it was still cooling, then disguised it as Auburn Hills’ own cooking. Unfortunately, the Dodge Hornet is currently living up to Italian car stereotypes, as owners on the dedicated Hornet forum seem absolutely livid.
In case you’ve never been on a new model-specific car forum, they’re typically self-defensive circlejerks of unhealthily obsessed individuals vigorously edging over options sheets until some registered flex offender comes bearing the rarest example of all, at which point the biscuit, as Fred Durst would say, gets limp. And being made up of people who spent enough money on a car they joined a forum about it, they are often knee-jerk defensive critiques of said vehicles. Needless to say, broader forums are often more fun. Ask anyone who was on VWVortex for the “hit two a crub and 2 fents” incident.
However, the Hornet owners forum is even more entertaining than that, because it’s full of Hornet owners shitting all over Stellantis.
A common thread is electrical issues. From dashboards that go blank to blinded adaptive cruise control, owners are reporting all manner of miscellaneous errors wreaking havoc with basic functions. Oh, and as the complaints roll in, a mountain of evidence continues to pile up. Sure, you can buy a Dodge Hornet off the dealership lot right now thanks to a 517-day supply, but after reading what owners have to say, would you really want to?
While the jokes write themselves, they certainly won’t help troubled Hornet owners. Take this owner, for example, who claims to be on a schoolteacher income and is absolutely beside themselves with how unreliable their new crossover is.
I purchased my Dodge Hornet September 9, 2023 and it has already broken down. I had to have it towed Monday to the Dodge dealership and the mechanic just called me and said that there are 200 different codes going off. I am so upset and scared that I was sold a lemon. … This was the first vehicle I purchased on my own and now I am so disappointed. … My parents live in Michigan, are extremely worried about me, my safety, and the cost and inconvenience this is causing me.
If you’re buying a new compact crossover, you shouldn’t have to worry about backup transportation, or the presence of a purported 200 codes. I’ve seen tenth-owner Bangle-era BMWs with fewer stored codes, and this is a brand new car!
Oh look, another Hornet owner claiming electrical issues. Constant cruise control deactivation is aggravating, random triggering of the alarm system is a surefire way of making all your neighbors hate you, and heated steering wheels shouldn’t get too hot to touch. On the plus side, this owner by the username Merlyn might not be a Hornet owner for much longer. As they wrote, “Ah HA – so the [lemon law] buy back is FIVE TIMES!!!! I do believe I’m on the 4th time.”
First little trip, cruise control kept malfunctioning – popping out and I had to keep messing with it to activate it – it did this every 10 miles or so. The all warning lights came on – alarm sounds off for no reason when doing simple errands. Service said – it pops out of cruise control to “make sure you’re paying attention” LOL – alarm – … he said, “maybe a loud Harley went by triggering the alarm” – It’s in service for the 4th time today. It won’t stay in cruise control for even 2 miles … The crash warning starts beeping for no reason also, which is a bit startling. The heated steering wheel got way to hot to touch twice. Ah HA – so the buy back is FIVE TIMES!!!! I do believe I’m on the 4th time.
This owner has it particularly bad, since they claim “Of the 14 days I have owned the vehicle it has been in the shop for 4 full days and should have been in longer.” Ouch. As is starting to seem typical from this little crossover, a single issue isn’t the culprit, but multiple problems from the hyperactive alarm system to malfunctioning power mirrors seem to be at play.
While coming over an over pass, my dash lit up and I lost all acceleration. … my adaptive cruise control had failed. I am so grateful I was driving the vehicle not my new driver son. He would have ended up in the ditch. … I noted my sideview mirrors are not opening every time the car powers on. The car has 2 different alarm sounds and it went off intermittently. The front and rear collision system lights continued to go off … The service tech advised there is not currently a fix for the issues, but Chrysler engineering has assured there will be something in Q4 of this year … Of the 14 days I have owned the vehicle it has been in the shop for 4 full days and should have been in longer. My dealership has advised there is no way to cancel the deal or reverse it, no but back option, and my only recourse is to complain to Chrysler Customer Service and hope they will offer some discount to apply to a trade in on a different vehicle.
Owners report that last month, an update came out for, among other things, the adaptive cruise control system. Could this be the cure Hornet drivers were waiting for? Well, yes and no. While the consensus is that the updates have made adaptive cruise control better, it still reportedly gets foiled by something everyone experiences: direct sunlight.
Of course, some owners are going beyond expressing concern over specific issues, giving it a little bit of vitriol without any semblance of pushback. As forum user rachelg wrote:
This is by far the WORST investment I have ever made in my life. HUGE HUGE fail on Dodge’s part. Releasing a vehicle without even making sure the damn interior lights work not to mention all the other electrical issues on top of that?
Can not wait to get rid of this piece of crap car.
Good luck to everyone else, cause I can guarantee if you don’t have issues now, you most certainly will!!”
And forum user G-Mann takes a surprisingly meta approach, writing that:
I have purchased 5 different vehicles over the last 3 years and on all the forums and I have never seen a forum like this one riddled with problems and issues galore. It won’t be long before the car magazines & internet articles start pointing it out and resale value kaput.
Unsurprisingly, many of the issues owners complain about are backed up by technical service bulletins–manufacturer communications for common problems. Care to guess how many technical service bulletins apply to the Dodge Hornet? That’s right, 67, for issues as varied as prematurely worn spark plugs and imperial speed limit signs being incorrectly translated to metric units. Curiously, the vast majority involve firmware-related or software-related issues, which certainly doesn’t alleviate Italian car electrical system stereotypes.
One of my favorites is a technical service bulletin claiming that the adaptive cruise control system somehow requires defined road markings to work, otherwise an “ACC Temporarily Blocked” message displays on the instrument panel. While it would make sense if poor road markings affected lane-centering assistance, adaptive cruise control should only control vehicle speed and following distance, so it’s a little strange that worn road markings would render the adaptive cruise control inactive. There are plenty of cars that don’t have this issue because they can follow the lead car.
We are currently living in the era of what manufacturers call the software-defined vehicle, in which a substantial chunk of a vehicle’s identity and experience comes through software, graphics, and gizmos. While cars have featured firmware in their powertrain computers for more than 40 years, and software for cabin technology for decades, modern advancements like integrated modems and over-the-air updates have quickly put software at the front of the conversation. While this has enabled automakers to offer slicker interior electronics, it also means more code to write, test, and revise, and that it’s possible to push cars out the door before they’re digitally finished under a “fix it in post” mentality.
Back in 2013, Jeep delayed delivery of its Cherokee crossover because the ZF nine-speed automatic transmission wasn’t calibrated to an acceptable consumer standard. The hardware was all there, but the firmware wasn’t. Judging by issues owners are having with the Dodge Hornet, Stellantis may have been wise to pay attention to its history and pump the brakes until the majority of electronic bugaboos are worked out. Granted, Dodge needed this car since the rest of its lineup consists of emissions-intensive bruisers, but the Tonale that it’s based on has been on sale since 2022. Oh, and of this is before we even get into the fire-risk recall affecting plug-in hybrid models.
Judging by owner reports and the sheer number of technical service bulletins out there, the Achilles heel of the Dodge Hornet is its own electronic suite. While it’s theoretically possible for many of its issues to be fixed or mitigated with time and updates, it doesn’t seem like owners feel their problems have been resolved. Until then, be cautious. If you need a compact crossover that simply works and offers a little bit of fun, a Mazda CX-5 probably remains your best bet.
However, all these issues haven’t stopped a tiny number of Hornet owners from viewing things through rose-tinted spectacles. As Hornet Owners user ralplpcr wrote:
Thank you for writing this post! I was honestly getting somewhat tired of all the negative “horror stories” and complaints. It’s good to see someone saying positive things about our cars!
Like many, I have a few gremlins with my Hornet. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not perfect….but I really like it a lot in spite of all that! It is fun to drive, and definitely gets a lot of attention when cruising around.
Yes, I have some annoying issues with the ACC randomly turning off. Yes, my heated seats/steering wheel will sometimes refuse to turn on. But none of this prevents me from being able to enjoy driving it – – it’s mostly an inconvenience, and since I’ve never had these features in a car before, it’s not as though I can’t live without them?
Spoken like a true Alfa Romeo owner.
(Photo credits: Dodge, Hornet Owners)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
America Has A 517-Day Supply Of Dodge Hornets
-
Why A Car Designer Thinks The Dodge Hornet Is Such A Lazy Rebadge Of The Alfa Romeo Tonale
-
The 2023 Dodge Hornet Is Here. The Electrified Version Gets A Tiny 1.3-Liter Engine And Makes A Ridiculous Amount Of Torque
-
This Might Be The Upcoming Dodge Hornet Compact Crossover
-
The Jeep Renegade Was The Fiat-Based Jeep The Brand Needed After Bankruptcy. But It’s Time For It To Die
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
Which makes me wonder why, when car reviewer in this day and age evaluate and rate cars based on the amount of TECH. Let’s be real, none of this tech really makes ones life better, unless one is a slacker millennial. But can it create problems? How do you say Lucas Electric in Italian?
OK Boomer.
I’m just picturing you yelling at the wife to get off the damn phone so you can plug the modem in and go surf the web.
You log onto what you describe as “The Autopian BBS” and after 45 minutes or so, the text only page has loaded, allowing you to indulge in your favorite 21st century pastime.
Just then, your 48 year old son picks up the phone in the basement, gets the crackley boing boing noise, and you have to start all over again.
As usual, your night will end with you printing off all the new posts and comments on your trusty dot matrix, then of course filing them into one of your large steel filing cabinets.
But he has “a background in IT” from running token ring and Apple talk wiring in the 48-y-o son’s computer club room “back in the day.”
It’s spelled Magneti Marelli in italian.
I’m not here to dump on you, but FYI if you made that same comment without the millennial comment then I think you’re in line with most of the Autopian populous. It’s not the millennials forcing this trend, young people can’t afford new cars they just want shit to still work when they buy it used.
https://hedgescompany.com/blog/2019/01/new-car-buyer-demographics-2019/#:~:text=Average%20age%20of%20a%20new%20car%20buyer,-Who%20buys%20SUVs&text=It%20is%20now%20around%2053,percentage%20point%20increase%20since%202000.
This Boomer agrees with your post.
Yeah I mostly agree with the sentiment of this post. The millennial thing was just low hanging fruit lol.
This reminds me so much of the problems with early Alfa Giulias and Stelvios. Also Stellantis products. You’d think they would have learned their lesson from those debacles that have effectively killed Alfa in the US… again.
Since the electrics of the Tonale most probably is heavily based on both the Guila and the Stelvio this is no big surprise. If one want a reliable car with no fuss based on almost the same platform you could import a Opel Corsa E or a Fiat Grande Punto. Prepare to be underwhelmed by the gizmos, but everything just works. Nice with a platform that came in 2005 on a new “premium” car.
People hated the PF Dodge Dart for supposedly being unreliable, but I’ve met very few people who regret owning one. It just reinforces my suspicion that people hated the Dart because it was pretty widely known even to regular people that it was a FIAT.
This thing however… Is straight up proof of what’s happening in Italy. They’re scraping by with the bottom of the barrel because all their good engineers fled to Germany and the Netherlands.
My buddy commutes with a Dart that now has 450,000km but still looks new.
The only real difference between a Dart and a Corolla is the 1 failed engine he had to replace.
Honestly I think it’s pretty cool. It’s Italian, it’s got a five speed and a 1.4t.
i can’t even remember last time i saw a dart
I rented one once and regretted it.
Well, at least it’s creating a lot of buzz.
I see what you did there.
200 Codes. That’s where we’re at now days. The Tech in cars at this point, is not a benefit, it’s a liability. It’s gone too far where any benefit (when it’s working) is marginal…arguable (Like HVAC controls in sub layers of the display screen -how’s that “better”?). THEN when it breaks….and oh…it’s gonna break, you’ve got big dollar parts and down time.
I run fleet maint at a ski resort, we have a newish (3yo) snow cat right now that has been down for a month; it’s accrued 5 hours of up time this season, because the heater fan(s) won’t work. A switch and resistors worked pretty good for decades, buuuuuut they had to go and F-that all up with in-screen (three layers in!) HVAC control, a Module/PWM controller and two fan motors. We can’t fix it, dealers been here twice and spent probably 25 hours on it, thrown modules, motors, programming at it….still doesn’t work. They don’t know. Factory support doesn’t know…..Cat is down.
Ahhhh, remember when ^that^ happened with a basic fan switch and a temp control knob/cable and blend valve? This is where we’re at these days…it’s gone too far. Ii used to LOVE to see the next model…the new tech, b/c it USED to make stuff better! EFI, Overdrive, disk brakes, those things really improved cars substantially with little drawback. Now? I don’t even want to see the next model b/c it’s going to be nothing but disappointment, a side of aggravation, topped with insanely stupid tech. The next Lambo? Ferrari? PistenBully? I don’t even care. Don’t want to see it. Give me the one three model cycles ago. 200 f’n codes. That’s where we’re at today. That has become, “normal”.
Truly the Fazoli’s of Italian-America automobiles.
Also, the Hornet is a terrible name for a modern car.
Was kind of wondering if they were going to launch a slightly smaller version and call it the Gremlin.
So basically, what you’re saying is that it’s better to get an AMC Hornet because it would have less issues?
Also love this line:
“Like many, I have a few gremlins with my Hornet”
Yes! AMC did offer the Gremlin along w/ the Hornet
I prefer the Hudson version…
It was fabulous.
Nah, just different issues.
Then again, discussion on most car forums tends to revolve around problems and how to solve them, every make and model seems like a POS based on a quick skim of the forums. Very few vent their happiness on the internet when everything is fine.
Usually, they’re minor complaints: uncomfortable seat, an annoying squeak or rattle, something stupid about the infotainment, and only one or a couple of the same major complaints that might seem more widespread for the coverage. That would fall under the self-selecting as those with the big problems are more likely to be looking for advice. I will say, though, that most of my experience has been with more performance kind of models that fall on the more reliable side of the scale and the owners are probably more passionate and a little more tolerant and resourceful when it comes to problems, so I would imagine there would be more positive posts as a percentage for those particular types of cars vs a bland crossover. The Hornet complaints seem worse than normal.
It’s no secret that Alfa Romeo was supremely pissed, justifiably, that Dodge was allowed to scoop their much needed new product in a hotly contested segment, adding insult to injury by not even bothering to create a unique body shell. In an act of ultimate 80s style Big Three badge engineering, they merely redesigned the grill and front bumper and slapped some downmarket Dodge badges on it. Seriously, whomever greenlit that idea should be fired and have their marketing card taken away for life.
Seeing as both vehicles are built on the same assembly in Italy, I wouldn’t be surprised if proud Alfa Romeo line workers intentionally sabotaged the jabroni versions.
I wouldn’t be pissed if someone stole a piece of shit from me.
I get it, Americans don’t get Alfa Romeo and know very little about the brand. They’ve just heard endlessly and mindlessly regurgitated hyperbolic tales of woe from the 70’s and 80’s but the Tonale is thoroughly modern and hardly a piece of shit. It’s been praised for its high quality interior, lively and responsive handling, fuel / energy efficiency and overall good-to-drive qualities in European and US mags. It’s not a segment buster, but it’s an interesting alternative to an Audi Q2. I also happen to think it’s quite handsome. .
everything you said is right, except for everything you said about AR stories being hyperbolic
Disappointing but not surprising.. hell most first-year Fords are beta tests and Teslas I don’t think ever leave that phase..
Oil leaking Mavericks potentially catching fire and Valve dropping Broncos…yep this sentiment checks out.
It’s funny that the most reliable car I owned was a first year 5MT Ford Focus mk3 (and I’ve owned pretty reliable cars—this thing was Corolla-reputation reliable for 200k, when it got totaled). The follow up Focus ST in its third year of production was good until 180k when the ecoboom cooling system problem ended the engine.
“Oh, hey, it’s a closed deck block, I shouldn’t have to worry about head gasket problems.”
Hades smiles down sympathy and does his characteristic sideways pet to reach all three heads in one go, “Don’t worry, my little pooch, Ford has you covered!”
“F’n head gasket?!”
“Oh, no,” he laughs, “same kind of symptoms, but worse problem.” Seeing my disappointment, he pets my shoulder, “They all have to pass the Styx eventually.”
I sigh and look out across the river. “Charon’s going to need a bigger ferry.”
“Mm. Wait until he sees what Hyundai’s been up to.”
Stellantis news is usually bad news, but this one really stings.
It is not really Stellantis as a whole, just anything with more Italian than American in it, and that is a sad place to be for sure.
That’s such a dated stereotype though, and so much more prevalent in the US because I guess Americans love derogatory and simplistic catch-alls.
Are Italian cars as a whole known for their Toyota-rivaling reliability? Hell no! But that doesn’t mean every Italian car ever made is addicted to a mechanic. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Motor Trend had as a long term tester was problem free, unlike fellow long termers BMW 3 Series and Genesis G70. The Fiat 500 (now defunct) Automobile magazine ran for 40k miles was similarly trouble free, and the Panda and Doblo are known in Europe for their solid construction and dependability.
I chalk this up to first year teething troubles, which shouldn’t t be a thing anymore, and notoriously shitty Dodge dealer service departments.
this is actually pretty wrong. you must own a dodge
NOTHING that AR makes can be considered reliable. you simply aren’t telling the truth
Sounds like you’re really good at inventing facts to suit your narrow minded views. Enjoy your safe space!
lol keep banging that tiny drum bub haha
I guess Car and Driver got the trash one and Motor trend the one built by Toyota? https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a23145269/alfa-romeo-giulia-quadrifoglio-reliability-update/
Okay, I feel compelled to elaborate on this, even though I have no skin in the game.
Car and Driver got an early production 2.9 TT V6 Giulia Quadrifoglio which is a very different car than the regular 2.0 T I4 bread and butter Giulia which Motor Trend ran as a long termer, and that article was an absolute hit piece.
Firstly, Alfa gave C&D a car that had 7k miles of being thrashed by other journos, which was an utterly idiotic move, and if you go past the click-baiting headlines and read the article, you’ll start to see the bias and hyperbole.
The main issue was a rear differential that needed replacement if I recall, undoubtedly from being passed around, driven hard and put away wet, and C&D screamed that the car was out of commission for a total of 30 days, but there’s more to the story. Because it was a new model, parts were still in short supply, and while in C&D’s care, the windshield was cracked and they got into a fender bender, so they lumped all the time it spent in the shop and waiting for parts to shout the car couldn’t be driven for 30 days. It paints a significantly different picture.
Meanwhile, C&D’s Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing blows its engine and their reaction is simply “GM says this is the first such failure of any supercharged LT4 V-8.” On the other side of the pond, CAR magazine tests an Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe that grenades its transmission in 800 miles and they shru g their shoulder.
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2018-alfa-romeo-giulia-ti-sport-review-verdict
lol look at you keep tryin’
a lot of text to deflect “Alfa Romeo sucks” haha
it looks like you have been paying zero attention to the Hornet shitshow…and this is merely the most recent. But keep trying to justify the Stellantis shit box you bought
Nah, the rest of Stellantis is trash, too.
Once the buzz gets out about the quality control, resale values are going to sting.
And unlike a bee, a Hornet can sting you many times before it dies…
Sadly I think this behavior will become more popular in the future. It’s basically the standard for PC video games now.
I don’t think most manufacturers will take it as far as the Hornet has gone, but cost of goods sold is a lot lower when all you have to sell is a promise. Ask anyone who bought Tesla FSD (or really anyone who has owned a Tesla for longer than a year) what they think of OTA updates.
It will just be hardcoded to silent auto update and like phone apps, no on will realize they have 150 releases a year.
Next update: comment out the code that throws failure codes.
I know you meant this in jest, but that’s more or less a key aspect of right to repair. There may be failure codes, but you won’t be able to see them as an owner.
In a way it reminds me of my LG refrigerator that has a speaker for trouble codes. No, it doesn’t read them to you – that might be considered clever. Instead you’re supposed to hold up your phone to the speaker while you’re on the line with LG support. The refrigerator then spits out a series of nonsense tones that the tech’s system will interpret. What the hell!?
Wtf?
Ive never bought a brand new car. Do they not just give you a loaner for the whole time they have it if its under warranty?
Depends on the dealership, the warranty coverage, and the marque. If you have a Ferrari, Porsche, or Mercedes brake down under warranty, you’re probably getting a loaner. If you have a Dodge or a Kia? Maybe not, unless the dealership decides to provide it.
Moreover, you’ll find better dealer-level support in denser areas. They have a lot more customers, and ergo the money to afford things like a loaner fleet.
In the 80’s my Nissan Pulsar needed service and I needed a car for the week. Nissan gave me an Aries K loaner. You may be disappointed your Nissan needs service, but you’ll love your Nissan even more once you return the Aries K. Apologies to SWG.
And more competition in denser areas, so some dealers want to make a good impression. Our large city Jeep dealer threw us a Wrangler every time our POS Renegade was in for warranty work, which was often. Probably because they hoped we would buy one of those next when we finally got sick of that hunk of junk. Alas, an 80+ year old man in a C7 Vette ran a red light, center punched it at 50 mph, and put it out of its misery. And then we bought a Mazda instead.
What happened to Vette man?
Everyone walked away. The Vette was smashed to shit.
Good. It had it coming anyway.
That seems crazy! Thanks for the response!
LPT: dealer doesn’t have a loaner fleet?
Try asking to borrow a trade in they’re planning to send to auction.
Maybe sorta it’s a crapshoot, I had my Dodge Dart blow up its transmission and the dealership said no problem giving me a loaner as long as I pay the tow for 800km, the dealer that had it to repair said ‘we didn’t sell it too bad’ and so on, I eventually got a Taurus as a loaner from the used department and proceeded to nearly destroy it
I can speak to a lot of aspects of this and some of the below replies regarding Chrysler/Jeep/Stiletto heels.
I live near Frederick, MD, so near-ish to Baltimore and Washington DC. In 2014 I bought a brand new Jeep Cherokee. First model year, all that jazz. The trim I got had the small 2.4L 4 cylinder that also went into the Dart. I went through three engines because of a known problem with that particular engine. Always replaced free-of-charge. Warranty baby! Every time it was in the shop (for the engine as well as regular maintenance, i.e. brakes, what have you) the dealership gave me a courtesy loaner. Tate in Frederick is great as a business, but it’s not their fault some of the product sucks. They always treated me right. I guess it’s going to depend on the dealer.
Anyhow, just traded it in because I didn’t feel like shelling out to replace the rear differential. Got a Volvo S60 if anyone cares.
Stellantis doesn’t care about anything in the US besides Ram and Jeep Wranglers. Alfa tech on a Dodge budget seems too good to be true. And it is. News at 10…
“It is fun to drive, and definitely gets a lot of attention when cruising around.”
I’m glad he likes his car and all that but I’d love to see what he means by it getting a lot of attention. I’d be extremely surprised to find that he’s getting tons of attention in his compact crossover that looks like every other compact crossover
For what it’s worth, I live in Detroit, the land where people will buy any American car no matter what even if there’s better options and I rarely see these around. If I’m not seeing these here, then that says a lot about its sales nationwide but I guess the article yesterday about there being a 500+ day supply of these kind of proves my point
Also in the Detroit area, and I think I have seen ONE of them – it struck me as it was just in the last couple of weeks. I’ve seen a million commercials for them, but this was the first one I saw on the road. And I only knew it was a Hornet because I saw the name on it.
I’ve been wondering about this too – I’ve seen a ton of ads for them, but not a single one on the road. My first reaction to recent articles here on them was “wait, these are actually on sale now?!”
I think I’ve only seen one or two and the only reason I noticed them was because they were in that yellow/gold color they come in. If anything, that’s proof that offering your cars in actual colors does actually get people to notice them in traffic
They are buying an Alfa Romeo running on hopes and dreams, with the worst customer service in the industry.
Hyundai and Kia are pretty rough when it comes to customer service. Dodge can’t possibly be worse…right?
Oh they can. H/K service boils down to an individual dealership. In my personal experience, they’re both better than GM customer service, who decided that it was perfectly acceptable that my 8,000 mile old Silverado that was VISIBLY BURNING OIL was “normal” and wouldn’t do anything to fix it under warranty.
(As a note, a few years later they put out a TSB on said Silverado authorizing rebuilds because they screwed up ring installation at the factory on a bunch of them. By that time I had had more than enough of them and went back to Hyundai for better reliability)
Who is buying a Hornet when you can get a RAV4 for the same price (and I am not a fan of Toyota).
Maybe the market is people who want a compact crossover PHEV without waiting 12 months. I’ve previously heard ordering Toyota doesn’t actually put you on a list to get it built to spec by the factory, you’re just at the mercy of whatever Toyota sends dealerships. Is that true or is it a rumor made up by rival fans?
This is in fact, accurate.
Toyota does not support the concept of a factory order. Dealership have some latitude to adjust what they ask for, because they know what moves and what doesn’t, but if you absolutely want a colour X trim, get stuffed that’s not what Toyota is here to offer you
Some friends of mine had a RAV-4 hybrid for a number of years and were quite happy with it. They wanted to get a new car before he retired and because of where they lived they really wanted a Prime. The dealer told him, that yeah we might have one in 6-12 months and that there was going to be a substantial mark up over sticker price. They chose to stick with the standard hybrid version.
The Hornet is supposed to be a “sporty” CUV like Mazda’s CX-30. The RAV4 is…not that.
I can’t imagine there’s much sport in owning a non-running Hornet.
It’s the slow-car-driven-fast idea taken a bit too far.
Sitting in a broken Fiat making vroom vroom noises?
Hornets are much more fun to drive and more distinctive. Also, maybe you don’t want to see 50 copies of you car in any parking lot?
That’s what I don’t get. It’s a lower end crossover where the driving experience and appearance are both extremely compromised because they’re of least priority. Get the one that’s got the best reliability ratings, space, or is cheapest by a large margin and call it a day. This one isn’t cheap and doesn’t even come with a name that some people might excuse faults for because it’s associated with cool or high status (like, IDK, Alfa Romeo, maybe).
The worst part is an optioned up R/T is 10 THOUSAND DOLLARS more than a fully loaded up CX-50 Turbo, and I can promise you it certainly isn’t 10k more vehicle, if even on par… yikes
It’s way overpriced, but then again, somehow, a neighbor paid $46k out the door for a loaded Nissan Rogue Sport limited edition or something. I don’t understand car prices.
Please tell me their online forum is called ‘The Hornet’s Nest’!
The Swarm
After the prior discussion I googled what the Toenail costs in Europe, thinking it has to be cheaper than the Hornet here right? Nope, it costs the same, though who knows if the EU trim is the same in the US. BUT what was most interesting it that in the EU it comes with a 5yr warranty…. but now thinking will the cars even last 3yrs (US warranty) let alone 5… Seems like Stellantis will be breaking their industry recall records.
Hornet. All of the hassle of an old collector car none of the fun.
In some cases, I’d say that there is selection bias at play. People go to these forums to solve problems all the time. But this is a vehicle that hasn’t sold that well so far and a lot of people haven’t even heard of. These posts sound like complaints, rather than requests for help. And it doesn’t sound like there are the normal numbers of excited new owners, which is especially troublesome when combined with the issues faced.
I’d say Stellantis has kicked some sort of nest by releasing this overpriced and underdeveloped Hornet. If only there were an adequate and fitting analogy here.
I’ve been a member of the PriusChat forum since leaving Reddit, albeit PriusChat has been around for longer.
While troubleshooting is certainly a significant chunk of the site, it doesn’t come off like the site is full of people who hate Priuses.
Heck back during Saturn days owners formed families to celebrate their new kind of cars pre internet. So new car forum should not be solely trouble shooting. But good for possible future Hornet buyers so they don’t get stung.
Good point. I was active on Mustang forums back in the ’00s and while the internet was a different place then, the biggest contingent was definitely “how can I make it (my subjective version of) better?!”
And these were the bad old days of the SN95.
Curiosity and a need to boost my self-esteem and gain positive reinforcement vis a vis my most recent (three years ago) automotive purchase got to me after reading here of the issues faced by Hornet owners. So I decided to compare the Hornet forum with that for my (North) ‘Murican/Mexican/Canadian made $25K Chevrolet SUV. There were six entries this year, mostly to do with where or when to get an oil, battery or tire change. That’s the competition, along with flawless machinery from Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc., etc.
The Hornet forum is more akin to the 25 year old Jaguar XK8 forum that I regularly frequent, because my automotive purchases are not all well thought out. Alfa Romeo/Stellantis can barely continue to build unreliable sporty models for fan boys and girls. They certainly can’t fight in a market where the standard is zero defects.
Back in the last century, I bought a Chevrolet Corvette that was defective in every which way. The General apparently changed its ways and now builds vehicles with reliability that is competitive with the best in the world, based on my sample size of two and six forum participants. Alfa Romeo still builds insanely unreliable vehicles. That is they continue to make the same mistakes over and over again while expecting different results – which some, maybe not psychologists but who knows, say is the definition of insanity.
The fact that you can spend FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS on one of these is nightmare-inducing
I believe you can actually option one to over 50k
I just got the top trim level one with all of the options I could pick up to 54k. There really aren’t even that many options either, the only things that added cost were the yellow paint, a black trim package, a “track pack”, and a technology pack. You’d have to be insane to spend even close to that much on one of these
Given a fully loaded CX-5 Turbo Signature is roughly $10k less….that’s horrific.
Holy hell
My 2018 S6 with 18k miles cost me $39k
You can also easily spend that much on a RAV4, Rogue, CRV, etc etc. Cars are stupid expensive currently.
My mom had a brand new (her first new car ever) 97 Chrysler Sebring Coupe when I was in middle school, and that car has forever tarnished the Chrysler/all associated brands for me. This car was a DSM project being sold by Daimler Chrysler, with no one able to fix a single thing on them. After about 8 trips to the dealer in 6 months Chrysler finally agreed to lemon law it. There were multiple problems with the car, and I can’t recall all as I was a bit younger, but the brakes always squealed. No matter what the dealer did they would not quiet down. Eventually we were presented with a list of 5 reasons why brakes should squeak, and were told its not a problem. My dad called a lawyer the next day, and within a week the Sebring was back to being Chryslers problem.
I know the company has changed ownership about 15 times, and seems to be making some better products since we had that car, but nothing could get me into a new Chrysler/Stellantis product because of that experience.
Maybe a French wagon could, but I doubt one would be brought here.
You would think the Stellantis method of using proven platforms for decades even on new vehicles would eliminate the problems of truly new product lines.
I believe the Tonale/Hornet is build on an older FCA platform, not one of the PSA/Stellantis one.
But if older platform why is it having issues the old platform didn’t have?
I was not saying the older platform didn’t have issues! ????
Just that this vehicle is based on an old FCA platform, the Tonale was probably too far into development by the time PSA took over FCA.
My 2 cents is that people buying Alfas know they will hang out at the dealership a bunch, people buying Dodges do not?
“My mom had a brand new (her first new car ever) 97 Chrysler Sebring Coupe when I was in middle school, and that car has forever tarnished the Chrysler/all associated brands for me. This car was a DSM project being sold by Daimler Chrysler, with no one able to fix a single thing on them.”
How? That merger with Daimler wouldn’t happen for another year.
Just looked it up based on pain color (shark blue pearl), and it appears she had the 99, and not a 97, as that was the first year of that paint.