u/spaceshipcommander

My model Y is in the garage and I was excited to discover I would be getting a Jaecoo 7 as a courtesy car.

I was excited, because I would finally get to learn the answer to questions like, "are these cars popular because they are good or cheap?" and, "how do they compare to western brands?"

I'll save those of you with busy lives the need to read this post. It is the most disappointing vehicle I've ever driven. It's the worst vehicle I've driven for probably 10 years.

The price and the sunroof are the only good points.

Everything else is bad.

I won't even bother mentioning the driver assists. They are borderline dangerous.

The steering has no feel at all and the ride is awful. If you've driven a 30 year old jeep, you'll know the feeling of sea sickness caused by the car bouncing and wallowing around. I've never known a car have body roll going in a straight line. Acceleration from standing is adequate, because it is hybrid, but at motorway speed the engine is noisy.

The interior feels so cheap and the car seems to be made for the average Chinese sized person. At 6'3", I appreciate I'm taller than average but I'm not some kind of circus freak. I can't fit my foot on the accelerator as my toes get caught on a random tumour hanging down from the dash. The front doors are too small, so I'm sat behind the B pillar. The steering wheel doesn't extend far enough and the whole interior feels like it was designed to last the warranty period and not a day longer.

That's the best way to describe this car. The design brief was copy an EV9 but don't worry about it lasting more than a 3 year lease term. I was really hoping to hand this back being able to say that Tesla is taking the piss, but I can't. If you told me a model Y was five times the price of this thing, I wouldn't disagree. You don't need to go high end to beat it either. My mother has an e2008 which is twice as good as this thing in every way.

Do not buy one of these piles of manufactured waste under any circumstances.