 For a car that's built recently, I can't say how my Ranger was an improvement over cars of decades past.  Yes it was cheap, only reason I got it was because it had the max rebate.  Then again cheap price = poor design, cheap quality, cheap workmanship, etc.  And worst it came off the lot with several problems which one of which became debatable if it was "under warranty" with the 2 yr/24000 miles contract.