Consumer Reports top 10 cars for making it to 200k

[Leo99]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
I would have liked to see this list include trucks to see how they stack up. My understanding is that if trucks are included they would take the top spots.


There are a lot of American trucks with high mileage comparable to Japanese cars. I don't if it's because they are built better than the American cars or because making the repairs on the trucks makes better fiscal sense than fixing the cars.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
I would have liked to see this list include trucks to see how they stack up. My understanding is that if trucks are included they would take the top spots.


There are a lot of American trucks with high mileage comparable to Japanese cars. I don't if it's because they are built better than the American cars or because making the repairs on the trucks makes better fiscal sense than fixing the cars.

I don't buy that one bit. Out of all the vehicles I have owned my trucks have needed the least repairs and have been the cheapest to fix.

 

[Claud]

If Japanese cars were junk there is no way they would have displaced domestic automakers from the top selling slots.
It isn't CR's fault, it is the fault of the US auto industry. Whether the blame should be aimed at the unions, management, or line workers is irrelevant. The foreign makers sold cars that Americans wanted to buy.
CR pointed out to its subscribers that Japanese cars were generally more reliable than domestics. What percentage of the car buying public are subscribers?.

No doubt there are lots of Toyota and Honda owners who regret the day they were saddled with their unreliable lemons, just as there are plenty of domestic buyers who are delighted with their totally fault free cars.

Reliability isn't the only factor considered when buying a car, running costs, driving pleasure, trunk space, status, all factors to varying degrees when making a final decision.

There will never be a one size fits all car, Henry Ford had to accept that unpleasant truth by the end of the 1920's. CR tries to help people make an informed decision about what will fit their needs.

Claud.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Consumer Reports has always loved Japanese cars.


More importantly Americans do as evidenced by the top selling vehicles besides large trucks. People put way too much weight into Consumer Reports and believe it is an actual reason Japanese makers are successful.

Do you think the Japanese car making industry funded consumer reports secretly to get them where they are today. Or did they actually produce appealing vehicles to the masses that tend to be decently reliable?

Look at compact/small cars across the domestic lines. They all(Dart, Focus,Cruze) imported the engineering/designs as they simply could not for the life of them to produce a top tier car that was competitive.

So is there a break down of what type of cars each subscriber has? I mean is it an equal number? Again what is the definition of a repair or maintenance when CR ask?


CR weights the reliability based on severity of repair. Eg transmission and internal engine repair has a much more severe weight on reliability vs a rattle or trim piece breaking.

However in context of this list they defined top 10 in this matter.
The models listed below are all safe bets. Of the 1.1 million vehicles represented in our annual subscriber survey, these are the ten cars, SUVs, and minivans respondents most often reported as having more than 200,000 miles.

They were gloating because they were recommended cars by them. However the reality is at least 5 are top selling vehicles outside Consumer Report influence(Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, CRV, Prius in CA)

 

[fredfactory]

Originally Posted By: rjundi


However in context of this list they defined top 10 in this matter.
The models listed below are all safe bets. Of the 1.1 million vehicles represented in our annual subscriber survey, these are the ten cars, SUVs, and minivans respondents most often reported as having more than 200,000 miles.

They were gloating because they were recommended cars by them. However the reality is at least 5 are top selling vehicles outside Consumer Report influence(Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, CRV, Prius in CA)


Exactly! You have to look at:
1. No normalization (like per 1,000) for the popularity of the vehicles.
2. The demographics: Consumer Reports readers tend to be older, prudent, more careful, frugal, etc., meaning they don't typically thrash cars.

Sure Honda and Toyota make decent vehicles, just not that different.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Consumer Reports has always loved Japanese cars.


More importantly Americans do as evidenced by the top selling vehicles besides large trucks. People put way too much weight into Consumer Reports and believe it is an actual reason Japanese makers are successful.

Do you think the Japanese car making industry funded consumer reports secretly to get them where they are today. Or did they actually produce appealing vehicles to the masses that tend to be decently reliable?

Look at compact/small cars across the domestic lines. They all(Dart, Focus,Cruze) imported the engineering/designs as they simply could not for the life of them to produce a top tier car that was competitive.

So is there a break down of what type of cars each subscriber has? I mean is it an equal number? Again what is the definition of a repair or maintenance when CR ask?


CR weights the reliability based on severity of repair. Eg transmission and internal engine repair has a much more severe weight on reliability vs a rattle or trim piece breaking.

However in context of this list they defined top 10 in this matter.
The models listed below are all safe bets. Of the 1.1 million vehicles represented in our annual subscriber survey, these are the ten cars, SUVs, and minivans respondents most often reported as having more than 200,000 miles.

They were gloating because they were recommended cars by them. However the reality is at least 5 are top selling vehicles outside Consumer Report influence(Camry, Corolla, Civic, Accord, CRV, Prius in CA)

I get all that but they are relying on the person with the car to make an accurate description. I have had 3 turbo Dodges, 2 W-bodies, 1 S-10, 1 Corvette and 2 GM pickups go over the 250,000 mark. My definition of major repair is much different than say my Moms. If it goes to the dealer for anything it is crisis mode for my parents. It is very unscientific. My old neighbor down played every fault with his Odyssey because the problems were just flukes and it was a good car because it was a Honda, even when the transmission died.

A good gouge? Yes. A way to read what other people like? Yes.

I am not disputing that those are good cars. Everyone knows Honda and Toyota make some pretty good cars. I am disputing how the data is gathered. There are over 254 million cars registered in the United States. They are missing something by only pooling their subscribers.
Unless my math is rusty that is something like .43 percent of the cars rolling around in America.

Plus not one truck is listed. That right there tells me They are missing some data.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Plus not one truck is listed. That right there tells me They are missing some data.


No, it means that trucks were outside the stated purpose of the article.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Plus not one truck is listed. That right there tells me They are missing some data.


No, it means that trucks were outside the stated purpose of the article.

The article said it took from all of their subscribers. Which tells me 1) not a lot of truck byers subscribe to CR , 2) no truck makes it to 200,000 miles. or 3) or they don't care about trucks or a good part of the population.

Because in 2014 the F-150 and the Silverado out sold everything else. So they are only covering what they want to.
Like it or not people use these things like cars.

2014 sales
USA today numbers

 

[rjundi]

The title of the article is "Best cars for making it to 200,000 miles" not best vehicles. Car does not equal truck.

 

[Clevy]

What an utter joke.
It's funny. I only own domestics and no one of them has less than 200k except my charger. Other than it all my trucks,my cars,my toys,all of them with in excess of 200k.
Consumer reports is like Fox News in how they are slanted and make no effort in hiding their dictates for domestic brands.
I put no faith in any magazine article anyways.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
What an utter joke.
It's funny. I only own domestics and no one of them has less than 200k except my charger. Other than it all my trucks,my cars,my toys,all of them with in excess of 200k.
Consumer reports is like Fox News in how they are slanted and make no effort in hiding their dictates for domestic brands.
I put no faith in any magazine article anyways.


CR's numbers are based on how many people reported that their vehicle made it past 200k. If the number of people who responded to their survey is large enough, you can expect that the results are reasonably accurate.

That's not the same as saying that your Charger can't make it to 200k.

 

[Nate1979]

Well, there are other sources of data and the reason I wanted to know how trucks/SUV's hold up is these lists only show a small subset of the vehicles purchased in the US. Trucks and SUVS are the most sold vehicles and the conclusion could be quite different if including them. In other words the conclusion that foreign vehicles last longer as an overarching statement is incorrect if the longest lasting vehicles are actually domestic trucks.

A simple google search found a plethera of data on this topic and as I expected domestic vehicles, in this case mostly trucks and suvs are actually the most likely to make it to 200k.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified...0318-story.html

 

[Mykl]

Maybe there's a similar article out there for cab-on-frame trucks. This one seems to be specific to cars, or vehicles with unibody designs.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: Mykl
That's not the same as saying that your Charger can't make it to 200k.


That's exactly how the average person that knows as much about cars as a caveman, will take that article. That's why CR presented it the way they did. It's not about what the article says, which is purposefully very little, but how it will be perceived by the average, non car oriented, person.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
What an utter joke.
It's funny. I only own domestics and no one of them has less than 200k except my charger. Other than it all my trucks,my cars,my toys,all of them with in excess of 200k.
Consumer reports is like Fox News in how they are slanted and make no effort in hiding their dictates for domestic brands.
I put no faith in any magazine article anyways.


There is almost always an agenda. Who knows how they plan this stuff for effect?

Obviously inaccurate data. Almost as accurate as Rolling Stone(d)...

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
What an utter joke.
It's funny. I only own domestics and no one of them has less than 200k except my charger.


What year did Canada start producing Chargers?

'eh

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

There is almost always an agenda. Who knows how they plan this stuff for effect?


Yes. I'm sure its all quite calculated. Its almost as if one mogul were to own an entire news network and push an agenda upon willing consumers.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
The title of the article is "Best cars for making it to 200,000 miles" not best vehicles. Car does not equal truck.



So is a SUV a car? You quoted it yourself form the article, best cars, SUVs and Mini-vans.

No on is arguing, well ok some are (and I am not sure why), that the cars listed are not a good car or a good value. I am arguing that their data is a bit off. Again they are looking at less than 1 percent of the of the cars registered in the United States and have neglected to mention the two top selling vehicles, which we all know rack up TONS of miles. That is fact, not conjecture based off a survey filled out by someone's mom.

But I suppose I could be reading too much into it.

Plus quite frankly I like to argue with some of you.

 

[Mykl]

Man, there's a lot of upset people in here. Maybe if you feel that your vehicle is being misrepresented you should report to CR that your non-Honda/Toyota is over 200k miles the next time to make the report more accurate.

 

[rjundi]

My parents have read Consumer Reports since I was a kid. I think they ignored car buying advice from them given most choices:

85 Amc Eagle
88 Buick Century i4
88 Suburban 2500 4wd
90 4runner
2000 Forester(still own on original head gasket with 200k+)

Every one made it 200k+ over 10-15years.

They did like the assurance with their new 2015 Outback(excellent car for price) was listed as top buy. They never got upset there fleet was listed as unreliable as they really had few problems with them.