Consumer Reports vehicle rankings

[BobsArmory]

CR lost me many years ago when they did a sports car comparison. They tested a Camaro w/V8 vs 300zx vs Corvette vs a Mustang LT with a V6 instead of a V8 GT. Surprise, the Mustang didn't do well at all. Seems like they don't compare apples to apples quite often.

 

[Fair enough]

I filled out a number of their surveys when I had subscriptions. That’s where the data comes from. Over the years what has been a better method? One person exclaiming something? I bought based on their ratings and it was a fail a couple times. But many more other times not so. Over decades of car surveys some come out better, like Toyota was generally better or much better than average consistently. Used car sales show people think so too.

 

[PontiacHO]

My son in law is the service director for a large automotive group. He said their Subaru dealership’s service department has mostly maintenance work. Hardly any major repairs. This group owns about every manufacturer’s dealerships going except for Mercedes. Still don’t want a Subaru.

 

[Fair enough]

I loved the vehicle books from the 90s, all those black dots and red dots. The poor Chevy Astro didnt deserve all that red.

The individual people put the black and red dots there.

 

[Elkins45]

The whole basis of using "Brand name" as a differentiator is flawed. Is a Buick really more reliable than a Chevrolet? Does slapping a different logon on a vehicle improve your chances of having fewer problems? They are made by the same corporation.

Yes, but they aren't all made in the same factory.

Different GM brands may get their parts from different regional manufacturing suppliers and the Buick factory may have much better management and QC people than the Chevy factory halfway across the country. I've heard from people on this forum that Lexus vehicles built in Japan have better fit and finish than the ones from Canada.

 

[Burt]

Yes, but they aren't all made in the same factory.

Different GM brands may get their parts from different regional manufacturing suppliers and the Buick factory may have much better management and QC people than the Chevy factory halfway across the country. I've heard from people on this forum that Lexus vehicles built in Japan have better fit and finish than the ones from Canada.

Except generally speaking, there aren’t “Buick” and “Chevrolet” factories. And no amount of quality control during assembly will overcome poor design or low quality components. But setting that aside, aren’t you agreeing with me that branding is a shallow and inadequate means of identifying reliability? A crown Vic and a Focus have very different reliability ratings but are lumped together in one brand.

 

[TomYoung]

Pray tell, how does Toyota control the quality of a Supra that is based on BMW equipment? If what you say is true, why does quality vary greatly across models and from year to year? Why would a Nova made at the same factory as a Corolla be deemed a less reliable vehicle just because it has a different label? Pardon me for not adding a qualifier “certain” CVT’s.

CR does doesn’t rank corporations that manufacture cars. It ranks brands. Reliability of particular models is more meaningful than brands.

If you outsource parts of cars you build, you set specifications and maintain quality through your QMS protocols. The new Supra with the BMW drivetrain is very reliable. Going back darn near forty years, I would give you that the Nova/Corolla vehicles from the NUMMI partnership were equally good, and that they were superior to the GM Cavaliers and what have you at the time. Manufacturers absolutely set and maintain their quality standards.

 

[Elkins45]

Except generally speaking, there aren’t “Buick” and “Chevrolet” factories. And no amount of quality control during assembly will overcome poor design or low quality components. But setting that aside, aren’t you agreeing with me that branding is a shallow and inadequate means of identifying reliability? A crown Vic and a Focus have very different reliability ratings but are lumped together in one brand.

Reliability should probably be measured by specific model and year, or perhaps by generation. Brand reliability ratings are just an average of those individual model ratings. The larger the brand the less reliable those averages would be. Think about a company like Mazda that only offers a handful of models in the US compared to Chevrolet who has dozens: one bad (or good) model would sway the average far more for Mazda than for Chevrolet.

 

[CapitalTruck]

I dunno, my parents had an '87, and it needed an engine at 127k as it couldn't go 100 miles without needing another quart of oil. That and the rear axle seals. Then there was the crash safety... idler arms and probably a few other things.

I'd probably snap one up though if I could find a cheap rust free one. Ours did make at least 250k, and when I say it was used by at least 3 teen boy drivers, I mean to say "it was beaten half to death" in the nicest of ways. And it seemed to not care, and was sold in driving condition. And despite living in Maine for 10 years it was relatively rust free. Take that Toyota.

87…one of the early ones. I pray it didn’t have that anemic 4 cyl.

 

[supton]

87…one of the early ones. I pray it didn’t have that anemic 4 cyl.

Nope, the mighty TBI 4.3. I shouldn't laugh, that thing took several trips between Maine and DC, with a family of 6 and a 27' travel trailer in tow. No wonder it started drinking oil at 100k.

 

[Reloader59]

That list is a joke!

 

[CZ75]

All the marques are producing garbage in every imaginable way.

It's that bad?

 

[4WD]

It's that bad?

Yes, we should invest in well made sneakers and just walk