From 2009, Reliability Article.

[saberz]

Don't recall seeing this posted, but if so I apologize. Interesting. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/10/620000533/1

Quote:

When it comes to predicted reliability -- coming after years of gab from Detroit about how its cars don't break down anymore -- six American brands rank dead last in Consumer Reports' latest predictions on automotive reliability being released right now. At the other extreme, the best brand is Toyota's Scion. The worst is Chrysler and its least-reliable model is the Town & Country minivan, pictured above. A third of Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge models are considered much worse than average including the new Dodge Journey crossover. Only one Chrysler product is recommended by the magazine, the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup in the four-wheel-drive version. Last year, none got the nod. And the best: The top seven are all Japanese, led by Toyota's Scion, with the eighth a South Korean, Hyundai. Toyota and Honda dominate the reliability charts. Three of the top five models are made by Toyota, including the Lexus ES, Toyota Venza, and Toyota Yaris hatchback. Number one is the Honda Insight, pictured above right. In the press release, Consumer Reports touts the reliability of Fords, saying it is the only Detroit maker with "world-class reliability," yet the top ranking Ford brand is Mercury at 10th, followed by Ford at 16th and Lincoln at 20th. The report lauds the Ford Flex crossover, but rips on all-wheel-drive Lincoln clones of Ford cars, the MKS, MKX and MKZ. "They are now consistently making cars with world-class reliability," said Rik Paul, automotive editor of the magazine. The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, both built on the same platform, beat out the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in reliability for the second year in a row. There are vast differences between models. A new Honda Insight is 27 times less likely to have a problem than the biggest dog in the pack, the Volkswagen Touareg, Consumer Reports says. Here's the brand ranking, best to worst: 1. Scion 2. Honda 3. Toyota 4. Infiniti 5. Acura 6. Mitsubishi 7. Lexus 8. Hyundai 9. Porsche 10. Mercury 11. Saab 12.Subaru 13. Suzuki 14. Kia 15. Mazda 16. Ford 17. Nissan 18. Volvo 19. Buick 20. Lincoln 21. Volkswagen 22. Pontiac 23. Mercedes-Benz 24. Audi 25. Chevrolet 26. BMW 27. Mini 28. GMC 29. Saturn 30. Jeep 31. Dodge 32. Cadillac 33. Chrysler

 

[Autobahn88]

Does that article surprise you? Anyway, you are just going to start a war with posting this. I can see this being locked very soon.

 

[saberz]

Wow everyone is jumping on the locked band wagon as of late. I thought it would be an interesting article as I've been reading a bunch of forums. This was from a Jeep forum where they were discussing the listing and wondering how CR determined what is reliable. Owners of Offroad vehicles having problems, or how the problems are determined to be a problem etc. The article actually does surprise me. Seeing Caddy's on the bottom of the list, Ford is up there in the listing etc. It's a turn of events and I am sure come CR's next report the tables will be quickly turned.

 

[mechanicx]

Consumer Reports predicted reliability is bogus. I see that you have an '07 G6. Do you think it has been near bottom reliability of all the makes out there? I doubt it.

 

[saberz]

I do believe the finish of the G6 to be less quality than other vehicles. But this depends on the year of the G6. 05-06 had many issues, the 07 carries the ISS issue over but replaced the electronic steering assist with the reliable power steering again. I did my homework on the car, and really what affected my decision on it was price, and the fact that it gets better mileage than my VG33 powered Xterra with its fuel problems. There is a fit and finish aspect to manufacturer's, some of them feel cheap, and others feel great. It's one layer of many that determines a car's worth reliability wise.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Consumer reports ratings are garbage on cars. They don't even verify if you own what you rate, it's all anecdotal! Goofy rag with an agenda.

 

[saberz]

That's what I've been reading following this article. Seem's a lot of their ratings don't appear to be applicable most of the time.

 

[LS2JSTS]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Consumer reports ratings are garbage on cars. They don't even verify if you own what you rate, it's all anecdotal! Goofy rag with an agenda.

+1

 

[VNTS]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Consumer reports ratings are garbage on cars. They don't even verify if you own what you rate, it's all anecdotal! Goofy rag with an agenda.

CR is only good for lining bird cages or fish wrap. And I agree this should be locked just another Domestic bashing thread based on grabage data.

 

[Jim_Beverlin]

And Mercury ranks in the top 10. So, Ford drops it. They should have ash canned Lincoln. Just my opinion.

 

[Autobahn88]

Take consumer reports with a grain of salt. I wouldn't put too much faith in their findings. I tend to stay away from reliablility surveys since they are vague and bias.

 

[saberz]

Originally Posted By: Jim_Beverlin

And Mercury ranks in the top 10. So, Ford drops it. They should have ash canned Lincoln. Just my opinion.

The thing is, both Ford and GM had those product lines that were middle of the road(purpose wise). Chevy and Ford being the average joe's cars. Cadillac and Lincoln being the wealthier/luxury line. Mercury and Buick really shouldn't have been a mid-road for the two. No idea why Buick is around still, granted their new lineup is nice, but I rarely see them and doubt they are a high seller here(and I know about them being#1 in China). They could have kept it in China, and brought over the vehicle designs that were good. Ford could have re-purposed Mercury, to what I don't know. Granted the Mercuries had a nicer fit and finish than their Ford counterparts in most cases but paying a bit more for practically the same car(Mercury GM, Ford CV). Both can come with leather and these options.

 

[alphasparky353]

Well I doubt they just made it all up, sure take it with a grain of salt. There are Lies, [censored] lies, and statistics said Mr. Churchill. I like the surveys that rate certain car as best built. [censored] I want a car that is right from the factory AND reliable for the long term. Dont give me a tailgate stereo or a beverage cooler, give me a car that has a reasonable life expectancy with proper maintenance. Hey [email protected]@t happens and sometimes parts go bad, thats just the truth and should be the exception to the rule not the norm. Dealers and manufacturers washing their hands on motors or transmissions when they have failed within a few thousand kilometers is unnaceptable. I'd buy a Ford for sure even though I am a Toyota fan, the truth is they are building good cars with none of my tax dollars to help. I read in the paper that the Canadian government spent many millions of dollars to save each job. Nice.

 

[yeti]

just to level the playing field -- a j.d power study in the local paper from july 16 -- in the last paragraph --"for the second consecutive year, the highest volume japanese- brands ,honda, nissan and toyota scored below the industry average".don't know if this was posted or not. if not-- what a surprise. it would be nice to see reports covering both the big 3, and foreign automakers here, in the interest of fair play -- but we all know the bias here.let's all not get stupid here, or the thread will soon be locked. have a good night.

 

[Autobahn88]

Well, reliability is a matter of opinion and opinions vary. One person who goes through window regulators, minor electrical problems may say that their car is unreliable but the car has never left them stranded. In my books that makes a car reliable. My Saab has a horrible rating but the car has never let me down. Same with my old jetta. I had that car for 9 years and put over 300 000kms on that car and drove that car all over the place. Again, never let me down. The magic word here is preventive maint.

 

[yeti]

"opinions vary".exactly. tell that to the bashers.one cannot be objective about vehicles, so intelligent people take with a grain of salt what they read in this mag about cars. it's a great mag if you want to check out appliances, electronic items,paint, or tools, as examples. they can be objective about these items. to rate cars, food items(coffee, chocolate, beer, wine, etc.) is just plain dumb.one cannot be objective about these things, BECAUSE opinions vary. just the idea of that rag -- i mean mag -- discussing the "predicted" reliability of vehicles, or any products, for that matter, is moronic.think about it. how can anyone predict the reliability of any product, and be accurate ? just the thought of it is ludicrous.the ones that believe these predictions likely believe that the end is in 2012. this mag, obviously, employs prophets.one thing that those "prophets" do very well, is prey on the fact that the average consumer is not very bright.that's just the way it is.have a good night.

 

[saberz]

Originally Posted By: Autobahn88

Well, reliability is a matter of opinion and opinions vary. One person who goes through window regulators, minor electrical problems may say that their car is unreliable but the car has never left them stranded. In my books that makes a car reliable. My Saab has a horrible rating but the car has never let me down. Same with my old jetta. I had that car for 9 years and put over 300 000kms on that car and drove that car all over the place. Again, never let me down. The magic word here is preventive maint.

You speak the truth. Reliability is opinion, and I will add "luck of the draw". Two people can buy the same car, one can have problems out the wazoo and another can be 100% trouble free. So if its their own testing they probably got something that wasn't really reflective of the full product line.