CR’s Automobile Reliability Survey – Toyota Owns It

[xcel]

Asian’s own 9 of the top 10 while domestics are bottom dwellers.

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Oct. 29, 2012

If one word could describe this year’s reliability survey, it would be “Toyota”.

Consumer Reports just minutes ago released their 2012 Reliability survey and while we know the usual culprits will continue to occupy the top and the bottom, to see Toyota’s brands take the top 3 in convincing fashion is … well … Toyota.

From the release, Japanese brands claimed the top seven spots in new-car reliability. At the other end of the spectrum, Ford now ranks second from the bottom, followed closely by Lincoln???

Each Toyota brand touts that their entire product range has average or better predicted reliability. The subcompact Toyota Prius C earned Consumer Reports top overall reliability rating although was not a recommended vehicle given its dynamics and low rent interior by comparison to its B-segment competitors.

Overall, of the 90 Japanese models, 86 were average or better reliability, with 35 with the highest ratings.

Ford Falls From Grace

Just two years ago, Ford was Detroit's reliability leader. It cracked the top 10 among brands in Consumer Reports predicted-reliability scores, with more than 90 percent of its models being average or better. Now, 60 percent of its models are below average, with the worst being literally off the chart at 226-percent worse than the average car.

Several factors contributed to Ford's decline in Consumer Reports reliability rankings. A few new or redesigned models, including the Explorer, Fiesta, and Focus, came out of the gate with more problems than normal. What has continued to damage the brand however is the MyFord/MyLincoln Touch electronic infotainment system. It has been added to many vehicles and with disillusioned owners from across the continent, continues to hard the iconic brands name via poor reliability scores.

CR added that three historically reliable Ford models--the Escape and Fusion and Lincoln MKZ--were redesigned for 2013 and not included in this analysis.

Cadillac is the top domestic brand, having moved up 14 spots this year. All GM nameplates--Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC--rose in the ranking. The Volt extended-range electric car continues to have above-average reliability, and the compact Chevrolet Cruze, dismal in its first year, improved to average.

Chrysler brands had a few setbacks. This year, Consumer Reports has enough data to report that problems with some of the recently revamped Chrysler and Dodge models have dragged the nameplates' rankings down. Last year Jeep was the top-ranked domestic brand, but it has since slid down six positions. Separating its trucks into a new nameplate, Ram, didn't help Dodge's standing.

The Europeans

The story from Europe is decidedly upbeat, with all of the German luxury brands showing improvement. Six of the seven Audis in CR's survey rated average or better, as did 10 of the 12 BMWs. Mercedes-Benz made a good showing, with the turbocharged, four-cylinder C250 sedan doing well in its first year and the V6 E-Class sedan moving from average to above average. But the redesigned M-Class came in below average in its first year. Volkswagen had mixed results due to troubles with the Beetle, GTI, Jetta, and Touareg.

Consumer Reports' Car Reliability Survey

Manufacturers: Best to Worst

Scion
Toyota
Lexus
Mazda
Subaru
Honda
Acura
Audi
Infiniti
Kia

…

Jaguar
Ford
Lincoln
Ram
Dodge
Chrysler
Mini
Buick
Volvo
Jeep

CR's 10 least reliable cars?

The vehicles listed below are the 10 least reliable new cars in the CR reliability survey. Predicted reliability is typically based on the newest three model years if a model hasn't been redesigned in that period, Models with an asterisk (*) are based on data of one model year only. Click on the vehicles below to visit the model overview pages to see how they performed in our tests and also view a more-detailed look at reliability broken down by 17 potential trouble spots. (Model overview pages are available to online subscribers.)

Least reliable vehicles, listed in order of Ratings score starting with the worst score.

1. Ford Explorer (V6, 4WD)
2. Ford Focus (hatchback)*
3. Jaguar XF*
4. Mini Cooper Countryman
5. Ford Explorer (V6, 2WD)
6. Lincoln MKX
7. Ram 2500 (turbodiesel)
8. Jaguar XJ*
9. Lincoln MKT*
10. Ford Flex EcoBoost

According to the CR release, the findings for the Survey were based on subscribers' experiences with 1.2 million vehicles. The organization uses that extensive data to predict how well new cars that are currently on sale will likely hold up.

[WriConsult]

Disappointing that Ford has fallen so much. Odd too, since so many of their vehicle chassis are shared with Mazda, which has shown improvement.

But then again, Ford's problems aren't really a reliability problem, they're a design problem. Ford's Infotainment systems rarely malfunction in the strict sense; it's just that they function so poorly they sometimes seem broken.

The response to Ford's design flaw highlights the fundamental flaw in CR's methodology: even though it purports to be the largest objective measure of vehicle reliability, its data collection is way too subjective, and that taints the whole effort. CR subscribers are asked to report problems that they "consider serious" in terms of downtime, cost or hassle. Well, that's pretty open to interpretation, isn't it? And it's going to be heavily influenced by expectations. I wonder if part of the reason that VWs have scored better in recent years is that their owners expect to have problems, and are pleasantly surprised when their cars aren't completely falling apart (but still exhibit a level of reliability that would still send Honda or Toyota owners into fits of outrage). This methodology also fails to fully take repair cost into account: in my experience VW, for example, often has very expensive parts compared to other manufacturers, and their vehicles often include byzantine systems that require more shop hours (and, for normal people who hire mechanics to fix their cars), a lot more dollars to fix.

If the results are to be believed, it certainly is also disappointing that Hyundai scored only average, and ranked 17th of 28 makes, only one notch above Volkswagen.

Another big disappointment is that the new Nissan Versa sedan ranked among the least reliable small cars, along with the Ford Focus and VW Jetta. Looks like Nissan really cheaped out on that car, which does not bode well for the redesign of the Versa hatchback, currently a somewhat dated but still very decent and IMO underrated car.

[ALS]

First Toyota and the absolute best car I have ever owned. Nicest ? NO, but the one car that has been the most reliable with almost zero problems in the three years I've owned it.

I lost a rubber bumper off the drivers door and had a loose plug on the driver side window panel. The rubber bumper was a $1.50 part and five seconds to repair and the window switch was pushing the plug fully onto the window switch. Both problems where covered under the manufactures warranty.

[Jay]

The CR representative in the video makes excuses for Ford's and some other manufacturers' poor showing by saying that they've redesigned some models and the same are having teething problems to be expected. And yet the most reliable car for sale in the US?: The Toyota Prius C--a brand new car. Not only is it brand new, but it's a best seller also. Usually when quantity goes up, quality goes down. So it's doubly remarkable that Toyota has managed to keep reliability and quality high on this high-volume, brand new car.

[xcel]

Hi Jay:

The c is brand new but it is far from a best seller. Only a little over 3K per month.

Wayne

[Prozac]

While I understand all of this, it's still the luck of the draw. My wife's Saturn Vue has only cost $600 in repairs (to include standard brake replacement) since we bought it new in Dec '04. About $200 of those repairs came about when she slid off the road during an ice storm.

I contribute most of this to all of the PM that I do. It currently has 90k (she doesn't drive that much) and drives just as well as it did when we pulled it out of the showroom. We figure once it has reached the 10 year mark it will go to my son to drive and she will get the Fiat 500 and I will pick up a Subaru Outback 6 speed to pick up the people hauling duty.

Good job Toyota! Poor job Ford! Sometimes technology just shouldn't be released.

[Pavel4]

I've never put too much store in the results of CR surveys. We have owned/still own a number of vehicles, over the last decades, that CR rated lowly. Most were fine and most importantly were the vehicles we wanted. For example, our '96 Landrover Discovery was bought new and still is thoroughly enjoyed. Yes, it has some quirks that needed attention but there was only one serious problem in all the years - we still limped home.
A friend of ours always buys what CR recommends and has never needed anything beyond an 'appliance vehicle' - her Toyotas simply are not as enjoyable as the rated-poorer vehicles we have bought. She only drives because she must.
In the end, it often depends on the driver as much as the vehicle.

[Bruce]

In the end, it often depends on the driver as much as the vehicle.

Unfortunately, this factor alone can't help but influence the survey's results. Even though both have their extremes, I'd expect the typical Explorer owner is much more likely to mercilessly beat on a vehicle than the typical Prius owner.

[EdwinTheMagnificent]

And the typical Explorer owner doesn't mind lots of $$$ spent on fuel,tires,brakes,and other stress-related maintenance. They may not even be aware of it.

[Indigo]

My partner's Scion xD (2008) has been exceedingly reliable. The car is almost paid off and still gets about 4 MPG above the EPA rating. It's never needed anything except routine maintenance and tires.

My Insight-II has only ever had one component failure (the TPMS gadget). I still get about 51 highway and 43 city.