October 2007

Reliability trends

Our latest survey tracks a decade’s worth of trouble

 

Over the years, the reliability of Toyota-built vehicles (including Lexus and Scion) has been nothing short of sterling. However, our 2007 Annual Car Reliability Survey indicates that the Japanese automaker has slipped a bit. Three models manufactured by Toyota, including a version of the top-selling Camry, now rate below average in our predicted reliability.

By contrast, Ford's domestic makes have made considerable improvements in reliability. Of the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury models in our survey, 93 percent scored average or better in predicted reliability.

Other news from our latest survey:

• Overall, Asian models still dominate in reliability, accounting for 34 of the 39 models in the Most reliable new car list. Thirty-one are Japanese and three are South Korean.
  
  
• Despite Toyota's problems, the automaker still ranks third overall in reliability, behind only Honda and Subaru, with 17 models in the best list. Honda has seven with a smaller model lineup.
  
  
• Only four domestic models made the Most reliable list: the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Pontiac Vibe, and the two-wheel-drive Ford F-150 with the V6 engine. U.S. makes, however, account for almost half the models--20 of 44--on the Least reliable list. There are 13 from GM, 6 from Chrysler, and 1 from Ford.
  
  
• European makes account for 17 models on the Least reliable list. This includes six each from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen/Audi.
  
  

THE SURVEY AND OUR RATINGS

The 2007 Annual Car Reliability Survey is the largest of its kind and gathered responses on almost 1.3 million vehicles owned or leased by Consumer Reports or ConsumerReports.org subscribers. Those results underpin the most comprehensive reliability data you'll find anywhere. Such a large survey response allows us to provide reliability data on most new or redesigned for 2007 models, and we can also report on some expensive and low-volume models.

Predicted reliability for 2008 models is our forecast of how well the models that are currently on sale are likely to hold up, based on how they've done in the past. It's based on the reported overall reliability (used car verdicts) for the newest three models years (2005-2007) if the model hasn't changed significantly for 2008. One or two years of reliability data may be used if a model was new or has been redesigned in that period or if we don't have data for more years.

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