Luxury brands take beating in auto-reliability survey

David Champion, the magazine's director of automotive testing, blamed one model for Lexus' fall, the midsize GS that was redesigned last year. He said the car had problems in three areas — body integrity, defined as rattles or poorly fitting panels; body hardware, such as locks and trunk mechanisms; and the sound system.

The model still rated average and earned a purchase recommendation. All other Lexus models were better than average.

Toyota officials looked at the bright side. "We had three of the top five. It reflects well on our products," spokesman Xavier Dominicis said.

Mercedes, DaimlerChrysler's luxury brand, tumbled four places to the cellar, "a very poor showing for a very expensive car," Champion said. Mercedes' quality is so imperiled that a 9-year-old Lexus LS 400 has potentially fewer problems than a new Mercedes ML. Champion said of Mercedes: "They perform well, have great fit and finish. But they seem to have a lot of problems with the seven-speed automatic transmission in all their products, and power accessories and electrical systems."

Predicted reliability of brands by Consumer Reports survey

1. Toyota
2. Honda
3. Scion
4. Acura
5. Lexus
6. Subaru
7. Hyundai
8. Infiniti
9. Mitsubishi
10. Mercury
11. Mazda
12. Audi
13. Lincoln
14. GMC
15. Volvo
16. Ford
17. Kia
18. Buick
19. BMW
20. Pontiac
21. Chevrolet
22. Dodge
23. Chrysler
24. Nissan
25. Saab
26. Suzuki
27. Volkswagen
28. Mini
29. Porsche
30. Saturn
31. Cadillac
32. Jeep
33. Jaguar
34. Hummer
35. Land Rover
36. Mercedes-Benz

Good bets | Bad bets
Acura Integra | BMW 7 Series
Acura MDX | BMW X5 (v8)
Acura RL | Chevrolet Astro
Acura RSX (except '06) | Chevrolet Blazer
Acura TL | Chevrolet Express
Acura TSX | Chevrolet S-10 (4WD)
Buick Regal | Chevrolet Venture, Uplander
Chevrolet Prizm | Chrysler Town & Country (awd)
Honda Accord | Dodge Caravan (awd)
Honda Civic | GMC Jimmy
Honda Civic hybrid | GMC Sonoma (4wd)
Honda CR-V | GMC Safari
Honda Element | GMC Savana
HondaOdyssey | Infiniti QX56
Honda Pilot | Jaguar S-Type
Honda Prelude | Jaguar X-Type
Honda S2000 | Jeep Grand Cherokee
Infiniti FX | Kia Sedona (except '06)
Infiniti G20 | Land Rover Discovery, LR3
Infiniti G35 | Lincoln Aviator
Infiniti I30, I35 | Lincoln Navigator
Infiniti QX4 | Mercedes-Benz CLK
Lexus ES | Mercedes-Benz M-Class (v8)
Lexus GS | Mercedes-Benz S-Class (v8)
Lexus GX | Mercedes-Benz SL
Lexus IS | Nissan Armada
Lexus LS | Nissan Titan
Lexus EX | Oldsmobile Bravada
Lexus SC | Oldsmobile Cutlass
Lincoln Town Car | Oldsmobile Silhouette
Mazda Millenia | Pontic Aztek
Mazda MX-5 Miata | Pontiac Trans Sport, Montana, Montana SV6
Mazda Prote'ge' | Volkswagen Cabrio
Mazda3 | Volkswagen Jetta (turbo, gas)
Nissan Altima | Volkswagen Jetta (v6)
Nissan Maxima | Volkswagen New Beetle (4 cyl.)
Nissan Pathfinder | Volkswagen Touareg
Pontiac Vibe | Volvo XC90 (6-cyl.)
Scion xB
Subaru Forester
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Impreza WRX
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Avalon
Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry Solara
Toyota Celica
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Echo
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Matrix
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Sequia
Toyota Sienna
Toyota Tundra
Read Article

Willis - 3/1/2007 2:33:42 PM

+5 Boost

I think there's something wrong with you. Read what you posted.

PREDICTED RELIABILITY is the word.

I own a Mercedes, one of the previously most unreliable models, the C class. My C230 has been flawless ever since I got it about a year ago

Furthermore, do you really suspect companies are this stupid? Everyone on Autospies acts like little kids. These companies are run by professionals. They make mistakes, but they also fix them.

In my experience, Mercedes is coming back quite strongly. Before buying my C230, I testdrove the old original C240 and I wasn't impressed with the interior or the car for the matter. I wasn't about to drive the refreshed C class because of this, until I was convinced by my wife to give it a try. Guess what? I drove the refreshed C class and was impressed with how the interior was cleaned up, the solidity and quality feel of the car increased and the new V6 motor under the hood. That's evidence enough that someone at Mercedes cares and addresses issues.

You're a known Toyota troll, so I am not surprised at this Mercedes bashing. Give it a rest and look at the facts.

Mercedes quality has improved and this WILL NOT SHOW on JD Powers or other surveys overnight. It will take months, if not a year or two to show up.

rg12345 - 3/1/2007 2:37:14 PM

+4 Boost

Well, if the survey is wrong Mercedes should sue all the way down. I am not a Merc fan but I like their cars. If their place is really at the end of the list then they have baaad cars. But otherwise, Consumer Reports should be fined really good. C.R. did some other "small" mistakes, and a result of that was killing different car models or even the entire make for several years, until the public went back to them. There should be no mistakes in the reports, the cost for car makers are huge to fix/improve their image back.

I recall Mercedes building excellent cars in the past, with over 20 years reliability (even droven as a cab). Of course some specific model in some specific years weren't that good, but that didn't happen all day long. And all other makers have their own problems once in a while. Mercedes had a very good name no more then a few years ago, I don't see why they would let that go. Unless they are really stupid. Or somebody did a mistakes in the surveys.

Threepoint1415926 - 3/1/2007 3:06:01 PM

+3 Boost

You gotta be kidding me right? Mercedes built its reputation on amazing build quality and reliability. Beginning with the bean counter take over about 1995, quality suffered. 10 years of Jürgen Schrempp did more damage than 100 years of good was able to make up for in terms of PR.

Old Mercedes buyers know this and they know how the change happened and what kinds of changes were made because we watched it unfold. It also means we're in a unique position to see the mistakes of a previous leader reverse themselves and what visible cues this reverse includes. In this realization, I see why new buyers such as yourself are weary. I maintain then, by my own experience, that Mercedes is going back uphill. I own a 240D with 400K miles on it and I'm quite positive that at this rate, in a few years I can go buy another Mercedes ready to put on just as many. On that note, even when that new and reliable car is ready for dollar's purchase, the ratings of Jürgen Schrempp's cars will show the new model to be unwilling to "withstand the test of time" as you say.

Threepoint1415926 - 3/2/2007 3:27:06 PM

+1 Boost

I don't think you read my post.... If you did, it clearly wasn't understood.

MPowerDK - 3/1/2007 3:20:37 PM

0 Boost

You cant use this for anything, they seem to bee different for every country thas has those lists.

IamEvilHomer - 3/1/2007 3:24:31 PM

0 Boost

Audi top of the Germans :)

Rupert - 3/1/2007 5:47:16 PM

0 Boost

Audi's pretty high.

trd1 - 3/1/2007 6:47:44 PM

0 Boost

haha this article is pretty funny, that a 9 year old ls400 has less problems then a 06 ML.

izfuney - 3/1/2007 6:51:29 PM

-2 Boost

Whoa, this list is not predictive but a list of cars that have done well.
MB has taken a dive from 1995 coupled with a lot of innovative tech that is buggy.

To Threepoint1415926, blaming Jürgen Schrempp is not just done, he probably save MB from disaster. MB has regained its lustre as an innovator despite its quality problems. Their onward drive to improve quality will bear a lot of fruit in the years to come.
While i am a fan of Toyota for their Kaizen philosophy, their new LS 460 is their first car to come even close to the complexity of MB cars. We shall see how it does over the long term.

S4cabriofoxone - 3/1/2007 8:17:23 PM

0 Boost

So it's settled!

Now you all know that Audi really is ONLY behind the three Japanese brands!

S4cabriofoxone - 3/1/2007 8:18:05 PM

+1 Boost

Interesting that Mercedes dips below Land Rover.

I guess their "quality control" centers aren't all they're made out to be...

S4cabriofoxone - 3/1/2007 9:42:32 PM

+1 Boost

Are you including Subaru?

I didn't think they owned Subaru yet.

Bill - 3/2/2007 9:44:22 AM

-1 Boost

Because American consumers suffer from heart attacks when their beloved cupholders break and their Diet Coke spills over their Louis Vuitton purses. ;)

Are you related to the German World War II flying ace Erich Hartmann with 352 kills? Your name is just very suspicious.

Sorry for asking. And I apologize if that just happens to be your real name. I do know that Erich and Hartmann are very common German first and last names.

Rupert - 3/2/2007 12:49:09 PM

+1 Boost

For Americans putting air in the tyres counts as a fault.