Reliability Survey Says GM Makes HUGE Strides, Asia Dominates, Europeans Floundering

Reliability Survey Says GM Makes HUGE Strides, Asia Dominates, Europeans Floundering
In Consumer Report's annual reliability survey, results were intriguing with 2010 posting some surprising results. American manufacturers made some serious moves, Asian automakers continued to dominate the top and the Europeans encountered some serious trouble at the bottom.

Although the big news story here is General Motors, one thing people are overlook is that Ford is the most reliable domestic car manufacturer. Yeah, it's great GM has made significant process, but lets reward the winner, Ford.

You know what they say: "Second place is the first loser."

1) Ford
2) GM
3) Chrysler

Consumer Reports attributes much of GM's upwards movement to new product introductions, like the Camaro, Lacrosse and Equinox, as well as dropping brands that were essentially dead weight. Yeah, we're talking about Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn.

Keeping that in mind, maybe the next couple of years will bring Chrysler up a notch or two as the auto group turns the heat up on the others by introducing new products.

Although you wouldn't expect it given the past 12 months, Toyota held strong at the top. Honda did very well too.

Where fanbois will be kicking their troll feet is when you get to the big three, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Consumer Reports says that all three are among the worst in terms of overall reliability.

With that said, take a look at some snippets from the piece down below...

**For the full story, click "Read Article" to see Consumer Report's findings.


On General Motors:

General Motors has improved considerably, though Honda and Toyota still dominate in the latest predicted-reliability Ratings of new cars, according to Consumer Reports 2010 Annual Auto Survey. Eighty-three percent of Chevrolets, General Motor's major brand, now have average or better scores in predicted reliability, up from 50 percent last year.

While some GM nameplates had been among the least reliable brands in past years, they now rank above some major European competitors such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz....



On Toyota:

...Despite recent safety recalls, Toyota models, including those from Scion and Lexus, remained among the most reliable and earned top scores in five vehicle categories: small cars (Yaris), midsized SUVs (FJ Cruiser), luxury SUVs (Lexus LX), minivans (Sienna V6, FWD), and full-size pickups (Tundra V6). Only the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS and the new Lexus IS 250 convertible are below average. The redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius, hurt by antilock brake problems on early vehicles, scored only average. That is quite a drop from previous years...


On European brands:

...While European reliability had been improving, momentum seems to have stalled. All Porsche and Volvo models are rated average or better. But Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are among the worst automakers overall in terms of reliability...

[Source: Consumer Reports]








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Read Article

supercarguysupercarguy - 10/26/2010 11:25:18 PM
+9 Boost
exactly what I expected.


tangotango - 10/27/2010 12:04:29 AM
+12 Boost
"...Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are among the worst automakers overall in terms of reliability."

I have nothing further to add.


darzavdarzav - 10/27/2010 3:34:35 AM
-10 Boost
Really? How unlucky. Ive never had a Benz or Audi give me any problems at all. Considering i never owned a Benz while they were DaimlerChrysler though. Cant say the same for BMW. Every one in the family has had some sort of problem. Dont expect problems from the "ultimate driving machine".

I dont keep my cars for more than 3 years anyway. Highly doubt anything uve said is accurate. Chrysler and some of the brands under GM on the other hand tend to produce some of the worst cars available to consumers.


abcdabcd - 10/27/2010 4:48:59 AM
-4 Boost
"...Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are among the worst automakers overall in terms of reliability."

Why? Becouse they're not doing enough recalls. Despite cars being defecting they're not recalling them for all problems.


0to600to60 - 10/27/2010 8:48:48 AM
-5 Boost
Agree Tango, but darzav, I would pick BMW reliability over MB and Audi's.


bmwdrvrbmwdrvr - 10/27/2010 8:57:53 AM
+1 Boost
thats because for CR BMWs rank higher than the other European makes, it is good to see Audi got on a special list though, as "Worst" reliability for the Audi A6 I see its business as usual at the VW group...


Agent009Agent009 - 10/27/2010 9:04:24 AM
-3 Boost
Does anyone think it is odd that they NEVER take into account recalls?



quizzquizz - 10/27/2010 1:28:40 AM
+1 Boost
It's those damn turbos! 1st generation turbo engines use untested tolerances. It's going to happen to MB's new V8 turbos too, just watch.

Notice that BMW's diesel turbos (which have been around forever) don't have any issues currently? Because they spent the last 15 years working out the kinks.

Get a NA engine I tell you.


85bmw745i85bmw745i - 10/27/2010 1:58:45 AM
0 Boost
I'd like a 735d but unfortunately you can't get a 7 series with the 3.0 turbo diesel. Also the 3.0 td would be a beast in a Z4 and get remarkable fuel economy.


BamajamaBamajama - 10/27/2010 2:16:39 AM
-1 Boost
I still hear ignorant crap like "Fords get only 20 miles to the gallon". It's gonna take more than improvements to fix the American image.


abcdabcd - 10/27/2010 4:54:42 AM
0 Boost
Unfortunately most people have believes instead of knowledge.


uaw_laxuaw_lax - 10/27/2010 10:44:53 AM
-1 Boost
Most people don't have a clue about anything concerning the American auto industry and rely upon info 20 years old. I'm not surprised the least. After Toyota Ford has some of the best hybrids in the world and there non-hybrid cars rival any most Japanese non-hybrid.


JustaCarJustaCar - 10/27/2010 9:30:37 AM
-4 Boost
This is another bogus survey that lumps all problems together to come up with "predicted reliability" ratings. Whether people surveyed report engine problems, brake problems, or problems with their stereo system, these problems all count equally towards the "predicted reliability" score. Most people will not read between the lines and will believe what CR is telling them. Use your brains people!


800over800over - 10/27/2010 11:43:29 AM
0 Boost
So you want a separate "radio reliability" survey? Guess what....if you actually read the reviews you can figure out what the realibility is based on. You can see that (in the above example) that the new Prius has only average reliability because of the brake issue. Then you could see the cars that are nailed because of the radio as well.


pennfootballpennfootball - 10/27/2010 11:56:58 AM
+1 Boost
BMW had a bad year, with five of its 11 models scoring below average. While the BMW M3 topped the sporty cars category, the 1-, 3-, and 5-Series models with the 3.0-liter turbocharged (N54) engine had high problem rates related to the fuel system, among other gripes.


pepito66pepito66 - 10/28/2010 1:46:59 PM
+1 Boost
I always use Mercedes or BMW and I never have all of this bad issues people said so I still a loyal customer for both of them. I love them.



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