Auto brand reliability

Texas Proud

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Joined
May 16, 2005
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I saw this chart on Yahoo and thought I would share...

crAutochart-02.jpg




Seems like the domestic brands have a long way to go.....

Foreign brands shut out Detroit in Consumer Reports
 
I saw this same chart on something I was looking at over the weekend. My personal experience agrees with this, I'll never buy another GM product again.
 
We have two Toyotas, but it's still disappointing to see, I want the US automakers to do well. And I thought the US automakers had improved reliability, and that the Japanese automakers had slipped, IOW the gap had narrowed? I do notice when I flip through the CR reliability charts for individual models that some domestic models do very well and others are abysmal whereas Toyota, Honda and some others almost never have any "bad" reliability models. Sad for the US...

Cost of repairs is another consideration the chart doesn't speak to. The Volvo, BMW, Audi we had (and especially Dad's Mercedes) were fairly reliable (though not equal to Toyota or Honda) - but when repairs or even routine maintenance was required, the prices were criminal! $1200 for brakes on my DW's Audi TT at 66K miles was normal per the dealer :mad: that car never made it to another brake job, it was traded for a Toyota.
 
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Though I currently have a Prius, my previous three vehicles were Chevies. My last car was a truck; a Silverado, owned 13 years and 115k miles with no repairs. The previous pickup ate two starters, but otherwise no problems. So, not bad, in my n=1 experience.

As always, YMMV...
 
Just 2 weeks ago I turned in my 85,000 mile 2004 Infiniti G35 coupe for an old-f^&t Lexus ES. Sadly, I have some considerable back problems that made shifting the clutch an issue, never mind the effort it took to get out of the low seat! I considered American brands (prior to 2004 I was a loyal Ford owner) but just couldn't do it.
I found the Lexus more luxurious and was swayed by their known reliability. Of course, I still miss my sports car :(
 
The surprise to me in this graph was Mazda... I thought that when Ford invested in them awhile back they started to share engines etc.... so I have not looked at a Mazda for my last few cars...
 
Every American car I've owned - Ford, Chevy and Chrysler - has been a disappointment. Every Honda I've owned, manufactured here in the US in Marysville, Ohio, has been very reliable. Obviously the American worker can produce a good car. It's the bean counters in Detroit who screwed up the American car industry.
 
I've always known that Lexus, Toyota, Honda, etc. have consistently held some of the top positions, but I didn't realize Subaru and Mazda were there as well. Like other posters here, I've had similar bad experiences with Ford and Dodge and nothing but great experiences with my Toyotas and Hondas. It would be very hard to convince me to ever change again... unless QC changes for the worse for Japan and/or for the better for US. Cars are too expensive to go into something with questionable reliability.
 
FORD - Found on the Road Dead or First on Rust and Deterioration
FIAT - Failed Italian Automobile Technology
GMC - Got a Mechanic Coming?
HONDA - Had One, Never Did Again
JAGUAR - Just A Guess, U Are Rich ?
BMW - Bags More Women
PORCHE - Proof Of Rich Spoiled Children Having Everything
 
FORD - Found on the Road Dead or First on Rust and Deterioration
FIAT - Failed Italian Automobile Technology
GMC - Got a Mechanic Coming?
HONDA - Had One, Never Did Again
JAGUAR - Just A Guess, U Are Rich ?
BMW - Bags More Women
PORCHE - Proof Of Rich Spoiled Children Having Everything

AUDI - Accelerates under demonic influence
 
FIAT - Fix It Again, Tony
 
the real funny this is this means absolutly nothing...

it is about maintaining your vehicle, if you don't it might be a statisically feature, if you do your car might outlive you.
 
Glad to see Mazda way up there. I just got my first one 3 months ago - a Mazda3 Grand Touring hatchback with Skyactive. It's incredibly fun to drive and the gas mileage is great. But I think my 2013 is the last model year to be made in Japan so we'll see how quality holds up as production moves to Mexico.

EDIT: Dodge & Ford scored pretty low but my Ford Taurus lasted 16 years with only a couple of minor things going wrong and my '99 Dodge Ram is still going strong and approaching 200K miles.
 
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I had a ford pickup new in 95. sold in 06 for a new chevy pickup. still have the chevy. I never replaced anything but brakes and tires. plus routine maintainence. I have been looking at toyota for a new car and when I talk to the service people their shop rate is close to 100 per hour. scary.
 
Take a look at Consumers Report......you'll see a lot of GM recommended models. And, it you want cheap and reliable look at the Koreans......that have made impressive improvements in the last couple of years.

I'm selling off a 4 year old Buick Lecrosse with 35,000 miles next month.....It's never had one bit of warranty work performed. Sometimes when a Toyoda breaks down,say 'Everything breaks once in a while" When a domestic brakes down they say: "see, Detroit built another lousy car" Am I prejudiced? Sort of, I have distant family in Detroit, and I know the Japanese frown upon buying anything but their own products because they would be disloyal to their fellow Countrymen......So, you don't see many BMW's or Audi's in Japan.

I agree that Detroit has to earn our business. I don't believe, however, that there is significant difference in quality except for a very few models. So, before you buy, look at the model stay away from the losers....regardless of who built them Me? I buy Detroit and Korean ......both have been very reliable the past few years.
 
The surprise to me in this graph was Mazda... I thought that when Ford invested in them awhile back they started to share engines etc.... so I have not looked at a Mazda for my last few cars...

+1 was also surprised about their reliability and test scores. Personally, I am partial to Hondas ever since my son was broadsided in his Civic by a Camry who was fleeing the police at 80+ MPH. I suspect in many other cars he would have been killed.
 
I own a RENAULT

Havent heard a funny one on this, so must be a good car:)

RENAULT-Rarely Ever Nice And Usually Loadsa Trouble
RENAULT-Retarded Engine, No Acceleration, Ugly Lump of Trash

You asked...:rolleyes:
 
Oh no.
Not another Consumer Distorts auto thread :facepalm:


You might think so, but with (IIRC) 8 million responses I don't see how it is distorted...

Show me anything else that rates cars for the long term that is not distorted and actually shows something different than what is here... I would like to see it...
 
Glad to see Mazda way up there. I just got my first one 3 months ago - a Mazda3 Grand Touring hatchback with Skyactive. It's incredibly fun to drive and the gas mileage is great. But I think my 2013 is the last model year to be made in Japan so we'll see how quality holds up as production moves to Mexico.

EDIT: Dodge & Ford scored pretty low but my Ford Taurus lasted 16 years with only a couple of minor things going wrong and my '99 Dodge Ram is still going strong and approaching 200K miles.


One of the problems with reliability is that most people view it as a one off... IOW, my car lasted 16 years etc. etc... I am happy... and I actually had a good Chevy for over 10 years..

But, if you have a fleet... it is different... where I worked at mega, they had a small fleet in the dept I worked.... something in the neighborhood of 50 cars... most were Ford Taurus... between 50K to 100K the majority of them needed a new transmission... they were about 3 years old... sure, there were a few that had zero problems.... but on average they sucked...
 
I own a RENAULT

Havent heard a funny one on this, so must be a good car:)

I learned on an old Renault Dauphene back in the early 60s. Fun little car kind of like a VW beetle only slightly less expensive. I don't think you can find Renault in the US today.

Wife has a 2011 Ford F150 and I drive a 2012 Ford Escape. The first new cars we have purchased but they were just before retiring with the hopes they would last until we need to give up our drivers license. So far they seem to be doing well. We'll see. I did my research on cost and value. The Ford dealer was the only one who would work with me. Toyota, Honda, and Mazda wasted my time and would not budge off the sticker. I guess they didn't want my money (I pay cash only) so I walked.

Cheers!
 

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