Consumer Reports 2007 Annual Car Reliability Survey highlights

After years of sterling reliability, Toyota is showing cracks in its armor, according to data from Consumer Reports' 2007 Annual Car Reliability Survey. By contrast, Ford's domestic brands have made considerable improvements.

The V6 version of the company's top-selling Camry, and the four-wheel-drive V8 version of the Tundra pickup, both redesigned for 2007, now rate below average in Consumer Reports' predicted reliability rating. (This rating does not apply to previous model years.) In addition, the all-wheel-drive version of the Lexus GS sedan also received a below average rating. Because Consumer Reports does not recommend models with below-average reliability, these models no longer make CR's "Recommended" list.

The four-cylinder and hybrid versions of the Camry and hybrid, rear-drive version of the GS scored above average in reliability and will continue to be Recommended. Despite these problems, Toyota (including Lexus and Scion) still ranks third in reliability among all automakers, behind only Honda and Subaru. Still, because of these findings, CR will no longer recommend any new or redesigned Toyota-built models without reliability data on a specific design. Previously, new and redesigned Toyota models were recommended because of the automaker's excellent track record, even if CR didn't have sufficient reliability data on the new model. If Toyota returns to its previous record of outstanding overall reliability, CR may resume this practice. Typically, CR will only recommend a vehicle if the magazine has at least one year of reliability data for that specific model.

CR's 2007 survey also shows that the odds of getting a reliable new vehicle from Ford are the best CR has seen in years. Forty-one of 44 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury models (93%) in CR's survey scored average or better in predicted reliability. The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan are among the most reliable cars. They and the two-wheel-drive Ford F-150 V6 make up three of the only four domestic models on Consumer Reports' "Most Reliable" list. In addition, new-for-2007 SUVs such as the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, as well as the freshened Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, were all average or above.

Despite Ford's improvement, U.S. brands account for almost half the models--20 of 44--on CR's list of "Least Reliable" models. Thirteen are from General Motors, 6 from Chrysler, and 1 from Ford. European makes account for 17 models, including six each from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen/Audi. Not all models carrying Asian nameplates are reliable, either. The Hyundai Entourage, Infiniti QX56, Mazda CX-7, Nissan Armada (4WD), Quest, and Titan (4WD), and Toyota Tundra (V8, 4WD) are all on the "Least Reliable" list.

Besides the three Toyota-built models, other notable models with declining reliability include the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Volkswagen Passat (V6).

As for European brands, signs are pointing to an overall improvement. The Audi A3, A4, and A6 are now all above average or better, as are some or all versions of the BMW 3, 5, and 7 Series. The Volvo S60 is also above average. The Porsche 911 is above average and is now recommended.

For the first time in recent years, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (V6 RWD) is no longer below average, although an all-new C-Class has been introduced for 2008. Despite this, Mercedes-Benz still hovers near the bottom in Consumer Reports' predicted reliability scores comparison.

Findings are based on responses on almost 1.3 million vehicles owned or leased by subscribers to Consumer Reports or ConsumerReports.org. The survey was conducted in the spring of 2007 by Consumer Reports' National Survey Research Center and covered model years 1998 to 2007.

For more information, visit the Reliability section of ConsumerReports.org.

The results will also be available in the latest Consumer Reports Cars publication "Best & Worst for 2008" on sale November 6, 2007.

Discuss reliability in the Cars forums.

Comments

[Gary Z]

Too bad so many folks on this group slam CR as being a hack magazine because it lauds Toyota and other Asian brands so much.

No one here is gonna backslide and suddenly praise CR for its credibility just because they're recommending domestic, now are you?

[Yakov F.]

Ford has provably closed the quality gap with Toyota, but a perception gap still exists in the minds of American consumers. A couple more years is probably needed to close that perception gap.

[guygordon]

The only thing I'll applaud CR for is no longer recommending new or redesigned Toyotas based solely on the automaker's past reliability. When was this ever a good idea? Test a vehicle and tell me how it did, but don't give me "predictions" of how well it will do just because it has a Toyota nameplate.

[David]

I wasn't surprised at all to see Toyota Camry V6 was an unreliable model. Recently, Toyota had a lot of recalls compared with the previous years, pointing to a potential design flaw. Also, like Mercedes Benz, Toyota has introduced several new models in the last 5 years or so. One can speculate that they have got their plates full. Recently, the president of Toyota has to acknowledge problems.

I was however surprised to see that Lexus LS460L, the flagship car, did not get an excellent reliability rating. I would have thought Toyota would have done extensive testing on it. But, having test driven one and seen one up close, I guess it should came as no surprised. I saw one design flaw which should not have been overlook in any car, let along a car of this price. Visor...too short. If you're driving with the sun on your side, there is no visor extension to cover the entire left side of the front driver (and passenger) window.

Surprising to me was the much improved reliability at Ford and Porsche. I thought the Porsche 911 were rated below average just last year, what could have change so quickly. I have my doubts about the ratings especially on a relatively low volume car. Great to see Ford improved so much.

Finally, my beloved Miata has top notch reliability rating again.

[sheth]

garyz,

Not sure how this proves that CR is being objective all of a sudden. They should never have been automatically recommending Toyota's in the first place. Furthermore, CR is only saying that domestics are getting better but overall they are still claiming that Asian cars are a much better bet in terms of reliability.

CR doesn't explain how quality scores can be so wildly different for one car or for various models that are on the same architecture and share mechanical components. I do not understand how having 2WD vs 4WD or V6 vs V8 can make a huge difference in quality. IN some cases vehicles do have different transmissions with different engines, but this is not always the case so oftentimes a car is exactly the same in V6 or V8 trim except for its engine.

I also question why CR is making a big deal about the 20 of the 44 worst vehicles being domestic. Domestic brands have more models than Asian brands or European brands. The fact that 17 of the vehicles on the list are European is far more significant when you consider the number of European offerings on the market. While tags like "least reliable" are handy when trying to hype up the latest new car issue from CR it doesnt tell you much about how reliable those vehicles are. For all we know even the least reliable vehicles are relatively reliable. Until we get some problem per vehicle rates to coincide with these "most reliable" and "least reliable" rankings they are essentially pointless.

[Chris]

Surprising that Honda is doing well, since some recent(admittedly anecdotal) evidence shows significant problems with some of their vehicles. Notably, the discontinued top-of-the-line Honda Accord Hybrid:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2007/06/accord_hybrid_r.html

[PMC]

Laties and gentlemen, we must remind ourselves to make the distinction between quality and reliability. Quality says how well the car is crafted; reliability says how long the car will last.
The distinction is most flagrant when we compare the quality of the Mercedes Benz E-Class with the quality of the Toyota Corolla, then compare the reliability between the two.

[rr]

Ladies and gentlemen, I am afraid I would have to disagree with Chris. If a car does not last, it was probably not well-crafted to begin with (except, perhaps, cosmetically).

[PMC]

rr: Then please explain why almost all Mercedes Benz models and the BMW 7-Series model are considered peerless in terms of their quality of craftmanship, yet also sport among the worst reliability and repair records in the industry.
...Or, we can simply admit the fact that these luxury cars from Germany have quality materials tacked on and glued on to otherwise poorly-executed, hastily engineered and sloppily-assembled underpinnings. There's no real substance with these cars; their repair records grotesquely prove this.

[Mike Canada]

I'm surprised that Ford does not sell more Fusions. They're a satisfying car to drive and reliabilty is top-notch. It's an underappreciated car.

[Sam Horowitz]

I seem to have been inflicted with a fault in my 2007 Toyata RAV that is fairly common. It is the vulnerability of a wire, that runs beneath the motor and which serves the dashboard sensors, to be chewing by rodents that that get beneath the engine. It cost me almost $200 to have the wire replaced, since the replacement required removing the intake manifold. Though the car is under warranty this repair was not covered. Hence it is probably not reported to the factory.

I have a close friend who had the same problem with her Toyota Camry, and I was told by the Toyota serviceman who did the job that it is a commonly seen problem.

It seems to be that the use of an armored cable would be an inexpensive way of preventing this problem and I was annoyed to find that such a cable was not used in my repair.

[Ben T]

Ladies and Gentlemen: This is called Consumer Reports. This was a consumer survey and this is the result.

[greenpointpaul]

We just junked a very clean, well-maintained 2001 Ford Escort with about 85K miles on it. We bought it new & know we took good care of it. The engine repairs required would cost more than the value of the car. So long, Ford. We are fed up with your lack of quality & what it has cost us. We are reluctantly convinced that Japan does it better. We would really love to buy American, but the American car makers products aren't cutting it with my money. Is it a work ethic thing, or what?

[Brenda Jones]

I am the owner of a 2007 Toyota Camry V6 - When I get up to 40 mph my car idles really high like it's in the wrong gear. Once it gets past 40 mph it sounds okay. This usually happens first thing in the morning or after the car has been sitting a few hours. Could possibly be transmission problems.

[Maurice Samuels]

Having to be a PAID member to get info about quality of cars seems to very diseginious!!! You are a .org

[Ron Eves]

Hi,

Well after reading that the Tundra has frontal impact issues, I can understand why my son past away after hitting a tree last October 26th,2007.

There are many tests in support that these vehicles are for what ever reason only a four star safety rating, not a five star as much of the competition has achieved.

While my son Chris Eves can not be returned to us, I can only encourage others to eliminate the Tundra as a safe vehicle to purchase.

By the way my son did have his seat belt on as well.

Ron Eves
(Father)

[Alan Forde]

I'm dismayed at the reliability of the latest generaton of the lexus GS 350. The first generation of Lexus cars had build quality that was second to none. My first Gen. GS has been flawless ( except for brake issues) I sure hope the president of Lexus is listening - it doesn't take long to slide to the bottom in this business.