2009 Annual Auto Reliability Survey: Where Ford really stands

Since we announced the results from our latest auto reliability survey, there has been a lot of buzz—and a wide range of interpretation—in the media and blogosphere about Ford’s strong showing. On one hand, I’ve seen a headline that said Ford is number one. (It’s not.) And I’ve seen writers wondering aloud if we’re shilling for the company—casting it in an overly rosy light. (We’re not.)
 
We are always glad to see an automaker raise the level of quality and reliability in its cars. It’s good for consumers who don’t want the hassle and expense of a lot of problems down the road. But, let’s be clear: while Ford is easily the best of the domestic automakers in terms of reliability, it’s still no Toyota or Honda. (Read our full report on car reliability.)
 
Here’s the picture in nutshell:
Toyota and Honda clearly dominate in reliability. They have five of the top seven brands in our ranking: Scion, Honda, Toyota, Acura, and Lexus. All of their models are average or better. Of the 48 models that get our top predicted-reliability rating, 17 are built by Toyota and seven by Honda. That’s half. If you just look at the top 10 models, seven are built by Toyota and two by Honda. (The other is a Mercedes-Benz.) And of the 16 vehicle categories for which we have predicted-reliability ratings, nine are topped by a Toyota-built vehicle and two by Hondas. Overall, that’s a pretty convincing case.
 
When it comes to Ford, we’ve said that it’s the only Detroit automaker that’s building cars with world-class reliability. What do we mean by “world class”? Ninety percent of the 51 models for which we have data are average or above. It is the only American automaker to earn our top rating, received by eight of its models. And only five models are below average. That’s also impressive.
 
Here are some highlights:
The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan are among the top models in the family cars class, under only the Toyota Prius. Six versions rate higher than any versions of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which have typically done very well in our survey results and are often perceived as the paradigms of reliability.
 
The front-wheel-drive Lincoln MKZ tops the upscale cars category, beating out such high-scoring competitors as the Acura TL and Lexus ES. The front-wheel-drive Ford Edge and V6 Mustang rank near the top of their classes. And most other Ford-built models are in the upper half of their categories.
 
Despite all of this goodness, Ford still has its weaknesses. The mighty Ford F-250 turbodiesel 4WD pickup has the fifth worst score in the survey results. The front-wheel-drive Lincoln MKS is at the bottom of the upscale cars category. And three all-wheel-drive Lincolns (MKS, MKX, and MKZ) were also below average.

So, of the 33 brands that we rank, Mercury came in at number 10.  Ford ranked at 16th (still made the top half), and Lincoln’s problematic models sank it to 20th place. (In contrast, Buick, which is GM’s highest-ranked brand, is 19th and Jeep, Chrysler’s highest, is 30th.)

The bottom line
Ford has made some very reliable vehicles, right in there with other generally reliable Asian automakers Honda, Toyota, and the company has been able to maintain that consistency for several years now. So, yes, we think that’s worth a hearty attaboy. But, no, Ford is not yet at the top of the heap.

For more information, visit our guide to reliability. See how the automakers compare (available to online subscribers).

 —Rik Paul

Comments

[David Evans]

Well, where do we see the list that puts the Fusion ahead of the Camry, for instance? Your link to the guide to reliability goes to the Guide to car reliability, and the relevant link seems to be reliability ratings. Well, that goes to the new car search. So, just going by sedans sorted by reliability -- well, a bunch of cars get excellent reliability. So the secondary sorting seems to be alphabetical, putting the Fusion at top. Is that what you're relying on???
The list goes
Ford Fusion 4-cyl
Ford Fusion Hybrid
Ford Fusion V6 FWD
Honda Civic EX AT
Honda Civic EX MT
and on through Hyundai, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercury and so on. That's alphabetical. So your link to showing how cars rate reliability-wise doesn't show what you guys are saying.

[Brian]

For anybody who actually read the text and data posted CR online on Tuesday, the facts stated in this blog posting were pretty obvious. As an American, I (for one) am glad to see that some of our domestic auto products are doing well. I'm also glad to see that somebody in the media is calling it "as it is" - with facts - instead of constantly repeating lingering historical quality impressions which may no longer apply.

[Sjones]

What's not being said it that most of these cars are reliable. CR has devised a way to represent data so that it appears to be a large gap between "reliable" and "unreliable" cars. What CR doesn't mention too often is that today's "unreliable" cars are better than reliable cars of 20 years ago which begs the question: Are they REALLY unreliable? Anyone who reads the magazine knows Toyota and HOnda will ALWAYS be tops in road test scoring AND reliability. While Ford is doing better CR is making it clear that the best cars are from Japanese automakers- same as its always been and always will be. CR has to publicize the Ford results to "prove" its objective because it is very sensitive to accusations of being pro Asian automakers.

[Charlie H]

Sheth,

Glad to see you checking in. Still, the statistics do offer a clear discrimination. Other means of gathering stats also suggest a clear distinction between the best (e.g., Toyota) and the worst (you pick 'em).

Due to a history of execrable vehicles and equally execrable treatment of customers, I'm afraid that Detroit is doomed to fail unless and until they can rack up clear wins in CR. Detroit forgot some basic Business 101 principles and is paying the price.