LCD TV reliability—Why Vizio isn't in our repair history

[UPDATE May 19, 2009: Many of the comments from our readers have questioned the reliability of Vizio TVs. For more information, read our latest blog post on the matter: Vizio: The new top-selling LCD TV brand—and a fairly reliable one, too. —Ed.]

A reader recently asked us why Vizio, an up-and-coming brand that now ranks third in sales for LCD TV sets, is not included in our repair history for flat-panel TVs—especially since we've recommended a number of Vizio TVs for their combination of decent quality and low price. (Access to our brand repair history for LCD TVs and Recommendations of LCD TV models requires a subscription to ConsumerReports.org.)

Let me answer in a way that offers insight into the way Consumer Reports develops reliability information, a process that is as exacting as our lab tests and just as important to a buying decision.

All our repair histories reflect the real-life experiences of thousands of consumers who have purchased and used the products in question. Our current flat-panel TV repair history is based on 74,544 responses to our Annual Product Reliability survey from readers who bought new sets between 2004 and 2007.

We received enough reader data to include nine brands of LCD TVs in our repair history chart (available to subscribers) and to mention two others anecdotally, but Vizio was not among them. Why not? In a nutshell—there weren't enough responses on this brand, and any conclusion we could draw from the limited data would have been premature and potentially misleading.

To accurately rate the repair history of any product, the survey experts at the Consumer Reports National Research Center need enough data not only for products purchased within the last year or two but also for those purchased a few years earlier. In the case of LCD TVs, we needed a sufficient number of reports for sets purchased in 2004 and 2005 as well as 2006 and 2007.

We had very few reports concerning Vizio LCD TVs purchased in 2004 and 2005, as this was just when the brand was beginning to climb in sales. Such historical data are the most telling indicators of reliability, because older sets are the most likely to have broken by dint of their age. Without it, we could not include Vizio in the chart or even comment more generally on the brand's reliability.

By contrast, we had enough data on 2004 and 2005 purchases of Olevia and Sanyo sets to say that their reliability looked promising, though not enough to arrive at the precise index of reliability required to include those brands in the frequency of repair chart.

The good news is that we hope to report on Vizio's brand reliability soon. We received a large number of reader responses for Vizio sets bought in 2006 and 2007, and our survey experts are fairly confident they'll be able to include this brand when we update our repair history for LCD TVs (available to subscribers) later this year.

In the meantime, we can say that most major brand LCD and plasma TVs have been very reliable for the first three years, with an overall repair rate of just 3 percent. Thus we stand by our advice that buying an extended warranty on a flat-panel set is generally not a good investment for most consumers, given that there has been a low likelihood that you'll use it.

—Paul Reynolds

Comments

[Paul Eng]

To All:

For more information about the reliability of Vizio TVs, please see our latest Blog post:

Vizio: The new top-selling LCD TV brand—and a fairly reliable one, too
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/05/vizio-the-new-top-selling-lcd-tv-brand-and-a-fairly-reliable-one-too.html

Thanks.

Paul Eng
Web Sr. Editor (Electronics)

[everett whitney]

TO: J Austin -"NEVER SONY ....!"

YOU - not the maker or C.R., for that matter - were totally responsible for knowing the risks associated w/ the type of HDTV you bought !

In spite of their never-ending recommendation to NOT acquire an Extended Warranty, C.R. HAS long-since stated that YOURS did need to have the Maximum Plan available!

In the decision process of being "self- insured" at the time of original acquisition, the potential cost of In-home Parts & Labor servicing must be weighed against the Plan cost . . . Sony had / still offers among the industry's best (5) years, 100% Inclusive, In-home Extended Warranty, including in your specific case, a free, replacement HDTV!

YOU took a chance in deciding NOT to pay for "forever free service" . . . NOT Sony's fault whatever!

everett

[John]

Bought my 37" Vizio almost a year ago. It would turn-off without warning so called customer support. Initially walked me through a system reset and had me change the power outlet. Even sent me a new remote. No dice. Eventually sent tech out to replace all boards. One week later, it would start turning-off again. ...then went up on the Internet and found many many postings about power issues with Vizio. Have Vizio replacing TV with refurbished, will eBay TV sight unseen when I get it and buy a Sony. Have always bought name brand before, never again.

[JAusten]

Would also warn against any Sony HDTVs--fine at first but will degrade horrendously after just a few years... Sony knew about manufacturing defect (blue dots/haze which begin to cover most of screen after 3 years or so), but kept quiet until warranties expired... Never trust Sony again!

[Dan]

I purchased a Vizio VX20L about a year ago and I've used it perfectly up until this time. Now it is just dead. I tried to turn it on with the remote and side panel controls but it is unresponsive. Do yourself a favor and go with a more reputable company and spend the extra money because you will have the possiibility of getting a lemon like I did. Now I'm out 400 bucks for this POS. I'm planning on getting a Sony or Samsung.

[Shannon]

I purchased a Vizio 32" from Costco in July of '06. Yesterday morning, April 23rd, 2009 while watching the morning news I heard a loud buzz, the screen went blank and smoke started billowing from the back. Scared the crap out of me! A TV less than three years old that got minimal use (maybe 3 hours a day on average?).

[Bo Holt]

Here's the latest dealings I have had with this cheap, cheap company:

http://boholt.com/vizio.htm

[everett whitney]

TO: Mrs. Vida - "Phillips ...?"

PLEASE do not remotely consider either Brand !

Philips Electronics stopped manufacturing HDTVs for this USA market over a year ago now.

Instead, they leased out their Name only to one of the least makers in Asia, making their Philips + the Magnavox sets literally the newest in the current population of "disposable / throwaway" sets!

Be very careful of any of those Names easily recognized from our past . . . . all have Nothing at all to do with those original corporations, having long-since suffered the very same fate!

Save your hard-gathered HDTV budget . . . . consider going to the Sony Outlet store of their web site & purchasing one of theirs in whatever display size you are wanting OR shop at Costco IF there any chance ?

www.sonystyle.com - then, click onto TV at the top & come down to "OUTLET" - - - do be certain to ONLY consider these WITH their 100% inclusive, In-home ( 5 ) years Plan, over to the far right, at about $129 for many....

We did & after several sets(upstairs/downstairs situation) . . have found these to be a genuine bargain !

everett

[T]

It seems that the quality of VIZIO tvs has plunged. I too, share very similar experiences with all those who commented here. Costco's concierge service had to force Vizio to address my problem, as VIZIO simply has lousy customer service and an even lousier product as they all seem to break down within a year or two. Mine would freeze and then you'd have to unplug the set to turn it off and turn it back on. Costco should stop carrying Vizio, don't buy those lcd tvs!

[M Brown]

In Nov 2007 my sister purchased a Visio 42 in HDTV for me as a present. She lives and purchased the TV in California. I reside in washington state and the Sears didnt have the Visio on stock so I had to wait until they got a shipment in. Needless to say when I got the Visio home it had no power, the service tech came out and fixed it by replacing 2 circut boards which concerned me. I asked why dont they just replace the TV for another one and he said they generally try to repair it first. Well 14 months later I too experienced the pop of death, no picture only sound. it didnt start off that way it began by the picture becoming distorted then eventaully it went out. When I called Visio they told me the warranty began when the item was purchased. I told them I didnt have it yet because they didnt have it in stock. Visio Corporate office say they said because it was purchased thats when the warrenty goes into effect. Now the tech at ITI are telling me they can come look at it for 400.00 and there is a 50/50 chance they can even fix it. This was a 1600.00 piece of junk! Maybe that's why it was on sale. I will never purchase another Visio. If I know it was going to die after 14 months I would have told my sister to by a Sony. i think this company needs to be shut down. The customer service sucks and each time you speak to someone you get a different answer. One of their service agent 1's had the adasety to start quoting US federal laws to me in about a case where someone wanted to warranty extended due to it being a gift. He was very condensending and when I asked him if he was a laywer for Visio he hung up on me. And yes i filed a complaint but I'm sure it went in the crash can.

[Mary Foster]

I purchased a Vizio 37 inch flat panel TV, Model VX37L from Costco on 5/23/2007. Fortunately Costco extends the warranty from one year to two years. On April 15, 2009 I turned on the TV and all I got was the Vizio name turning from orange (off) to white (on). That all that happened. It was completely dead. Costco Membership Services representatives were very nice but all they could do was refer us to Vizio tech support. 17 phone calls later, after faxing them the proof of purchase that they finally requested on the third call, they have finally prepared a repair ticket which is pending approval. Once the ticket is approved, the replacement parts (determined by a diagnostic team without actually looking at the TV set)will be mailed to a repair technician in our area (we live in the heart of Chicago) and then the repair technician is supposed to be able to fix the set (which I doubt). This is going to take at least 3 weeks to get done if not more. If anyone is thinking about buying Vizio to save money, don't do it. There is no customer service that is at all helpful, there are no repair places to take the set in to fix it (like the other major brands) and basically your stuck. I asked Costco if i could get a refund on the money since it's under warranty if the set couldn't be fixed and said I wanted to use the money to purchase a main brand (like Samsung) and that I would purchase it from Costco. All Costco will do is replace the Vizio TV with another Vizio and the next time it breaks I will have to go through this whole awful experience again. My husband is self-employed and a vendor and he has the phone number for Costco's Corporate Buying office. (This number is a state secret). He is going to call and talk to the electronics buyer for Costco and explain our whole experience in the hope that Costco will no longer carry Vizio TVs or at the very least pull some strings to allow us to purchase another brand of TV from Costco. Again, Costco is not the problem - its Vizio.

[thetelevision]

i don't think the validity of the report is entirely hinged on the the number of respondents you had but to many other factors like how and where did you get your respondents. If they're all readers of this site, then i'm afraid the validity can easily be put into question. Please note that laboratory tests are a different sort of data gathering compared to population survey data gathering.

[F Derion]

I purchased a Vizio 42 lcd late last year, and a couple of weeks ago watching tv I thought I heard a muffled pop from the set. I still have a picture and sound, but have noticed a shaded darker area from about the middle of the screen towards the left edge. I am discouraged after reading all the comments about Vizio tv's, and sorry I purchased one.

[everett whitney]

TO: Veda C. " Saving up - found Philips / "a Vizio?"

PLEASE do Not spend a second longer considering either one ! And, Never any money!

Philips Electronics stopped manufacturing HDTVs for the USA market over a year ago . . . . "leased out" their name to one of the bottom corporations in Asia . . . very, very unreliable HDTVs, either before, from Holland or now !

Panasonic had {all gone now} offered their entry 42" Plasma set from Halloween until the inventories sold out just after New Years at $ 649 - $699.

Two weeks ago, www.conns.com { Conn's Appliances which is an authorized Sony dealer } closed out their stocks of Sony's very best 32" ($1,100) set of last season at $599 . . . Last Sunday, they did the very same with Samsung's entry 50" plasma set at $899 - - - realizing that you said plasma, I only refer to these as examples of what one may get in Top Tier, Brand Name HDTV, making any purchase of the bottom sets not at all worth the risks!

Do also check @ Costco , IF you happen to have it available.

[Veda Cook]

I have been saving my nickles and dimes to buy my husband a big screen didnt have enough at christmas, but now I do! I want a plasma I have animals and just think it would be safer. I found a phillips 42" plasma with 4 dmci and 1080 for $599.00. I was really happy till I read all this.... am I to understand that this phillps is VIZIO and subject to the pop of death?

[DT]

We purchased a 47" VISIO fromSams Club 12/29/08. Mid february it bagan to get green areas in the picture. Over the next 2 weeks the green grew until the entire picture was neon green. After numerous frustrating calls to VIZIO we returned the set to SAMS and replaced with another SONY. Thank GOD for SONY, they may cost more but they work beautifully.

[Bo Holt]

I despise Vizio. My horror story is here:

http://boholt.com/vizio.htm

[Randy Stacey]

I purchased the VIZIO GV47L in August 2007. Loved the TV thought it had a great picture. Last night in the middle of a show the "POP of Death". Will not cut on, no picture, no sound nothing. VIZIO its out of warranty so call IHI. I have 3 VIZIO all purchased within the last 18 months. I will not replace this broken one with another.

I do recommend purchasing the extended warranty since its $222 to come to my home or $125 if I bring it in just to tell me whats wrong.

[Jim]

I bought a 37 inch in December 2008, Feb 12 2009 turned it on and it froze. Won't turn off, on, channels nothing. Spent the day on the phone with several very unresponsive customer service people that would not give me any info until I had my purchase receipt in hand. Finally found it, talked to a guy that promises a repair man will show up and fix it. Now I am watching my 15 year old 32 inch Zenith. I will buy a better brand next time for sure, should not have considered price as that was the only reason I went with Vizio.

[Phillips]

Purchased a Vizio VP422 on December 26, 2008 and experienced the pop of death on February 9, 2009. Six weeks old and dead. Seems it will take about 10days for a tech to call, then up to ten days for him to respond, then if not repairable, 10 days to receive a box to ship back to Vizio and then 10-14 days to receive a replacement. So a month without our NEW TV. I would not recommend Vizio to anyone! Wish I would of done more research before I purchased this piece of garbage! Live and Learn

[bk]

thank you all for saving me time and money. after all the hype in their commercials and nation wide ads, i was for sure gonna purchase a 46" vizio. no way now. thanks again.

[Fred]

I believe ITI - Indusus (?) repairs TVs not under warranty, anyway a friend of mine has a vizio 42" plasma and had the "pop of dead", was under warranty and they sent a tech to fix the TV and surprise... inside had a sticker saying "Samsung" ...the tech said vizio doesn't make tvs, they have all this manufacturers making tvs for them, the tech said he saw LG's, Phillips, Samsung and another one which he couldn't see any brand but was made in Japan inside the vizios.

[everett whitney]

TO: Don H. - 28 Dec -" SHARP gone out only 3 years...."

It will become more & more publicized as these early months of "DTV" do become years - BUT - one should know NOW that these HDTVs will never equal the 15-20 years of essentially trouble-free performance of our former picture-tube TVs!

To expect any Brand / Type / Maker to do anything about a defect after as long as three (3) years it is nothing short of ridiculous ! That is why there are (5) years extended Warranty Plans.

[Don H]

I bought a 37" Sharp Aquos TV approx. 3 yrs. ago and it went on the fritz. I'm told the main circuit board is gone. Sharp was not reponsive when I asked if this was common for this model and am now faced with a 700.00 repair bill after such a short time in service.

Am very disappointed and will never buy another Sharp product.

[Rebec]

Purchased a Vizio about 15 months ago; enjoyed it while it lasted, but experienced what others characterize as the "Vizio pop of death" this week. Suddenly picture/sound just disappeared. Fairly lightly used (apprx 2-2.5 hours an evening). Estimated repair cost between $650--$800). Now very sorry we purchased the television which was the perceived best value. Will not buy newer brand label without repair history again.