Toyota Leads Consumer Reports Reliability Survey

By Cornelius Nunev

Although some analysts think the difference is insignificant, Toyota took the three top spots in the 2012 Consumer Reports reliability survey. Ford, usually a top player in the study, fell to near the bottom.

Consumer Reports reliability survey

Japanese automakers took the top seven places in the survey, with Toyota's Scion, Toyota and Lexus marques grabbing the top three honors.

Jim Lentz is the chief executive at Toyota Motor Sales USA. He explained that car dealerships such as Michael's Toyota of Bellevue, Washington are happy about the news. He said:

"We're pleased with the findings, which reflect actual customer experience, not just reviewer opinion."

The top ten incorporated Mazda Motors, Subaru, Honda, Acura, Audi, Infiniti and Kia after the top three.

All the rest

Cadillac, GMC, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Chevrolet, BMW, Hyundai and Volkswagen rated 11 through 18. The bottom 10 was Jeep, Volvo, Buick, Mini, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Lincoln, Ford and Jaguar.

Not what Ford hoped for

Jaguar traditionally earns the bottom spot. But for Ford, it is quite another matter. Two years ago, it was ranked by Consumer Reports as the most dependable U.S. car producer. Its fall from grace was attributed to connectivity problems with its MyFord/MyLincoln Touch electronic entertainment system.

Ford tried to redeem itself by telling the public that its electronic entertainment systems performed better after a software upgrade in March. However, it was evidently too little, too late.

According to Ford spokesperson Mark Schirmer:

"Consumer Reports is hugely important to Ford; you can't dismiss Consumer Reports in any way. We offered a major improvement to MyFord Touch in the spring and began offering new transmission calibrations this summer. Unfortunately, there are still some bugs in the system that we are working through."

A couple of years to determine ranking

Unless a model was redesigned in the last three years that was the time period where info was taken for the Consume Report reliability survey. It did not do automobile testing but just surveyed its readership.

No one looks at report

Edmunds.com vice chairman Jeremy Anwyl explained that cars are much more dependable than they were years ago. In fact, people will probably not even look at the report before making their decision. He said:

"The reality today is that cars are very reliable compared to what they were in the past. It is not something people should be really worrying about."

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