spwolf

and this makes the difference between what is real and what is PR.

So many have lauded Ford for their Sync, at the end, it dragged their results drastically down in past 2 years.
If you were to read PR's. Japanese have lost their touch, US and Euros make cars that are same quality - in reality this is not true. As results show.

Kostamojen

The CT was the #1 most reliable in the survey

TwiBlueG35

Porsche has dropped from second to 27th? That's amazing.

For those who don't want to read the whole thing, here is the ranking:
1. Scion
2. Lexus
3. Acura
4. Mazda
5. Honda
6. Toyota
7. Infiniti
8. Subaru
9. Nissan
10. Volvo
11. Hyundai
12. Kia
13. Jeep
14. ? Lincoln or Saab?
15. Chrysler
16. Volkswagen
17. Chevrolet
18. Mercedes-Benz
19. BMW
20. Ford
21. Dodge
22. GMC
23. Mini
24. Buick
25. Cadillac
26. Audi
27. Porsche
28. Jaguar

spwolf

since VW took over :-)

TRDFantasy

Wow, big drop for Ford, and huge drop for Porsche. Wonder what happened with Porsche though, they are usually near the top. I love it when media hype is completely debunked and proven wrong. The media hype about Ford's Sync has been CLEARLY WRONG and now both JD Power and Consumer Reports have the results that show Ford's quality has dropped because of that. Also not good to hear about transmission lag problems for Ford.

And how about Hyundai and Kia? I thought their quality was a match for the Japanese, according to the media hype? Once again this is proven to be wrong. Despite the hype and the improvements Hyundai/Kia have made, their quality and reliability is still average.

mmarshall

Hyundai actually may have reached its peak a couple of years ago. Its latest models, though still, IMO, not poorly-built by any means, do seem to have shown a slight reduction on the solidness of their materials. It seems most noticeable in the new Tucson, compared to the old.

TRDFantasy

I agree. The media has said nothing about this, but the quality of new Hyundai models compared to previous-gen models in many ways is either equal or less. Only in some ways is it better. Many real-world owners and reviewers have commented that the plastics are not great quality, certainly not best-in-class. Others have commented about poorly-implemented seat latch mechanisms on rear folding seats, the sea of plastic that the Sonata interior is, the inferior trunk hunges on the new Sonata compared to the previous generation, and more.

Excluding the recalls and quality problems on some older Hyundai/Kia models, there have been a few quality problems with the Sonata (many cars not tracking straight and veering to one side at speed), Sonata Turbo and Kia Soul and seemingly numerous quality issues are cropping up with the Sonata hybrid.

I stand by my opinion that Hyundai/Kia have done a lot of cost-cutting on their vehicles, but have aggressively diverted any attention from that using in-your-face styling, aggressive marketing, being close and cozy with the media and gimmicky features/options.

GS69

Lexus Ranked Best Luxury Brand While Porsche Plunges

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand took back the top spot among luxury brands in Consumer Reports' reliability ranking, beating BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, which fell the most of any vehicle line.

Winning the luxury crown as well as the top spot among all brands with its youth-oriented Scion line may help Toyota restore confidence among consumers following 2 years of falling U.S. sales, recalls, unflattering reviews and production lost because of the March earthquake in Japan.

The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker's Toyota brand held at 6th place for a 2nd year, a further sign of resilience after recalling millions of vehicles in 2009 and 2010 amid unintended-acceleration claims.

"Toyota has always made a pretty good car," David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' Automotive Test Center, said in a phone interview. "They have fixed a lot of the problems that they had. The recall situation was totally overblown."

Lexus's key rivals, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's BMW, both improved this year, while still finishing in the bottom half of the survey among all vehicle types. Mercedes ranked 18th and BMW was 19th. Volkswagen AG's Audi ranked 26th, and Jaguar, owned by India's Tata Motors Ltd., ranked last.

Lexus Models

This year's resurgence of Lexus was pushed largely by 2 models. The survey's most-reliable vehicle was the new Lexus CT 200h hybrid, a luxury version of the Toyota Prius, the world's best-selling gas-electric vehicle.

The automaker has also fixed squeaks and rattles that consumers reported last year with the Lexus IS 250 convertible. The model was the brand's worst last year, the Yonkers, New York-based publication said. Lexus addressed those issues this year, Champion said.

Fortunes have moved in the opposite direction for Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche SE. The brand ranked 2nd last year and tumbled in the latest report because of complaints about the new Cayenne sport-utility vehicle. Consumers griped that controls failed for the heat, air conditioning, stereo and navigation system, Champion said.

Porsche sells just four other models. Because the sample size for the Boxster coupe was too small to count in the survey, the Cayenne's problems can drag down the entire brand, Champion said. Nick Twork, a Porsche spokesman, declined to comment.

Chrysler Improves

Chrysler Group LLC, controlled by Fiat SpA since its 2009 bankruptcy, showed improved results. The Chrysler brand moved up from 27th last year to 15th. Jeep is the highest-ranking U.S. domestic brand at 13th.

Most brands owned by Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. fell in the rankings. The Ford brand fell 10 spots to 20th. GM's top-selling Chevrolet brand stayed at 17th. Buick, 24th, and Cadillac, 25th, both fell 6 places.

Japanese carmakers took 9 of the top 10 spots in the rankings, up from 7 a year ago. Honda Motor Co.'s Acura luxury brand took 3rd place, Mazda Motor Corp.'s brand rose from 12th place last year to 4th. Honda ranked 5th, Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti ranked 7th behind Lexus, Fuji Heavy Industry's Subaru was 8th and Nissan finished 9th.

For Lexus, a top reliability ranking for the CT 200h from Consumer Reports will counter some criticism that the magazine levied against the car in a review.

"Lexuses are famed for their soft rides and quiet cabins, but you won't find either 1 here," Consumer Reports wrote in its October issue. "Road bumps punch through as hard, rubbery kicks, and frequent, quick ride motions persist even on a smooth highway. Lots of road noise enters the cabin, and the engine sounds loud when revved high, which happens often."

Overcoming Damage

Improved survey results can also help overcome the reputational damage Toyota incurred 2 years ago, Champion said.

After Toyota's recall of more than 8 million autos worldwide in late 2009 and 2010, the company began assessing all of its vehicles, the components used to produce them and the factories that build them. To woo buyers, the company promised standard free maintenance for 2 years on all new Toyota and Scion vehicles sold in the U.S.

"Consumer Reports has tremendous credibility with consumers because of the way they test vehicles," Brian Smith, vice president of U.S. marketing for Lexus, said in an interview. "To have the CT do so well in its category -- a brand-new car in its first year -- is indicative of the brand."

A renewed commitment to quality helped Toyota and Lexus brands regain their pre-recall rankings in J.D. Power & Associates annual new-car quality study. In the report released in June, Lexus was again the top-ranked brand, a position it lost in the 2010 review, while the Toyota brand jumped to 7th place from a year earlier.

"They said they were going to focus on the customer," said Jim Hall, principal of 2953 Analytics Inc., an automotive consulting firm in Birmingham, Michigan. "Looks like it paid off."

--With assistance from Tim Higgins in Southfield, Michigan. Editors: Jamie Butters, Kevin Miller, Bill Koenig.

To contact the reporters on this story: David Welch at dwelch12@bloomberg.net; Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net

speedflex

great result for Lexus. judging by Ford, Porsche and a few others it seems that more complicated electronics are the culprit behind their decline. I wonder how many complaints are mechanical in nature versus electronic malfunctions and gremlins.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i am so glad about what lexus is back on focusing. continue on that!!

spwolf

ford has had a lot of complaints about transmissions as well.

mmarshall

Ford doesn't seem to be able to design their twin-clutch automanual transmissions as well as the butter-smooth, seamless VW/Audi units. Not only are the Ford units less than totally-reliable, but they tend to be sluggsh and vibration-prone starting up from rest in first-gear.

When I first reviewed the Fiesta, for example, I thought that the sluggish, vibration-prone hesitation and bog-down at start might have been due to an excessively lean air-fuel mixture designed to give it that 40-MPH-highway figure. Only later did I see that it was more likely in the transmission, not the fuel-injection system.

UDel

The DSGs in VW and Audi's may be butter smooth but they are also unreliable and cost a fortune to fix/replace.
http://www.audi-forums.com/vw-passat...sg-owners.html
http://www.autoinsane.com/2009/08/21...ught-on-video/
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2009/08...-over-two.html
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0ee004

There is a reason pretty much all Japanese brands have avoided using DSGs except in a very few cases like the GTR and we know the reliability issues that transmission has had. I do agree when I heard that Ford was using a DSG in a low priced car I knew there was going to be problems, they should have waited until they get the bugs worked out and are more reliable then putting them in mass market cars.

FrankReynoldsCPA

I think the transmission lag problems are being fixed with the 2012 models, from what I've gathered on the Ford Truck forums i'm on. As far as the Sync goes, don't know anything about it, don't really care, I don't buy cars with the bells and whistles anyway, so it wouldn't affect me.

Kia and Hyundai have always just had a cheap image. Most of the ones I see driving around look trashed to hell.

I have to admit, Kia's got a new car out, I don't know what it is called, that just blew me away in appearance. Not something I'd expect from them.

spwolf

Optima. looks good... long time reliability? who knows.