ROAD REPORT The Most—and Least— Reliable Cars You Can Buy Luxury Isn’t What Want to stay out of the repair shop? We got 1 million responses to our survey—and It Used to Be. found out which brands you can rely on … and which are time and budget drainers. (It’s Better) The saying went that high-end lux- ury cars were reliably unreliable. If WHEN YOU BUY a new car, the last thing model before taking the plunge. we look back at our surveys from you want is an unscheduled trip back to The fastest growing number of com- a decade ago, the bottom of the pool the dealership to x some problem the plaints by far involve infotainment was littered with European auto- automaker or dealer should have caught systems: audio, navigation, and in-car makers: BMW, Jaguar, Lincoln, and before the car was sold. But every year, communications. Results from previous Mercedes, while Audi, Cadillac, and Volvo were midpack or worse. the Consumer Reports auto-reliability surveys showed that problem areas most Conventional wisdom dictated survey tells us that some owners will often included unresponsive touch screens that because high-end cars have return over and over again. or poorly functioning multifunction con- more gadgets, they have more Our annual survey collects responses trollers, inability to sync smart phones things that can go wrong. Though on more than 1 million vehicles from Con- with Blue-tooth or the docking port, and that maxim was mostly true, the concept was contradicted by Lexus, sumer Reports subscribers, generating trouble in getting the voice-command which had ironclad reliability. enough exclusive data to let us predict system to recognize verbal commands. The picture today is quite dier- which new cars, trucks, and SUVs are likely The worst infotainment oender was ent. More gadgets don’t necessarily to be reliable and which are troublesome. It the new Infiniti Q50 sedan’s InTouch equate to more problems, at least also can spot major problem trends among system, with more than one in ve own- when the car is new. Tesla launched its high-tech Model S with average certain carmakers and component areas. ers reporting a problem. Updates and reliability and has remained changes to Ford and Lincoln’s notorious reliable. And European makers Who’s on Top, Who’s Not: MyTouch systems have made them much have made great strides to improve • Most of the top 10 brands were Asian, less troublesome each year. Honda seems their reliability. with Lexus and Toyota leading the league to have xed a glitch with its HondaLink. In fact, Audi has emerged as one of the top brands. Moreover, in ad- by a comfortable margin. One of the rea- And Chrysler has ironed out reliability dition to every Lexus and Acura, all sons Toyota achieves this level of reliabil- wrinkles with updates to its easy-to-use Audis, Porsches, and Volvos are apt ity, we believe, is because it introduces Uconnect system. However, Cadillac’s to have average or better reliability. new technologies slowly and on proven Cue system remains a problem. BMW now has only one model that platforms. By contrast, manufacturers we predict will be subpar. such as Ford will sometimes launch a top- Not that every luxury brand Scion xB has escalated: Infiniti fell sharply to-bottom redesign with new technoloy this year, for the same reason in many areas of the car; it then takes that plagued the European luxury years to work the bugs out. brands—too many gadgets with • The top European brand was Audi, faulty components. which continued its reliability renais- Meanwhile, the car market itself BEST WORST has evolved, with luxury marques sance after its third-from-bottom show- Cars Cars adding more small cars and invading ing in our 2011 survey. Buick was the only Scion xB Fiat 500L the compact SUV market. domestic brand to break the top 10. Lexus CT 200h Ford Fiesta However, as luxury high-tech • Though some all-new cars beat the odds equipment—such as heated seats, Lexus ES 300h Mercedes-Benz rear-view cameras, and complex with high marks right out of the box, Hybrid CLA 250 infotainment systems—has trickled such as the BMW 4 series and Kia Ca- SUVs SUVs down to mainstream brands, the denza, many do not. Perhaps the most Mitsubishi Jeep Cherokee overall reliability of those vehicles important new vehicle with a lousy rst year Outlander Sport (4-cyl.) hasn’t necessarily suered. Reliable was the big-selling Chevrolet Silverado/ Toyota Nissan brands tend to stay that way, despite GMC Sierra 1500 series pickup truck lines. Highlander (V6) Pathfinder the addition of all of the toys. Lexus RX Jeep Grand One note: Avoiding gadgets The problems were spread over several Cherokee doesn’t avoid problems. Many areas. Our standing advice: Wait a year (diesel) “cheap and cheerful” budget cars or two after the introduction of a new performed poorly in the survey. 60 DECEMBER 2014 CONSUMER REPORTS 61 60-64 Autos_Reliability 12-14.indd 60 10/10/14 11:20:28 AM ROAD REPORT Lexus CT 200h Fiat 500L Most Improved Cars … and Biggest Losers BRANDS THAT GAINED THE MOST: Reliability: How the Brands Stack Up • Lincoln This table shows how the brands rank based on the average of their models’ • Hyundai predicted-reliability scores. A measure of the brand’s consistency can be seen in the span • Kia of their scores, cross-referenced by how many dierent models they produce. This year, Lincoln moved up The bars illustrate a brand’s consistency by showing the reliability range between its most 12 spots, finishing in 15th place, and least reliable models. The numerals indicate the number of models included. with four models scoring average To score a brand, we need suicient data on at least two models. That led us to and only two below average. exclude Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, Mitsubishi and Tesla. Hyundai moved up eight places, finishing 13th. Kia moved up to 10th place, with all models having average or better scores. BRANDS THAT FELL THE MOST: • Infiniti TOP NOTCH • Mercedes-Benz Lexus and • GMC Toyota lead for Infiniti dropped 14 steps this second year. year to 20th, clobbered by poor showings for its QX60 SUV and Q50 sedan. Mercedes dropped LEADING 11 places, dragged down by DOMESTIC a dreadful CLA debut. GMC MIXED BAG All Buicks dropped 10 places, finishing Older Nissans are average 19th, largely because of the are reliable; or better. Sierra 1500 pickup. newer ones are troubleprone. MODELS THAT GAINED THE MOST: • Honda Accord Coupe (V6) • Cadillac ATS (V6) • Ford Taurus (V6) • Ford Explorer (V6, EcoBoost) • Honda Accord Coupe (4-cyl) BELOW PAR • Lincoln MKX Mercedes was The Cadillac ATS V6 graduated dragged down by from below average to above the new CLA and average, while the others all S-Class. Range for improved from much worse than the brand average to average or better. A big reason was revisions to Mean the infotainment systems. % Above average MODELS THAT FELL THE MOST: Average range • Jeep Compass % Below average • Ram 2500 and 3500 diesel -200 -160 -120 -80 -40 04080 • Nissan Sentra • Infiniti QX60 • Cadillac ATS (turbo) • Mercedes-Benz GL-Class All of these vehicles fell from average or better last year to much Number of worse than average this year. The vehicles in our survey Compass rating went south for a number of little problems. The 1,078,364 Cadillac ATS (turbo) did not share the success of its sibling. CCONSUMERONSUMER RREPORTSEPORTS 61 60-64 Autos_Reliability 12-14.indd 61 10/10/14 11:20:30 AM ROAD REPORT: RELIABILITY Toyota Yaris Audi A5 Lexus IS 350 Subcompact Cars Coupes and Convertibles Luxury Compact Cars MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER Toyota Yaris* Audi A5 Lexus IS 350 Sedan* Honda Civic Si Kia Rio* Honda Accord Coupe (V6) Acura ILX Mazda MX-5 Miata Hyundai Accent BMW 4 Series* Buick Verano Porsche Cayman* Nissan Versa Sedan* Honda Accord Coupe Infiniti Q40 Audi S4* (4-cyl.) (G sedan, RWD) Nissan Versa Note* Volkswagen Eos Buick Regal Porsche Boxster* Hyundai Veloster Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cadillac ATS (V6)* Chevrolet Camaro Coupe and Convertible Chevrolet Sonic -44 Porsche 911* Infiniti Q60 Volvo S60 (5- & 6-cyl.) Fiat 500 -73 Dodge Challenger Audi S5* Audi A4 Ford Fiesta (-162%) Chevrolet Corvette -80 -45 -20 0 20 45 80 BMW 328d (diesel)* Stingray* -80 -45 -20 0 20 45 80 Lexus IS 250 Sedan* Hyundai Genesis Coupe* BMW 320i, 328i (AWD) Ford Focus ST* Lexus CT 200h BMW 335i Scion FR-S* Volkswagen Passat BMW 320i, 328i (RWD) Subaru BRZ* Volkswagen CC Hybrid/Electric Cars Cadillac ATS (turbo)* (-85%) Midsized Cars MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER Infiniti Q50* (-127%) Lexus CT 200h Mercedes-Benz CLA 250* MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER (-145%) Lexus ES 300h Hybrid Volkswagen Passat (1.8T)* -80 -45 -20 0 20 45 80 Toyota Prius C Mazda6* Toyota Camry Hybrid Kia Cadenza MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER Toyota Camry (4-cyl.) Toyota Prius Scion xB (81%) Honda Accord Sedan (4-cyl.) Toyota Prius V Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Large Cars Honda Civic Coupe Toyota Camry (V6) Toyota Avalon Hybrid Honda Civic Sedan Ford Fusion MAKE & MODEL % WORSE AVG. % BETTER Honda Accord Hybrid* (1.5L EcoBoost)* Kia Cadenza* Mazda3 (2.0L)* Honda Accord Sedan (V6) Honda Civic Hybrid Subaru Impreza Nissan Leaf Nissan Maxima Kia Optima (4-cyl.) Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Hyundai Azera Hyundai Elantra Sedan Chevrolet Malibu Ford Fusion Energi* Buick LaCrosse (4-cyl.) Kia Soul* Kia Optima (turbo) Ford Fusion Hybrid Chevrolet Impala (V6)* Toyota Corolla* Ford Fusion Tesla Model S (2.0L EcoBoost) Ford Taurus (V6, FWD) Hyundai Elantra GT* Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Ford Fusion (2.5L) Mazda3 (2.5L)* Chevrolet Volt Toyota Avalon Volkswagen Passat TDI Kia Optima Hybrid* Buick LaCrosse (V6) Kia Forte* Nissan Altima (4-cyl.) Ford C-MAX Energi* Ford Taurus (AWD)* Dodge Dart (2.0L)* Nissan Altima (V6)* Ford C-MAX Hybrid (-81%) Chrysler 300 Volkswagen Jetta TDI -80 -45 -20 0 20 45 80 -80 -45 -20 0 20 45 80 Dodge Charger Chevrolet Cruze (1.8L) Chevrolet Impala (4-cyl.)* Volkswagen Beetle TDI* (-81%) Volkswagen Jetta (1.8T)* -80 -45 -20 0 20 45 80 Nissan Sentra* (-87%) How to Use the Charts Ford Focus (-95%) The predicted-reliability scores on these pages are derived from the results of an annual significantly.