Thursday, October 25, 2018
Associated Press
DETROIT
U.S. auto companies such as General Motors, Tesla and Ford faltered this year in Consumer Reports’ reliability rankings as readers reported more mechanical trouble with their vehicles.
The magazine and website said all U.S.-based brands fell to the bottom half of the 29 in the rankings. Lexus and Toyota again were in the top.
Consumer Reports got more than 500,000 responses to the annual survey of its subscribers.
It uses data from the 2000-2017 model years to predict reliability of 2019 vehicles. The survey released Wednesday found readers having more trouble with technology designed to increase fuel economy than with electronic infotainment systems.
Mechanical problems with smaller turbocharged engines and transmissions with multiple gears could leave people stranded rather than just frustrated with voice recognition or other technology, said Jake Fisher, director of auto testing.
Mazda, Subaru, Kia, Infiniti, Audi, BMW, Mini and Hyundai rounded out the top 10. Volvo had the worst reliability followed by Cadillac, Tesla, Ram and GMC. Asian or Korean brands took seven of the top 10 spots.
Tesla dropped six places from last year to 27th. GM’s Buick, normally a top-10 finisher, tumbled 11 spots to No. 19. Ford was the highest-ranked U.S. brand but fell three places to No. 18.
Domestic brands largely were plagued by problems with newly introduced models, Fisher said.
General Motors’ brands were hurt by mechanical problems including transmissions on newly-introducted crossover SUVs such as the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia. The Enclave was the brand’s most reliable vehicle until the redesign and now it’s its worst, Fisher said.
Cadillac, he said, pushes the edge on new consumer-pleasing technology, but that causes reliability problems.
Almost the opposite are Toyota and its Lexus luxury brand, which have taken the top two slots for the sixth straight year, Fisher said. Toyota is slow to introduce new technology, only now offering Apple CarPlay when other automakers did it years ago, he said.
“If you’re slow to the market, you’re slow with technology, that’s the way you do get reliability and that’s how Toyota is so consistent,” he said.
Consumer Reports said it didn’t have enough data to rank Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mitsubishi or Smart.
The magazine gives more weight to mechanical and safety issues than minor problems like voice recognition or wind noise.