Here’s a quick rundown of the most and least reliable new cars (according to Consumer Reports) in ten different categories… Not many surprises here, but it’s still an interesting list to look at. All cars are 2007 models unless otherwise indicated…
Small Cars
Best: Honda Fit
Worst: Chevrolet Cobalt
Family Cars
Best: Honda Accord Hybrid (slightly better than the 4 cyl Accord)
Worst: Volkswagen Passat
Upscale/Large Cars
Best: Lexus ES350
Worst: Jaguar X-Type
Luxury Cars
Best: 2006 Lexus LS
Worst: Cadillac STS
Sporty Cars
Best: Lexus SC
Worst: Pontiac Solstice
Wagons/Minivans
Best: Pontiac Vibe (the Toyota Matrix is essentially the same car)
Worst: Buick Terraza
Small SUV
Best: Toyota FJ Cruiser (though I’ve never thought of this as being particularly small)
Worst: Kia Sportage
Midsized SUV
Best: Toyota Highlander Hybrid (slighly better than the regular Highlander)
Worst: Mercedes-Benz M-Class
Large SUVs
Best: Toyota Land Cruiser
Worst: Nissan Armada
Pickup Trucks
Best: Subaru Baja (this is hardly a truck!)
Worst: Nissan Titan
Interestingly, the hybrid version of a couple of cars aced out the standard version. Not by much, but still.
[Source: CNN/Money]
Excellent post. I am facing a few of these issues as well.
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The owner of the M-class is likely to experience 10 times as many problems as the owner the Highlander Hybrid, the magazine said.
@nickel:
Don’t forget the exception of the Kia Sportage ranking as “Worst small SUV”. It’s Korean. 🙂
Lakerman: With the exception of the Pontiac Vibe (which is a rebranded Toyota Matrix), all of the “best” (and none of the “worst”) cars are foreign. The only way this list can be viewed as a positive for domestic car manufacturers is that only some of the “worst” cars are American-made.
(Then again, many of the “foreign” cars are built in America, so…)
This is the 2nd article I’ve read that backed up the fact that Mercedes & some asian companines is having a reliability problems and that the domestic companies are continuing to make some strides!! A recent article researching reliability of vehicles from 2004 (Top 5) found that Buick TIED Lexus for the # 1 spot and Cadillac & Mercury were included, not Mercedes, Nissan, BMW, Sabb or Infiniti!!
“It would seem that Japanese and German cars seem to be more reliable.”
With the exception of the Volkswagen – I owned a Passet for 6 months last year, only two months of that time was it in full working order.
I second the remark on Japanese cars though – I’ve owned Toyotas, Hondas & a Mazda – other than routine maintenance they just keep going!
(Admittedly I traded my VW for a Saturn – FWIW) 🙂
It would seem that Japanese and German cars seem to be more reliable.
They added a four cylinder camry convertible (solara) to the list for sporty! My S2000 would be even higher without that garbage. 🙂