Car survey: Ford leads domestic carmakers in reliability

Reliability is the most important things on any car. Here are some survey recently done for some cars model including SUV.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. still dominate the industry for long-term reliability, but Ford Motor Co. continues to improve and is tops among the domestics, according to Consumer Reports.

"Ford has secured its position as the only Detroit automaker with world-class reliability," Consumer Reports said in its annual car reliability survey, which was released during an Automotive Press Association luncheon today.

About 90 percent of Ford products had average or better reliability, according to the survey, which tracks models over the past 10 model years. The four-cylinder Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan beat out the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry for the second year.

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But the two Japanese automakers still are tops, according to the magazine. Of the 48 models with top reliability scores, 36 are Asian brands. Toyota had 18; Honda had eight; Nissan Motor Co., four; and Hyundai Motor Co./Kia Motors Corp. and Subaru each had three.

General Motors Co. had some "bright spots" but Chrysler Group LLC "still struggles," according to the magazine. The Chevy Malibu V-6 had better than average scores and "is on par with the most reliable family sedans."

The magazine this year recommended one Chrysler vehicle, the redesigned Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. Last year, no Chrysler products were recommended.

Among luxury family cars, the Lincoln MKZ was ranked stronger than the Lexus ES or Acura TL. The one Japanese vehicle that did stand out was the Toyota Prius.

"It's rare for Consumer Reports to see family sedans from domestic carmakers continue to beat the reliability scores of such highly regarded Japanese models as the Camry and Accord," said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' Automotive Test Center. The last domestic sedan that had better reliability than the Camry and Accord was the Buick Regal in 2004, he said.

While every Honda and Acura brand vehicle had average or better reliability, the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS scored below average.

The Nissan Armada/Infiniti QX56 large SUVs have brought their reliability up to average, but the testers expressed concerns with the rear-drive Nissan Titan pickup, Quest minivan and tiny Versa sedan.

Of 48 GM models, 20 were average. The all-wheel-drive versions of the Chevrolet Traverse/Buick Enclave crossovers did well and the magazine now can recommend the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra light-duty pickups.

More than one-third of Chrysler products are much worse than average, including the new Dodge Journey.

Continuing their quality climb are Hyundai and Kia. Scoring well were the Hyundai Elantra and Tucson, and the Kia Sportage and the foray into the luxury segment with the Genesis proved above average with the V-6 and average with the new V-8 engine. Not as strong are the Kia Sedona minivan and Sorento SUV.

The worst vehicle in the survey: the Volkswagen Touareg is 27 times more likely to have a problem than the top-scoring Honda Insight.

As consumers migrate to smaller cars, the survey shows today's compact vehicles can be counted on. Of 37 small cars, 20 scored above average including the Honda Fit, Scion xD and VW Golf.

Half of the 42 family cars were above average, including five of eight hybrids in this segment (Prius, Fusion, Milan, Camry and Nissan Altima hybrids).

Among the least reliable vehicles in their class are the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS, Nissan Versa and Subaru Impreza WRX.

The Ford Flex crossover also scored well in the survey.

However, Ford's upscale Lincoln brand did not fare as well. All-wheel-drive versions of the Lincoln MKS, MKX and MKZ came in below average.

European automakers showed some improvement again this year. The reliability of Mercedes-Benz vehicles has improved; most are now average or better and the new GLK proved a strong new entry in its first year, the magazine said.

Results are more mixed for BMW AG as the 535i sedan and X3 SUV fell and the new 135i scored below average. The only models Consumer Reports recommends is the BMW 328i.

The VW Rabbit/Golf and new CC were above average and the Jetta TDI is the only diesel the testers recommended. The Passat and Audi A3 have improved to average, along with the Tiguan SUV.

All Volvos with the exception of the XC90 are average or better.

Porsche saw its Boxster fall below average and testers no longer recommend it.

Survey results are based on subscriber responses this spring from more than 1.4 million vehicle owners, making it the largest survey to date. Vehicles are 2000 to 2009 model years.