Consumer Reports Says Auto Reliability Continues to Rise

Consumer Reports Says Auto Reliability Continues to Rise

Consumer Reports, which each year produces a Car Reliability Survey that gets a lot of attention from the auto buying public, says in its latest report that overall car reliability continues to improve and that Ford is the best of the domestic automakers with about 90% of its products having average or better reliability.

The firm says the Honda Insight is the most reliable vehicle under its testing regimen, but that many vehicles from all manufacturers received high ratings. It will announce its full findings on November 3, 2009.

Consumer Reports says small car reliability stood out in particular in its survey, with fully 20 of 37 models having above average predicted reliability, and that family cars fared nearly as well, with 21 of 42 scoring above average. It said European brands continue to improve in reliability, though Japanese brands continue to hold their historical lead in its surveys. It noted that fully 20 of the 48 GM models it has tested have average or better reliability scores and that it was recommending the new Chrysler Dodge Ram 1500 four-wheel drive pick-up.

Consumer Reports findings are based on responses from more than 1.4 million vehicles owned or leased by subscribers to Consumer Reports and covers vehicles from model years 2000 to 2009. The firms statisticians and engineers use the date to predict reliability for new 2010 models.