Are These The Most Reliable Top 10 Brands?

[G. David Felt]

G. David Felt
Alternative Fuels & Propulsion writer
www.CheersandGears.com

 

 

Are These The Most Reliable Top 10 Brands?

 

This morning Yahoo posted the following story, "The 10 Most Reliable Car Brands, From A Car Dealer's View". The author goes on to talk about the various tag lines the brands have used and whether they actually lived up to the marketing hype of being the best. The author goes on to state that being an owner of a car dealership, auctioneer and co-owner of an auto auction for the last 16 years has given him the insight to state what he sees as the most reliable top 10 brands. The author then goes on to state that this is based on the last two and half years of looking at 700,000 auto trade-ins an the inspection process on the state of the auto at trade-in and tracking the sever mechanical issues of each brand. This individual also goes on to state the most studies are 90 days and this is then used to give early recommendations that are used for 3 to 5 years and yet never shows that some auto's become a Money Pit. 

 

There is plenty of additional information and I have to say it is a good read that deserves for anyone who likes more than surface information to take a look at. Make sure to follow the various links also to see some surprising and not surprising information that proves you can sell junk with the right marketing message.

 

Top 10 Most Reliable Brands from Lowest to #1

 

10th place - Mercedes-Benz

9th place - Scion

8th place - Mitsubishi

7th place - Acura

6th place - Chevrolet

5th place - Infinite

4th place - Honda

3rd place - GMC

2nd place - Lexus

1st Place - Toyota

 

So I invite you all to take a look at the details and think about what is your top 10 most Reliable Brands? Do you agree with this or not, Do you feel the methodology is valid or should there be something better to measure quality in a product?

 

Sound Off!

 

 

[smk4565]

Not surprised that Toyota and Lexus are the most reliable.  Clearly every Toyota goes for 500,000 miles with no maintenance.  Perhaps also a study could be done on most boring car to drive.  Toyota would win that too.

[balthazar]

No objective person could possibly overlook the 50 million recalled vehicles toyota has under-engineered/built in the last 10 years, and still call the brand "reliable". It's a complete farce.

[Cory Wolfe]

Having tried the whole Toyota thing, I can say they've earned their reputation. I've not seen a car be this trouble free, with not a single problem...  especially one that goes through my hands. My cars never work properly, yet this one has. It's just a shame that its the most boring car ever. Toyota's biggest problem, as usual, is not knowing how to give a car soul. 

 

Compare it to the Sonic we had, which required far too many trips to the dealership for a new car. I'm not terribly surprised Josh traded it in for a used Honda. That car reminds me of old GM with all the various things they under-engineered on that car. Or, perhaps, there's a bit too much Daewoo left in GM's Korean division that developed most of it. 

[Drew Dowdell]

To be fair, you're comparing the bottom of the Chevy line with the top of the Toyota line. 

[FAPTurbo]

To be fair, you're comparing the bottom of the Chevy line with the top of the Toyota line. 

 

The best way to judge a chef is to opt for the hamburger instead of the steak. 

[ocnblu]

I agree with Buzz Killington.  Sonic is the nicest car in its class except for the gimmicky instrument cluster, but if it ain't no good, Sloan's plan will never pan out.

 

I have hopes for the new Spark, Volt, and Cruze, and wonder how soon a new Sonic will hit the street.

 

You can bet a modest little Yaris will run forever.  There is a new white 3-door in my neighborhood with black, size-appropriate alloys on it, and dark windows.  It is kept spotless, looks neat!  It may have 36 horsepower compared to Sonic's extravagant 138, but I'll bet it'll do everything it's designed to do, faithfully.

Edited May 9, 2015 by ocnblu

[A Horse With No Name]

No objective person could possibly overlook the 50 million recalled vehicles toyota has under-engineered/built in the last 10 years, and still call the brand "reliable". It's a complete farce.

 

 

Agreed completely.

[Cory Wolfe]

To be fair, you're comparing the bottom of the Chevy line with the top of the Toyota line. 

 

If we want to be fair...

 

Toyota Yaris:     CR: 54% above average - TD: 0/100 Trips -    JDP: 4/5 Stars

Chevy Sonic:     CR: 44% below average -  TD: 69/100 Trips - JDP: 2/5 Stars

 

...and the others:

 

Honda Fit:            CR: 40% above average -   TD: 14/100 Trips - JDP: 4/5 Stars

Hyundai Accent: CR: 12% above average -   TD: 10/100 Trips - JDP: 4/5 Stars

Kia Rio:                 CR: 23% above average -   TD: 23/100 Trips - JDP: 3/5 Stars

Mazda 2:              CR: 10% above average -   TD: 17/100 Trips - JDP: 3/5 Stars

Nissan Versa:      CR: 0% ab/blw average -    TD: 0/100 Trips -   JDP: 3/5 Stars

Ford Fiesta:         CR: 161% below average - TD: 47/100 Trips - JDP: 2/5 Stars

 

The Sonic (and the Fiesta) just doesn't hold up very well. Each and every reliability/dependability study places it below average. 

 

Oh, and one more thing...  (beware: snark ahead) Seriously? We're talking about a 10 year old car with nearly 120k vs. a new car that never eclipsed its mileage limitations for the warranty. How is the first question about being fair in regards to each models' placement in their respective brands' hierarchy? The Sonic has everything in its favor and should be the more reliable car. It isn't. It wasn't for us, it hasn't been for various other owners, either.

 

 

To be fair, you're comparing the bottom of the Chevy line with the top of the Toyota line. 

 

The best way to judge a chef is to opt for the hamburger instead of the steak. 

 

 

Exactly.

Edited May 17, 2015 by blackviper8891

[Stew]

Problem is, CR is a HUGE joke.............

[balthazar]

Having tried the whole Toyota thing, I can say they've earned their reputation. I've not seen a car be this trouble free, with not a single problem...  especially one that goes through my hands. My cars never work properly, yet this one has.

And here's how anecdotes work : the wife had a Grand Am, bought new, sold at about 95K, that car never had a single hiccup, single rattle, single misalignment. Assembly, mechanical, reliability-wise it was excellent. The only reason we traded it was to get a larger vehicle. :shrug: