Honda Still on Top in U.S., Says Consumer Reports
Toyota and Subaru ranked second and third, followed by BMW, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen. No domestic nameplate appeared on the list.
Consumer Reports also named top cars according to vehicle segment, including:
- Green Car: Toyota Prius
- Small Sedan: Hyundai Elantra
- Family Sedan: Honda Accord
- Upscale Sedan: Infiniti G35
- Luxury Sedan: Lexus LS 460L
- Fun Car: Mazda MX-5 Miata
- Small SUV: Toyota RAV4
- Midsize SUV: Hyundai Santa Fe
- Minivan: Toyota Sienna
- Pickup: Chevy Silverado Crew Cab (the only domestic listed)
Rather than just focus on new vehicles, the magazine also lists its picks for best and worst buys among used vehicles from the past 10 years. Of the 65 "Best" used-car buys, only four are domestics — all cars. It’s the "Worst" used-car list where the domestics finally dominate: 24 of the 34 models named are from U.S. automakers, and all but one, the Pontiac G6, are SUVs or vans. And yes, the Pontiac Aztek is on the list of no-nos.
In its annual auto issue, Consumer Reports warns that it's not what a new car costs to buy, it's what it costs to own that counts most.
The publication says a car with a low sticker price can cost more than one with a higher sticker price when you calculate how much it will cost to own the vehicle over five years, including depreciation, fuel, interest on the loan, insurance, maintenance, repairs and sales tax.
Factoring in those costs over five years of ownership, for example, while the Mitsubishi Lancer might cost $5,000 less to buy than a Mini Cooper, it costs about $3,000 more to own over five years, according to Consumer Reports.
How does a consumer figure those costs over five years? Easy — by using a new owner cost estimate that just happens to be found in the April issue of Consumer Reports. Probably just a coincidence, don't you think? In a bit of shameless self-promotion, we can make it even easier: You can look up a five-year cost estimate on anything your heart desires right on Cars.com.
Consumer Reports’ auto issue comes out March 4.
Previous
Subscribe to our feed
Email us your tips!
I agree with the first four, but question Mazda, Nissan, and Volkswagen. In almost every reliability study, they are midpack at best (nissan and mazda) and near the bottom (volkswagen) in terms of reliability. Lincoln, Mercury, Buick, and Cadillac are always near the top. Was resale the main determinant here?
Broq
Volkswagen? C'mon, the vehicles may be nice, but the reliability is lousy relative to Ford, for one.
Consumer reports are asking owners to compile their data. And owners only tell their opinion. For example, there are some people that consider normal certain problems and don't consider them as big issue.
Also CR report not only based on reliability it is satisfaction and comfort, so take it easy.
Honda wouldn't win this on reliability alone. They are generally not as reliable as they were 15 years ago.
Mazda has variable reliability. Some models (those made in Japan) are just great, and others, which share platforms and components with Ford are not as good.
Nissans have bad reliability but problems behind it are relatively small compare to problems of Honda. Honda doesn't have many problems but when they hit you it will be blown transmission, for one.
You guys really need to shake the idea that VW is an unrelieable brand. I will admit that some products have had electrical problems, but you need to take two things into consideration:
1. People are more likley to complain about something if it costs alot of money. VW has to ship parts from Europe. The US dollar is awful, and the Euro is good. Therefore, people that require small parts have to wait some time and have to pay a bit more than they like. By contrast, the Japanese dollar, yen, is even worse than the US dollar. It costs very little to make a product and ship it over to the US from Japan. That way, the consumer pays much less for the same problem than they would from a European vehicle. Also, how many old Japanese cars do you see around the streets? Not very many. The old cars are usually European or American.
2. VW's and Audis will alaways outrank American cars in terms of interior quality. After recently going to the Chicago Auto Show, I observed that the $15K, base level, manual transmission VW Rabbit 2.5 S had less hard plastic than a $50K Chevrolet Tahoe.
AV,
I give you that interiors in VW are better and Dollar/Euro/Yen deal.
But about parts - this is where you are wrong. Not many VW parts are shipped from Europe.
Most parts used for VW service are aftermarket parts which could be made in USA/Canada/Mexico/Asia. And even those OEM part, which come with your car are likely to be made in Asia and now Russia. Russia is automakers's new land. Almost all brands now have manufacturing facility there because Russia also has any resource you need. Audis are made in Russia now. And what is Audi? - right! - VW!
Old Japanese cars? There are plenty on the road. It is really depends which part of the contry - some have more and others less.
Last car I sold 2 years ago was 1989 240SX. And a guy still drives it. And one more thing. Many Japanese cars are in such good shape that they don't look old. My 10 year old protege has 2 small dents and no rust, shines and no smoke comes out of exhaust. You really need to know the model to tell how old it is.
It is interesting quibbling over which late model cars are better or worse.
But really we have it pretty good these days - truly awful cars are pretty much a thing of the past.
Even the worst cars of the last decade are pretty safe and reliable compared to what came before.
I'm in college and drive a 2000 Honda Accord. I never do maitenence on it and beat the crap out of it and its never failed me. It still looks good and my friends never make fun of it like my other friend's Buick that his grandma gave him. Fortunately my grandma had enough sense to buy an Accord.
I'm in college and drive a 2000 Honda Accord. I never do maitenence on it and beat the crap out of it and its never failed me. It still looks good and my friends never make fun of it like my other friend's Buick that his grandma gave him. Fortunately my grandma had enough sense to buy an Accord.
I don't what data they use at consumer reports.
But I have to say they they must never go beyond the first 2 or 3 years. The Subaru's definitely have major problems after the first three years. Head gaskets, pistons that need to be replaced. They do not deserve to be rated that high. I never had to do this kind of work on any other vehicle.
i'm a subscriber and has received a survey on autos. it does rely too much on the person's ability to recall if anything went wrong. AV has a good point. however, BMW's are significantly better lately than Merc's or Audi's, which to me means that it's still got some accuracy.
with regard to Al's comment, they don't usually give significantly redesigned vehicles a reliability grade initially; in fact, the ones that used to have bad track records are allowed a clean slate. otherwise the current generation, however long it's been in the running, factors in their grades as well as prediction. readers get a 10-year span of reliability ratings, year by year.
The great thing about Consumer Reports' data is that they take the guess work out of people's personal anecdotes. they will not score a car model if they don't have a minimum amount of data compiled.
i know a co-worker who has a fully-loaded 2-year-old Accord that had to have major work done on the automatic transmission and replacement of the alternator on 2 separate occasions. as much as i don't like most Honda's, i still believe that Accords overall great, reliable cars.
oh, and they use a database of 1.3 million vehicles. i'm going to make my wife get a MX-5 with me on this snowy New England Saturday ... in my DREAMS
It is also important that you NOT take reliability data from one source only.
Ii you are going to purchase a new car, ask around your family, friends, and co-workers for some input, in addition to CR and other magazines.
For example, my mother has had more problems with her '06 Rav4 than I have had with my '06 Passat.
Most of the people I know have had very good experiences with VW's, Audis, and BMW's. A few problems here and there, but its no different than those who own Japanese or American autos. Mercedes though, is quite unreliable. Perhaps since they finally cut their ties with Chrystler they will improve.
A BMW on the list as reliable?
I would have doubts on that one.
AV- I don't know where you live, but I've lived in Alaska, NY, DC, CA, and IL and, with the exception of the odd W123s running around, a vast majority of the older cars I still see on the road are old Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans. I also see a lot of early (90-91) Lexus LS400s on the road, and it is shocking just how well they've aged.
And how do you explain the data from multiple sources (CR and TrueDelta to name 2) that show the superior long term reliability of Japanese over European vehicles?
Kyle,
did you hear what DL said?
If your 2000 Accord has auto transmission, prepare $3K for it's replacement.
Seriously.
DL,
You are correct. Hondas and Acuras have transmission problems. 1999-2002 Accords, Odysseys.
Odysseys are not very reliable minivans in general.
Tony
Tony,
Explain beiefly why did the Odyssey got chosen by CR?
J,
CR picked Sienna.
Also, CR did pick Odyssey before. Remember, that when 99 Oddy came out it was way better then anything on the market by functionality. But there were plenty of mecanical issues. Also, Honda was prompt on fixing them, it did got Oddy to acceptable reliability levels, but not to exceptional.
Few years later, when trannys start to fly, CR changed its preference. Thats it. But the people who read CR and got Oddy wete left out in the cold with bad transmission.
Tony