Vehicle make reliability

Adapted from an email follow-up to a conversation:

The most widely referenced report on car reliability is produced by Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports provides the most comprehensive, well-respected car reliability survey. They explain their method as follows: "Our data are based on an annual survey of subscribers to Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org and are not derived from road tests. A model needs at least 100 responses per model year for us to score it. From the survey, we create a reliability history for each model over the course of 10 years, 2001 to 2010. We use the data, in part, to forecast how well the 2011 models will hold up. We might predict reliability for a newly redesigned model, but only if previous versions had outstanding reliability."

Unfortunately, you have to subscribe in order to see the entire report. However, they do provide a summary of highlights for the 2011 findings. The fifth bullet point states "While European reliability had been improving, momentum seems to have stalled. All Porsche and Volvo models are rated average or better. But Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are among the worst automakers overall." Yep. So, basically, you have to get extremely lucky to get a reliable BMW.

Also, someone was kind enough to scan the ranking of manufacturers. BMW ranks 23 out of 27, just above Dodge and Chrysler, which basically means that they're in the pit of despair.

Unfortunately, it looks like Consumer Reports didn't include Land Rover in last year's survey. Perhaps they didn't get back 100 responses per model. Land Rover was purchased by Tata Motors (along with Jaguar), so the transition period may account for the low numbers of available surveys. However, I was able to find Land Rover in the second figure of this 2009 survey blog entry. It ranks last with Chrysler. Again, the pit of despair. Maybe it's good that Land Rover didn't even make the report this year. They'd probably be in either last or second to last. That blog entry also shows the average Volkswagen as having three times as many problems as the average Toyota.

JD Power and Associates does provide a car dependability survey, but they only look at a three year span. And, honestly, I don't know what to think of their report. It ranks Honda and BMW both at a three out of five, but Lincoln at five stars. That seems incredibly dubious. Land Rover scores two out of five. In their press release figure (after the text) Land Rover is third from the bottom.

And, here are some random car buying links:

An article from SmartMoney on "How to buy a car online for less".

An article on the nice surprises from Hyundai's new cars. There's still room for improvement, but they're outstanding value for your money.