2004 CARS HOW C ARS ARE - CBS News

[Pages:3]2004 CARS

HOW CARS ARE HOLDING UP

Our latest survey of subscribers' experi-

THE NEW-CAR PICTURE

ences with their cars shows that vehicles

For CONSUMER REPORTS to recommend

from Detroit's Big Three automakers

a vehicle, it has to perform well for us and

are now slightly more reliable, on aver-

in crash tests and achieve average or

age, than those from European makers.

better reliability. To predict new-vehicle

They also tend to hold up better than

reliability, we weight the trouble rates to

the European makes as time passes.

calculate overall reliability data for the

It's the first time in decades that U.S.

three most recent years. We give added

cars have done so well.

weight to problems with the engine, trans-

The survey, the largest of its kind

mission, and cooling and drive systems.

to gauge automotive reliability, yielded

In some instances, we use only one

information on the serious problems our

or two years' data because the current

subscribers have faced with some 675,000

version of the vehicle is less than three

privately owned or leased cars, trucks,

years old or because we don't have data

minivans, and sport-utility vehicles. It

As the problem rate for domestic vehi- for more years.

shows that among cars less than a year cles improved slightly, the quality gap

Here are the most reliable makes and

old, the average problem rate for Euro- between U.S. and Asian makes narrowed models, and some models notable for

pean cars and trucks was 20 per 100 cars. slightly. Still, the average 2003 U.S. model reliability problems, from the Big Three

For domestic vehicles, it was 18 per 100. still has 50 percent more problems than automakers and their Asian and

In our 2002 subscriber survey, U.S. and the average Japanese model.

European counterparts:

European automakers were

tied at about 21 problems per Detroit makes gains.

Chrysler: Improving. Chrysler has made great

100. The graph at right shows the trend for vehicles up to eight years old.

Overall, the most reliable vehicles continue to be those

Our 2003 subscriber survey shows that U.S. automakers have a slightly lower problem rate than do European manufacturers. However, Asian vehicles remain significantly more trouble-free than either U.S. or European vehicles. The graph below plots the problem rates for vehicles up to eight years old.

strides over the past several years. Some new Chrysler models have been reliable since their introduction.

from Asian automakers. The

The Jeep Liberty SUV

problem rate for the newest models among all Japanese and Korean vehicles is holding steady at 12 per 100.

As the tables on page 17

Average model U.S.

European Asian

160 140

was the most reliable 2003 Chrysler vehicle. The Chrysler PT Cruiser also had above-average reliability. The Dodge Ram

Problems per 100 vehicles

show, Acura, Honda, Infiniti,

120

and Dodge Neon both

Lexus, Mazda, and Toyota have been the most reliable makes over the past five model years, based on the average problem rates. (Those averages can mask a wide range of problem rates among individual models; reliability varies from model to model for most makes.)

100 80 60 40 20 0

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