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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