Club Lexus Editor

Not that you're surprised, but Lexus and Toyota were just named the most reliable car brands in the latest Consumer Reports annual survey. Yep, that makes it four years running.

Read the rest on the Club Lexus homepage. >>

mmarshall

While it's nice to see the company get another award, this is certainly nothing new...or surprising. With a few rare exceptions like some older GS 300/350 AWD models, Consumer Reports has always had Lexus at or near the top in reliability....at least within the top five listings.

What HAS been surprising, IMHO, has been the extremely rapid rise of Audi in the last couple of years.....from a brand with a well-earned reputation of being money-pits to currently close to the top in reliability. Buick, also, is quite impressive....clearly the best domestic brand, right below Lexus and Toyota, though much of that reliability seems to be coming, not necessarily from American-designed Buicks, but from the smaller Buicks that are rebadged from German Opel products.

Lincoln's reliability is a disappointment.....a shame, since I like several of their products, and would consider them as a purchase or lease if their build-quality was a little better.

MattyG

I too have been surprised with Audi's rise and it's a good surprise because I've always like their products right from those famous rally Quattro rally cars of the 80's right up to the big A8's of the nineties. Buick hasn't really surprised me that much because they've been steadily making progress in their quality control bit by bit. Impressive.

The thing is that GM had to go to Europe to make decent FWD-based cars just like Ford. Buick is a good brand these days but now it has a lot of competition from the Koreans so it's mostly for loyalists as is Ford. You buy Japanese or Korean if you want a small, compact sedan or CUV. German if you want upscale prestige and performance.

dseag2

Not at all surprised that Lexus again topped the charts. I had no issues with my '13 GS F Sport over a 3-year period, and the service was outstanding. Same with all other Lexuses I've owned. Selfishly, it is good to see Audi in No. 4, now the top German brand. I can vouch for that, since this is my 4th Audi in 8 years. Kind of amazing that KIA is beating their Hyundai sibling which is in the process of trying to establish the Genesis luxury brand.

Fizzboy7

Always been a fan of avant garde Audi, and this news here is icing on the cake. Lexus I'm not surprised about. Both brands build quality, modern, and well-thought out cars. It is ratings such as these that personally capture my eye and keep me in the fold for future purchases.

Buick's higher ratings still have me convinced it's due to the age of those who buy the product. I consistently see older seniors behind the wheel, who do not have the sharp senses, hearing, and touch to know a higher standard. They also drive far more mildly, not stressing or testing the limits of these cars. If GM can supposedly build top quality Buick models that rank high, there's no reason those same bits and parts can make the lesser GM brands just as reliable. And that does not happen, which validates my theory the older seniors driving Buicks don't have the same behavior, senses, or standard- all of which skews the ratings. Another good example of this theory is Scion. A brand that is made by super reliable Toyota, but bought and abused mostly by wild and inexperienced high schoolers and college students rushing to get to class and late night parties. Scion has shown poor scores over the years, just for the same opposite reason Buick shows high.

mmarshall

What you say about Buick's high rating coming mostly from elderly drivers preventing a lot of stress to the cars has some merit....obviously, less stress means less wear and fewer breakdowns. But it does not explain the fact that Lincoln (and a number of Cadillac) drivers seem to be mostly from the same age groups and sedate driving habits as Buicks, and yet, on the average, end up with significantly less-reliable vehicles. And, even among Buicks, the LaCrosse, the one that is bought and driven the most by the older folks, is not as reliable on average as the smaller, Opel-rebadged Buicks that use a lot of German parts and hardware in them. The Opel-platform Buicks share a lot in the brand's high reliability rating.

JDR76

I bought a new '06 Scion tC and it was the most troublesome car I've ever owned. I was gentle on it, but it had 16 warranty repairs in 23 months/30k miles. Even my previous '01 Saturn, which I kept for 5 years and 110k miles only ever had one repair.

I can't speak to everyone's experience, but I can tell you Scion was not a quality brand for me.

corradoMR2

I remember seeing Scion being midpack at best in reliability over the years and I was always puzzled by that since the powertrains and components came from tried and true Toyota cars (Yaris, Corolla, Camry, etc).

Curious to hear back more from you in terms of specifics.

JDR76

Sure thing. I can't remember the whole list, but some of the items were:

Replace headlight (moisture)
Numerous attempts are fixing back hatch and panoramic sunroof rattle
Engine thermostat stuck open
Radio head unit had to be replaced for faulty display
Supercharger had to be replaced (bearings went out)
I had a driver's seat issue but I can't remember exactly what it was

dseag2

Unless I'm mistaken, Buick has continued to offer more "traditional" interface systems in their cars, where Lincoln has gone more "high tech". That could certainly create more complaints from older drivers and bring down their ratings.

mmarshall

True, but can one relate general vehicle reliability to how easy or complex a video-system on the dash is to use? I don't see where that has anything to do with reliability itself...as long as the system is actually working correctly. Either it works as designed (simple or complex) or it doesn't.

Now, of course, things like the video complexity CAN affect the general customer-satisfaction with the car.....but, IMHO, that is NOT vehicle-reliability.

(See, bitkahuna......that is one area where I disagree with Consumer Reports. I don't always take what they say as Gospel truth).

5gears-IS

iTrader: (5)

Not the case for us....We bought a brand new 2005 Scion TC and after 6 years and 75k miles it was like a tank! Not one issue to report and we only changed tires and brakes during our ownership. It was hard to let it go when we traded it in for a used 08 RX350 fully loaded.

Aron9000

^ Where did they make the Scion cars??? All the reliable Toyota products either come from Japan, Georgetown KY, or the truck factory in TX, I have no idea where Toyota made Scions. Also I've always thought the Tc and Xb(especially the 2nd gen) felt kind of cheaply made/flimsy, the quality wasn't as good as other Toyotas IMO.

As for Buick, you got to keep in mind seniors don't drive very much either, easy to find 15-20 year old Buicks with well under 100k miles on them in perfect condition.

mmarshall

The 1Gen TC was a pretty nice small coupe, and (as far as I know) reasonably reliable. The 2Gen TC, though not necessarily unreliable, was (IMHO) an El Cheapo, cost-cutting POS. Many of them in stock did not even have stereos (just a blank spot or a hole on the dash) ......on the theory that a lot of TC buyers would customize their own interiors. And, if I owned one, I'd probably have the interior redone, too......I certainly couldn't live with the stock one LOL.

Interesting point.

Fizzboy7

You were gentle on it but it was supercharged? The two really don't go hand in hand.