I noticed today that in the Consumer Reports 2019 rankings Lexus has dropped from #1 to #3 behind Toyota and Subaru. The 2019 ES reliability score also went from 5/5 down to 4/5

 

CR is laughable.

 

 

I never put any credence in Consumer Reports for rating cars. I think they do a good job for laundry detergent and blenders. Where I do put credence is J D Power because it is not their opinion but what actual owners are reflecting back to them in surveys. Here Lexus is # 1 in dependability for an astounding 8 years in a row.

 

I don't even know how anyone can come to a conclusion about reliability on a current model year. Reliability requires owning the car for several years. If Lexus had started cutting corners with the 2019 ES and it had an impact on reliability you wouldn't know for a few years. Coming to a conclusion about how reliable a car is is really based on established reputation over previous years.

 

What does this ranking include? Is it just reliability or do they factor in their road test scores etc.?

 

How We Rank the Car Brands

We averaged the Overall Scores for all of the vehicles we tested from each major automotive brand, and ranked them accordingly. A brand must have had two or more CR-tested models to be included in the rankings, which is why Maserati, Ram, and Smart have been left out.

The Overall Score is a composite of four elements. First is a vehicle’s road-test score, which assesses performance in more than 50 CR evaluations. Next, we include the latest predicted reliability and owner satisfaction ratings from CR's exclusive Auto Survey. And last, we consider the presence of key safety features and crash-test performance (when completed).

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars...best-vehicles/

 

Consumer Reports is the LAST one I would believe, they have been wrong so many times before.

 

They probably don't like the rear speakers in the ES

 

Why do people care so much where a car is ranked. To me it's what come from personal satisfaction for me and as long as Toyota treats me well then i'll likely stick with Toyotas but it is nice of them to still be considered a top tier brand.

 

The Lexus brand going from #1 to #3 in their rankings isn't the end of the world. As I recall this brand ranking fluctuates especially with the top 5 or so brands

 

It helps in making a purchase decision. Looking at CR, JD, IIHS gives me some idea of what I can expect in terms of reliability and safety when evaluating a brand that is new to me such as Lexus.

 

Mike728 - that's useful information and explains how it's structured.

Hey - I wonder if we are related!

 

 

I give your post 6 out of 10. Like the brevity but it could have used more examples.