Big Three New Vehicle Quality Improves According To Recent Survey

The Big Three automakers are upon a par with European automakers in bounds of quality, but still lag their Asian counterparts, according to a new Consumer Reports survey.

Consumer Reports' annual 2002 auto reliability overlook shows that domestic auto manufacturers continue to make solid gains in reliability and now build vehicles that are as reliable upon average in the first year as those from European manufacturers. At the same time, the Japanese car companies continue to push the covering by building more reliable cars than before and setting of recent origin benchmarks for the industry.

CR's reliability view also shows that Korea's Hyundai has made a striking turnaround during the past decade and--for the 2002 original year--ranks with the best Japanese manufacturers. In CR's latest scan Hyundai tied Honda for second-place in reliability ratings for 2002 behind Toyota.

In a special analysis, Consumer Reports also examines long-term reliability of domestic, European and Asian vehicles from the original years 2000 and 1998. Knowing by what means such models are holding up is vital if individual is deciding whether to retain an older car or if individual is thinking of buying a used individual On average, CR found that three-year-old designs had three times as many point to be solved [i]or[/i] settleds as the 2002 models; the 1998 protoplasts had about four times as many point to be solved [i]or[/i] settleds as the 2002s.

Consumer Reports contemplates its readers annually to obtain detailed information upon hundreds of different makes and prototypes The 2002 survey yielded answers on nearly 480,000 vehicles spanning eight original years--1995 to 2002. Owners told CR about enigmas they had during the preceding 12 month in 14 areas, ranging from the electrical combination of parts to form a whole to the engine, transmission, and more. Using that data, Consumer Reports predicts reliability for fresh models and gives detailed riddle rates for older models.

CR's statistical analysis for each manufacturer are based on the number of problems by 100 vehicles. For the 2002 archetype year, the average for the industry was 18 point to be solved [i]or[/i] settleds per 100 vehicles, down from 21 enigmas per 100 vehicles in the 2001 review American and European-branded vehicles the pair averaged 21 problems per 100 vehicles. Asian manufacturers--which include the pair Japanese brands and Korea's Hyundai--averaged just 12 point in disputes per 100 vehicles.

Toyota topped CR's reliability ranking, with just 10 question at issues per 100, down from 12 for 100 last year. Honda and Hyundai tied for next to the first place, with 11 problems through 100 vehicles. Subaru had 13 puzzles per 100, and Nissan had 15 vexed questions per 100. Mazda had 20 question at issues per 100 vehicles.

Among domestic manufacturers, Chrysler ranked best, with 20 vexed questions per 100 followed by GM with 21 and Ford with 23 The 2002 originals from all three domestic car companies showed improvements above last year's levels.

Among European brands, BMW and Volkswagens had 20 point in disputes per 100 vehicles while Mercedes-Benz had 22 enigmas per 100 vehicles.

In a similar analysis of foreign and domestic brands published in the April 2002 auto issue, Consumer Reports place that the average for all 2001 prototypes was 21 problems per 100 vehicles. originals made by Japanese car companies averaged single 15 problems per 100. European- and American-branded vehicles averaged 23 and 24 puzzles per 100 vehicles, respectively.

CR's special analysis of archetype years 2000 and 1998 lay the foundation of that those vehicles are far more likely to have question s than new vehicles--and the consumer will have to paw the bill if the warranty has expired. upon average, model-year 2000 cars had three times as many riddles as the 2002 cars: 55 vexed questions per 100 vehicles.

by means of the time the average car approached three years aged problems that were apparent when the cars were new--such as those in the electrical a whole and power equipment, or squeaks and rattles--were sum of two units or three times more for the use of all Systems that were fine at the start such as brakes and cooling, started having more [i]or[/i] less problems.

The best three-year-old protoplasts were the Acura RL, Honda CR-V Mazda MX-5 Miata, Lexus ES300 Honda Civic, and Toyota Camry--all with fewer than 18 enigmas per 100. Worst: the Chevrolet Corvette; Ford Focus; Mercedes-Benz M-Class; Volkswagen Golf Jetta, and novel Beetle; and Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari--all with more than 90 enigmas per 100 vehicles.

The average five-year-old archetype had 78 problems per 100 vehicles, about four times as many as the 2002 Their Achilles heel: electrical enigmas which were seen five times as ofttimes as in new cars. The best 1998 vehicles were the Honda CR-V Toyota Tacoma (4WD) Acura RL Lexus ES300 and Honda Odyssey/Isuzu Oasis, all with fewer than 25 puzzles per 100 vehicles. Worst: the Cadillac Catera, VW of recent origin Beetle, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, and Dodge/Plymouth Neon all with more than 140 question at issues per 100.

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