YONKERS, New York — Toyota ended up near the top of its class in the Consumer Reports Automaker Report Card issued on Tuesday, despite recalls related to unintended acceleration.
Toyota placed 3rd in the rankings, even though the percentage of vehicles Consumer Reports recommends dropped nearly in half due to the recalls. Recommendations for eight recalled Toyota models were temporarily suspended recently. Honda and Subaru tied for 1st place with an overall score of 77 out of 100 points. Hyundai took 4th place, followed by Nissan and Volkswagen in a tie for 5th place.
"Although the best vehicles overall are being built by Honda and Subaru, South Korean carmaker Hyundai and its subsidiary, Kia, has shown the most dramatic improvement, jumping to 4th place from 9th last year," said Consumer Reports in a statement.
Chrysler "fared even worse than last year," said the consumer watchdog. But it noted that "Chrysler had one recommended vehicle this year, the Dodge Ram pickup, compared to no recommended vehicles last year."
The grades are derived from overall scores from road tests and reliability.
Ford and GM earned some praise. Consumer Reports noted that "some Ford models now rival their competitors from Honda and Toyota." But it said although the Flex and Fusion scored highly, most models from Ford, Mercury and Lincoln "rate only midpack." It said the freshened Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan are "excellent overall packages that provide good performance and fuel economy."
GM models that scored well in Consumer Reports testing include the Buick Enclave, Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Corvette. But GM was criticized for overall reliability that "still lags behind most of the competition."
Despite Subaru's top grades, Consumer Reports said it no longer recommends the Impreza WRX "because its subscribers reported a relatively high number of problems, including transmission troubles, in the latest survey."
Inside Line says: Critical information for consumers as they slowly come back into the automotive marketplace. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
mrpushrod says:
10:02 PM, 02/28/2010
Should Consumer Reports customers been turned off had they read CRs review on the Corolla. On the contrary, CR states the following about the Corolla: Overall Rating 72=Very Good, CR's owner (cult) satisfaction=74=Very Good The review states: "Corolla is a good small sedan" "Handling is sound and secure" "pleasant and refined Corolla" "Corolla is one of the best riding small cars" "The steering is a bit light and rather vague on center" "Corolla was secure at its handling limits thanks to its optional ESC, but it posted just a modest speed in our avoidance maneuver"
To say CR didn't adequately describe the Corolla's vague steering is a huge understatement. I have been after the biased Consumer Reports for years now for recommending (and top rating) the poorest handling vehicles on the road (Toyota/Lexus brand). Consumer Reports, a supposed authority on vehicle testing and reviews sold their customers down the River to play into the perception game. Selling magazines is job #1 @ CR. Who in their right minds would recommend a vehicle to a friend or family member that has really vague steering??? Just read some of the online complaints. The Corolla wanders and many drivers overcompensate (dangerously) when trying to correct. Furthermore, I personally drove both a 2009 Corolla and a 2010 Focus (CR vehicle rating only 65). The Focus was a fairly well composed vehicle with a good on center feel, adequate feedback and fine tracking abilities; Again, Consumer Reports has no business recommending vehicles like the Corolla to their customers even if it is the biased CR's GEM Toyota brand. CR derives the overall vehicle test score out of thin air. The test plan allows and encourages data manipulation amongst the staffers because the data behind the final score is not shown (results and weight of each individual test). Was the Focus rated 9 points below the Corolla because it was noisy? CRs final test score in the Focus/Corolla comparison also suggest CR is not applying common sense in deriving the number. CR's testers get away with manipulation because high level management at CR has been complacent for many years.. The testing, scoring and report format has not changed in and is hardly adequate. Toyota had to tell CR their vehicles were not safe before CR stopped recommending them. Toyota's safety woes have been public knowledge for years now. I find CRs reporting of the Toyota's woes a little arrogant? This is a magazine that ignored all of Toyota's safety issues for years to comply with the perception of their customer base and now that the cat is out of the bag, they are citing Toyota for poor quality and mistakes. Is this what CRs forefathers had in mind? Why isn't CR apologizing to their customer base for preposterous recommendations? Why isn't somebody at a high level taking charge and reorganizing? In the end I hope CR suffers financially for the out of control, hap hazard, poor quality work being done by their auto department?
As far as the Prius goes, a newscaster on CNN was able to reproduce the brake issue over and over on her Prius on camera. All she had to do is apply the brakes while going over a bumpy road @ 35mph. CR should get her to ru
mrpushrod says:
10:00 PM, 02/28/2010
Jon Linkov (Consumer Reports) LIED on ABC's Good Morning on camera. I QUOTE John: "the Lexus LS460L goes through avoidance maneuver very well." (See provided link for interview) This is an out and out lie on the part of John. This is where Consumer Reports continues to favor their GEM Toyota brand. After highly recommending the dangerous Toyota Corolla, a vehicle that is up for potential recall because owners are scared to drive them on the highway because of documented light and vague steering (Consumer Reports words), Consumer Reports dare to TOP RATE the Lexus LS460 which posted the lowest speeds in CRs AVOIDANCE MANUEVER. (See test results for yourself, John lied on camera)
The test failed by the Lexus LS460L is Consumer Reports ACCIDENT AVOIDANCE MANUVER
Consumer Reports top rated (CRs almost perfect final score on the Lexus LS 460L 99 out of a 100) Lexus LS posted the poorest speed in Consumer Reports avoidance maneuver. In other words Consumer Reports highest rated vehicle is not capable of avoiding an accident. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS??? I quote Consumer Reports on a summary of the test in which the Lexus obtained the poorest safety score:
CONSUMER REPORTS AVOIDANCE MANUVER DESCRIPTION ************** A vehicle with good braking and emergency handling can help you avoid an accident. Here are the highs and lows in our dry braking test (from 60 mph) and avoidance maneuver which helps us judge how capable a vehicle is when a driver is trying to steer around an obstacle; the higher the speed the better END QUOTE ************** THE LEXUS LS 460L obtained the lowest speed of any sedan sold for personal use in America @ 48.5 MPH. John from Consumer Reports is a LIAR and lied on ABC's Good Morning America about CRs GEM Lexus.
Consumer Reports final vehicle test scores are biased toward CRs customer base. Auto writers can manipulate the results since they do not have to show the work that led to their final scoring of a vehicle. The Toyota Corolla (dangerous cruise ship handling) and the Lexus LS460L with the lowest accident avoidance scores prove Consumer Reports is still up to the their usual shenanigans They target the demographics of their customer base (selling magazines is job # 1 at Consumer Reports). Consumer Reports reliably data is a collected from a non random survey unlike reputable institutions such as J. D. Powers. Consumer Reports surveys are CR member exclusive. In other words you have to purchase and be a member of a biased (cult like) magazine that constantly ranks on domestic vehicles in order be fill out the survey. Therefore, CRs reliability data never correlates with non-biased random surveys. When data is compared, CR's reliability data is always tainted toward the direction of the big 3 (Toyota, Nissan, Honda). That's not to say the survey is useless, it just means you need to subtract for perception instinct of CR's customer base.
Let's all remember Consumer Reports recommended Toyotas for days after Toyota started the recall
Link to see Jon Linkov Consumer Reports lie on TV
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/02/consumer-reports-top-picks-on-good-morning-america.html
tbone85 says:
07:49 PM, 02/24/2010
It would be a good point if it were true. There have been problems with Cobalts that are on a mini recall program. Although a pesky thing like facts should never interfere with a good conspiracy theory.
jonthecarguy says:
08:01 AM, 02/24/2010
fbo....
Good point about GM. LOL
fbo says:
04:29 AM, 02/24/2010
Dodge RAM did good, because its a EX-Nissan Titan :). we all know by now that nissan helped them with that truck. Also, its kinda funny how all of the sudden everyone is having recalls except GM, hmmm is it because Government owns GM now :)
arock says:
09:46 PM, 02/23/2010
Just read this article from Caranddriver, so is this all a media hype amd mud slinging and animosity
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q4/how_to_deal_with_unintended_acceleration-tech_dept
jepontiac says:
09:02 PM, 02/23/2010
Sorry for the spelling and grammitical mistakes in my previous post. It is well past my bedtime.
jepontiac says:
09:01 PM, 02/23/2010
I don't trust CR. Look at there latest issue. They reviewed the Nissan Versa Sedan. They di not recommend it and found its reliabilty spotty. However they do recommend the hatchback Versa becuase surveys say it has good reliabity. It is the same vehicle. I remember they did the same thing with the Pontiac Vibe. They recommended the Matrix but not the Vibe despite the fact they are mechanical clones. It just goes to show CR is subjective not objective. They're surveys do not have high enough sampling, variation, or use of statisical data to be of any real use. The only thing I recognize CR for is their focus as safety as king. Even mediocre safety performance will get you pulled off their recommended list.
Personally, I am glad to see Toyota's resale values are coming down to reality. It is as high as 30% decrease in residual value on certain models.
jonthecarguy says:
07:06 PM, 02/23/2010
I worked for a dealership for 4 years, and numerous Honda's that came through especially Accords had shot transmissions, that had been recalled. Honda refused to cover the replacements (for various excuses), and even after they were payed to be fixed, several still slipped and had to be fixed again, but we just sent a majority to auction just to get rid of the problems. Can't speak for everyone, but in MY personal view, Honda is a company that doesn't stand behind there "rock solid" duribilty to well either...not to mention the possiblity of fatal injuries to driver's due to airbag system failures. Not that I'm excusing Toyota's recalls, but no one car maker is "recall safe."
xoquixxoqafxo says:
05:07 PM, 02/23/2010
Attention Arock... Toyota only made the star safety system standard on its trucks, SUVS, and van. It wasn't until 2010 that they made most of their cars have the system. My parents both have toyota's a 2007 yaris and 2003 4runner. The 4runner is a great truck and i really enjoy it, the 4runner has 80k with no problems. However, the yaris is an average econobox that borders on poor. The honda fit is just far more superior and fun to drive with the same reliability. Of the new toyota models, i hate the camry, corolla, avalon, matrix, tundra, etc. Basically all the american made toyotas are involved in this recall and its ridiculous. the new corolla's interior is soo cheap and poorly put together same as the new camry. I sat in one at the dealer and you can literally pull off trim pieces surronding the shifter. To say that they got 3rd is just plain lucky of them. A lot of toyota owners are trading in their cars for hondas. People just dont trust them anymore and i dont blame them.