Consumer Reports: Ford Is "World Class"

(CBS/AP)  Ford is the only Big Three automaker to be cited by Consumer Reports as producing cars with "world class reliability," according to the magazine's latest survey.

Asian brands again dominated the magazine's 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey, with eight of the top 10 brands from Japanese and Korean companies. But several Ford Motor Co. models were as dependable - or better - than the industry's best, scoring above perennial leaders Honda and Toyota.

Consumer Reports found that 90 percent (or 46 out of 51) of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles had average or better reliability.

"Ford is definitely doing something right," said Rik Paul, the magazine's automotive editor.

Ford Makes Strides in Reliability Ratings

Brands from Chrysler and General Motors, on the other hand, continued to struggle, with Chrysler coming up last among 33 brands sold in the U.S.

Asian brands have scored best in the survey for years. The magazine said Toyota's Scion small-car brand topped the reliability list for the second year in a row.

Honda, Toyota, Infiniti and Acura rounded out the top five. Ford's Mercury, finishing at 10, was the only Detroit brand to rank in the top tier.

The Ford brand finished 16th, and Lincoln finished 20th, largely due to higher-end models - many with all-wheel-drive - scoring below average in reliability, said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' senior automotive engineer.

"Those types of problems are keeping them from being truly world class," Fisher said.

Bennie Fowler, Ford's vice president of global quality, said the company is applying the same methods that worked with the Fusion and other models to the ones that didn't perform as well. The company constantly listens to customer complaints and tracks warranty claims to improve quality, he said.

"We know that the quality levels today have to be greater tomorrow," he said.

Of the 48 models with top reliability scores, 36 are from Asian automakers: Toyota (18), Honda (8), Nissan (4), and three each from Hyundai/Kia and Subaru.

The findings, released today, are based on surveys taken in March by magazine or online subscribers who own or lease 1.4 million vehicles. Based on those responses, Consumer Reports predicted the reliability of 2010 models.

Among family sedans, Ford's 4-cylinder Fusion and the Mercury Milan ranked higher than all other models except for Toyota's Prius. The Ford cars outscored Honda's Accord and Toyota's Camry, the two top-selling cars in America, "which many people view as the paradigms of reliability," Paul said.

The Lincoln MKZ also topped rivals in its class, the Acura TL and Lexus ES, but other Lincoln models fared less well.

The least reliable vehicle, Volkswagen's Touareg, is 27 times more likely to have a problem than the most reliable car, Honda's Insight hybrid, according to the magazine.

Among GM cars, 20 of 48 models surveyed had average reliability scores.

One third of Chrysler's models were much worse than average in reliability.

Last year Consumer Reports said it could not recommend any Chrysler product. However, this year the editors said they could recommend the redesigned, four-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 1500 pickup.

Paul said automakers often can only make quality improvements when new models come out, and those have been few for Chrysler in the last two years.

"Hopefully for them, when they do release new models, they will still have the same level of quality that we saw in the Ram," he said.

The Consumer Reports survey also found that higher-priced cars aren't necessarily more reliable than less-expensive ones. Inexpensive small cars and midsize family sedans were the most reliable in the survey, which questions subscribers about 17 potential problem areas.

Complete results will be in Consumer Reports' December issue (due out Nov. 2), or can be accessed by subscribers on the Consumer Reports Web site.

[justron]

I was in a cab that had 960,000 one transmission, replacement. I have 2-99's Fords 190k miles total, one spark plug and coil. 1-98 79k. Wonder why, cabs, limos, hwy patrol, county cars are Fords. I wonder why they are 5 star, cars, can they be safe. My town car only gets 28.5 mpg, riding in style. Have three friends that get 29+ mpg, one is a Shelby Cobra 500 GT 5.4 but he is always complaining about gas guzzler tax. Note my town car with a cross winds of 60 mph, most small cars are moving around the lanes. I found that the water bottle makes noise, if you use smaller bottles. Here are two tests you can due that are simple. Run you fingers over the edge of finished metal. Watch cars go by on the street and look at the reflection on the paint job. Fords will not rip your finger off, Fords reflection are staight. I have worked for Toyota, and Nilsson, that?s why I drive FoMoCO, from Rangers to a Mark II.
Dyslexia, is not a problem just a work around.

[45ford]

let's see.

2010 Ford Taurus fully load is nearly $45,000 before taxes, license and insurance. beautiful car but exterior color choices are unsatisfactory and the way the options are packaged is atrocious. drive it off the lot and it depreciates significantly and it doesn't hold it's value.

on the other hand, i can but an equivalent vehicle like a fully loaded 2010 Nissan Maxima for just under $40,000 excluding taxes, license and insurance. nice sytled, beautiful car, nice exterior and interior choices with dynamic and technologically advanced options that are broken into smaller packages giving consumers more optional choices. it's barely smaller than the Taurus, but the Maxima gets noticeably better MPG. drive it off the lot and it depreciates less than the '10 Taurus and it reasonably holds it value over the long term. and the 2010 Maxima is similarly designed after the 2009 model which was Motor Trend Car of the Year.

no brainer!

[TheEnergyDoctor]

(F)ix(O)r(R)epair(D)aily.

Tell 'em build some cheap hybrids.
All of 'em are in cahoots with the Oil companies.
They can make autos run of renewables but . . . ..

[fedup12]

Own an 08 Taurus. Great car. sxcrew the ****

[sjc_1]

This will not make a difference in Southern California. People there buy Toyota and Honda cars as if it is a new religion. GM has ranked in the top 5 with J.D. Powers for initial quality for years, but those people don't care. They do not see the connection of keeping the jobs and profits in THIS country and you will never convince them that is this a good thing. Interesting thing about religions and believers, the facts do not matter to them.

[eus109937]

You are correct.....the whole auto industry is based on the state of California. More money is spent on vehicles here that anywhere else on the face of the earth. Automobile companies, if they want sales, better base their cars on what Californian's want and need.

[kofiannanymous]

I ditched my '99 Mercury years ago because it was in the shop every 6 months getting $5k of repairs. I'm shocked that Mercury was highly ranked in reliability. The asian model I replaced the Mercury with hasn't let me down once.

[SAMTORRES66]

ford has come along way from 99....

[tpeks40]

I absolutely love my 2005 F-150. The only problem I've had with it is with the power mirrors. Change the oil regularly, turn the key and go.

[jclark7613]

I don't believe it. Ford stands for found off road dead. My friend had a Ford five hundrend and had to replace the transmission in the first 13 months. Maybe they have good truck but not cars.

[MPHgrad]

LOL jclark7613!!!!

[ToolMangler1]

FORD use to stand for "Fix Or Repair Daily"

[FamilyInCT]

After GM was GIVEN to the Unions and Senior Secured status was disregarded in the bankruptcy, I promised that my family would NEVER buy another GM car. Ford, through its actions, is in a class all by itself. Congrats Ford !

[SomeGuy_9128]

Ford, if I remember correctly, is the only one of the big three that did not go asking for a bailout. That, in my book, is important. When I am next looking for a new vehicle you can bet I'll be looking at Ford first.

[sunspro]

I bought Ford stock after they refused the bailout. It has quadrupled. I'm happy!!!!