Consumer Reports Gives Nod to Ford Reliability

Consumer Reports has a reputation for favoring foreign cars and trucks, and for that reason it may have been something of a relief when its 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey had such good things to say about at least one American carmaker--Ford.

The latest survey found 90 percent (46 of 51) of Ford, Mercury and Lincoln cars and trucks enjoying average or above-average reliability. The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan were in second place among family sedans, with only the super-reliable Toyota Prius topping them. They left the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in the dust, and the sophisticated Lincoln MKZ edged out the Acura TL and Lexus ES.

Also scoring well was the Ford Flex SUV, though a plethora of all-wheel-drive Lincolns--the MKS (based on the Taurus), MKX (Edge) and MKZ (Fusion)--were below average. An American car (the Buick Regal) last topped the Accord and Camry in CU reliability scores in 2004.

Why Ford? Jake Fisher, a Consumer Reports auto test spokesman, said that the key is model longevity. He points out that the current Ford Focus "came out in 1999 and hasn't changed much. It was unreliable at first, but now it's a top performer. Instead of redesigning it, Ford tweaked it and got the bugs out. Instead of a clean sheet of paper, Ford went with slight modification, and the result is a car that's more reliable than the Toyota Corolla."

The Fusion was "freshened" rather than redesigned, he said, and that also allowed it to be continually improved, said Fisher. That's illustrated by our two photos here: The top one is the 2010 Fusion, and below is the 2006 model. Not a total rethink, certainly.

For this reason, CU says, consumers should consider waiting out a model's inaugural year. "Our data shows time and time again that the worst reliability is right when new models are introduced," Fisher said.

Ford doesn't argue with Fisher's assessment, though it is also quick to point out that it does occasionally replace its cars and trucks. According to Graydon Reitz, director of Americas quality for Ford, "We do continuously improve our models--design improvements, manufacturing process improvements--on many of the parts of the car that the consumer doesn't see or touch. The vehicles we build this week are better than the cars we built last week, and it goes on, week after week, month after week."

According to Reitz, Ford is "right now comparable in quality to Honda and Toyota, and the cars and trucks will be superior in the near future. We are seeing people moving from the Prius to the Fusion Hybrid, or from the Accord to the Fusion." He said that the CU citation will help change the perception that Japanese cars have the best build quality, and that this has been demonstrated in Ford's 2009 market-share gains.

Asked to name another "most improved" brand, Fisher pointed to Korea's Hyundai/Kia twins, which he said have been "on the rise for a while in how they perform, and in terms of reliability, safety and fuel efficiency. And interior quality and ride are very competitive."

Another CU finding, Fisher said, is that "Toyota has proven it is not always perfect, and Honda, while not falling off, is seen to be falling behind. For instance, Honda is known for fuel efficiency, but the current Accord is not all that fuel-efficient. It's still up there in reliability, though."

Of GM's 48 models, 20 had average reliability scores, and the Chevrolet Malibu was better than average and "on par with the most reliable family sedans." The Buick Lucerne also did well. Chrysler had the worst performance, with more than a third "much worse than average," including the new car-based Dodge Journey SUV.

Fisher said he himself drives mostly test cars, and owns two Japanese-built track vehicles. His wife drives a Prius, though. "The main story is that when looking for a reliable car, you don't have to only consider Honda and Toyota--you can look at Ford, too."