Posted on 10/16/2007 10:27:25 AM PDT by eraser2005
NEW YORK, CNNMoney.com -- The Toyota brand has lost its top position for iron-clad reliability, according to an influential Consumer Reports survey released Tuesday.
The survey dropped Toyota from first to fifth place - behind Honda, Acura, Scion and Subaru - in average vehicle reliability. The rankings are based on average predicted reliability for all models sold under a given brand.
Brands made by Toyota Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. still dominate the rankings: Scion is Toyota's low-priced car brand and Acura is Honda's luxury car brand.
Consumer Reports said it no longer recommends V6 versions of Toyota's Camry or V8 versions of its Tundra pick-up because of poor reliability.
In the past, because Toyota (Charts) products have so consistently proved reliable, the magazine would assume at least average reliability for Toyota's brand new cars, without waiting for survey data from owners.
But from now on, the magazine will wait for a full year of reliability survey data to come in before it recommends a Toyota product - as it does with most other manufacturers.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Few people have bought it? Maybe on here.... plenty elsewhere, though....
Unless you consider annualized sales rates of 130k+ “few” sales....
Thanks.... I think. ;-)
I searched online and there is a service bulletin for the 500 for the years up to and including 2006. I hope they fixed the problem for the 2007 model, but it’s good to be aware of a potential problem.
Ford is the least reliable (5 cars/SUVs all crap), Chevy pickup (27 years) the most reliable. Honda = crap, Subaru = crap.
BUMP
Interesting. Hadn't heard of the problem. I wonder if its related to burning ethanol? I have heard that ethanol has gelling poblems and that truckers hate bio-diesel, not only because of cost, but it gels-up in cold weather and hell on injection pumps and injectors.
Have you heard anything along this line??
American manufacturers make cars and trucks standard with big motors. Japanese cars only offer big motors as an option. Also, japanese cars in other parts of the world are not available at all with the big motors. It’s purely a matter of who makes how much of what. American big motors are naturally better than american small motors because that’s what the american companies know. The imports are just the opposite. The small motors are better than the big motors because that’s what THEY know.
Honda civic is the most reliable car there is. I’ve never owned one, by the way. I would say that older ford and chevy trucks are the most reliable vehicles for something you want to leave sitting around unused for extended periods and have them work when you need them. The ford 300six and the chevy 350 were amazing. I’ve had old chevys sit for 6 months to a year and they start right up like they were running the day before.
No, oil gelling appeared before the MTBE -> Ethanol switch. It appears to be caused by hot spots in the engine combined with the much thinner oils used today to meet EPA regulations.
I’ve seen fuel injected Jaguars that have been sitting for 10 years crank right up when supplied with fresh gasoline and a battery. Not exactly an impressive feat for an American car to do it after 6 months...
Amen.
(Note to eraser2005: take the BLUE pill).
Well, in anecdotal evidence, supplied by myself, the 2 Toyota Corollas I've owned (a 1990 and a 2000) have been, by far, the most reliable cars I've ever owned. My 1990 only had 1 non-maintenance repair in 10 years, and 197,000 miles: And it was a freak. The exhaust manifold cracked (at about 125,000 miles), and blew exhaust on the radiator, ruining it. Other than replacing the manifold and radiator, no repairs.
I didn't really want to get rid of the car, but the maintenance repairs at 197,000 miles was just going to be too much to justify spending on a 10 year old car. It was still getting about 34MPG, burned about 1/2 quart of oil every 3000 miles, and was rust free. However at that point it needed a new clutch, timing belt, brakes, new front end, tires, shocks, struts, and a major tune-up. So, I traded it in on a new 2000 Corolla. In 143,000 miles and 7 years, it's needed a new module, which was covered under warranty. That's it.
Mark
I've often thought that we ought to run a compettitive test between 1) an modern automobile engine, tuned to run on regular without designer fuel and newfangangled additives, without emmission controls and artificial design restrictions on breathing ability and 2) a similar engine with all the current EPA and car companies best efforts to obtain high mileang and low emmissions.
It would be interesting to see just how far off the mark a well tuned old technology approach is to todays standards and at what cost. My bet is that we have spent hundreds of billions to achieve very little that couldn't have been done by mandatory tuneups and elimination of older oilburning junkers.
I once owned an BMW M6 with a "worked over" engine - and it passed emission tests with just a minor leaning of the fuel-air mixture....and it hated ethanol laced fuel - mileage went down markedly!!
They don't like Jeep Wranglers either. The only car I drive.
My 92 Honda Accord has 325,000 miles on it. Original Engine. Replaced trans at 273,000 miles. That was the only problem I had with it. VERY reliable vehicle.
My personal expoerience and those of Top Gear would beg to differ. Check out the "Indestrctible Toyota" footage sometime - magnificent!
Also, the successful drive to the north pole in a toyota last year proved they could withstand hellish extremes, both in temes of tempeature, terrain and general punishment. (On July 25, 2007, the BBC aired a special episode of Top Gear where two of its presenters, James May and Jeremy Clarkson became the first ever people to reach the 1996 Magnetic North Pole in an automobile, the Toyota Hilux.[1])
From Wikipedia (But don't sneer - I've seen all the footage:
The Toyota Hilux has gained a reputation for exceptional sturdiness and reliability, even during sustained heavy use, and is often referred to as "The indestructible car". This was further reinforced when on the third series (programme five) of the revamped BBC motoring show Top Gear, a 1988 Toyota Hilux with 190,000 miles (308,000km) on the clock, was subjected to a succession of extraordinary abuse, which included driving it down the steps behind Bristol Cathedral, scraping buildings in Bristol, crashing it into a tree, tying it up to a jetty to be washed out to sea by the incoming tide, driving it through a garden shed (a.k.a the Top Gear production office), dropping a caravan onto it, hitting it with a wrecking ball, setting the cabin and bed area on fire, and placing it on top of a 240-foot block of flats that was subsequently destroyed by a controlled demolition. Amazingly, although it was now suffering from severe structural damage (there was already significant body corrosion when it was purchased), the truck was still running after being repaired without spare parts and only with typical tools and equipment that would be found in a car's toolbox, such as spanners, motor oil, and a monkey wrench. The Hilux currently resides as one of the background decorations in the newly revamped Top Gear Studio from Season 8.[2]
In the 2006 series (Series 8, Episode 3), a Hilux was chosen by Jeremy Clarkson as his platform for creating an amphibious vehicle. With assistance, Clarkson rigged the truck with a massive outboard motor and steering mechanism in the pickup bed. The truck, redubbed the "Toybota", was driven by Clarkson over several miles by road and two miles across open water, before capsizing during a quick turn. Once recovered, the vehicle was moved back to the Top Gear Studio, where a confident Clarkson stated that he would be the only one capable of driving his car home, since it was the indestructible Hilux. However, Clarkson could not get the Hilux started which led his co-hosts to believe that Clarkson had finally destroyed the "indestructible".
Yes ma’am, Marysville!
I think Honda also makes (4-door) Civics elsewhere in Ohio.
As far as your 10 year claim, I say DOUBT IT. Ten years requires wd40 in the cylinders and turning over the engine slowly without firing it to make sure everything is freed up and lubed. And if the thing didn’t have fuel stabilizer and winterized the cooling system, your in for trouble.
But if you’re really going to try to claim that a british sportscar is more reliable than an american work truck, you are about the dumbest guy I’ve met, or else you think I am if you expect me to believe that crap.
Well, to be more detailed, yes, you've got to plaster the rest of the beast w/foamy sprays & creams of all types. Just like yer girlfriend legs, if you use enough of it the excessive works it's way into all the tiny crevices instead of dirt & crap.
Then, and only then, it will last forever
86'toyota le van 226,000 miles
93'Dodge Dynasty LE 231,000 miles
Both clean, shiny, comfy & free.
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