Bookmarking Auto on Info pages Supporting Auto on Info Home or Site Layout or Site Map or Site Index or Quick Jumps or Search Engine Directory or The Mart or The Links Auto Information Reliability Information Reliability Percentranks The Best and Worst Cars and Trucks of 2003, by Reliability Percentrank

 

This page has been updated to include the data that became available in 2006.

The following table provides a breakdown of entries by auto manufacturer for the above Best of 2003 and Worst of 2003 tables. Note that the above tables are based on the infrequency of serious problems reported for vehicles between the ages of 2 years and 3 years.

Percentage of Entries in the Best of 2003 Table That Were Products of the Listed Manufacturer   Percentage of Entries in the Worst of 2003 Table That Were Products of the Listed Manufacturer
Auto Manufacturer Percentage Auto Manufacturer Percentage
Toyota 64.3% Toyota 0%
Honda 21.5% Honda 0%
Nissan 0% Nissan 0%
Mazda 0% Mazda 2.2%
Mitsubishi 0% Mitsubishi 0%
Volvo 0% Volvo 2.2%
Ford 0% Ford 17.4%
Volkswagen 0% Volkswagen 2.2%
Chrysler 0% Chrysler 8.7%
General Motors 7.1% General Motors 39.1%
Other 7.1% Other 28.2%
Total 100% Total 100%

With regard to the Best of 2003, Subaru had one entry; this accounts for the 7.1% under "Other".

With regard to the Worst of 2003, Mercedes-Benz had five entries, Jaguar, Saab, and BMW each had two entries, and Land Rover and Kia each had one entry; these account for the 28.2% under "Other".

General Motors Corporation both dominated the Worst of 2003, with 39% of the bottom bunch, and accounted for one model in the Best of 2003. With regard to the latter, site manager anticipates that it will disappear from the Best of 2003 for vehicles aged 2-4 years (next year's Best of 2003), as (1) GM's products are not known for enduring reliability (see "Speediest Dilapidations: General Motors Accounts for 16 of the 20 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2005), (2) the 2003 Buick Century reliability score is anomalous for the Buick Century and for the Buick line, and (3) next year's data will be based on 2 years of vehicle performance, not just one, so it should more accurately reflect the true performance of the model. Nonetheless, (1) the Buick line has shown improvement in short-term reliability in recent years and (2) if GM has made the determination that it can put one or both of the remaining two of the Big Three out of business within the next decade, there may be under way a serious push toward something other than higher reliability in the short term, although at this stage such a determination is pure speculation, especially as it seems that GM presently has its hands full just staying afloat.

A model's Reliability Percentrank is a ranking of that model's Reliability Score relative to all other Reliability Scores for the given model year and age range. The percentrank was computed using the Percentrank function of Microsoft's Excel 2002 and, as the first part of the compound word percentrank suggests, is a value between 0.00 and 1.00. If a model's Reliability Percentrank is near 0.00, it has a very low Reliability Score, and if a Percentrank is near 1.00, it has a high Reliability Score. For a more detailed explanation of Reliability Percentranks and Reliability Scores, click here to be taken to the Methodology page.

To view the Best and Worst tables for other model years or the most recent Summary of these tables, select from the following menu table.

Best and Worst of 1988 Best and Worst of 1989 Best and Worst of 1990 Best and Worst of 1991 Best and Worst of 1992 Best and Worst of 1993 Best and Worst of 1994
Best and Worst of 1995 Best and Worst of 1996 Best and Worst of 1997 Best and Worst of 1998 Best and Worst of 1999 Best and Worst of 2000 Best and Worst of 2001
Best and Worst of 2002 Best and Worst of 2003 Summary Chart Summary of 2006 Updates       
Some Charts and Tables Pertaining to Reliability and Durability
(Each chart is linked to a news article providing additional information.)

Table I: Number and Percentage of Entries in CR's 2006 Much-Worse-Than-Average List, by Manufacturer
Auto Manufacturer Number of Entries Percent of Entries
General Motors Corporation 17 50.0%
Ford Motor Company 6* 17.6%
DaimlerChrysler AG 4** 11.8%
Volkswagen AG 4 11.8%
BMW AG 2 5.9%
Kia Motors Corporation 1 2.9%
All Others 0 0%
* Two are from Ford's North American group, two are from the Jaguar division, one is from the Land Rover division, and one is from the Volvo division.
** Two are from DaimlerChrysler's North American Chrysler group and two are from the Mercedes-Benz division.
Source: "CR Bad Bets: Be Especially Careful," Consumer Reports Cars: Used Car Buying Guide 2006, p. 26

Additional Charts and Tables appear below the list of news articles.

Some Auto News Articles:

January 2007: Toyota Expands Dominance on Durability Measure
January 2007: Big Three Dominate 2006 and Cumulative U.S. Safety Recalls
January 2007: In the U.S. in 2006, Consumers Quicken Their Pace to Quality: Toyota Sales Soar and Honda Sales Rise as Big Three Sales Plunge
November 2006: True Value Estimates of GM's 2007 Vehicles
September 2006: Reliability Updates: Best and Worst Cars and Trucks Tables: A Chart Summary
August 2006: Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 6-to-8 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 7 of 10 Best, GM - 17 of 36 Worst
August 2006: Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 5-to-7 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 9 of 13 Best, GM - 17 of 42 Worst
August 2006: Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 4-to-6 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 8 of 14 Best, GM - 19 of 47 Worst
August 2006: Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 3-to-5 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 13 of 15 Best, GM - 17 of 47 Worst
August 2006: Reliability Updates: For Model Year 2002, Toyota Accounts for 11 of 16 Best, GM - 16 of 53 Worst
August 2006: Fitch Cuts Ford Debt Deeper into Junk, Retains Negative Outlook, Puts Estimated Post-Bankruptcy Recovery at 51-70%; Will GM-Ford Race to Bankruptcy End in Dead Heat?
August 2006: For 2-to-3-Year-Old Model-Year-2003 Vehicles, Toyota Garners 8 of Top 9 and 9 of Top 14, General Motors Accounts for 18 of Bottom 46
August 2006: Toyota Dominates Auto on Info's Rosters of High Mileage Vehicles; Honda Places Second: Another Auto Manufacturer Durability Award for Each
August 2006: By WSJ's Lot-Stay Time, Made-in-Japan TMC Models Account for 7 of July's Hottest 10
August 2006: In the U.S. in July 2006, Toyota Sales Surge to New Monthly Record and Past Ford's; Legendary Corolla Sales Soar Again; Honda Sales Jump Past Previous July Record; Big Three Sales Remain In or Near Friction-Free Free Fall, But GM's Prospect of Multiple Bankruptcy Filings Dims Again
July 2006: Toyota and Honda Dominate CR's Ten Best Family Sedans with Above Average Predicted Reliability; Big Three Score Zip
July 2006: In the U.S. in June 2006, Toyota Sales Surge to Set a New June Record; Legendary Corolla Sales Soar; Honda Sales Squeak Past Previous June Record; Big Three Sales Remain In or Near Friction-Free Free Fall, But GM's Prospect of Multiple Bankruptcy Filings Dims
June 2006: S&P Cuts Ford Debt Deeper into Junk: Which of the Big Two Will Win the Race to Bankruptcy?
June 2006: In the U.S. in May 2006, Reliable Two and Legendary Corolla Sales Soar Past Previous Records; Big Three Sales Take a Step into Friction-Free Free Fall; Accelerated Consumer Shift to Quality and Out of GM Products Puts Prospect of Multiple Bankruptcy Filings on GM's Horizon
June 2006: Toyota and Honda Dominate CR's 2006 Higher-Reliability, Higher-Owner-Satisfaction Quick Picks; Big Three Score Zip
May 2006: Toyota and Honda Account for 75% of CR's Top Picks, Alternatives, and Runners-up; Subaru and Nissan Account for Balance; Big Three Score Zip
April 2006: In 2006, Toyota and Honda Rule Most Reliable List with 10 of 10 Best, GM Dominates Least Reliable List with 6 of 10 Worst: Reliability Gap Grows
April 2006: In the U.S. in March 2006, Consumers Continue Their March to Quality: Reliable Two Sales Set New March Records; GM Sales Plunge; Ford Sales Drop
March 2006: Moody's Cuts GM Creditworthiness Another Notch Deeper into Junk
March 2006: Consumer Shift to Quality Gives Reliable Two Nearly Half of Global Market Capitalization and Leaves GM with 2%
March 2006: Toyota Reliability Takes Another Leap Up; Honda's Too; Toyota-GM Reliability Gap Sets Another Record: Will GM Bottom?
February 2006: Toyota and Honda Cars Account for All of CR's 2006 Family Sedan All-Around Quick Picks
February 2006: GM Strengthens Lead in Race to Bankruptcy: Moody's Cuts GM's Credit a Notch Deeper into Junk
February 2006: Chevrolet Reliability Worst of Big Three Brands, by CR Measures
February 2006: Toyota and Honda Dominate Consumer Reports' 2006 Good Bets List, with Small Changes from 2005
February 2006: General Motors and DaimlerChrysler Again Dominate CR's Used-Cars-to-Avoid List
February 2006: Into the Pits and Down and Under Charges the General; General Motors Sets Record Share of CR's Much-Worse-Than-Average
February 2006: In the U.S. in January 2006, Reliable Two Sales Soar to Set New January Sales Records; GM and Ford Dodge Plunge with Huge, Premature Fleet Sales, but GM's Market Share Still Drops a Notch; Toyota RAV4 Overtakes Honda CR-V with Dramatic Sales Surge
January 2006: U.S. President Bush Says GM and Ford Must Make a Relevant Product, But Can They and Should They Try?
January 2006: Toyota Overwhelmingly Dominates Another Measure of Durability
January 2006: By WSJ's Lot-Stay Time, Made-in-Japan TMC Models Are Top 5 of Hottest 10
January 2006: Ford Cuts GM Lead in Race to Insolvency: Which Big Three Will Go Bust First?
December 2005: By CR's Predicted Short-Term Reliability for Model Year 2006, Toyota and Honda Dominate Best, GM and Ford Dominate Worst
September 2005: In the U.S. in August 2005, Reason Rather Returns: Quality Four Sales Soar, GM Sales Plunge
September 2005: Fifteen-Year Data History Points to Continued Overwhelming Dominance of the Best of Each Year by TMC
September 2005: Auto on Info Site Manager's Conclusion: GM Likely to Dominate Worst-Cars-and-Trucks Tables for Years to Come
August 2005: For 2-to-3-Year-Old Model Year 2002 Vehicles, Toyota Garners 6 of Top 9, General Motors - 13 of Bottom 45
August 2005: For Vehicles 2-to-4 Years Old, Toyota Garners 11 of Top 16, General Motors - 16 of Bottom 40
August 2005: For Vehicles 3-to-5 Years Old, Toyota Garners 9 of Top 14, Honda - 5 of Top 14, and General Motors - 19 of Bottom 44
August 2005: For Vehicles 4-to-6 Years Old, Toyota Garners 6 of Top 10, General Motors Garners 15 of Bottom 38
August 2005: For Vehicles 5-to-7 Years Old, Honda Garners 5 of Top 9, Toyota - 4 of Top 9, and General Motors - 19 of Bottom 38
August 2005: For Vehicles 6-to-8 Years Old, Toyota Garners 7 of Top 10 Reliability Percentranks, General Motors Gathers 23 of Lowest 36
August 2005: Speediest Dilapidations: General Motors Accounts for 16 of the 20 Worst
August 2005: By WSJ's Lot Stay Time, Toyota Has 8 of Hottest 12
August 2005: Toyota Dominates Auto on Info's Rosters of High Mileage Vehicles; Honda Places Second: Another Auto Manufacturer Durability Award for Each
August 2005: In the U.S. in July 2005, Reliable Two and Nissan Sales Soar on Quality; Big Three Sales Soar on Discounts
July 2005: Toyota and BMW Among World's 20 Most Innovative Companies; Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Honda Brand Names Among World's 20 Most Valuable
July 2005: Mini-Survey Points to Toyota Dominance in Overall Quality and Customer Satisfaction
May 2005: Don't Drive That GM Pickup or SUV
May 2005: Does 'GM' Mean 'Junk'?
May 2005: Toyota-Big Three Quality Gap Huge, and Growing
May 2005: Toyota and Honda Rule Most Reliable List with 12 of 12 Best, GM Dominates Least Reliable List with 8 of 11 Worst
May 2005: With U.S. Consumer Shift toward Quality Unabated, S&P Cuts GM and Ford's Debt to Junk
May 2005: In the U.S. in April 2005, Quality Four Sales Soar, GM and Ford Continue Free Fall
May 2005: Park That Ford on the Street!
May 2005: General Motors Vehicles Hit with Another Safety Investigation: NHTSA to Investigate 1.3 Million GM Pickup Trucks and SUVs for Corroding Brake Part
April 2005: King of Recalls Recalls Again: General Motors Leaps Past Ford with Recall of 2 Million Vehicles, Including 1.5 Million 2003-2005 SUVs and Pickups
April 2005: Consumer Shift Toward Quality Gives Honda Market Capitalization Greater Than GM's and Ford's Combined
April 2005: Moody's Cuts GM Long-Term Debt Rating to One Notch Above Junk, Puts Ford Debt Under Review
April 2005: General Motors Models Dominate Flop Survey
April 2005: Himmel vs. Ford Motor
April 2005: Part of GM's Repair Kit - A Very Bloodied Ax
April 2005: In the U.S. in March 2005, Toyota and Nissan Sales Advance, Ford and GM Sales Drop
April 2005: General Motors' Dominion - Down & Under
March 2005: Additional Measures of Toyota's Dominion in Automotive Quality: Market Capitalizations and Bond Ratings of Toyota vs. General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Volkswagen
March 2005: Toyota and Honda Dominate Consumer Reports 2005 Overall Quick Pick List; Big Three Score Zip
March 2005: Models Engineered by Toyota and Honda Dominate Consumer Reports Fuel Economy Quick Pick List; Big Three-Engineered Models Score Zip
March 2005: Toyota and Honda Dominate Consumer Reports Owner Satisfaction Quick Pick List; Big Three Score Zip
March 2005: GM's Bond Rating, Bond Outlook, Common Stock, and Market Cap Take a Tumble, Reports WSJ
March 2005: General Motors Slashes 2005 Earnings Estimate, S&P Cuts GM's Outlook to Negative
March 2005: General Motors Dominates List of Models with Highest Death Rates
March 2005: General Motors and Chrysler Dominate Consumer Reports Used-Cars-To-Avoid List
March 2005: General Motors Dominates Consumer Reports Much-Worse-Than-Average Reliability List, Again
March 2005: Toyota and Honda Again Dominate Consumer Reports Good Bets List
March 2005: Toyota Dominates Consumer Reports Reliability Quick Pick List; Big Three Score Zip
October 2004: Is GM King of Junk?
October 2004: The 2004 Auto Reliability Updates: Toyota Continues to Govern; GM Stays Stuck ... Deep, Down and Under, and Below
September 2004: Toyota and Honda Dominate Consumer Reports' Best in Class by Cargo Space and Fuel Economy
September 2004: In the U.S. in August 2004, Sales at Both Ends of the Quality Spectrum Are Mixed, Ford's Market Share Remains at .18, and Once Again Toyota Displaces Chrysler as Number 3
August 2004: General Motors Safety Recalls Keep Rolling On
August 2004: Toyota Has Four of July 2004's Hottest Selling Top Ten; Honda, BMW, and DaimlerChrysler - Each Two
July 2004: Toyota and Honda Dominate June 2004's Hottest Selling Top Ten
May 2004: General Motors Quality Drops Again
May 2004: Toyota's Reliability Continues to Advance: Gap with Big Three Grows
April 2004: General Motors 2004 Recalls Continue to Mount: Is GM Quality Dropping Like a Rock?
March 2004: Prompted by a Growing Number of Injuries and an Intensified U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Investigation, General Motors Recalls 4 Million Pickups
March 2004: Toyota Dominates List of Best Cars and Trucks; General Motors Dominates List of Worst Cars and Trucks
March 2004: General Motors' U.S. 2003 Recall Numbers: A Bottomless Pit and a GM Defense?
February 2004: GM's Quality Problems Keep Rolling Out: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Ratchets Up Investigation into General Motors' Collapsing Tailgates
January 2004: The Piston Slap - Engine Knock Lawsuits: Do General Motors' Pickup Trucks and SUVs Make a Grotesque Noise? 
Automotive News Menu Pages
Auto Manufacturers: Toyota - Honda - Subaru - Nissan - Ford - Chrysler - General Motors - Volkswagen
Topics: Reviews - Recalls - Safety Investigations - Safety Test Results - Automotive Excellence - Automotive Dishonor, Discredit, or Demerit - Lawsuits - Automotive Finances - Car and Truck Sales and Market Shares - Auto on Info

The visitor may find the following tables and charts useful as well.

Cumulative Number of Auto on Info Auto Manufacturer Awards for Motor Vehicle Quality   Cumulative Number of First Place Positions in Auto on Info's Auto Manufacturer Awards for Motor Vehicle Quality
Auto Manufacturer Awards Auto Manufacturer First Place Positions
Toyota 34 Toyota 34
Honda 26 Honda 1
Mercedes-Benz 2 Mercedes-Benz 0
Nissan 4 Nissan 0
BMW 1 BMW 0
Volvo 1 Volvo 0
General Motors 0 General Motors 0
Ford 0 Ford 0
Chrysler 0 Chrysler 0
This table is current as of 31 August 2006. This table is current as of 31 August 2006.
Shares of Consumer Reports' 2005 Quick Picks, by Auto Manufacturer and Motor Vehicle Line
Manufacturer Share of 2005 Reliability Quick Picks Share of 2005 Owner Satisfaction Quick Picks Share of 2005 Fuel Economy Quick Picks Share of 2005 Overall Quick Picks
  Vehicle Line
Toyota .63 .47 .46 .33
  Lexus .11 .16 0.00 .14
  Toyota .53 .32 .46 .19
Honda .21 .26 .38 .33
  Acura .11 .11 .08 .05
  Honda .11 .16 .31 .29
Subaru .05 .11 0.00 .14
Nissan 0.00 .05 0.00 .14
  Infiniti 0.00 0.00 0.00 .05
  Nissan 0.00 .05 0.00 .10
Mazda .05 .05 .15 .051
BMW 0.00 .05 0.00 0.00
Mitsubishi .05 0.00 0.00 0.00
Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, and all others 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
1 Mazda's one entry, the Mazda3 i, may have been pulled from Consumer Reports' Overall Quick Pick List due to a "Poor" side-impact crash test rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Insurance Institute's rating did cause Consumer Reports to pull the Mazda3 from its recommended list.
All shares are rounded to two significant digits.
CR 2005 Quick Picks are quick pick models of model year 2005.
Note: A rebadge of a product engineered by Toyota, but sold by another auto manufacturer, is omitted from the latter's share.
Source for Consumer Reports' Good Bets: "Quick Picks," Consumer Reports, April 2005, P. 31

Shares of Consumer Reports' 2006 Good Bets for Model Years 1998-2005 with Selected 1997-2001 Reliability Percentrank Averages, by Auto Manufacturer and Motor Vehicle Line
Manufacturer Share of CR 2006 Good Bets with a 1997-2001 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .80 Share of CR 2006 Good Bets with a 1997-2001 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .85 Share of CR 2006 Good Bets with a 1997-2001 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .90 Share of CR 2006 Good Bets with a 1997-2001 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .95
  Vehicle Line
Toyota .48 .52 .57 .83
  Lexus .13 .16 .22 .33
  Toyota .35 .35 .35 .50
Honda .28 .29 .26 .17
  Acura .10 .13 .09 0.00
  Honda .18 .16 .17 .17
Subaru .10 0.00 0.00 0.00
Nissan .12 .16 .13 0.00
  Infiniti .07 .10 .13 0.00
  Nissan .05 .06 0.00 0.00
Mazda .02 .03 .04 0.00
Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, and all others 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
1 If the vehicle model is too new for a 1997-2001 Reliability Percentrank average to exist, the early 2002 Reliability Percentrank is used when such exists.
All shares are rounded to two significant digits.
CR Good Bets are models that have three or more model years between 1998 and 2005 of better-than-average reliability and have performed well on Consumer Reports' road tests. An auto Reliability Percentrank is a measure of relative overall reliability used by Auto on Info.
Note: Two rebadges of products engineered by Toyota, but sold by another auto manufacturer, are omitted from the latter's share.
Source for Consumer Reports' Good Bets: "CR Good Bet: The Best of Both World's," Consumer Reports Cars: Used Car Buying Guide 2006, p. 25
Source for Reliability Percentrank averages: Table I-MVRP

Median Reported Severity of Engine Knock for Various Classes of GM Vehicles as of July 12, 2005
Class 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
GM pickup trucks             √    
GM sport utility vehicles             √    
GM minivans             √    
GM passenger cars             √    
Value definitions: 0 is not auditorily offensive; 2 is auditorily offensive; 6 is very auditorily offensive; 8 is extremely auditorily offensive.
To view more results or to express your opinion regarding the engine knock in General Motors Corporation's products, go to Mini-Survey No. 65, GM's Piston Slap - Engine Knock."

Table I: Number and Percentage of Entries in CR's 2006 Much-Worse-Than-Average List, by Manufacturer
Auto Manufacturer Number of Entries Percent of Entires
General Motors Corporation 17 50.0%
Ford Motor Company 6* 17.6%
DaimlerChrysler AG 4** 11.8%
Volkswagen AG 4 11.8%
BMW AG 2 5.9%
Kia Motors Corporation 1 2.9%
All Others 0 0%
* Two are from Ford's North American group, two are from the Jaguar division, one is from the Land Rover division, and one is from the Volvo division.
** Two are from DaimlerChrysler's North American Chrysler group and two are from the Mercedes-Benz division.
Source: "CR Bad Bets: Be Especially Careful," Consumer Reports Cars: Used Car Buying Guide 2006, p. 26

Median Value of a New Big Three Vehicle as Assessed by Mini-Survey Respondents Reporting Ownership of a Quality Four Product on or before July 8, 2005, by Manufacturer
Manufacturer Big 3 Vehicle Valued at More Than What Is Currently Asked Big 3 Vehicle Valued at What Is Currently Asked Big 3 Vehicle Valued at Only 95% of What Is Currently Asked Big 3 Vehicle Valued at Only 80% of What Is Currently Asked Big 3 Vehicle Valued at Only 50% of What Is Currently Asked Big 3 Vehicle Valued at Nothing Big 3 Vehicle Valued at Nothing Plus Respondent Would Require $20,000+ per Year to Drive It Big 3 Vehicle Valued at Nothing Plus Respondent Would Require $200,000+ per Year to Drive It Respondent Unwilling to Own a Big Three Vehicle under Any Circumstance
Toyota Motor Corporation               √  
Honda Motor Company           √      
Subaru Division of Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd.1             √    
Nissan Motor Company1       √          
1 Very few respondents reported owning a product by Nissan or Subaru.
The Big Three manufacturers are General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG. See Glossary.
To view more results or to express your assessment of the value of a new Big Three Vehicle, go to Mini-Survey No. 31, "The True Value of a Big Three."