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The 2007
Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 6-to-8 Years Old, Toyota and Honda
Account for 13 of 13 Best, GM - 18 of 43 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 19
Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age?
Auto on Info July 2007
The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 6-to-8 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 13 of 13 Best, GM - 18 of 43 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 19 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age?
By James B. Bleeker
Models by the Reliable Two account for 13 of the thirteen highest Reliability Percentranks for 1999 vehicles between the ages of six years and eight years. Of these, models by Toyota Motor Corporation account for nine - 3 Lexi and 6 Toyotas - and models by Honda Motor Company account for four - 1 Acura and 3 Hondas.
The following table lists these top thirteen models, together with their respective Reliability Percentranks.
The Best of 1999: Models with a Reliability Percentrank of .93 or More in Vehicular Age Range of 6-to-8 Years Model Reliability Percentrank The V6 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck 1.00 The Honda Civic .99 Toyota's Lexus GS sedan .98 The Honda CR-V small SUV .98 Toyota's Lexus LS sedan .98 The 4-cylinder Toyota RAV4 small SUV .98 The 4-cylinder Honda Accord .97 Honda's Acura RL sedan .96 The Toyota Land Cruiser large SUV .96 Toyota's Lexus ES sedan .95 The Toyota Camry Solara .94 The V6 Toyota 4Runner midsize SUV .94 The legendary Toyota Corolla small car .93 Toyota's Lexus LS, number 5 on the list, has often held a position in the annual best cars and trucks tables. See "For Vehicles 6-to-8 Years Old, Toyota Garners 7 of Top 10 Reliability Percentranks, General Motors Gathers 23 of Lowest 36," Auto on Info, 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," Auto on Info, August 2005, "For Vehicles 4-to-6 Years Old, Toyota Garners 6 of Top 10, General Motors Garners 15 of Bottom 38," Auto on Info, 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," Auto on Info, August 2005, "For 2-to-3-Year-Old Model Year 2002 Vehicles, Toyota Garners 6 of Top 9, General Motors - 13 of Bottom 45," Auto on Info, August 2005, "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," Auto on Info, August 2006, "Reliability Updates: For Model Year 2002, Toyota Accounts for 11 of 16 Best, GM - 16 of 53 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2006, "Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 3-to-5 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 13 of 15 Best, GM - 17 of 47 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2006, "Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 4-to-6 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 8 of 14 Best, GM - 19 of 47 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2006, "Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 5-to-7 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 9 of 13 Best, GM - 17 of 42 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2006, "Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 6-to-8 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 7 of 10 Best, GM - 17 of 36 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2006, and "The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 7-to-9 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 11 of 12 Best, GM - 22 of 41 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 30 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age?" Auto on Info, July 2007.
Toyota's three SUVs on this list cover the gauntlet of size - the Toyota RAV4 small SUV (6 on the list), the Toyota 4Runner midsize SUV (12 on the list) and the Toyota Land Cruiser large SUV (9 on the list). All of the vehicles of these three models that were sold in the U.S. were exclusively made in Japan.
The Toyota Corolla, number 13 on the list, is an internationally renowned 40-year legend of reliability, durability (see "Site Manager Replaces Corolla Transmission: 1984 Torque Converter Expires at 478,943 Miles," Auto on Info, June 2005 and "Site Manager's 1984 Corolla Passes 500,000 Mark," Auto on Info, October 2006), and pleasing performance and appearance. As a buyer from Africa at Dubai's mid-eastern auto mart Ducamz put it: Everyone wants one. Indeed, life may not be complete without having owned a Corolla, and life may be appreciably less interesting without having owned the same one for at least 20 years and 400,000 miles.
The following chart depicts the relative presence of the major automobile manufacturers in this quality-cars-and-trucks table.
The following table provides photographs of the 2007 editions of Toyota's nine models on the list of best, together with links to review pages. The review pages provide additional distinctions held by each model.
2007 Editions of Toyota's Nine Models in the Best-of-1999 Table Toyota Tacoma Lexus GS 430 Lexus LS 460 Toyota RAV4 Toyota Land Cruiser Lexus ES 350 Toyota Camry Solara Toyota 4Runner Toyota Corolla The next table provides photographs of the 2007 editions of Honda's four entries on the list of best, together with links to review pages. The review pages provide additional distinctions held by each model.
2007 Editions of Honda's Four Models in the Best-of-1999 Table Honda Civic DX, LX, and EX Sedans Honda Civic Si Sedan Honda Civic GX Honda Civic Hybrid Honda CR-V Honda Accord Sedan Honda Accord Hybrid Acura RL At the opposite end of the spectrum, GM-engineered models in General Motors Corporation's domestic lines account for 18 of the 43 worst models of 1999. Models in Ford Motor Company's domestic lines account for 2 of the 43 worst, and Chrysler Group's models account for 9 of the 43 worst. By percentage, GM's domestic-line models account for 42% of the worst of 1999, Ford's - 5%, and Chrysler's - 21%. If the European lines of GM (the Saab line), Ford (the Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover lines), and DaimlerChrysler AG (the Mercedes-Benz line) are included in the count, GM models account for 44% of the worst of 1999, Ford models - 12%, and DaimlerChrysler models - 23%, for a total of 79% of the worst of 1999, a tad larger than that of last year, when the vehicles were a year younger (see "Reliability Updates: For Vehicles 5-to-7 Years Old, Toyota Accounts for 9 of 13 Best, GM - 17 of 42 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2006).
The following table helps put these percentages into perspective.
Percentage of Model Entries in the Worst Cars and Trucks Tables for Model Years 1988, 1998 and 1999, by Manufacturer 2007 Updates Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 General Motors Corporation 28.5% 53.7% 44.1% Ford Motor Company 43.5% 9.8% 11.6% DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 14.6% 23.3% Total 97% 78.1% 79.0% 2006 Updates Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 General Motors Corporation 28.5% 47.2% 40.5% Ford Motor Company 43.5% 13.9% 14.3% DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 16.7% 21.4% Total 97% 77.8% 76.2% As the updates of 2006 and 2007 do not affect the worst-cars-and-trucks table of 1988, the percentages are unchanged. The 2007 updates for model year 1998 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 7 and 9 years; the 2006 updates for model year 1998 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 6 and 8 years. The 2007 updates for model year 1999 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 6 and 8 years; the 2006 updates for model year 1999 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 5 and 7 years. The next table gives the individual models in the 2007 update of the worst cars and trucks table for model year 1999.
The Worst of 1999: Models with a Reliability Percentrank of .25 or Less in Vehicular Age of 6-to-8 Years Model Reliability Percentrank 4-cylinder Volkswagen Audi A4 .24 Chrysler Sebring Convertible .24 V6 Chrysler 300M .23 Mitsubishi Eclipse .23 Chrysler's Plymouth Neon .22 Saab 9-3 .22 BMW 7-Series .21 General Motors' GMC Yukon .21 General Motors' Chevrolet Tahoe .21 Honda Passport .18 Chrysler's 4-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 1500 pickup .18 Chrysler's 4-wheel-drive Jeep Grand Cherokee .18 Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV .17 4-cylinder Volkswagen Passat .17 4-cylinder Volkswagen Golf .17 Ford's Mercury Cougar .15 Chrysler's V6 Jeep Grand Cherokee .15 General Motors' Chevrolet Malibu .14 General Motors' regular Chevrolet Venture Van .14 General Motors' GMC Suburban .13 General Motors' Chevrolet Suburban .13 Volvo Cross Country, XC70 .13 Chrysler Concorde .13 General Motors' Oldsmobile Cutlass .13 General Motors' V6 Chevrolet Malibu sedan .13 Chrysler's Dodge Intrepid .10 Chrysler's Dodge Durango SUV .09 General Motors' Oldsmobile Bravada SUV .09 4-cylinder Volkswagen Jetta .09 4-cylinder front-wheel-drive Volkswagen Passat .08 Volkswagen New Beetle .08 General Motors' Oldsmobile Alero .06 General Motors' ext. Oldsmobile Silhouette van .05 General Motors' extended Chevrolet Venture van .05 General Motors' extended Pontiac Montana .05 Land Rover Discovery .04 General Motors' GMC Safari Van .03 General Motors' Chevrolet Astro Van .03 General Motors' Chevrolet Blazer SUV .02 General Motors' GMC Jimmy SUV .02 Volvo S80 .01 General Motors' Pontiac Grand Am .01 Ford Windstar 0.00 Note that Honda's entry on the list of worst is the Honda Passport, a rebadged product by Isuzu Motors Ltd., an affiliate of General Motors Corporation. Honda dropped this SUV in 2003 and replaced it by its own engineered Honda Pilot, which by early measures carries Reliable Two reliability. See "Review of the 2007 Honda Pilot Sport-Utility Vehicle: Some Photographs, Distinctions, and Features and Specifications," Auto on Info, April 2007.
The following chart depicts the prevalence of the automobile manufacturers in the table of worst cars and trucks.
The next chart depicts the percentage that each line contributed to GM's worst of 1999.
The next chart depicts the rate of dilapidation of 1999 vehicles by Toyota Motor Corporation and U.S. domestic vehicles by Ford Motor Company, the Chrysler Group, and General Motors Corporation, per the Reliability Score. The chart should help visualize the difference in deterioration rates for each of the four largest automobile manufacturers, by U.S. sales.
Honda Motor Company's rate of dilapidation closely approximates that of Toyota, if the Honda Passport (the rebadged Isuzu) is omitted from the computation of its 1999 Reliability Score averages.
The next chart suggests that a typical 1999 Toyota vehicle may be as troublesome to own at 19 years of age as a typical 1999 GM-engineered vehicle was at 3 years of age. The chart may help put the Toyota-GM gap in vehicular dilapidation into more practical terms.
The final set of charts provide a breakdown of the Reliability Grades of the more prominent automobile manufacturers for 1999 models at the vehicular age range 6-to-8 years. For General Motors and Ford, the grades are for only the U.S. domestic models engineered by the respective corporation.
From the charts, it may be easily seen that General Motors' models have more F's than Ford's and Chrysler's combined and, in keeping with a more diminutive product quality, GM-engineered models have not a single A or B.
Source for 1999 Reliability Percentranks for 6-to-8-year-old vehicles: The Best and Worst of 1999
