Auto on Info: Car News and Commentary July 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 4-to-6 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 17 of 17 Best, GM - 24 of 56 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 13 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typic

The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 4-to-6 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 17 of 17 Best, GM - 24 of 56 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 13 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age?

Models by the Reliable Two account for 17 of the seventeen highest Reliability Percentranks for 2001 vehicles between the ages of four years and six years. Of these, models by Toyota Motor Corporation account for thirteen - 5 Lexi and 8 Toyotas - and models by Honda Motor Company account for four - 1 Acura and 3 Hondas.

The following table lists these top seventeen models, together with their respective Reliability Percentranks.

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 13 models on the list of best, together with links to review pages. The review pages provide additional distinctions held by each model.

The next table provides photographs of the 2007 editions of 3 of Honda's 4 entries on the list of best, together with links to review pages. The review pages provide additional distinctions held by each model.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, GM-engineered models in General Motors Corporation's domestic lines account for 24 of the 56 worst models of 2001. Models in Ford Motor Company's domestic lines account for 4 of the 56 worst, and Chrysler Group's models account for 8 of the 56 worst. By percentage, GM's domestic-line models account for 43% of the worst of 2001, Ford's - 7%, and Chrysler's - 14%. 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 43% of the worst of 2001, Ford models - 14%, and DaimlerChrysler models - 23%, for a total of 80% of the worst of 2001, some larger than that of last year, when the vehicles were a year younger (see "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).

Percentage of Model Entries in the Worst Cars and Trucks Tables for Model Years 1988, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, by Manufacturer

2007 Updates

Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 2000 2001

General Motors Corporation 28.5% 53.7% 44.1% 39.6% 42.9%

Ford Motor Company 43.5% 9.8% 11.6% 27.1% 14.3%

DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 14.6% 23.3% 18.8% 23.2%

Total 97% 78.1% 79.0% 85.5% 80.4%

2006 Updates

Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 2000 2001

General Motors Corporation 28.5% 47.2% 40.5% 40.4% 36.2%

Ford Motor Company 43.5% 13.9% 14.3% 23.4% 25.5%

DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 16.7% 21.4% 14.9% 14.9%

Total 97% 77.8% 76.2% 78.7% 76.6%

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 2007 updates for model year 2000 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 5 and 7 years; the 2006 updates for model year 2000 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 4 and 6 years. The 2007 updates for model year 2001 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 4 and 6 years; the 2006 updates for model year 2001 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 3 and 5 years.

The next table gives the individual models in the 2007 update of the worst cars and trucks table for model year 2001.

The Worst of 2001: Models with a Reliability Percentrank of .25 or Less in Vehicular Age of 4-to-6 Years
Model	Reliability Percentrank
Volkswagen Golf Turbo	.25
V6 Chrysler Sebring	.25
General Motors' Chevrolet Impala	.24
Chrysler's V8, 4-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 1500 pickup	.24
Mercedes-Benz E-Class	.23
Ford Focus sedan	.22
General Motors' V6 Chevrolet Monte Carlo	.22
Chrysler Sebring convertible	.22
4-cylinder Volkswagen Jetta	.21
General Motors' Saturn L-Series	.21
6-cylinder BMW X5	.21
Isuzu Rodeo	.21
General Motors' Pontiac Bonneville	.21
General Motors' non-supercharged Pontiac Grand Prix	.19
Chrysler's V6 Jeep Grand Cherokee	.19
Ford's Lincoln LS	.18
4-cylinder Volkswagen Passat	.18
Chrysler's V6 Dodge Caravan	.18
Volkswagen's Audi S4	.16
V6 front-wheel-drive Volkswagen Passat	.16
General Motors' 4-wheel-drive GMC Sonoma pickup	.16
Hyundai XG	.16
Mercedes-Benz C-Class	.16
General Motors' Chevrolet Malibu	.15
Hyundai Sonata	.15
General Motors' V6 Chevrolet Impala	.13
Chrysler's V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee	.13
General Motors' Cadillac DeVille	.13
V8 Mercedes-Benz S-Class	.11
General Motors' Oldsmobile Aurora	.11
General Motors' regular Pontiac Montana	.11
Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV	.11
General Motors' Oldsmobile Alero	.11
BMW 7-Series	.10
Extended, 2-wheel-drive Chrysler Town & Country	.10
Ford's Lincoln Navigator	.10
Ford Windstar	.10
General Motors' V6 Saturn L-Series	.10
V6 Chrysler Voyager	.10
Mercedes-Benz CLK	.07
Jaguar S-Type	.07
General Motors' regular Chevrolet Venture minivan	.06
Volvo S80	.06
4-cylinder Volkswagen Jetta Turbo	.04
General Motors' ext. Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan	.04
General Motors' extended Chevrolet Venture minivan	.04
General Motors' extended Pontiac Montana minivan	.04
General Motors' Chevrolet Blazer	.04
Volvo Cross Country, XC70	.03
Land Rover Discovery	.03
General Motors' Pontiac Grand Am	.02
General Motors' Cadillac Seville	.02
General Motors' GMC Jimmy	.01
General Motors' GMC Safari Van	0.00
General Motors' Chevrolet Astro Van	0.00
General Motors' Pontiac Aztek SUV	0.00

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 2001.

The next chart depicts the rate of dilapidation of 2001 vehicles by Toyota Motor Corporation and the rates of dilapidation of the 2001 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.

Note that the model-year-2001 regression equations of GM, Ford and Chrysler have a much larger constant term than those of the regression equations for model years 2000, 1999 and 1998, pointing to improved reliability within the first couple of years or so. However, it appears that they compensated for the very short-term improvement in reliability by considerably expediting dilapidation for subsequent years (the downward slopes of their 2001 regression lines plunge even more steeply than those for model year 2000), possibly to ensure very speedy trade-ins and continued new vehicle sales. However, also note that Toyota's 2001 regression line slopes more sharply downward than those for previous model years; this suggests that even back in 2001 Toyota Motor Corporation was having difficulty maintaining its exacting quality standards as it expanded to meet growing international demand for its products.

The next chart suggests that a typical 2001 Toyota vehicle may be as troublesome to own at 13 years of age as a typical 2001 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 2001 models at the vehicular age range 4-to-6 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 nearly as many F's as Ford and Chrysler combined. Also, note that Toyota has one C and one F - further evidence that even as early as model year 2001 Toyota Motor Corporation was having difficulty maintaining its exacting quality standards as it expanded to meet growing international demand for its products.