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The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 2-to-4 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 14 of 19 Best, GM - 22 of 62 Worst
Auto on Info August 2007
The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 2-to-4 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 14 of 19 Best, GM - 22 of 62 Worst
By James B. Bleeker
Models by the Reliable Two account for 14 of the 19 highest Reliability Percentranks for 2003 vehicles between the ages of two years and four years. Of these, models by Toyota Motor Corporation account for eleven - 4 Lexi and 7 Toyotas - and models by Honda Motor Company account for three - 1 Acura and 2 Hondas. Models by the Reliable Two account for all of the top dozen.
The following table lists these top nineteen models, together with their respective Reliability Percentranks.
The Best of 2003: Models with a Reliability Percentrank of .93 or More in Vehicular Age Range of 2-to-4 Years Model Reliability Percentrank The V6 Toyota Highlander midsize SUV 1.00 Toyota's Lexus IS 1.00 Toyota's Lexus LS sedan .99 The Toyota Land Cruiser large SUV .99 Toyota's Lexus GS sedan .98 The Toyota Echo small car .98 The 4-cylinder Toyota RAV4 small SUV .98 The 4-cylinder Toyota Camry .97 Toyota's Lexus RX midsize SUV .97 The legendary Toyota Corolla .96 Honda's Acura RL sedan .96 The Honda Civic .96 General Motors' Buick Century .95 The Toyota Avalon large car .95 The Honda CR-V small SUV .94 The Subaru Forester .94 The Mazda Protegé .94 The Nissan Xterra small SUV .94 The 4-cylinder Subaru Legacy .93 Toyota's Lexus LS, number 3 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, "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, "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 5-to-7 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 12 of 13 Best, GM - 19 of 48 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 21 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 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?" Auto on Info, July 2007, and "The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 3-to-5 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 18 of 19 Best, GM - 24 of 61 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2007.
The Toyota RAV4 small sport-utility vehicle, number 7 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 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-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 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, "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, "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 5-to-7 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 12 of 13 Best, GM - 19 of 48 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 21 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 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?" Auto on Info, July 2007, and "The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 3-to-5 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 18 of 19 Best, GM - 24 of 61 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2007.
The best vehicles of 2003 cover the full size spectrum of Toyota's sport-utility vehicle offerings, from the small 4-cylinder Toyota RAV4 (number 7) to the midsize V6 Toyota Highlander (number 1) and Toyota's midsize Lexus RX (number 9) to the large Toyota Land Cruiser (number 4), the last being a decades old international legend of reliability in harsh environments and difficult terrain.
The Honda CR-V small sport-utility vehicle, number 15 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-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 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, "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, "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 5-to-7 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 12 of 13 Best, GM - 19 of 48 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 21 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 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?" Auto on Info, July 2007, and "The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 3-to-5 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 18 of 19 Best, GM - 24 of 61 Worst," Auto on Info, August 2007.
The Toyota Corolla small car, number 10 on the list, and another frequent position holder in the annual best cars and trucks tables, 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 Honda Civic small car, number 12 on the list, has been another frequent position holder in the annual best cars and trucks tables.
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 10 of Toyota's 11 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 Ten of Toyota's Eleven Models in the Best-of-2003 Table Toyota Highlander Toyota Highlander Hybrid Lexus LS 460 Toyota Land Cruiser Lexus GS 430 Toyota Yaris (the Echo's more refined successor) Toyota RAV4 Toyota Camry Toyota Camry hybrid 2007 Lexus RX 350 2007 Lexus RX 400h Toyota Corolla Toyota Avalon The next table provides photographs of the 2007 editions of Honda's 3 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 Three Models in the Best-of-2003 Table Acura RL Honda Civic DX, LX, and EX Sedans Honda Civic Si Sedan Honda Civic GX Honda CR-V At the opposite end of the spectrum, GM-engineered models in General Motors Corporation's domestic lines account for 21 of the 62 worst models of 2003. Models in Ford Motor Company's domestic lines account for 8 of the 62 worst, and Chrysler Group's models account for 7 of the 62 worst. By percentage, GM's domestic-line models account for 34% of the worst of 2003, Ford's - 13%, and Chrysler's - 11%. 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 35% of the worst of 2003, Ford models - 19%, and DaimlerChrysler models - 23%, for a total of 77% of the worst of 2003, down quite a bit from last year's unusually large 89% (see "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). The decline may have been, in some significant part, a result of Consumer Reports' rapidly growing subscriber data base that has permited it to provide reliability tables for more models from abroad, especially Europe and South Korea.
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, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, by Manufacturer 2007 Updates Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 General Motors Corporation 28.5% 53.7% 44.1% 39.6% 42.9% 41.0% 35.5% Ford Motor Company 43.5% 9.8% 11.6% 27.1% 14.3% 16.4% 19.4% DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 14.6% 23.3% 18.8% 23.2% 18.0% 22.6% Total 97% 78.1% 79.0% 85.5% 80.4% 75.4% 77.5% 2006 Updates Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 General Motors Corporation 28.5% 47.2% 40.5% 40.4% 36.2% 32.1% 43.4% Ford Motor Company 43.5% 13.9% 14.3% 23.4% 25.5% 17.0% 26.1% DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 16.7% 21.4% 14.9% 14.9% 26.4% 19.6% Total 97% 77.8% 76.2% 78.7% 76.6% 75.5% 89.1% 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 2007 updates for model year 2002 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 3 and 5 years; the 2006 updates for model year 2002 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 2 and 4 years. The 2007 updates for model year 2003 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 2 and 4 years; the 2006 updates for model year 2003 cover the performance of vehicles between the ages of 2 and 3 years. The next table gives the individual models in the 2007 update of the worst cars and trucks table for model year 2003.
The Worst of 2003: Models with a Reliability Percentrank of .25 or Less in Vehicular Age of 2-to-4 Years Model Reliability Percentrank General Motors' Cadillac CTS .24 General Motors' Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck .24 General Motors' Chevrolet Cavalier .24 General Motors' Cadillac Escalade large SUV .24 Volkswagen New Beetle .23 Volkswagen Euro Van .20 4-cylinder, front-wheel-drive Volkswagen Passat .20 V6 Ford Explorer midsize SUV .20 General Motors' Cadillac Seville sedan .20 General Motors' Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 pickup truck .20 Chrysler PT Cruiser Turbo wagon .20 Ford's Lincoln LS sedan .20 Mercedes-Benz E-Class .20 General Motors' GMC Yukon XL large SUV .20 Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan .20 Chrysler's Dodge Intrepid sedan .20 BMW's non-supercharged Mini Cooper hatchback .17 Ford Windstar minivan .17 Chrysler's V6 Jeep Grand Cherokee midsize SUV .17 Chrysler's V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee midsize SUV .17 General Motors' Chevrolet Suburban large SUV .17 General Motors' Saturn Vue small SUV .16 Chrysler Sebring Convertible .16 General Motors' GMC Sierra K1500 pickup truck .15 Ford Excursion large SUV .15 Mercedes-Benz V8 S-Class .14 Kia Sorento small SUV .14 General Motors' 4-wheel-drive Chevrolet 1500 Silverado pickup truck .14 Kia Sedona minivan .13 Kia Spectra small car .12 General Motors' 6-cylinder Chevrolet Trailblazer midsize SUV .12 General Motors' Pontiac Aztek small SUV .12 Volvo XC90 midsize SUV .11 Chrysler's V8, 4-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 1500 pickup .11 Mercedes-Benz CLK convertible/coupe .11 Suzuki Aerio small car .10 Volkswagen's Audi TT convertible/coupe .10 BMW 7-Series sedan .09 Mercedes-Benz M-Class midsize SUV .09 General Motors' 6-cylinder GMC Envoy midsize SUV .09 BMW's Mini Cooper .08 Ford Expedition large SUV .08 Mercedes-Benz SL convertible .07 Ford's V8 Mercury Mountaineer midsize SUV .07 General Motors' 4-wheel-drive GMC Sonoma pickup truck .07 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan .06 General Motors' Chevrolet Trailblazer midsize SUV .06 General Motors' Chevrolet Blazer midsize SUV .05 General Motors' GMC Jimmy midsize SUV .05 General Motors' V8 GMC Envoy midsize SUV .04 Hyundai Tiburon coupe .04 General Motors' GMC Safari Van .03 General Motors' Chevrolet Astro Van .03 BMW's supercharged Mini Cooper hatchback .03 Ford's Lincoln Navigator large SUV .02 Jaguar S-Type sedan .02 4-cylinder Volkswagen Jetta Turbo .02 Land Rover Discovery midsize SUV .01 Volvo 6-cylinder XC90 midsize SUV .01 Lincoln Aviator midsize SUV 0.00 General Motors' Saab 9-3 0.00 The following chart depicts the prevalence of the automobile manufacturers in the table of worst cars and trucks of 2003.
The next chart depicts the percentage that each line contributed to GM's worst of 2003.
The next set of charts provide a breakdown of the Reliability Grades of the more prominent automobile manufacturers for 2003 models at the vehicular age range 2-to-4 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 t
