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The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 2-to-3 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 14 of 16 Best, GM - 18 of
57 Worst
Auto on Info August 2007
The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 2-to-3 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 14 of 16 Best, GM - 18 of 57 Worst
By James B. Bleeker
Models by the Reliable Two account for 14 of the 16 highest Reliability Percentranks for 2004 vehicles between the ages of two years and three years. Of these, models by Toyota Motor Corporation account for eight - 1 Lexus and 7 Toyotas - and models by Honda Motor Company account for six - 1 Acura and 5 Hondas.
The following table lists these top sixteen models, together with their respective Reliability Percentranks.
The Best of 2004: Models with a Reliability Percentrank of .93 or More in Vehicular Age Range of 2-to-3 Years Model Reliability Percentrank The 4-cylinder Toyota RAV4 small SUV 1.00 The legendary Toyota Corolla .98 The Toyota Echo small car .98 The 4-cylinder Honda Accord .98 The Mazda MX-5 Miata .98 Toyota's V6 rear-wheel-drive Lexus GS .97 The Honda Civic .97 The Honda Element small sport-utility vehicle .97 The V6 Toyota 4Runner midsize SUV .93 The 4-cylinder Toyota Camry .93 The V6 Toyota Highlander midsize SUV .93 The Toyota Land Cruiser large SUV .93 Honda's Acura RL sedan .93 The Honda Civic Hybrid .93 The Honda CR-V small SUV .93 The Subaru Forester .93 The Toyota RAV4 small sport-utility vehicle, number 1 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, "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, Auto on Info, July 2007, and "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 best vehicles of 2004 cover the full size spectrum of Toyota's sport-utility vehicle offerings, from the small 4-cylinder Toyota RAV4 (number 1) to the midsize V6 Toyota Highlander (number 11) and the midsize Toyota 4Runner (number 9) to the large Toyota Land Cruiser (number 12), 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, "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, and "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 Toyota Corolla small car, number 2 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 7 on the list, has been another frequent position holder in the annual best cars and trucks tables. This year, the Honda Civic Hybrid, number 14 on the list, joins the non-hybrid editions.
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 8 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 Eight Models in the Best-of-2004 Table Toyota RAV4 Toyota Corolla Toyota Yaris (the Echo's more refined successor) Lexus GS 430 Toyota 4Runner Toyota Camry Toyota Highlander Toyota Highlander Hybrid Toyota Land Cruiser The next table provides photographs of the 2007 editions of Honda's 6 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 Six Models in the Best-of-2004 Table Honda Accord Sedan Honda Accord Hybrid Honda Civic DX, LX, and EX Sedans Honda Civic Si Sedan Honda Civic GX Honda Element Acura RL Honda Civic Hybrid Honda CR-V At the opposite end of the spectrum, GM-engineered models in General Motors Corporation's domestic lines account for 17 of the 57 worst models of 2004. Models in Ford Motor Company's domestic lines account for 8 of the 57 worst, and Chrysler Group's models account for 6 of the 57 worst. By percentage, GM's domestic-line models account for 30% of the worst of 2004, Ford's - 14%, 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 32% of the worst of 2004, Ford models - 23%, and DaimlerChrysler models - 18%, for a total of 72% (rounded to the nearest whole percent) of the worst of 2004.
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, 2003 and 2004, by Manufacturer 2007 Updates Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 General Motors Corporation 28.5% 53.7% 44.1% 39.6% 42.9% 41.0% 35.5% 31.6% Ford Motor Company 43.5% 9.8% 11.6% 27.1% 14.3% 16.4% 19.4% 22.8% DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 14.6% 23.3% 18.8% 23.2% 18.0% 22.6% 17.5% Total 97% 78.1% 79.0% 85.5% 80.4% 75.4% 77.5% 71.9% 2006 Updates Manufacturer 1988 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 General Motors Corporation 28.5% 47.2% 40.5% 40.4% 36.2% 32.1% 43.4% N/A Ford Motor Company 43.5% 13.9% 14.3% 23.4% 25.5% 17.0% 26.1% N/A DaimlerChrysler AG 25.0% 16.7% 21.4% 14.9% 14.9% 26.4% 19.6% N/A Total 97% 77.8% 76.2% 78.7% 76.6% 75.5% 89.1% N/A 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 2007 updates for model year 2004 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 2004.
The Worst of 2004: Models with a Reliability Percentrank of .25 or Less in Vehicular Age of 2-to-3 Years Model Reliability Percentrank Kia Amante .25 General Motors' GMC Sierra K1500 pickup truck .25 General Motors' Cadillac Escalade large SUV .25 Chrysler's 4-wheel-drive Dodge Dakota pickup truck .25 Porsche Boxster .23 Jaguar X-Type .23 V6, front-wheel-drive Volkswagen Passat .23 General Motors' Saturn Ion .23 Mitsubishi Galant .22 4-cylinder Volkswagen Jetta Turbo .22 Nissan Maxima .17 BMW 7-Series .17 Ford's Mercury Monterey minivan .17 V6 Ford Explorer midsize SUV .17 Ford Freestar minivan .17 General Motors' 6-cylinder GMC Envoy midsize SUV .17 General Motors' GMC Yukon XL large SUV .17 General Motors' Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 pickup truck .17 General Motors' Chevrolet Blazer midsize SUV .17 General Motors' Chevrolet Suburban large SUV .17 General Motors' 6-cylinder Chevrolet Trailblazer midsize SUV .17 Mercedes-Benz E-Class .16 Land Rover Discovery midsize SUV .16 Ford Expedition large SUV .16 Nissan Titan pickup truck .12 Volvo C70 convertible .12 BMW X3 midsize SUV .12 Ford's Lincoln LS sedan .12 General Motors' 6-cylinder Buick Rainier midsize SUV .12 General Motors' V6 Cadillac SRX midsize SUV .12 General Motors' Chevrolet Aveo .12 Chrysler Sebring convertible .12 Nissan Sentra sedan .10 Mercedes-Benz SL convertible .10 Jaguar S-Type .10 Chrysler Crossfire .10 Ford Excursion large SUV .08 General Motors' V8 GMC Envoy midsize SUV .08 General Motors' 2-wheel-drive Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck .08 Volvo 6-cylinder XC90 midsize SUV .08 General Motors' Pontiac GTO .08 Nissan Armada large SUV .06 Saab 9-3 .06 2-wheel-drive, extended Chrysler Town & Country minivan .06 V8 Mercedes-Benz S-Class .06 Kia Sedona .04 General Motors' GMC Safari Van .04 Chrysler Pacifica midsize SUV .04 Infiniti QX large SUV .03 Nissan Quest minivan .03 Porsche Cayenne midsize SUV .02 Mercedes-Benz CLK .02 Chrysler's V6 Dodge Caravan .02 Ford's Lincoln Aviator midsize SUV .01 Ford's Lincoln Navigator large SUV .01 Volkswagen Toureg midsize SUV 0.00 General Motors' 4-wheel-drive GMC Canyon pickup truck 0.00 The following chart depicts the prevalence of the automobile manufacturers in the table of worst cars and trucks of 2004.
The next chart depicts the percentage that each line contributed to GM's worst of 2004.
The next set of charts provide a breakdown of the Reliability Grades of the more prominent automobile manufacturers for 2004 models at the vehicular age range 2-to-3 years. For General Motors and Ford, the grades are for only the U.S. domestic-line models engineered by the respective corporation.
From the charts, General Motors' models have some fewer F's than those of Ford and Chrysler combined - less than par for the course.
Honda quite solidly outperformed Toyota on the 2004 Reliability Scores, Percentranks and Grades for 2-to-3-year-old vehicles; in fact, Toyota was no where close to its historical performance. Below we juxtapose Toyota's reliability grade chart for 2000 and its current grade chart.
What we see is a rather dramatic increase from 2000 to 2004 in the number of models at the lower end of the grade spectrum. This is likely primarily a consequence of such factors as (1) its rapid expansion of output to meet surging global demand for its products, (2) its location of factories in the U.S. based on political considerations, (3) its growing list of North American suppliers that makes quality monitoring more challenging, and (4) its severe shortage of Toyota System Masters.
This dramatic increase means, in practical terms, that a consumer can no longer blindly buy a new Toyota product with the the thought that it will be as satisfying as the Toyota product with which he/she, or friend, had previous experience. To help the consumer, the 2004 Toyota products that received an F, D or C are listed here: the North-American-made Toyota Sienna front-wheel-drive minivan - an F, the North-American-made Toyota Sienna all-wheel-drive minivan - an F, the V6 Toyota Camry Solara - an F, the Lexus LX large SUV - an F, the Lexus GX midsize SUV - a D+, the North-American-made Toyota Sequoia large SUV - a C, the Lexus RX midsize SUV - a C, the V6 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck - a C, and the Toyota Prius hybrid - a C+. With regard to the 2004 Toyota Sequoia and the Lexus LX, the 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser (number 12 on the list of 2004's best motor vehicles) may be the better choice; with regard to the 2004 Lexus GX, the 2004 V6 Toyota Highlander (number 11 on the list of 2004's best motor vehicles) may be the better choice. A 2004 Toyota SUV may also be a preferable alternative to the Sienna minivan.
As sub-par as the 2004 Toyota products with an F, D, or C may be relative to other Toyota products, they generally shine when compared with many non-Toyota alternatives, as the following tables demonstrate.
