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Toyota Increases Dominance of Consumer Reports' Good Bets List a Tad, Honda Drops a Bit, Toyota's Best Widen Quality Gap Again
AutoOnInfo.net January 2008
Toyota Increases Dominance of Consumer Reports' Good Bets List a Tad, Honda Drops a Bit, Toyota's Best Widen Quality Gap Again
By James B. Bleeker
Toyota Motor Corporation's car and truck models are again the most prevalent on Consumer Reports' Good Bets list for used vehicle selection. The auto manufacturer accounts for 42.1% of the models on the 2008 list (vs. 39.0% on the 2007 list, 33.9% on the 2006 list, and 35.2% on the 2005 list) - 26.3% (vs. 25.4% in 2007, 24.2% in 2006, and 25.9% in 2005) are from the Toyota line, 12.3% (vs. 11.9% in 2007, 9.7% in 2006 and 9.3% in 2005) are from the Lexus line, and 3.5%, or 2 models, are from Toyota's new Scion line.
Historically, the criteria for CR's 2008 Good Bets have been: (1) better-than-average reliability over several of the most recent survey years (here, 1998 to 2007) and (2) good performance on CR's road tests.
Honda Motor Company's car and truck models are the second most prevalent on CR's 2008 Good Bets list. They account for 21.1% (vs. 25.4% in 2007, 22.6% in 2006, and 20.4% in 2005) of the models on the list - 12.3% (vs. 15.3% in 2007, 14.5% in 2006, and 11.1% in 2005) are from the Honda line and 8.8% (vs. 10.2% in 2007, 8.1% in 2006, and 9.3% in 2005) are from the Acura line. Part of the percentage decline in the Acura line is due to the treatment of the Acura Integra and RSX as one model, as it should have been in 2007.
Together, Toyota and Honda models account for 63.2% of all models on the 2008 Good Bets list, a small decline from 2007's 64.4%, but a solid increase from 2006's 56.5% and 2005's 55.6%.
The following table provides each manufacturer's percentage and number of entries on CR's 2008 Good Bets list, save that the rebadge engineered by Toyota and marketed by another is omitted from the latter's number and from the total used for the computation of the percentages. With the rebadge eliminated from the count, the percentages below differ a bit from those above.
Percentage and Number of Entries on Consumer Reports' 2008 Good Bets List, by Manufacturer Manufacturer Percentage Number Toyota 43% 24 Honda 21% 12 Nissan 13% 7 Subaru 7% 4 Mazda 5% 3 Ford 5% 3 Mitsubishi 4% 2 General Motors 2% 1 All others 0% 0 Toyota's share of the good bets list has grown over the past two years; other shares have rather fluctuated. For comparison, the tables for the preceding two years appear below.
Percentage and Number of Entries on Consumer Reports' 2007 Good Bets List, by Manufacturer Manufacturer Percentage Number Toyota 40% 23 Honda 26% 15 Nissan 14% 8 Subaru 9% 5 Mazda 7% 4 Ford 2% 1 General Motors 2% 1 All others 0% 0
Percentage and Number of Entries on Consumer Reports' 2006 Good Bets List, by Manufacturer Manufacturer Percentage Number Toyota 35.0% 21 Honda 23.3% 14 Nissan 15.0% 9 Subaru 8.3% 5 Ford 8.3% 5 Mazda 5.0% 3 Mitsubishi 1.7% 1 BMW 1.7% 1 General Motors 1.7% 1 All others 0.0% 0 The following chart graphically depicts the 2008 percentages.
Those models by Toyota Motor Corporation that are on CR's 2008 Good Bets list appear in the following table.
Models by Toyota Motor Corporation on CR's 2008 Good Bets List Lexus Line ES GS GX IS LS RX SC Toyota Line 4Runner Avalon Camry Camry Solara Celica Corolla Echo, Yaris Highlander Land Cruiser Matrix Prius RAV4 Sequoia Sienna T100/Tundra Scion Line tC xB The next table provides links to reviews of some of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 editions of the above models.
Those models by Honda Motor Company that are on CR's 2008 Good Bets list appear in the following table.
Models by Honda Motor Company on CR's 2008 Good Bets List Acura Line Integra, RSX MDX RL TL TSX Honda Line Accord Civic CR-V Element Odyssey Pilot S2000 The next table provides links to reviews of some of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 editions of the above models.
Links to On-Site Reviews of Honda Motor Company's 2005, 2006, and 2007 Editions of Its Entries on CR's 2008 Good Bets List of Used Cars and Trucks 2005 Acura MDX 2006 Acura RL 2005 Acura RSX 2005 Acura TL 2006 Acura TL 2006 Acura TSX 2005 Honda Accord EX 2006 Honda Accord 2007 Honda Accord Sedan 2005 Honda Civic coupe and sedan 2006 Honda Civic coupe and sedan 2007 Honda Civic DX, LX, and EX Sedans 2005 Honda Civic Si 2-door hatchback 2006 Honda Civic Si 2007 Honda Civic Si Sedan 2005 Honda Civic hybrid 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid 2007 Honda Civic GX 2005 Honda CR-V 2006 Honda CR-V 2007 Honda CR-V 2007 Honda Element 2006 Honda Odyssey 2005 Honda Pilot 2006 Honda Pilot 2007 Honda Pilot 2006 Honda S2000 Important to note that although the Toyota Sienna and the Honda Odyssey are listed as good bets, they are good bets only when compared against what the Big Three and ilk offer, as the following table for model year 2003 helps demonstrate.
Reliability Scores, Percentranks and Grades of the 2003 Toyota Sienna Minivan and the Honda Odyssey Minivan and Minivan Alternatives Model Reliability Score Reliability Percentrank Reliability Grade Toyota Sienna .50 .73 C- Honda Odyssey .50 .73 C- General Motors' regular Chevrolet Venture Van .35 .57 F Chrysler's 2-wheel-drive V6 Dodge Grand Caravan .12 .43 F General Motors' regular Pontiac Montana Van .04 .37 F Chrysler's V6 Dodge Caravan -.02 .32 F Chrysler V6 Voyager -.07 .26 F Ford Windstar -.14 .17 F General Motors' Chevrolet Astro Van -.45 .03 F General Motors' GMC Safari Van -.45 .03 F The following table provides each manufacturer's share of those models that are listed on CR's 2008 Good Bets list and that satisfy the several Reliability Percentrank average criteria.
Shares of Consumer Reports' 2008 Good Bets for Model Years 1998-2007 with Selected 1999-2003 Reliability Percentrank Averages, by Auto Manufacturer and Motor Vehicle Line Manufacturer Share of CR 2008 Good Bets with a 1999-2003 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .80 Share of CR 2008 Good Bets with a 1999-2003 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .85 Share of CR 2008 Good Bets with a 1999-2003 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .90 Share of CR 2008 Good Bets with a 1999-2003 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .95 Vehicle Line Toyota .54 .58 .75 .88 Lexus .15 .18 .25 .38 Toyota .36 .36 .50 .50 Scion .03 .03 0.00 0.00 Honda .26 .27 .25 .12 Acura .10 .09 .05 0.00 Honda .15 .18 .20 .12 Subaru .05 .03 0.00 0.00 Nissan .10 .09 0.00 0.00 Infiniti .10 .09 0.00 0.00 Nissan 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Mazda .05 .03 0.00 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 1999-2003 Reliability Percentrank average to exist, the early 2004 Reliability Percentrank is used when such exists. If several editions of a model have different Reliability Percentrank averages, an average of the averages is used. If a Reliability Percentrank average for only one edition of the model is available, that average is used. All shares are rounded to two significant digits. CR Good Bets are models that have several model years between 1997 and 2006 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 For comparison, the tables for the three preceding years appear below.
Shares of Consumer Reports' 2007 Good Bets for Model Years 1997-2006 with Selected 1998-2002 Reliability Percentrank Averages, by Auto Manufacturer and Motor Vehicle Line Manufacturer Share of CR 2007 Good Bets with a 1998-2002 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .80 Share of CR 2007 Good Bets with a 1998-2002 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .85 Share of CR 2007 Good Bets with a 1998-2002 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .90 Share of CR 2007 Good Bets with a 1998-2002 Reliability Percentrank Average1 Greater Than or Equal to .95 Vehicle Line Toyota .54 .55 .72 .83 Lexus .16 .19 .28 .50 Toyota .38 .35 .44 .33 Honda .27 .32 .22 .17 Acura .11 .13 .06 0.00 Honda .16 .19 .17 .17 Subaru .03 0.00 0.00 0.00 Nissan .14 .10 .06 0.00 Infiniti .08 .10 .06 0.00 Nissan .05 0.00 0.00 0.00 Mazda .03 .03 0.00 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 1998-2002 Reliability Percentrank average to exist, the early 2003 Reliability Percentrank is used when such exists. All shares are rounded to two significant digits. CR Good Bets are models that have several model years between 1997 and 2006 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
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
