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The 2008 Reliability-Durability Updates: The Best and Worst Automobiles by Engine Reliability: Toyota Dominates Best Engines and GM Dominates Worst Engines
AutoOnInfo.net April 2008
The 2008 Reliability-Durability Updates: The Best and Worst Automobiles by Engine Reliability: Toyota Dominates Best Engines and GM Dominates Worst Engines
By James B. Bleeker
To compute a reliability rating for motor vehicle engines, Consumer Reports' 2008 reliability verdicts for age ranges 6-to-7 years, 7-to-8 years, 8-to-9 years and 9-to-10 years given in CR's Engine Major category of each vehicle model (offering the necessary data) are used. The computation consists of ascribing +1 to each CR verdict of Much Better Than Average, +.5 to each CR verdict of Better Than Average, 0 to each CR verdict of Average, -.5 to each CR verdict of Worse Than Average, and -1 to each CR verdict of Much Worse Than Average, then adding together the numerical values so obtained for each model, and finally dividing by the number of verdicts for the model. This accords a composite engine reliability rating that ranges from +1 (perfect score) to -1 (worst-possible score).
The Automobiles with Best Engine Reliability
The following table lists the automobile models with the best engine reliability (an engine reliability rating of .85 or higher), the engine reliability rating of each model, and the respective number of model years providing a CR reliability verdict, as well as the model's transmission reliability rating category (Best or Worst, based on CR's Transmission Major category and an identical computational method) and its overall reliability rating category (Best or Worst, based on CR's Used Car Verdict category and an identical computational method).
Table of the Cars and Trucks with Best Engine Reliability, Together with Transmission Reliability Category (Best or Worst) and Overall Reliability Category (Best or Worst) Model Engine Reliability Rating Number of Model Years Offering Reliability Verdicts Transmission Reliability Rating Overall Reliability Rating Toyota's 6-cylinder rear-wheel-drive Lexus GS +1 4 Best Best Toyota's Lexus LS +1 4 Best Best The V6 Toyota 4Runner midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 4 Best Best The 4-cylinder Toyota Tacoma pickup truck +1 4 Best Best Nissan's Infiniti QX4 large sport-utility vehicle +1 4 Best Best Nissan's Infiniti I30, I35 luxury sedan +1 4 Best - The Honda Civic sedan +1 4 - Best The Honda Civic coupe and hatchback +1 4 - Best The 4-cylinder Honda Accord family car +1 4 Worst Best The V6 Honda Accord family car +1 4 Worst Best The Nissan Pathfinder midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 4 - - The Nissan Frontier pickup truck +1 4 - - Toyota's V8 Lexus GS +1 3 Best Best The Toyota Echo small car +1 2 - Best The Honda Civic Si +1 2 Best Best The V8 4-wheel-drive Toyota Tundra pickup truck +1 2 - Best The V8 2-wheel-drive Toyota Tundra pickup truck +1 2 - - Nissan's Infiniti G20 sedan +1 2 - - Nissan's Infiniti Q45 flagship luxury sedan +1 2 - - Toyota's Lexus IS300, IS350 luxury sedan +1 1 Best Best Toyota's Lexus SC convertible +1 1 Best Best The 4-cylinder Toyota Highlander midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Best Best The Toyota Prius hybrid hatchback +1 1 Best Best The Honda Insight hybrid +1 1 Best Best The V6 Mercedes-Benz SLK convertible +1 1 Best Best The BMW 3 Series wagon +1 1 Best Worst The all-wheel-drive BMW 325i, 328i +1 1 Best Worst The all-wheel-drive BMW 330i, 335i +1 1 Worst Worst The Toyota Sequoia large sport-utility vehicle +1 1 - - The V6 2-wheel-drive Toyota Tundra pickup truck +1 1 Worst Best Honda's Acura MDX midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Worst - The 4-cylinder Mazda Tribute small sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Worst Worst The 4-cylinder Ford Escape small sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Worst Worst The Ford Explorer Sport Trac +1 1 Worst Worst The legendary Toyota Land Cruiser large sport-utility vehicle +.88 4 Best Best The V6 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck +.88 4 Best Best The Nissan Maxima family car +.88 4 Best - Honda's Acura TL sedan +.88 4 Worst - The Honda Odyssey minivan +.88 4 Worst - Ford's Lincoln Continental luxury sedan +.88 4 Worst - Chrysler's V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee midsize-to-large sport-utility vehicle +.88 4 Worst Worst Note that General Motors Corporation has not a single model on the above list of automobiles with high engine reliability. The following chart depicts each manufacturer's share of the models with highest engine reliability.
The next two tables provide a breakdown of the above table for the SUVs and pickup trucks with best engine reliability.
Table of the SUVs with Best Engine Reliability, Together with Transmission Reliability Category (Best or Worst) and Overall Reliability Category (Best or Worst) Model Engine Reliability Rating Number of Model Years Offering Reliability Verdicts Transmission Reliability Rating Overall Reliability Rating The V6 Toyota 4Runner midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 4 Best Best Nissan's Infiniti QX4 large sport-utility vehicle +1 4 Best Best The Nissan Pathfinder midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 4 - - The 4-cylinder Toyota Highlander midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Best Best The Toyota Sequoia large sport-utility vehicle +1 1 - - Honda's Acura MDX midsize sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Worst - The 4-cylinder Mazda Tribute small sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Worst Worst The 4-cylinder Ford Escape small sport-utility vehicle +1 1 Worst Worst The legendary Toyota Land Cruiser large sport-utility vehicle +.88 4 Best Best Chrysler's V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee midsize-to-large sport-utility vehicle +.88 4 Worst Worst
Table of the Pickup Trucks with Best Engine Reliability, Together with Transmission Reliability Category (Best or Worst) and Overall Reliability Category (Best or Worst) Model Engine Reliability Rating Number of Model Years Offering Reliability Verdicts Transmission Reliability Rating Overall Reliability Rating The 4-cylinder Toyota Tacoma pickup truck +1 4 Best Best The Nissan Frontier pickup truck +1 4 - - The V8 4-wheel-drive Toyota Tundra pickup truck +1 2 - Best The V8 2-wheel-drive Toyota Tundra pickup truck +1 2 - - The V6 2-wheel-drive Toyota Tundra pickup truck +1 1 Worst Best The V6 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck +.88 4 Best Best
The Automobiles with Worst Engine Reliability
The following table lists the automobile models with the worst engine reliability (an engine reliability rating of 0 or lower), the engine reliability rating of each model, and the respective number of model years providing a CR reliability verdict, as well as the model's transmission reliability rating category (Best or Worst, based on CR's Transmission Major category and an identical computational method) and its overall reliability rating category (Best or Worst, based on CR's Used Car Verdict category and an identical computational method).
Table of the Cars and Trucks with Worst Engine Reliability, Together with Transmission Reliability Category (Best or Worst) and Overall Reliability Category (Best or Worst) Model Engine Reliability Rating Number of Model Years Offering Reliability Verdicts Transmission Reliability Rating Overall Reliability Rating V6 Toyota Highlander midsize sport-utility vehicle 0 1 Best Best 4-cylinder Nissan Altima 0 4 - - Mazda MPV minivan 0 3 - - Ford's Volvo C70 convertible 0 2 Worst Worst Ford's Volvo S40/V40, V50 non-turbo 0 1 Best Worst BMW 7 Series 0 4 - Worst Hyundai XG300, XG350 0 1 Worst Worst V6 Volkswagen Jetta sedan 0 2 Worst Worst Ford's Lincoln LS 0 2 Worst Worst Ford Escort, ZX2 0 4 - - 4-wheel-drive Ford Expedition sport-utility vehicle 0 4 - Worst Ford Focus wagon 0 2 - Worst General Motors' Buick Park Avenue 0 4 Worst Worst General Motors' V6 2-wheel-drive GMC Sierra 1500 pickup truck 0 2 - - General Motors' V8 4-wheel-drive GMC Sierra Classic 1500 pickup truck 0 2 Worst Worst General Motors' V6 4-wheel-drive GMC S-15 Sonoma pickup truck 0 3 Worst Worst General Motors' GMC Suburban, Yukon XL 1500 sport-utility vehicle 0 4 Worst Worst General Motors' Cadillac Eldorado 0 1 Worst Worst General Motors' V6 2-wheel-drive Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup truck 0 2 - - General Motors' V8 4-wheel-drive Chevrolet Silverado Classic 1500 pickup truck 0 2 Worst Worst General Motors' V6 4-wheel-drive Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck 0 3 Worst Worst General Motors' Chevrolet Suburban 1500 sport-utility vehicle 0 4 Worst Worst 4-cylinder Chrysler Sebring sedan 0 1 - Worst V6 Chrysler Sebring sedan 0 1 Worst Worst Chrysler Town and Country regular minivan 0 2 Worst Worst Chrysler's 2-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck 0 4 Worst Worst V8 Ford Mustang -.13 4 Worst - General Motors' GMC Jimmy sport-utility vehicle -.13 4 Worst Worst General Motors' Chevrolet Blazer sport-utility vehicle -.13 4 Worst Worst Chrysler's Dodge Neon small car -.13 4 - Worst Chrysler's 4-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck -.13 4 Worst Worst General Motors' Saab 9-3 convertible -.17 3 - Worst General Motors' Saturn SC coupe -.17 3 - Worst General Motors' Saturn SW wagon -.17 3 Worst Worst 4-wheel-drive Mazda B-Series pickup truck -.25 4 Worst Worst Isuzu Trooper sport-utility vehicle -.25 4 Worst - 4-wheel-drive Ford Ranger pickup truck -.25 4 Worst Worst General Motors' Oldsmobile Bravada sport-utility vehicle -.25 2 Worst Worst General Motors' Saturn SL sedan -.25 4 - Worst 4-cylinder Chrysler Voyager minivan -.25 4 Worst Worst Chrysler's 4-cylinder Dodge Caravan minivan -.25 4 Worst Worst Chrysler's 4-cylinder Dodge Stratus sedan -.25 4 Worst Worst Porsche Boxster convertible -.33 3 Worst Worst Hyundai Elantra sedan -.33 3 Worst Worst General Motors' Buick LeSabre large car -.38 4 - - General Motors' Cadillac Seville -.38 4 Worst Worst General Motors' V6 Chevrolet Monte Carlo -.38 4 Worst Worst General Motors' V6 Pontiac Bonneville large car -.38 4 Worst Worst Chrysler Concorde -.38 4 - Worst Honda Passport sport-utility vehicle -.50 4 Worst Worst 6-cylinder BMW X5 sport-utility vehicle -.50 1 Best Worst Isuzu Rodeo sport-utility vehicle -.50 4 Worst Worst Jaguar S-Type -.50 2 Worst Worst Volkswagen's Audi A6 allroad -.50 1 Worst Worst Volkswagen's Audi TT -.50 1 Worst Worst Volkswagen Cabrio -.50 2 Worst Worst V6 all-wheel-drive Volkswagen Passat -.50 2 - Worst General Motors' V6 Saturn L-Series, L300 -.50 2 - Worst Chrysler's Dodge Intrepid sedan -.50 4 - Worst Chrysler's 4-cylinder Plymouth Voyager minivan -.50 3 Worst Worst 4-cylinder Subaru Legacy -.63 4 Worst - Volkswagen's V6 Audi A6 -.63 4 - Worst Ford Windstar minivan -.63 4 Worst Worst V6 front-wheel-drive Volkswagen Passat -.67 3 - Worst Hyundai Accent -.75 2 Worst Worst Volkswagen's V6 Audi A6 turbo -.75 2 Worst Worst General Motors' V6 Chevrolet Impala -.75 2 Worst Worst General Motors' Chevrolet Lumina -.75 2 - Worst General Motors' V6 Pontiac Grand Prix -.75 4 Worst Worst Jaguar XJ -.83 3 Worst Worst General Motors' Cadillac DeVille -.88 4 Worst Worst General Motors' Pontiac Grand Am -.88 4 - Worst Subaru Forester -1.00 4 Worst Worst 4-cylinder Subaru Outback -1.00 4 Worst Worst 4-cylinder Mercedes-Benz SLK -1.00 2 Worst - V8 BMW X5 sport-utility vehicle -1.00
