Average Product-Quality Ranks of Most Auto Brands Available in the U.S.
by James Bleeker

Content Summary

This page provides 4 tables of quality-rank averages for most of the automobile brands available in North America. Each table employs a different method for computing the quality rank of the brands.

The statistics used in the computations for ranking the car brands are those found within the April issues of Consumer Reports. The two sections providing the necessary statistics are CR's Used-Cars-To-Avoid lists and its reliability charts. Reliability is defined by the magazine as the infrequency of serious problems, which it measures annually by a subscriber survey.

The first and third tables provide the average ranks of the car brands based on each manufacturer's infrequency of trouble-prone models. These average ranks provide a measure of how well each manufacturer's models successfully avoided the bottom end of the model-quality spectrum for the years 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010.

The second and fourth tables provide the average ranks of the car brandss based on the average of the overall reliability ratings of each manufacturer's models. The average ranks provide a measure of how well a manufacturer's models performed over the entire model-quality spectrum in each of the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010.

Auto Brand Quality by Infrequency of Trouble-Prone Models

To form a car-brand quality measure from each of the annual lists of Used Cars To Avoid, the first step is to count each brand's entries on the list. Each model year of each model is treated as a separate entry.

Next, as the number of automobile models sold by a car brand varies greatly from brand to brand, it is necessary to take account of the fact that a brand with more models has a greater opportunity to have more model years of low quality. To compensate for a possibly inflated, or deflated, frequency of trouble-prone model years of a brand, as well as a variability in model data sufficiency, the number of a brand's entries in a Used-Cars-To-Avoid list is divided by the total number of overall reliability ratings for the brand found in the reliability charts of the same issue of Consumer Reports.

Finally, the automobile brands with at least 5 overall reliability ratings are ordered from best to worst for each of the years 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. The best brand in a given year has a quality rank of 1. The worst quality rank varies from year to year and ranges from 22 to 34.

Automobile brands with a rank in at least one year include Acura, AMC, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Datsun, Dodge, Eagle, Fiat, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, International Harvester, Isuzu, Jaguar, Jeep, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mini Cooper, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Saab, Saturn, Scion, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

The first table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile brands by these computations, where the average is taken over the above 7 years. To be included in the table, the brand must have been ranked in at least 3 years.

The third table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile brands by these computations, where the average is taken over the 3 most-recent of the above 7 years. To be included in the table, the brand must have been ranked in at least 2 years.

Auto Brand Quality by the Average of Overall Reliability Ratings

To compute car-brand quality ratings and compute a quality rank using Consumer Reports' overall reliability ratings, a number is first associated with each of CR's overall ratings. A +1.0 is ascribed to a rating of Much Better Than Average, a +0.5 to a rating of Better Than Average, a 0 to a rating of Average, a -0.5 to a rating of Worse Than Average, and a -1.0 to a rating of Much Worse Than Average. Then an average is taken over all of the brand's model years and models offering an overall reliability rating. Lastly, the automobile brands with at least 5 overall reliability ratings are ordered from best to worst for each of the years 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. The best brand in a given year has a quality rank of 1. The worst quality rank varies from year to year and ranges from 20 to 34.

Automobile brands with a rank in at least one year include Acura, AMC, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Datsun, Dodge, Eagle, Fiat, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, International Harvester, Isuzu, Jaguar, Jeep, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mini Cooper, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Saab, Saturn, Scion, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

The second table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile brands by these computations, where the average is taken over the above 8 years. To be included in the table, the brand must have been ranked in at least 3 years.

The fourth table provides the average quality ranks of the automobile brands by these computations, where the average is taken over the 3 most-recent of the above 8 years. To be included in the table, the brand must have been ranked in at least 2 of the 3 most-recent years.

Note: As overall reliability ratings were not offered by Consumer Reports in 1995, Auto Reliability Percentrank averages were used for ranking the automobile brands.

The Tables of Average Auto-Brand-Quality Ranks from Best to Worst

Summary and Analysis

Some important points from the foregoing tables are:

1. By both quality rankings and for both time periods, Toyota Motor Corporation's Toyota and Lexus brands were in the top 3.

2. By both quality rankings and for both time periods, brands by Chrysler and General Motors account for 8 or more of the bottom 10.

Additional Resources

To view the quality ratings of all of the auto brands for a given year, click the applicable year.

2010  2005  2000  1995  1990  1985  1980  1975 

To view the quality ratings of the 10 best auto brands for a given year, click the applicable year.

2010  2005  2000  1995  1990  1985  1980  1975 

To view the quality ratings of the 10 worst auto brands for a given year, click the applicable year.

2010  2005  2000  1995  1990  1985  1980  1975 

For a Google Knol that summarizes the changes in auto-brand and auto-manufacturer ranking by these quality measures from 1990 to 2010, click Go.

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