The Early 2010 Reliability Grade Point Averages and Grades for Lines/Brands of Automobiles
by James Bleeker

Photograph of a 2005 Honda Accord on 18 September 2010

The 4-cylinder Honda Accord has a 2010 Auto Reliability GPA of 3.81 over its 10-year data history and has helped the Honda line place first among all automobile lines in the Early 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Averages. See the table below.

This page provides detailed 2010 auto brand reliability ratings and auto brand reliability rankings in a reorderable table. It expresses the auto brand reliability ratings and auto brand reliability rankings, and makes available brand reliability comparisons and brand reliability contrasts, using the Auto Reliability Grade Point Average, or Auto Reliability GPA. This auto reliability index is used as it is an easy-to-understand auto reliability measure, and is well known to nearly all persons having attended high school. The page also employs Auto Reliability Grades as a reliability index, as this measure of auto reliability differences is well known to all persons having attended elementary school. The Auto Reliability GPA is an automobile reliability statistic that is obtained from Consumer Reports' auto reliability survey data summarized in the reliability tables of Consumer Reports: New Car Buying Guide: 2010 and the April 2010 issue of the Consumer Reports magazine. Column reordering on this page is Ajax enabled to make for a convenient and easy-to-use reordering option.

The Average GPA for each car brand is the average of the Average GPAs of its models. The Average Minimum GPA for each car brand is the average of the Minimum GPAs of its models. The Reliable Two, Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company, appear first in the table, because of their rather singular stature; the remaining manufacturers are listed alphabetically.

Letter grades corresponding to Average GPAs and Average Minimum GPAs are determined thusly: A if the GPA is 3.50 to 4.00, B if the GPA is 2.50 to 3.49, C if the GPA is 1.50 to 2.49, D if the GPA is 0.50 to 1.49, and F if the GPA < 0.50.

GPAs for 4 age ranges are given so that the visitor may examine more thoroughly the age range that is of greater interest to him/her, if such there be.

To arrange any column in ascending order (smallest value on top), click the header of the column. Arranging a reliability GPA or Grade column in ascending order will place the lowest reliability values and least reliable auto lines at the top (after those with empty cells) and the highest reliability values and most reliable auto lines at the bottom of the table. To rearrange any column in descending order (largest value on top), click the header one more time. Arranging a reliability GPA or Grade column in descending order will place the highest reliability values and most reliable auto lines at the top.

The 2010 Early Reliability Grade Point Averages for Lines of Motor Vehicles for Four 4-Year Age Ranges   ID Auto Manufacturer Line Line GPA for 0-to-4 Year Old Vehicles Line GPA for 2-to-6 Year Old Vehicles Line GPA for 4-to-8 Year Old Vehicles Line GPA for 6-to-10 Year Old Vehicles Average GPA Grade Based on Average Average Minimum GPA Grade Based on Average Minimum Average Number of Model Years of Data 13 Toyota Lexus 3.12 3.27 3.84 3.80 3.30 B 3.08 B 6.17 36 Toyota Toyota 3.36 3.58 3.72 3.69 3.53 A 3.27 B 6.68 41 Toyota Scion 3.43 3.59 3.70   3.56 A 3.31 B 6.25 49 Honda Acura 3.38 3.51 3.23 3.17 3.38 B 3.00 B 6.33 63 Honda Honda 3.56 3.65 3.74 3.60 3.67 A 3.46 B 6.92 74 BMW BMW 1.48 2.04 2.25 1.75 1.64 C 1.28 D 5.22 78 BMW Mini Cooper 1.00 0.75 1.38 1.00 1.14 D 0.92 D 5.33 88 Chrysler Jeep 1.00 1.00 1.19 1.25 1.08 D 0.68 D 5.00 94 Chrysler Chrysler 1.03 0.88 0.88 1.03 1.04 D 0.83 D 7.00 109 Chrysler Dodge 0.88 0.89 1.16 1.25 0.97 D 0.70 D 4.64 122 Daimler Mercedes-Benz 1.63 1.38 1.85 2.29 1.66 C 1.45 D 4.91 124 Daimler Smart ForTwo 1.00       1.00 D 1.00 D 2.00 147 Ford Ford 2.20 2.02 2.01 2.04 2.17 C 1.87 C 6.19 153 Ford Lincoln 1.83 2.31 2.17 1.67 1.84 C 1.70 C 4.00 159 Ford Mercury 2.43 2.35 1.92 2.13 2.41 C 2.22 C 6.20 169 Ford Volvo 2.35 2.29 2.03 1.77 2.12 C 1.81 C 5.00 177 General Motors Buick 1.79 1.96 2.00   1.78 C 1.75 C 3.33 183 General Motors Cadillac 0.88 1.28 1.60 1.50 1.25 D 0.78 D 5.40 201 General Motors Chevrolet 1.30 1.12 1.38 2.02 1.37 D 1.06 D 6.29 210 General Motors GMC 0.98 1.00 1.61 2.29 1.25 D 0.76 D 7.13 212 General Motors Hummer 0.67 1.00     0.83 D 0.67 D 3.00 218 General Motors Pontiac 1.43 1.46 2.33   1.53 C 1.37 D 3.80 221 General Motors Saab 1.83 1.13 0.63 1.13 1.18 D 0.63 D 8.50 226 General Motors Saturn 1.48 1.58 2.00   1.49 D 1.06 D 3.25 237 Hyundai Hyundai 2.78 2.43 2.58 2.10 2.54 B 2.22 C 5.78 242 Jaguar Jaguar 0.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 1.33 D 1.33 D 1.67 250 Kia Kia 2.39 1.96 1.13 0.50 1.93 C 1.44 D 4.50 255 Land Rover Land Rover 0.33 0.25 0.00   0.17 F 0.00 F 1.33 267 Mazda Mazda 2.39 2.26 2.58 3.14 2.28 C 2.02 C 5.20 274 Mitsubishi Mitsubishi 3.00 2.88 2.67 2.31 2.73 B 2.40 C 4.00 282 Nissan Infiniti 3.04 3.05 2.94 3.50 3.05 B 2.92 B 4.33 298 Nissan Nissan 2.19 2.05 1.86 2.22 2.13 C 1.84 C 6.47 304 Porsche Porsche 2.58 2.38 1.67 2.38 2.39 C 2.13 C 5.75 313 Subaru Subaru 2.90 2.87 2.46 2.12 2.61 B 2.06 C 7.71 317 Suzuki Suzuki 2.50 2.50     2.50 B 2.50 B 1.50 326 Volkswagen Audi 1.80 1.05 0.75 1.00 1.29 D 0.68 D 4.29 337 Volkswagen Volkswagen 1.88 1.42 0.82 1.02 1.58 C 1.15 D 5.30

Notice that Toyota and Honda lines dominate the upper end of the reliability spectrum for all age ranges.

A PDF version of this page is available for downloading and/or printing. As the quality standing of each auto manufacturer changes slowly over time, the PDF file may be passed down as a family heirloom for generations to come.

The method of computation of the GPAs is probably familiar to nearly every college, technical school, and high school student. A Grade Point of 4.00 (that is, an A) is given to a Consumer Reports "Much Better Than Average" reliability rating, a GP of 3.00 (that is, a B) is given to a CR "Better Than Average" reliability rating, a GP of 2.00 (that is, a C) to an "Average" reliability rating, a GP of 1.00 (that is, a D) to a "Worse Than Average" reliability rating, and a GP of 0.00 (that is, an F) to a "Much Worse Than Average" reliability rating. A Grade Point Average (GPA) is an average of the Grade Points and is computed using Microsoft's Average(a:b,[c:d],...) function.

The table is an immediate import from Microsoft's Access and a more distant import from Microsoft's Excel. The integration of the Access database into Microsoft's Web Expression software makes the reordering of the columns a rather simple task. For Ajax's partial post back, the ScriptManager and UpdatePanel controls were inserted by dragging; <ContentTemplate> was manually inserted into the code immediately after the ScriptManager and Update controls.

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