The Updated 2011 Reliability Grade Point Averages and Grades for Manufacturers of Automobiles: The Complete Table and the Top 5 Automobile Manufacturers and the Bottom 5 Automobile Manufacturers
by James Bleeker

Photograph of a 2010 2-door Toyota Yaris on 11 August 2011

With an overall 2011 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average of a perfect 4.00 over a 4-year data history (a perfect 4.00 over an 8-year data history, if its predecessor, the Toyota Echo, is included), the Toyota Yaris continues to contribute to Toyota Motor Corporation's high overall Grade Point Averages. See the table, bar graph, and list of the Top 5 below. The 2010 Toyota Yaris came in the following editions: 2-door hatchback, 4-door hatchback, and 4-door sedan.

The Complete Table

This page provides detailed 2011 auto manufacturer reliability ratings and auto manufacturer reliability rankings. It expresses the automobile manufacturer reliability ratings and automobile manufacturer reliability rankings, and makes available manufacturer reliability comparisons and reliability contrasts, using the Auto Reliability Grade Point Average, or Auto Reliability GPA. This auto reliability index is valuable as it is an easy-to-understand, but detailed, auto reliability measure, and is familiar to many having attended secondary school and nearly all who have received some post-secondary education. The page also employs Auto Reliability Grades as a reliability index. This measure of auto reliability differences, although less detailed, is valuable as it is familiar to all persons having attended primary school. The updated Auto Reliability GPA is an automobile reliability statistic that is obtained from Consumer Reports' auto reliability survey data summarized in the reliability tables of (1) Consumer Reports: New Car Buying Guide: 2011, (2) Consumer Reports: Used Car Buying Guide: 2011, and (3) the April 2011 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 manufacturer is the average of the Average GPAs of its models. The Average Minimum GPA for each car manufacturer 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.

The Updated 2010 Reliability Grade Point Averages for Manufacturers of Motor Vehicles with Reliability GPAs for Four 4-Year Age Ranges and an Overall Average Reliability GPA   ID Auto Manufacturer 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 GPA Average Minimum GPA Grade Based on Average Minimum GPA Average Number of Model Years of Data 44 Toyota 3.11 3.55 3.62 3.66 3.44 B 3.09 B 6.6 68 Honda 3.34 3.52 3.52 3.38 3.47 B 3.22 B 6.7 84 BMW 1.28 1.63 1.72 1.63 1.30 D 0.99 D 5.8 119 Chrysler 1.04 1.08 1.21 1.26 1.15 D 0.85 D 5.5 134 Daimler 1.38 1.48 1.88 2.31 1.36 D 1.01 D 4.6 187 Ford 2.25 2.10 2.08 1.93 2.14 C 1.84 C 5.9 263 General Motors 1.49 1.24 1.34 1.46 1.35 D 1.04 D 5.5 276 Hyundai 2.52 2.47 2.29 1.69 2.38 C 2.05 C 5.5 279 Isuzu       1.50 1.50 C 1.50 C 2.0 285 Jaguar 1.00 2.00 2.00 1.83 1.46 D 1.42 D 2.3 297 Kia 2.41 1.98 1.38 1.04 2.04 C 1.73 C 3.8 301 Land Rover 2.00 1.50 1.00   1.50 C 1.50 C 1.5 315 Mazda 2.35 2.13 2.38 2.14 2.15 C 1.73 C 6.2 322 Mitsubishi 2.83 2.83 2.50 2.35 2.61 B 2.35 C 2.8 349 Nissan 2.28 2.25 2.24 2.19 2.26 C 1.93 C 5.8 355 Porsche 2.17 2.58 2.00 1.89 2.23 C 1.75 C 4.5 364 Subaru 2.85 2.86 2.69 2.15 2.63 B 2.11 C 7.6 367 Suzuki 2.67 2.50     2.58 B 2.50 B 3.0 391 Volkswagen 1.62 1.27 0.77 1.00 1.23 D 0.85 D 3.9

The following bar graph depicts the 2011 Auto Reliability GPAs of the above automobile manufacturers.

There are several important points to be noted from the above bar graph. The first is that the 2011 Auto Reliability GPAs of Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company are much higher than the 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of any other manufacturer. The second is that Hyundai Motor Company has distanced itself from Ford Motor Company. The third is that the 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of the Ford Motor Company is much higher than those of its Detroit brethren - General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC. The fourth is that Hyundai Motor Company continues to move up, placing 6th in 2011, versus 10th in 2010.

The 2011 Top 5 Automobile Manufacturers

Next, we list the 5 most reliable automobile manufacturers. The 2011 Top Five auto manufacturers are:

Honda Motor Company, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 3.47,
Toyota Motor Corporation, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 3.44,
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (Subaru), with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 2.63,
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 2.61,
Suzuki Motor Corporation, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 2.58.

Note that Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. is a distant third, and that Fuji, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, and Suzuki Motor Corporation all have similar 2011 Auto Reliability GPAs. 

The 2011 Bottom 5 Automobile Manufacturers

Next, we list the 5 least reliable automobile manufacturers. The 2011 Bottom Five auto manufacturers are:

Chrysler LLC, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 1.15,
Volkswagen AG, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 1.23,
BMW AG, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 1.30,
General Motors Corporation, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 1.35,
Daimler AG, with an overall 2011 Auto Reliability GPA of 1.36.

Note that both of Ford Motor Company's Detroit brethren, General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC, remain in the Bottom 5. Also note that Chrysler dropped to worst and that GM's GPA is unchanged from that of last year.

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" rating, a GP of 3.00 (that is, a B) is given to a CR "Better Than Average" rating, a GP of 2.00 (that is, a C) to an "Average" rating, a GP of 1.00 (that is, a D) to a "Worse Than Average" rating, and a GP of 0.00 (that is, an F) to a "Much Worse Than Average" 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.

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