Shocker: Euro Brands Are Still Unreliable

Consumer Reports has revealed its annual 2010 reliability scores and predictably, the Asian brands killed, the domestic brands are on the rise and the Euro brands remain as uneliable as Metro Transit’s bus services.

While this is hardly breaking news, it did seem that the Euro brands were making some heaway over the past few years with BMW and Mercedes-Benz finding themselves above the industry average. This time around, the sport luxury heavyweights are all near the bottom with different problems.

BMW, it seems, is still having problems with its N54 engine which is bringing its overall scores down. As a result BMW’s least reliable model is the 135i and surprisingly the M3 is its most reliable model.

Mercedes-Benz on the other hand has 6 models rated below the industry average with most experiencing electric issues.

Audi is also doing terribly with 75% (!) of its models ranking below industry average. Audi’s least relaible vehicle is apparently the A6 3.0T. In fact, Audi has the second worst reliability score behind Chrysler. Oddly enough, Volkswagen is doing much better as it ranks 10 spots up from Audi.

It’s not all bad news for the Euro brands, however. Porsche is ranked 2nd for best reliability, while Volvo is ranked 8th overall. That is the first time in a long time that the Swedish brand has been able to crack the top 10. Porsche’s least reliable model is the 911 while the Boxter gets the nod for most reliable. For Volvo the XC90 is worst while its best is the C30.

Another odd ranking worth noting is Chevrolet who ranks 17th overall, but the Corvette Z06 is its most reliable vehicle (unsurprisingly the Aveo is its worst). But this could likely be explained by the sheer volume of model a brand sells. The Corvette likely has good reliability scores because they are niche vehicles and as such, they don’t sell in great numbers, therefore there won’t be as many Corvettes in Chevy’s service bays as say a volume seller like the Aveo.

[Consumer Reports]

The Bad News Continues: Toyota expands recall, loses ‘Recommended’ Accolades

By now, you’ve likely heard about saga surrounding Toyota’s recall woes. The latest on the recall is that Toyota has expanded it to certain vehicles in Europe. There are no reports as to how many vehicles are affected in Europe or even if they are the same models affected in North America.

An easy way to tell if your Toyota is one of the models affected is to check on the gas pedal to see who made it. If it says Denso, then you can sleep easier at night. If it says CTS – we’ve got some bad news for you. Your model needs to be recalled.

Being known as among the best brands for reliability and safety, Toyota has generally topped many quality surveys. Obviously this new recall is causing second thoughts in potential buyers, owners and even loyal owners.

Consumer Reports tends to agree that doubting Toyota’s quality at this point is reasonable and as a result, it has suspended its coveted ‘Recommended’ status against all recalled Toyotas.  No doubt, their credibility (which is quite high among buyers) would be at stake if they keep their ‘recommended’ status on said Toyotas, but count this as another significant blow to the Japanese automaker.