Dodge moves into top 10 for first time in Consumer Reports reliability survey

DETROIT -- Above-average ratings for the aging Dodge Challenger and Grand Caravan helped vault the brand into the top 10 of the Consumer Reports Auto Reliability Survey for the first time.

Dodge, in eighth place, is the highest-ranked Detroit 3 brand.

Lexus led the way as Japanese brands secured the top three slots and four of the top 10 positions. Mazda moved up two spots to second place, with Toyota coming in third after dropping two slots. Subaru is seventh after falling five spots.

Three Korean brands — Genesis in fifth, Hyundai in sixth and Kia in ninth — made it into the top 10 along with two German brands, Porsche and Mini, which finished fourth and 10th, respectively.

After Dodge, the closest domestic make was Lincoln at No. 15, followed by Ford at 16, Buick at 18 and Chrysler at 19. Four domestic brands — GMC, Chevrolet, Jeep and Cadillac — landed in the bottom third.

Cadillac was in last place at No. 30.

The survey, which covers the 2000-2019 model years, is based on data collected from the organization's members about their experiences with more than 400,000 vehicles. The nonprofit then assigns a predicted new-vehicle reliability score to various nameplates.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brands had the largest improvements. Dodge, helped by the fact that it had no recent redesigns, moved up 13 spots. Chrysler, with only two vehicles in its lineup, had the second-largest improvement by jumping seven slots in the rankings. Consumer Reports said the 300 sedan continued to be "better than average," while the Pacifica minivan remained below average.

Other notable improvements came from Porsche and Mini, with each rising five spots. Infiniti, at No. 13., and Tesla, at 23, each moved up four spots. Like Dodge, Chrysler, Infiniti and Mini haven't made significant changes to their products.

"The Tesla Model 3 struggled last year as the company made frequent design changes and ramped up production to meet demand," said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' senior director of auto testing, in a statement. "But as the production stabilized, we have seen improvements to the reliability of the Model 3 and S that now allow us to recommend both models."

The steepest declines in the rankings came from Volkswagen and Acura, as each brand fell nine spots.

Consumer Reports said Volkswagen was dinged by "much-worse-than-average" reliability for the Atlas and Tiguan. It said VW's two utility vehicles had problems stemming from their power equipment, in-car electronics and emissions/fuel system.

Acura slipped because of the redesigned RDX's below-average reliability and "continuing problems with MDX."

Audi and BMW dropped seven spots in the rankings. Consumer Reports said Audi declined "due to a number of new or redesigned 2019 models that shared similar powertrains and the new infotainment system." It pointed to the A6 and Q8, which had "well-below-average" reliability. Problems arose from the power equipment, engine computer and in-car electronics.

BMW, at No. 17, was held back by "well-below-average" ratings from the redesigned 3 series and X5.

According to Consumer Reports, the most reliable 2020 models include the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Toyota Prius and Prius Prime, Lexus GX, Hyundai Kona and Mazda CX-3. Among the least reliable are the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Chevrolet Camaro, Jeep Wrangler, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Volkswagen Atlas and Volkswagen Tiguan.

New vehicle launches aren’t always a weight on a brand.

Fisher pointed to the Ford Ranger midsize pickup, and the Hyundai Kona and Lexus UX crossovers as examples of recent launches that went well.

“Generally, when we see a vehicle that launches really good, there's a reason for it. One is it's sharing components from another vehicle. Look at the UX, there's so many things in common with a CHR and other products they've sold overseas before,” Fisher said during the APA presentation. “Or, to that point, they've already sold it overseas for a couple of years. A very strong launch was the Ford Ranger. Yes, it is new, but it has been a vehicle that's been essentially sold overseas already, so those growing pains may have already been done.”

Korean reputation

While Toyota and Lexus have sterling reputations, the Korean brands are still battling for respect.
Fisher said there is no gap between Korean and Japanese brands at this point. But the Korean are still working to convince consumers that they engineer and build quality vehicles.

“There is not a single Korean model that we have data for that's below average reliability,” Fisher said. “They're all average or better.”

Subaru decline

Subaru’s drop in the rankings comes as the brand introduces more vehicles on a new global platform that debuted with the 2017 Impreza.

The 2019 Ascent and Forester both have average reliability. Consumer Reports said problems included in-vehicle electronics system glitches such as the radio and music interface and display screen going blank.

“They do a lot of redesigns, but the redesigns are actually very scheduled, it's very interesting. Virtually every five years, like clockwork, many of these Subarus are redesigned,” Fisher said. “Virtually all of these vehicles have moved to that new platform.  Many of them have a decent reliability, but because these are all on that newest platform, that has hurt them a little bit.”
 

Mending over-the-air updates

With over-the-air updates becoming the norm, automakers should offer workarounds to counter glitchy updates.

Fisher said the infotainment system for the organization’s test Jeep Wrangler blanked out after an update.

FCA admitted the error and said an update would follow in the next week or so, but until that time, Fisher said the radio couldn’t be operated and there was no rear-view camera.

“If you're going to go push an update to a car, and you screw something up, you should be able to undo that [and] at least have your car functional to the level it was before. There's no reason why you can't have the memory and the RAM and the processing to be able to restore how it was,” Fisher said. “We can do this in Google Docs, we should be able to do it our cars.”