European brands = least reliable

[bigpoppanils]

Beware 'Made in Europe' label

Consumer Reports finds serious slide in auto quality

By Shawn Langlois, CBS.MarketWatch.com

Last Update: 7:55 PM ET Nov. 9, 2004

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - European carmakers have firmly supplanted their U.S. rivals in winning the dubious honor of producing some of the world's most-unreliable cars, according to the latest Consumer Report rankings.

European models - mostly high-end vehicles - claimed 10 of the top 11 spots on the magazine's list of least-reliable sedans. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, with a sticker price starting at about $75,000, topped the list followed by the Jaguar S-Type, retailing at about $45,000.

BMW, Saab, Volvo and Volkswagen also placed models on the Top 10 list, which contained only a single U.S. vehicle - the supercharged version of the Pontiac Grand Prix.

"These high-end European models carry many of the latest features, and the more stuff you've got, the more likely you're going to have problems," said David Champion, Consumer Reports' director of automotive testing. "But the Japanese manufacturers have similar systems and they get it right. It's all about the attention to detail."

This poor-quality showing in the survey of 1997 to 2004 models comes at a time when Mercedes and Jaguar have been a source of mounting losses for parents DaimlerChrysler (DCX: news, chart, profile) and Ford Motor (F: news, chart, profile). Both divisions turned in another month of lower unit sales in October, with Jaguar off 11 percent and Mercedes off 5 percent. See monthly results.

"We have requested further information from Consumer Reports in an effort to better understand the metrics used," a Jaguar spokesman said, adding that other quality reviewers like J.D. Power and Associates had given the vehicle high marks.

10 Least Reliable Sedans

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Jaguar S-Type

BMW 7 Series

Jaguar X-Type

Mercedes Benz E-Class

Mercedes Benz C-Class (V6)

Volvo S60 (AWD)

Saab 9-3

Pontiac Grand Prix (supercharged)

Volkswagen Passat (AWD)

American nameplates dominated the "least reliable" list until as recently as four years ago, Champion said, when U.S. automakers began reaping the benefit of heightened attention to the quality of design and workmanship. The U.S. placed three vehicles among last year's 10 least reliable, with Europe claiming the other seven spots.

"The domestics are seeing the Japanese coming in and taking large swaths of market share purely on reliability," Champion said. "If they want to compete, they have to improve their reliability and meet them head on -- they're starting to do just that."

Still, only two domestic models made it among the top 32 "most reliable" vehicles - the Buick Regal, discontinued for 2005, and ironically, the standard-model Pontiac Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, as has been the case for decades, the Japanese almost swept the top rankings across nearly all categories.

Of the 32 models earning the highest praise in the survey, 29 were Japanese, including 16 Toyota (TM: news, chart, profile) models and seven from Honda (HMC: news, chart, profile).

Broken down by segment, Toyota's Lexus IS300 garnered top honors in the sedan category, followed by the Acura RL and the Toyota Camry.

The in-demand Toyota Prius hybrid also took "most reliable" ratings along with the Honda Civic hybrid, which should help quell some concerns the environmentally-friendly line of cars might yield some unexpected glitches.

In the small car category, the Toyota Corolla and the Scion xB proved most reliable, while three Volkswagen models - the Golf, the Jetta and the New Beetle - came in last.

The Japanese also monopolized the hotly-contested sports utility class with the Toyota Land Cruiser and Highlander leading the way followed by the Mitsubishi Endeavor.

The European and American brands, completely absent from the "most reliable" side of the SUV list, fared poorly with such models as the Land Rover Freelander and the Lincoln Navigator jousting for the dubious distinction of least reliable.

Not even America's best-selling vehicle could compete with the Japanese as the redesigned Ford F-150 also fell into the "least reliable" category vs. the top showing from the Toyota Tundra.

Category Most Reliable Least Reliable

Small cars Toyota Corolla Volkswagen Golf

Sporty cars/convert. Lexus SC430 Hyundai Tiburon

Sedans Lexus IS300 Mercedes S-Class

SUVs Toyota Land Cruiser Land Rover Freelander

Pickup trucks Toyota Tundra Ford F-150

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[bua420]

Thank's for the heads up.

[aa07033]

I don't really find this to be anything appauling or amazing. I personally own what they would consider both ends of the spectrum (recently had a 2001 Jetta VR6 and traded in for a 2004 Passat GLX) and a 1996 Dodge Avenger. Both cars have received their good share of mods but nothing that would be considered incredible (intakes & exhausts). I will admit the Jetta had bigger problems (CAT failure, Fuel pump snapping) but they were spread out over its 60,000 mile life. On the other hand my Dodge has been consistent in supplying me with new problems almost every month. I can't compare the amount of time I've gone with a check engine light on compared to the time I've spent with it off.

No matter how un-reliable foreign cars might be (whiich has created very clever acronyms like FIAT :fix it again tony:) they will continue to sell and gain popularity because of the personality that these cars contain. I believe that the reliability is going down because the prices are going down also. I'm not sure of the #'s so correct me if I'm wrong, but a 2004 C class might be more affordable then trying to buy a C class in the late 80's, early 90's. I think another reason why they will never stop selling is the desire to purchase the name, not the car. "I drive a BMW / Mercedes Benz". It's an image that'll never stop and I think we'll all be a victim of it at one time or another.