Unreliable Cars of 2009

I don’t have the latest CR car issue with me, but they in the past break down problems by category. Engine or brake problems will be separate from other categories.

Over many years, any car I had tended to have the same category of problems as listed in CR reports. But, that is just me.

I tend to agree the important difference will be at 150,000 or more. I think the Dodge Caravan will probably give good service for 100,000 miles, but wouldn’t want one if I had to try to drive it 200,000 miles. My Sienna finally had a serious problem (ABS computer) at 180,000 miles, and runs great again.

I use CR as a starting point when making a purchase, but then factor in other information as well. We used to have an independent appliance store where we bought our appliances. This store handled the Whirlpool brand and had its own outstanding service department. My parents did business with this store and I became acquainted with one of the repairman who was particularly good. When I went to buy a washing machine, there were many different Whirlpool models, but only one was tested by CR. I had the saleswoman get the repairman from the shop and I asked him which one I should buy. He picked the model for me. It wasn’t the top of the line because he said the pushbutton controls had been troublesome, but it wasn’t the bottom of the line which he said had problems with the transmission. We used the machine for many years.

I bought a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander which CR said had a bad repair record. I had no problems with the Uplander and my son who now has the Uplander has had no problems. I would have purchased another Uplander, but GM got out of the minivan business. I asked my independent mechanic which minivans he thought were the most reliable and he said that the Toyota Sienna and the Honda Odyssey were the ones to consider. I liked the Sienna a little better than the Odyssey so that is what I purchased. CR does indicate a better than average repair record for the Sienna and I have had no problems so far. However, as I said, I didn’t have problems with the Uplander which has, according to CR, a poor repair record.

Porsche is #2? That conflicts badly with CR, and I’ve heard it suggested elsewhere that this could be due to the low annual mileage driven by Porsches compared to other brands, which will skew this statistic.

It also occurs to me that the spread in the data is relatively small. The industry average is 132 problems per 100 cars. Kia is rated one of the worst at 169. That equates to 0.4 additional problems per vehicle over the course of 3 years. I wouldn’t base a purchase decision on that small of a gap, especially with no information on how serious these repairs are.

And jtsanders is correct; this data loses a lot of usefulness if the severity of the repair is not weighted properly. A transmission problem is much more important than a stuck glovebox door, but that is not differentiated here.

They’re ALL inaccurate. Don’t use just ONE source…Use them all. Do your own analysis based on several different inputs.

Mike is right; you have to get as many opinions as possible. Also talk to honest and experienced mechanics. Then consider your own use for the vehicle. If you only drive 7000 miles per year and can tolerate the occasional breakdown because you don’t work anymore, buy a Chrysler product for a lot less than a Toyota.

If you live in a rural area, there may only be one good dealer, and no other good repair shops. You may want to buy a car from him. My retired sister lives in a small town and the Toyota dealer gives outstanding service. She won’t look at any other makes.

My Toyota is 5 years old at this time and my out of pocket repair costs (not regular maintenance) so far have been one flat tire, one tire blown and destroyed on the freeway, and one small windshield stone chip repair. None of these were the fault of the car.

In the next 5 years I will no doubt have a brake job, replace the drive belts, replace the battery, one new set of tires, and some other odds and ends.

@Triedaq
As someone who builds the dryers, I can tell you about the only difference between most models in the wiring harness and the console panel(for the various options you might want; i.e. sensor drying or just push to start) and the name on the uint.
I’m pretty sure the washers are the same, but I’ve never been to the Clyde plant before, so I can’t really comment on that. For our stacked units(washer on the bottom, dryer on top), I’ve never seen any difference in the washers that come down the line for the different models

I too wonder how they count the defects. Does the knob coming off the radio carry the same weight as a transmission failure?

“For our stacked units(washer on the bottom, dryer on top), I’ve never seen any difference in the washers that come down the line for the different models”.

bscar2–this is good information to know. The washing machine I purchased on the repairman’s advice was over 30 years ago. The repairman that I thought was great has long since retired and the independent store is long gone. When I buy a major appliance today I “pays my money and takes my chances”. I’ve been lucky–the Maytag washer we now use is 20 years old and we have never had a service call. On the other hand, my son had a Maytag washer that gave out after 4 years and it wasn’t worth repairing. Our refrigerator is 17 years old and has never had that first problem. My son had a new refrigerator that had the compressor go out after 5 years–one month off warranty.

“On the other hand, my son had a Maytag washer that gave out after 4 years and it wasn’t worth repairing.”

He was probably racing it.

It’s the nature of mass production, I guess. When you outsource items, you’re at the mercy of THEIR quality control, not your own. If the people in China/Mexico/India just throw things together and not care, then when we get them and have to recall 15,000 units, it makes us look bad. It also makes for a long wait period if we have to wait for something to ship here.
For in house parts; if a press breaks down, then we can lose quite a bit of production when the parts we’ve already made are used up. Also causes some headaches when a press churns out a lot of bad parts that we don’t know about until they come to the line already painted.

We do what we can, though, and it’s worked for the 56 years our plant has been here

JT, to answer your earlier question, while my experiences may be consistant with JD Powers’ ratings, I do not trust their ratings. Their major source of revenue is in selling awards. Their market is the manufacturers and advertisers. In my mind that makes the data highly suspect. I could even sell an award to Land Rover if I can define the award in a manner thsy’re sure to win…and if my business is selling awards, I’ll do exactly that. I’d be a lousy businessman not to!

OTOH SMB, the manufacturers may want an impartial organization to quote. I don’t see such underhanded dealings as a long term money making proposition for JD Power. One disgruntled employee makes off with an email thread that clearly shows how ratings are bought and JDP is out of business. Just because it is possible that they can do it does not mean that they ever have or will. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.

JT, I agree…we disagree.
Go in peace.

Seriously, have a great evening.

You, too pal.