Japanese brands take top spots in Consumer Reports reliability survey, but cracks are showing

10/28/2013

DETROIT — Japan’s lock on Consumer Reports’ vehicle reliability rankings is starting to ease.

Three Japanese brands — Lexus, Toyota, and Acura — took the top spots in this year’s survey, and seven of the top 10 brands are Japanese.

But three non-Japanese brands — Audi, Volvo, and GMC — cracked the top ten. And the magazine is no longer recommending consumers buy the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord V6, and Nissan Altima sedans, three of Japan’s top sellers, because of reliability or safety issues.

Consumer Reports predicts the reliability of 2014 model year cars and trucks based a survey of subscribers who own vehicles from the three prior model years. This year, the survey questioned the owners of 1.1 million vehicles.

The 2014 Subaru Forester got the top score for predicted reliability.

Chrysler finished 18th and Jeep 24th among the 28 brands ranked. Chevrolet was 17th and Ford 26th.