Filed under: Car Buying, Maintenance, Chrysler, LLC., Ford, Toyota


Regardless of where you stand on the validity of Consumer Reports' testing and survey methods, there's millions of people out there who consider the magazine their buying bible. Thus, it's news when the non-profit releases findings from a new subscriber-based survey. This time it's the 2008 Reliability Survey, and while you'll have to buy the latest issue of Consumer Reports to see how your favorite favorite brand or model in particular performed, the overall trends indicate that fuel efficient vehicles, whether they be hybrids or just small gas-powered cars, are very reliable. Also, Ford is reportedly pulling away from its domestic rivals in the reliability arena with the majority of its models, including Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, now scoring above the industry average.

You may recall the shock from last year's survey in which three Toyota models - the Camry V6, Tundra V8 4WD and Lexus GS AWD - all fell below average in predicted reliability. Consumer Reports says that those three models have clawed their way back up to average reliability scores, while every other Toyota, Lexus and Scion model in the survey scored average or better. Finally, while European brands are reportedly improving their reliability, many models remain below average and Land Rover has again came up dead last with all four of its SUVs scoring far below average. Oh, and remember when Jeremy Clarkson called the Chrysler Sebring Convertible the "worst car in the entire world"? Apparently CR subscribers who own one agree, scoring it worst in reliability of all the models surveyed and 283% below the average.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

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