Consumer Reports says Toyota slips in reliability

If anyone actually cars what Consumer Reports says......

Consumer Reports says Toyota slips in reliability

Automotive News
October 16, 2007 - 1:30 pm ET

DETROIT (Reuters) - Consumer Reports said today that it was reversing
a practice of recommending all new Toyota cars and trucks after two
models earned below-average rankings in a closely watched reliability
study.

The step marked the latest setback for Toyota Motor Corp. after a
period of fast growth in the United States that has made it the No. 2
player in the world's largest auto market.

In recent years, Japanese auto brands, led by Toyota, have dominated
Consumer Reports' influential study of the most reliable new vehicles.

Besides its influence with car shoppers, the annual study is used by
major automakers as a proxy for their performance in improving and
maintaining vehicle quality.

Although Toyota ranked third in reliability behind only Honda Motor
Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru, Consumer Reports also
found two Toyota models had "below average" predicted reliability.

Those two models were the V-6 version of Toyota's flagship Camry sedan
and the four-wheel-drive, V-8 version of its new Tundra pickup truck.

"Consumer Reports will no longer recommend any new or redesigned
Toyota-built models without reliability data on a specific design,"
the publication said in a statement. "Previously, new and redesigned
models were recommended because of the automaker's excellent track
record."

The same study found gains for Ford Motor Co., which landed three
models on the magazine's "most reliable" list.

Consumer Reports ranked the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and the
automaker's market-leading F-150 pickup truck with a V-6 engine as
among the most-reliable new vehicles on the market.

"Ford continues to improve," David Champion, director of auto testing
for Consumer Reports, said in a statement. "We believe Toyota is aware
of its issues and trying to fix problems quickly."

Representatives for Toyota and Ford were not immediately available for
comment. Champion briefed reporters in Detroit on the results of the
annual survey today.

In the first nine months of this year, Toyota had a 16.2 percent share
of the U.S. market for new cars and light trucks, behind only GM at
23.8 percent.

But the Japanese automaker's fast growth since 2000, when it had less
than 10 percent of the U.S. market, has left it facing new pressure
and scrutiny.

Two high-ranking executives have defected from Toyota's U.S.
subsidiary in recent months to join U.S. automakers. The most recent
of those was Jim Farley, who left Toyota's luxury Lexus division, to
take over as top marketing executive at Ford.

In September, Toyota's North American chief, Jim Press, left the
automaker after a 37-year career to become vice chairman at newly
private Chrysler LLC.

Toyota, which has won credit with consumers for its reputation for
quality and fuel-efficiency, has also come under fire from
environmental groups.

Although Toyota dominates the market for fuel-efficient hybrids with
its Prius, it has joined Detroit-based automakers in lobbying against
stringent increases in fleetwide fuel economy.

Consumer Reports is published by the nonprofit Consumers Union. The
magazine accepts no paid advertising.

The publication's "predicted reliability" study for new model vehicles
is based on an average of consumer ratings of the same model in the
recent years.

The magazine surveys readers and visitors to its Web site about their
experience with the cars and trucks they own.

On Oct 16, 8:46 pm, Ed White <ce.whi....TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> However, I don't really give much credence to the Consumer Reports
> article.

Agree. IMHO Consumer reports cannot really predict reliability.
Reliability testing needs to be carried out in order to gain accurate
predictions. Consumer reports are good for customer satisfaction. I am
a victim of the erratic transmission, although erratic, Toyota told me
this is how cars are designed and performs as intended. Hmm and 2 TSBs
have been released for those shifting performance.

By the way are consumer reports based on actual car owners are just
people who test drove a car?

I just reviewed the TSBs for my
> SO's 2007 RAV4. There are now over 30....in one year. But the only way
> you can find out about them is to pay Toyota for access to their
> information service
Toyota will not perform any TSBs until the owner complains. Is it the
same case for other brands?