{"id":155926,"date":"2020-11-19T15:08:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T20:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=155926"},"modified":"2020-11-19T15:12:58","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T20:12:58","slug":"mazda-tops-annual-consumer-reports-reliability-study-tesla-slammed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2020\/11\/mazda-tops-annual-consumer-reports-reliability-study-tesla-slammed\/","title":{"rendered":"Mazda Tops Annual Consumer Reports Reliability Study, Tesla Slammed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Mazda moved past Toyota to take the top spot in Consumer Reports’ annual Auto Reliability Study.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a new king of the durability hill, at least according to Consumer Reports magazine, which says Mazda has nudged past perennial leader Toyota in its 2020 Auto Reliability Study.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far back as we\u2019ve rated (reliability), it\u2019s always been a Toyota brand,\u201d in the top spot, whether Toyota, Lexus or even its now-abandoned Scion brand, said Jake Fisher, the magazine\u2019s director of automotive testing. \u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve seen another brand break into the top spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news was far less upbeat for Tesla, however. The California EV maker ranked second-to-last in the widely followed study, Fisher pointing to a wide range of problems Tesla owners have been reporting.<\/p>\n

(Tesla Autopilot slammed as Consumer Reports gives top rating to Cadillac Super Cruise.)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The latest Auto Reliability Study revealed a number of surprises, starting with the strong performance by Mazda which took the top spot for the first time ever, Mazda products, in general, scoring above average in terms of reliability. While Toyota did lose its grip on the crown, however, it still did come in at the second spot. It was followed by Lexus, its high-line brand experiencing a variety of problems with its flagship LS sedan that hurt it overall.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In general, issues with electronics \u2013 infotainment systems, in particular \u2013 hurt the reliability ratings of a number of manufacturers. In some cases, owners reported screens that would suddenly go blank or display upside-down.<\/p>\n

On the positive side, more and more manufacturers are now making it possible to update electronics remotely through smartphone-style over-the-air updates. In many instances, said Fisher, that has resulted in quick fixes that don\u2019t require owners to take cars in for service.<\/p>\n

Traditional mechanical problems still show up on some vehicles. The Lexus LS, for example, has been hurt by issues with transmission and turbocharger problems \u2013 as well as infotainment glitches \u2013 and transmissions have been a sore spot for a number of Ford vehicles.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a good year for Ford or its luxury brand Lincoln. Both slid in the 2020 Consumer Reports Auto Reliability Study, in fact. Ford fell to 22nd<\/sup> among the 26 brands included this year, Lincoln coming in dead last. Three of the automaker\u2019s new SUVs, the Corsair, Nautilus and Aviator all scored \u201cMuch worse than average.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tesla didn\u2019t fare much better. Early on, CR said the original Model S was the best car it ever tested but, since then, the carmaker has been plagued with a variety of problems, according to the magazine. The Model Y had some of the worst reliability problems among all products studied, with the Models S and X rated \u201cWorse than average.\u201d Only the Model 3 came in with an \u201cAverage\u201d score.<\/p>\n

Tesla\u2019s quality problems ran the gamut from traditional, mechanical issues to high-tech problems. That includes faulty touchscreens that can blank out and make it impossible to control vehicle functions or even see what gear the vehicle is in, noted Fisher. That defect has now triggered a federal safety probe.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But Tesla also experienced an array of manufacturing issues, including the falcon wing doors on the Model X and tailgates on the Model Y that won’t latch. Paint issues are endemic, according to the study.<\/p>\n

(Asian brands dominate Consumer Reports’ “Best” rankings.)<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA focus on the basics would help them a lot,\u201d said Fisher, noting that Tesla continues to struggle with problems \u201c other automakers worked out 50 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate study released this past month, Consumer Reports also faulted Tesla\u2019s semi-autonomous Autopilot technology. And Fisher said he is concerned about the company\u2019s plans to launch a fully hands-free system next year. \u201cSelling self-driving cars when you\u2019re having trouble making the doors fit is concerning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tesla wasn\u2019t the only automaker haven\u2019t problems with EVs. Audi\u2019s overall reliability was hurt by issues with the new e-tron SUV, some of which have experienced driveline failures. Similar problems has led CR to remove the coveted \u201cRecommended Buy\u201d rating for the Porsche Taycan.<\/p>\n

Some manufacturers did fare better with their EVs, as well as their plug-in hybrids, however, Fisher pointing to the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt, in particular. \u201cBolt was not a technological tour de force,\u201d he noted. \u201cThey didn\u2019t go overboard trying to make this the car of the future so that really paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Overall, the Consumer Reports study found that Asian automakers had the highest level of reliability. That, notably, included SUVs. Detroit manufacturers, however, had the highest-ranked passenger cars. The reason is simple, according to Fisher: Detroit has largely abandoned sedans and coupes and the models left are, for the most part, older products that have had the bugs worked out.<\/p>\n

There were some notable outliers. Buick was the fourth-ranked brand, Ram coming in seventh, with sibling Dodge rounding out the top 10.<\/p>\n

European brands Volkswagen and Mini, were among the bottom five, according to Consumer Reports.<\/p>\n

(In stunning turnaround, Dodge shoots to #1 in 2020 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study.)<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The magazine’s auto researchers look at 17 different areas of potential problems with the vehicles covered by the Auto Reliability Study. And five different elements go into each score: reports submitted by owners, the magazine’s own road tests, safety equipment, crash tests and predicted reliability for new models.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a new king of the durability hill, at least according to Consumer Reports magazine, which says Mazda has nudged past perennial leader Toyota in its 2020 Auto Reliability Study. Find out what got the company over the top and how other brands \u2013 Buick \u2013 may have made big improvements this year at TheDetroitBureau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,12],"tags":[],"make":[41,83,111],"post-state":[],"category_old":[118,150,151,192,123,133,131,299,132,198,129,125,124,122,148,128,291,206,288],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155926"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155926"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=155926"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=155926"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=155926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}