Hybrid Models Dominate Consumer Reports Annual Reliability List for Family Cars
Consumer Reports readers have spoken - as the do this time every year -and come down hard in favor of hybrids as family cars.
Toyota Prius rates tops among family cars for reliability in annual consumer survey.
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In the order CR lists them, they are:
Toyota Prius, Ford Fusion hybrid, Mercury Milan hybrid, Nissan Altima hybrid, and Toyota Camry hybrid.
All five also are rated as CR recommended, meaning they scored well in the magazine's internal testing and driveability ratings as well as in the consumer-driven reliability survey.
The non-hybrids in the family car rankings are are the Volvo S40, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, all front-wheel drive models only.
Ford's Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrid twins, and the front-wheel drive non-hybrid models, all were on list of most reliable family cars.
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There were no hybrids on the magazine's least reliable vehicle lists.
You can read more about the annual CR reliability survey at our sister blog, Edmunds AutoObserver.
- Posted by
- John O'Dell October 27, 2009, 12:18 PM
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- Ford, Hybrid, Mercury, Nissan, Toyota
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- Consumer Reports, Hybrids, Hybrids Top Consumer Reports Annual Reliability List, Reliability
The more complex vehicles are ranked higher in reliability? This casts further doubt on the CR reliability rankings.
Remember, its a consumer survey, not based on actual data. And one would expect that hybrid owners as a group are pretty much in love with their cars and, if there are faults, are more willing to forgive than owners of conventional vehicles might be.
reply to brn:
Umm, actually, those hybrids are mechanically SIMPLER than regular cars.
All of those hybrids listed (Prius, Fusion Hybrid, Altima Hybrid, Camry Hybrid) all use the Power Split Device transmission.
The PSD transmission in the Prius has all of 22 moving parts. No clutch, no hot-running torque converter, no CVT belts, no gear-shifting wear-and-tear. How the PSD transmission works: http://www.eahart.com/prius/psd
That's compared to 100+ moving parts in a regular car's multispeed transmission (multiple gears) with a clutch or torque converter.
Also, the PSD transmission allows the car to use regenerative braking, which saves brake pad wear tremendously. That is why the Prius needs NO brake pad change until well after 100,000 miles. Try that in a regular car and see what happens.
In addition, the PSD-equipped cars have no timing belt, no alternator, no starter motor or solenoid to wear out and need replacement.
And since the gasoline engine is not running all the time the car is in operation, the engine experiences less heat stress, which means the coolant lasts much longer. The Prius does not need a coolant change until after 8 years.
Frankly, I'm not surprised those hybrids are more reliable. Their mechanical simplicity means there are less things to go wrong.
All of the complexity is in the computer software that controls the otherwise mechanically-very-simple hybrid system.