Thursday, October 27, 2005

Asian auto brands' reliability uneven

Chevy Monte Carlo, Mercury Mariner SUV rank among most dependable in Consumer Reports survey.

By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

Just because a vehicle's pricey, sports a Japanese nameplate and looks great is no guarantee that it's a good deal: The influential Consumer Reports magazine predicts new buyers of Nissan's QX56 sport utility vehicles will run into eight times as many problems as owners of the most reliable large SUV.

Many Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. models are highly recommended for reliability, but other Asian brands earned uneven scores and only a couple of domestic vehicles were included in the magazine's list of 2006 models with the best expected reliability.

For the second year in a row, not a single European nameplate made the top cut, based on a survey of owners of more than 1 million vehicles built between 1998 and 2005.

Detroit's automakers are closing the gap with top Japanese automakers when it comes to quality and reliability in the early years of ownership, said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' auto test center.

"But as the cars age, the difference tends to grow so that the long-term durability is basically not as good" for the U.S. brands, he said at an Automotive Press Association luncheon. "By eight years, there are likely to be twice as many problems with the domestics."

Of the 31 2006 models recommended for best predicted reliability, 29 were Japanese -- and two-thirds of those were Toyota and Honda cars. The two domestic models included in the list were the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the Mercury Mariner SUV.

A General Motors Corp. spokesman said the company wasn't satisfied with only one model in the top 31 but that internal as well as external measures show steady improvements in initial quality as well as long-term durability.

"We're improving very quickly," GM spokesman Tom Kowaleski said. He said GM's lineup was now "well placed in the mid-range to upper-mid-range across all segments where GM competes."

Of the 48 models forecast to be the least reliable, 22 are domestic nameplates, two are South Korean and four are Japanese -- all Nissan vehicles assembled at the automaker's new Canton, Miss., plant.

The 20 European models with the poorest predicted reliability include three flagships from Germany's premium carmakers: the BMW 7 Series, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the Audi A8.

Consumer Reports drew up its list of reliable 2006 models based on the vehicles' track record over the past three years. For new or refreshed models, such as the Chevrolet Cobalt, it based its conclusions on samplings from a shorter period.

Among the Japanese automakers, Nissan's results were spotty, with the Infiniti M35 and M45 sedans rated among the most reliable. But the Nissan Quest minivan, the Armada SUV, the Titan pickup and the Infiniti QX56 were ranked among the least reliable.

The QX56 is likely to have about eight times as many problems as the Toyota Land Cruiser, the most reliable SUV.

The lowest-rated Nissan models are all built at its Canton plant. "They were new vehicles, in new segments, in a new plant, in a new area. If you add up all those things, it's not rocket science that they had problems," Champion said.

On the other hand, the Nissan Frontier and Xterra were among the most-improved vehicles, based on Consumer Reports' own testing.

"You can't gauge reliability based only on a nameplate," Champion said. "Some automakers do have a better track record but individual models -- especially newer ones -- can have problems."

In 2004, Nissan dispatched some 200 engineers from Japan to the Canton plant to fix problems. A Nissan spokesman said that the company was disappointed with the Consumer Reports' projected reliability ratings for some 2006 models.

"It's not clear if the vehicles involved in this survey included changes that began in mid-2004 and are continuing," said spokesman Fred Standish.

He said seven Nissan vehicles topped their segments in the vehicle satisfaction awards issued last month by consulting firm Auto Pacific, and this year's vehicle dependability survey by J.D. Power and Associates showed that both Nissan and Infiniti nameplates improved from the year before.

All five of the top-rated domestic large SUVs were produced by GM: the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and the Cadillac Escalade. With the exception of those models, however, "large American SUVs have subpar reliability," Consumer Reports said.

The Chrysler Group's popular 300 sedan won mixed scores -- Consumer Reports recommends the model with the V6 engine, but rated the V8-powered 300 below average because of reported problems with the suspension and electrical systems. Ford's best-selling F-150 pickup also was rated below average.

Auto buyers seeking trouble-free cars should steer clear of brand-new models, Champion said.

"Should you buy a new car in the first year? We're saying no, not really," he said, citing a slide in the ratings of several new models, including the new Chrysler Town & Country minivan, compared with the last year of the outgoing model.

Offering a tip to parents, Champion said children seated in the back of sedans with high belt-lines can't see well out the window and are more likely to end up quarreling.

You can reach Christine Tierney at (313) 222-1463 or ctierney@ detnews.com.