Detroit's Painful New Report Card

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Detroit's Painful New Report Card

Written by Pat Norton

Monday, 09 March 2009 00:00

The annual car evaluations Consumer Reports publishes in its April issue have just arrived—and the news for Detroit is not good.

This year the magazine has devised what it calls a “Report Card” on the world’s 15 largest car companies. We show some of the results in the table below. (The "overall score" here is calculated by combining the average test scores for a given company's models and their predicted reliability based on the last three years' data.)

Consumer Reports' 2009 “Automaker Report Cards”
Company	Overall score	Percent of tested vehicles recommended
1. Honda	78	95
2. Subaru	75	100
3. Toyota	74	89
4. Mazda	73	86
5. Mercedes-Benz	72	67
6. Nissan	72	77
7. Volkswagen	72	42
8. BMW	72	83
9. Hyundai	70	55
10. Volvo	65	50
11. Mitsubishi	64	22
12. Ford	63	70
13. Suzuki	60	50
14. General Motors	57	17
15. Chrysler	48	0

Source: Consumer Reports, April 2009, p. 15.

Among the highlights:

The top four companies are Japanese.
The middle range includes three German companies, Korea’s Hyundai, and Volvo.
Detroit accounts for three of the four bottom slots (along with Suzuki).

The ratings also feature a second indicator, the percentage of a company’s models tested by the magazine that it sees fit to recommend to buyers. What this figure boils down to, you might say, is the reliability of the company name. Some points:

Subaru, Honda, Toyota, and Mazda all do well, with percentages of 86 or higher (including 100 percent for Subaru).
But Germany’s BMW also fares well, at 83 percent recommended.
On this measure, Detroit’s Ford does much better at 70 percent than GM or Chrysler.
Not one Chrysler model earned a recommendation from the magazine. Not a minivan, not a Jeep.

None of this is good news for American taxpayers. As government bailout plans for Detroit unfold and GM’s auditor warns of its imminent bankruptcy, one question stands out. How will throwing more taxpayer money at the Big Three persuade Americans to buy Detroit’s inferior cars?

What about a “Buy American” campaign? Considering that Honda Accords are made in Ohio and Toyota Camrys in Kentucky, you can buy American without compromising on quality. Buying Detroit, however, is a riskier proposition.

The exception, perhaps, is “go-it-alone” Ford, which still says it can pretty much do without bailout money. On this count, as well as on quality, Ford seems to be separating itself from GM and Chrysler.

The conclusion? Bailouts for Detroit are looking ever more unlikely to succeed. Is there a plan B? Probably, and its name is Bankruptcy.

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Other articles by Pat Norton:

Social Security Paybacks (02 November 2009)
Who Are the 47 Million Uninsured? (16 October 2009)
Swiss Banks and You: An IRS Amnesty Ends Soon (31 August 2009)
Start Here: Ten Tough Money Tasks (31 August 2009)
Allan Meltzer on the Fed (31 July 2009)

Comments (25)

CR is a useful and unique resource for evaluating products, but one should understand their testing methodology. First, they do not consider the cost of repairs (a water pump or electrical assembly, say, for a VW or BMW is likely to be far more expensive than for a Ford or Toyota). Second, when they assess reliability, they do not appear to distinguish merely annoying minor problems (like a loose control switch) from major problems, and they do not seem to distinguish cars or trucks (such as Jeep) that may have heavier use than normal vehicles. Third, some of their computation methods are pretty suspect (I have seen cases where cars with nearly perfect scores are given Average ratings). Fourth, they do not discuss how they treat minor variances in cars with few data points. Fifth, they do seem slow to recognize when trends have reversed (Toyota and the Detroit models seemed to have a significant lag when their scores changed). Sixth, rating manufacturers is rather suspect, since a manufacturer may have a wide variance in the quality of various car models. Finally, they do not indicate if overall quality levels have improved over the years, or how much of a gap exists between a high- and a low-rated vehicle.

I confess, I am a salaried Ford retiree.

I own a 2009 Ford Fusion, SEL, 2.3L,5sp auto. It is one of the best vehicles I have owned. The vehicle is surprisingly fast for 4 banger. Great fuel economy, better than 30 MPG HWY at 65 mph..

My issue is with Consumer Reports. I do not believe it is any more unbiased, today, then it was several years ago when it did a hatchet job on the Suzuki Samurai in it's testing. Accuracy In Media took CU to task for that. Google AIM Report: A Black Eye for Consumer Reports and read the article dated 10/15/2000. Good reading.

I owned a reliable 93 Saturn Sedan which got 37-41 mpg (highway driving), and donated it to a charity with over 225,000 miles in 2007. That was the best car I ever owned. I now have an 89 Chevy Wagon with 147,000 miles, which runs very well and gets between 25-30 mpg. Our Honda Civic is a good car but it has had some mechanical issues.

I personally have haD very good luck with Gm cars, 1 Ford, And 2 Dodges. However my preference is Chevy. I have driven them over 200,00 thousand miles and had few problems. Proper service of the American vehicles that I've had is the probable reason they held up well.
My feeling is that many owners of the foreign makes have not driven them as roughly as the American makes, and give them better maintance.
MY vehicle at the present is an Oldsmobile Silhouette; an excellent vehicle and averages 30 miles to the gallon on trips. Mileage in the city is 22mpg.

Even if they go bankrupt I would still thier porducts.

I drove company owned Fords. I had a 92,94,96,98, 99 Crown victoia, and now have a 2004 Explorer. All of the Crowns went past 200,000 miles before being sold to cab drivers. The Explorer has 215,000 miles on it, and the only parts not factory installed are maintenence parts (belts, hoses, brake pads, tires, EGR valve, plugs). I pull a car trailer with it, and it is a superior tow vehicle.

What the Big Three and the labor unions havn't figured out is the rest of us aren't stupid. I stoped buying their cars in the 70's. Their quality was worse then than it is now. Those fat cats havn't learned that we vote for quality and value with our dollars. The lost the election.

How can GM score so low in your evaluation when it produces world class quality leaders such as the new Chevy Malibu and Cadillac? I don't understand it.

In '87 we started to go with the Buy American sweep. Our new '88 Ford Bronco II lasted 22 years and 296,000 miles. Oh, the engine was a Mitsubishi and we also found out it was assembled in Mexico. In 2000, we also bought a Ford Explorer. Found out the engine was from France and the tranny was German. For all we know, it could have been built in Nigeria. This World Marketing has everyone fooled.

If the new order of business doesn't pay attention to the myth that "planned obsolescent" was good for you, then it will be deja vu all over again. God bless the foreign car makers for they have inherited the market. Can anyone believe this news about the North American car maufacturers is at least thirty-five years old? So why act like it just happened?

Look at the first number/letter of the VIN number- found on your dashboard and registration (among other places). Some of the most common: 1 & 4 - USA; 2- Canada; 3- Mexico; J- Japan; K- Korea; W- Germany.

My last three trucks were all American made: 2 Toyotas and a Nissan. I've only had one foreign made truck in the last 20 years and it was garbage: a Ford F-150. If you want an American made truck, then buy one with a Japanese name on it...it was likely built by Americans. But a Ford, GM, or Chrysler truck? Yep, all built in foreign countries with foreign labor.

The same drivetrains are used on some vehicles, and Mazda has a factory right here in Flat Rock.

I am now on my second Subaru Forester, and I LOVE my car. It is a really great vehicle. The only reason that I sold the first one was that I wanted a car that was just a little bit larger, and the '09 model is a bit larger. Oh yes, and I still get almost 30 miles to the gallon on the highway, and it is very low emission.

I bought my first Forester in 2004 and drove it for 59,000 miles. I did have one problem. At the time, I had a little shetland sheepdog. She liked to ride with her paws in the cup holders. Apparently, she thought that Subaru had designed "paw holders." Whenever I would buy coffee, we would have an argument about the location of her paws!

From my point of view, Subaru ads are about the only honest piece of advertising on TV.

Actually, Subaru does build cars in the US; however my new car was made in Japan. I don't know where the first one was made.

SSH

I bought the foreign stuff and it was allcrap except an Audi diesel. Mercedes:price was too high for what you get; repairs and reliability way too expensive and not an equal to American luxo sedans. My #2 son has a 4 year old S-600 and at 6ok just spent 6000 ponds uk for new engine bay wiring . And this the world's best sedan??? Ball of crap!!
I put five kids through collage and bought them an Oldsmobile Delta 88. It had five new front ends and three new rear ends in smack-ups , two trany rebuilds and nothing on the engine, We gave it charity with 590,000 on the clock
running perfectly and it always got 20 arond town and 30 on the highway. Consumers report said it was heavy on fuel.
If the bankers and stock markets plus polititions are dishonest then it's fair to conclude that the generaton that
turned against the ideals of America are also of the same mindset. Just read Csaba Csere.He spent almost all of his auto journalism slamming American cars and salivating over anything foreign.Check out his magazine. It has five foreign car articles to one home mfg. vehicle. Propaganda!!!!!

What a loss to American ingenuity, The big three should have declared bankruptcy and moved their operations to non-union states--the folks there would have loved the jobs and we could buy American again. I have a Chev cargo van with 10-12 mpg and a honda accord which gets 30 mpg. If only my chev would get 18-20, then I would buy another. GM is getting better but still lag well behind Honda and Toyota. Perhaps they will never even try.

I have an 08 Dodge Charger SRT and I absolutely love it. 10000 miles so far, no issues. I wonder if the higher-end cars like those, the corvettes & cadillacs are made better and if they shouldn't be rated separately in tests like these...

I REMEMBER WHEN FOREIGN CARS CAME TO THE US THEY WERE THE BIGGEST PIECE OF JUNK I EVER SEEN, THE SUBARU DEALER TOLD ME NOT TO LEAN ON THE CAR YOU COULD DENT IT. WHEN THE FIRST NISSAN ROLLED OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE IN THE US THE PEOPLE WITH HANDS AN THE CAR WERE ALL JAPANESE NO AMERICAN WORKERS.
I BUY AMERICAN IF I CAN.

I have owned two Buicks - a Regal, and now a Lacrosse I traded in the Regal at 120,000miles, still running well, to purchase the Lacrosse, which is one of the best cars I have ever owned; quiet, powerful, excellent gas mileage, and comfortable. On trips, I have rented vehicles. The Toyotas are OK, the Mazda was bad, and the Ford Fusion was excellent,almost comparable to my Buick, but slightly smaller.

Wasn't it Consumer Reports that rigged some tests to put GM in a bad light a fews ago? Sixty Minutes also did the same.
No, I am not a GM guy.

For the bottom 4, bankruptcy is the only answer.

My wife and I already have two Toyotas (a 9-yr-old Tundra bot used & a 2-yr-old Avalon) & no money left to buy another. In any event, American automakers need to wake up but it seems to be too late. Good for Ford for staying out of the bail out. Ford is just ahead of Suzuki which made Consumer Reports' favorite crash-test-dummy small SUVs, the roll-over hits. That's not saying much. Bankruptcy is the answer for Chrysler and GM. They are tattered scarecrows falling over in an empty, wintry field.

Points well taken, on both parts.
Thank you!
Pat Norton

Mazda, Mercedes and BMW also make some vehicles here.

You neglected to add that Subaru is built in Indiana ... and it's a great car for those of us in the snowy New England states. So that's 3 of 3 of the top cars made in the US.

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