All Entries Tagged With: "reliability"

Ford Consumer Reports Reliability Rankings Fall, Toyota Still King

The latest findings by Consumer Reports indicate that Ford, and other domestic brands, has slipped in the reliability rankings while Toyota remains on top of the ratings.

Toyota remains king while Ford drops in the reliability ratings.

Ford’s drop was from 10th to 20th and is mostly blamed on the redesign of a few old models, as well as problems with their new electronic systems. This is bad news for Ford, as the automaker has taken years to build up a good reputation for reliability in last year’s Consumer Reports rankings. But, as pointed out by David Champion Sr., director of Consumer Reports‘ Automotive Test Center in East Haddam, Conn., it only takes a few problems to lose that reputation.

Tundra Wins JD Power Vehicle Dependability Award 6 Years In A Row

For the 6th time in as many years, the Toyota Tundra has won the JD Power Vehicle Dependability award in the large truck category. According to the JD Power website, the Tundra came in first with a rating of 4.5 out of 5, the F-150 came in second with 4 out of 5, and the Ram 1500 came in 3rd with a 3.5 out of 5 rating.

Amazingly, GM’s trucks had different dependability scores despite being essentially identical (the Chevy scored 3.5 out of 5, the GMC just 3 out of 5). It’s worth noting here that JD Power’s award is based on vehicle surveys, which, like any metric, has some limitations…but more on that in a minute.

Here’s a complete description of the JD power process, as well as some funny quotes from Ford, Dodge, and GM truck owners who just can’t accept Toyota’s dominance.

$7500 On F150, Toyota Leads Reliability Survey, and Tragic Off-Road Racing Accident

Racing Accident Kills 8

First, my heart goes out to the friends and family of dozens of people today that were either killed, injured, or witness to a really awful racing accident. The video below tells the story:

The driver, according to a few opinions I trust, was doing what he was supposed to be doing (racing) and his truck got away from him. There are people trying to find someone to blame right now – the BLM, for example, has said that their use permit required drivers to slow to 15mph when they were within 50′ of spectators – but anyone who watches these races will tell you that’s a rule that is not followed. The fans were too close, and there are no easy answers as to how to solve this problem. Frankly, it’s a little surprising something like this hasn’t happened before.