2015 Consumer Reports survey reveals infotainment and transmission as most unreliable aspects of cars

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Consumer Reports has published its 2015 Annual Auto Reliability Survey, which measures how reliable a new car purchased today is likely to be, based on the past three model years of problem areas reported by consumers.

According to this year’s survey, communications and infotainment systems, as well as modern transmission technologies, registered as the most common dissatisfactory aspects of vehicles. Keep in mind, though, that the survey is done for the United States market and does not necessarily represent the same for our local market.

It is also important that note that this survey differs from the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2015 Malaysia Customer Service Index (CSI) Study. That one, focussing on the Malaysian market, measures overall service satisfaction among owners who took their vehicle to an authorised service centre for service maintenance and/or repair work during the first 12 to 24 months of ownership.

Back to the Consumer Reports survey, it is revealed that consumers are demanding for their car infotainment systems to be as up to par as the latest smartphones. Unfortunately, systems that are not intuitive or lack reliability end up disappointing consumers.

However, considering the development and production time needed to implement new systems, car tech releases will generally trail behind smartphones and its accompanying app.

New transmissions developed to comply with increased fuel economy demands are also a source of problems. The survey pointed regardless of transmission complexity, be it a dual-clutch gearbox, a continuously variable transmission (CVT), or even eight- and nine-speed gearboxes, vehicles still required repair and replacements because of rough shifting among the gears and slipping CVT belts.

Due to these problem areas, several carmakers, which are part of the survey, experienced a sharp drop in the survey’s predicted-reliability scores while others saw a movement upwards. The data pool consists of subscribers reporting on more than 740,000 vehicles in their garages.

A few highlights from the survey showed that Kia and Hyundai have gained a better foothold, occupying the sixth and ninth position respectively, with the former Korean brand beating Honda.

Lexus meanwhile, garnered top reliability marks for all seven vehicle lines scored in the survey, taking top spot ahead of Toyota and Audi. Other carmakers like Acura and Infiniti went down the charts, while Ford and Fiat-Chrysler brands (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Fiat) occupied the lower or near bottom half of the rankings.

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Gerard Lye

Originating from the corporate world with a background in finance and economics, Gerard’s strong love for cars led him to take the plunge into the automotive media industry. It was only then did he realise that there are more things to a car than just horsepower count.

 

Comments

  • hanssen on Oct 22, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    setuju 200%. my 1992 sunny’s panasonic radio still work well with rotten speakers and clocks runs as it was in 1992. kudos to sunny the legend!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 1
    • Same L0rrr on Oct 22, 2015 at 3:26 pm

      Where is Proton?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 6
      • camtakpro on Oct 22, 2015 at 8:24 pm

        Reliability and Proton don’t come together. If you see “reliability” then you will never see “Proton”.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 7
        • Same L0rrrr on Oct 22, 2015 at 8:56 pm

          That’s why you won’t go wrong with the 4AT which is soooooo RELIABLE!

          Looking for fashion and stylish transmission? Enjoy the VW DSG then! Complimentary with the coffee at VW service centres.

          Why so many uncles drive Toyota? Because they know Toyota reliability can help them save money for their kids’ better future.

          Every adik here will one day become an uncle, but not every uncle can afford a Toyota.

          Why Toyota so expensive? Thanks to your beloved junk Proton.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 10
      • Rashuk Khan2 on Oct 24, 2015 at 9:29 am

        Same L0rrr,
        Please read properly before post yr comment. This survey done in USA. Since USA is not Proton market defenitely no report related to Proton arrise.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Reliability, Kia beating Honda? This report seems unrealible. Most of the respondents are either Korean or Mainland Chinese.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 31
    • nabill (Member) on Oct 22, 2015 at 2:21 pm

      or u are living on perceptions rather than reality !

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 3
    • Low Budget on Oct 22, 2015 at 2:24 pm

      This is in America lah. However in Malaysia Honda is perceive to be very reliable and Korean make comes last. This shows that Malaysians thinking often defy logic.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 26 Thumb down 3
      • Rakyat thinking is always logical. You tak suka, means you BN macais so you must kluar!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 9
      • applegreen on Oct 22, 2015 at 2:58 pm

        Quite true. Look how unreliable mercedes benz is but here that brand is outstanding

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
        • amende lahanat on Oct 23, 2015 at 1:42 am

          Are you kidding me? Mercedes>Korean junk. Thats the truth. Please think about the demographic of the brand. People who buy Korean junk=/= with people who but Mercedes. People who buy Mercedes wants the best, so little thing that Korean junk buyer thought nothing is a big thing for Mercedes buyer. Thats why most AAA brands scored lower.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
          • then how come lexus is at first place & audi is at 3rd place while merc is at the bottom waaayyyy below korean’s soo called junk? pls explain mr amende lahanat?

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • typical fans boy

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
    • ST = Sh*t talker heh.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • hukaka on Oct 22, 2015 at 2:32 pm

    Lexus and toyota unbeatable….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 4
    • venven81 on Oct 22, 2015 at 2:54 pm

      and Audi comes out first among its German rivals…i’m surprised

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
      • waahhh! surprised, audi a VW group product is reliable here in Uncle Sam’s land. and even the parent co, VW is scoring good reliable rating there. most prob bcoz non of their model there using dry clutch dsg7, golf/passat/jetta 1.8 tsi with normal torque converter gearbox ala those selling in US proved a better combo. anyway, they’ll be screwed/sued left/right if selling dsg7 there

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Steve Kok on Oct 22, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    Ha Ha Ha , Kudos to Ford and their PowerShit DCT gearbox!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • xxxxxx on Oct 22, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    wow Subaru top 5 there

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • andrekua on Oct 22, 2015 at 6:54 pm

    Anyone caught by surprise with VW? I mean despite all the bad news DSG had, it still managed a respectable score.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • camtakpro on Oct 22, 2015 at 8:26 pm

      Not surprise at all. VW bribed the score, or pay someone to engineer the score.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 4
      • in US, they used a normal torque converter gearbox instead of dry clutch dsg7 for those model having torque up to 250nm. only wet clutch dsg’s are used for those churning above 250nm of torque. hence, reliability rating quite good there

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
        • camtakpro on Oct 26, 2015 at 10:42 am

          VW is not only famous for their failure DSG, their engine is just another one. VW can use Aisin gearbox all they want but the engine-check light will just haunt owners down.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • marieta on Oct 22, 2015 at 7:42 pm

    Kia, design by German, built by Asian..that combination can never go wrong !

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
  • toyota and lexus still on top reliability..sorry for proton no room for you

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • proton have no model selling in North America. read be4 u post!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • Proton never exist in US in the first place. .. lol…. u will be suprise if it rank up there even without exist lol….

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • Proton engines not meeting the emission tests in usa that’s why not selling there

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
 

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