Lexus Named Most Reliable Brand in Annual Consumer Reports Survey

Great news for Lexus and Toyota. It's surprising to me that Toyota still hasn't been able to iron out the transmission woes on the Tacoma... this has been widely reported since launch. With that said, I'm hearing new V6/8AT for 4Runner and Tacoma next year, so maybe that will help.

Pretty shocked by Honda's placement and some of the notes that CR made on their lineup: one spot above VW and below BMW, Mini, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, etc. Yikes!

krew

Lexus Named Most Reliable Brand in Annual Consumer Reports Survey

The GX is the most reliable vehicle available in North America.

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Nothing new here
I feel as long as the earth remains, Lexus & Toyota will keep switching between first and second

maiaramdan

Nothing new here
I feel as long as the earth remains, Lexus & Toyota will keep switching between first and second

Haha yes good analogy and my sentiments as well. Now if only Toyota Motor Corp would take a bit more risk in tech/performance - I'd accept a drop or two in positions.

Gecko

Great news for Lexus and Toyota. It's surprising to me that Toyota still hasn't been able to iron out the transmission woes on the Tacoma... this has been widely reported since launch. With that said, I'm hearing new V6/8AT for 4Runner and Tacoma next year, so maybe that will help.

Pretty shocked by Honda's placement and some of the notes that CR made on their lineup: one spot above VW and below BMW, Mini, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, etc. Yikes!

What have you overheard about the new 4R/Tacoma engine tranny combo specifically, if you dont mind elaborating? Thanks

Brandon briesath

What have you overheard about the new 4R/Tacoma engine tranny combo specifically, if you dont mind elaborating? Thanks

MY2020 refresh in 2019 with new V6 and 8AT. I think it might just be the same iteration of the Tacoma's 2GR-FKS which would be "new" to the 4Runner.

Gecko

MY2020 refresh in 2019 with new V6 and 8AT. I think it might just be the same iteration of the Tacoma's 2GR-FKS which would be "new" to the 4Runner.

Thank you as always sir! I figured this was the scenario we would see as a "refresh". Hoping they bump up the HP in the 2GR-FKS. 8 extra HP in 10 years is pathetic:)

Brandon briesath

Thank you as always sir! I figured this was the scenario we would see as a "refresh". Hoping they bump up the HP in the 2GR-FKS. 8 extra HP in 10 years is pathetic:)

https://www.ovtuned.com/blogs/news/2gr-fks-toyota-tacoma-bringing-new-life-to-the-tacoma-platform

I think they did a decent job at documenting Taco's engine and transmission calibration problems. It seems that the tuning was rushed for the utility variant of the FKS, and resulted in unsatisfactory performance and reliabity in the Taco.

Hopefully the refresh will bring a recalibrated powertrain. There probably won't be peak power gains but the torque curve and shifting definitely can be fixed. There's no way Toyota can't do it when there are already 3rd party shops doing it.

Unless Toyota really slips up and the Camry, RAV4 etc all start experiencing reliability issues en masse over a period of several years, nobody is going to beat Toyota on reliability. The typical consumer who buys a Toyota would not even give them a chance to prove themselves.

You can test drive a vehicle, try out the cold AC, heated seats and all that. However, you cannot really tell how reliable your car is going to be until after you've gone through a few years of ownership. All you have is a promise from the manufacturer that your vehicle is going to stay reliable, which takes the form of a warranty. Unfortunately, warranties expire and are (sometimes) not honored by the dealer. Fixes under warranty could cause more issues than they rectify. A warranty does not make the frustration go away when your car lets you down 800km out of town on a roadtrip.

The best warranty is one where you'll never have to use, and when the Toyota faithful go to buy their next car, they quite often buy another Toyota without considering another brand because they don't want to take a chance and get screwed. Ask anybody off the street if they think that Toyotas are reliable, and 9 times out of 10 you'll get a 'yes' answer - this kind of 'common knowledge' doesn't happen overnight.

With this 'common knowledge' on their side, Toyota has managed to take first place in a metric that you can't throw money at and see instant results. By that, I mean you can throw money at a car's interior and customers will notice the new nappa leather seats, aluminum panels and all that. You can't throw money at 'reliability' and, voila, your car is now reliable - it requires a complete rethink of everything from upper management style, corporate philosophy, down to the line worker and the suppliers. Even if you could do that... the Toyota fanbase won't buy your car anyway because Toyota has never let them down. Even non-Toyota owners will choose a Toyota based on the company's proven track record. You have to justify your business plan to upper management, who will shoot you down because you're spending money and getting no short term results whatsoever.

In short, it is impossible to take Toyota at their own game, unless Toyota falls flat on their face. You could be like Hyundai/Kia and sell on high feature content, low cost, insane finance / lease rates and long warranties...but the danger lies in cutting your margins so close that you have no choice but to produce crappy cars that only further reinforce the very stereotypes you're trying to fix.