Lexus & The 2016 Consumer Reports Brand Rankings

mikeavelli

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Not really worried about Lexus as they scored 88% and were first the previous 3 years...but what in the hell is going on with Acura/Infiniti? They continue to plummet down the rankings every year.

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...survey-of-reliable?cciid=email-autonews-blast

Audi supplants Lexus in Consumer Reports' 2016 survey of reliable brands
Subaru tops Mazda as highest-ranked non-luxury brand

Automotive News
February 23, 2016 - 12:45 pm ET
Audi, in the midst of a scandal over parent company Volkswagen AG’s diesel engines, took the top spot in Consumer Reports’ latest annual report card on brand reliability and performance.

Audi, which finished with a score of 80, overtook Lexus, which dropped to third place after finishing first the previous three years. Subaru finished second with 78 points and supplanted Mazda as the highest-ranked non-luxury brand.

The influential magazine, which has compiled its brand report card for nine consecutive years, said Audi and VW vehicles that have been pulled from dealerships due to diesel emissions violations are not included in scoring. The VW brand finished 15th for the second straight year with 67 points, up from 60 points in 2015.

“The rankings do not account for corporate practices or brand perceptions, and despite Audi’s score, Consumer Reports strongly believes that Volkswagen AG … should be held accountable for manipulating emissions testing with its vehicles,” the publication said in a statement.

Consumer Reports compiles the overall brand scores using road-test performance for models it tested, in addition to reliability results for each model. It then averages the scores of those models to rank each brand.

Several brands were not included in this year’s results, including Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Maserati, Ram, Smart and Tesla, since Consumer Reports tested fewer than two vehicles from each brand.

The magazine said it also changed the way it calculated 2016 scores, negating easy comparisons to results in 2015 and previous years.

Nine of the 10 top brands are foreign, with General Motors’ Buick brand the top domestic brand, in 7th place with an overall score of 74 points.

Most domestic brands from GM and Ford Motor Co. -- dogged by what the magazine called “inconsistent reliability scores” -- finished in the middle of the pack.

Fiat Chrysler brands finished near the bottom of the rankings. Two of its brands, Fiat and Jeep, finished in the bottom two spots for the second consecutive year, while Chrysler finished 26th out of 30 with 58 points and Dodge finished 25th also with 58 points.

“We respect Consumer Reports’ opinion, as they’re one of the many third-party evaluators we receive comments from,” said Matt Liddane, FCA North America vice president of quality, in a statement. “We encourage customers to experience our vehicles for themselves. We continue to aggressively pursue both product and launch-quality improvements as they are top priorities for the company and our internal measurements are showing progress.”

Fiat finished last with 38 points, while Jeep was 29th with 43 points.

German luxury brands Porsche and BMW finished in the top five, while Mazda, Toyota, Kia and Honda finished in the top 10. Mazda fell from second to sixth, while Toyota fell from third to eighth.

Each entry in the top 10 finished in the top 10 in 2015.

Acura, which finished No. 2 in 2014 and No. 11 in 2015, fell to 19th in the rankings with an overall score of 64. Infiniti finished 22nd with a 63 overall score after finishing No. 8 in 2014 and No. 17 in 2015.

The biggest year-over-year gains included Ford, which rose from 24th place to 16th and a 66 score, and Mercedes-Benz, which rose from 21st place to 14th and a 67 score.


Best in key segments
Consumer Reports also today revealed its latest top picks in key segments.

The redesigned Ford F-150 was named best pickup for the first time since 1999 and giving the brand its first top pick since 2012.

“By eschewing traditional steel body panels, Ford created a pickup that weighs less, enabling it to be quick off the line and fuel-efficient,” the magazine said.

The F-150 and the Chevrolet Impala, winner of the large car category for the second straight year, were the only winners among domestic brands.

The Toyota Camry won its fifth top pick in 20 years in the midsize car category, while the Toyota Sienna nabbed the top minivan honor from the Honda Odyssey.

Subaru also received two top picks, with the Impreza and Forester winning the compact car and small SUV categories for at least the third consecutive year.

The Kia Sorento was named top midsize SUV, replacing the Toyota Highlander, while the Lexus RX was given the top luxury SUV pick.

“Lexus created the luxury crossover segment almost 20 years ago, and its dominance hasn’t diminished since,” the magazine said.

The Mazda MX-5 was named top sports car, while the Honda Fit was selected top subcompact car.

Consumer Reports did not name a best overall vehicle, which was awarded to the Tesla Model S last year.

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mikeavelli

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Well the title is from Automotive News, not from Consumer Reports. But I now see it isn't yours.

In the future, maybe send a PM or politely state your reasoning, instead of accusing me of being "entirely wrong & misleading". KREW will cover this on the homepage and will title it accordingly.

I have edited the original title to include performance. Thanks.
 

James

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Umm my fiancé and her family have three Audis an A5 S4 and Q7. They have popped 4 tires had a small part of the bumper fall off and the button for the trunk stop working. This is all before 50,000 miles as well. Now don't get me wrong they are nice cars fun to drive but I disagree with this. Also, Lexus not fun to drive?! RCF GSF LC LCH just wait until we have all of those and the new LS! Also quite proud of myself to convince my future parents in law to buy my fiancé an NX for her wedding gift instead of the Q5 and X3!
 
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mikeavelli

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KREW really got to the bottom of it!!!

Curiously, Consumer Reports has chosen to disregard the Audi diesel vehicles that were pulled from dealerships following the worldwide VW scandal — here is the magazine’s reasoning:

Only vehicles that are on the market and that we tested factor into the equation. The rankings don’t account for corporate practices or brand perceptions.

Hence, Audi and Volkswagen diesel vehicles that have been pulled from dealerships—following their recall and stop-sale last year for cheating on EPA emissions tests—are not included in our car brands scoring.

This logic apparently ignores the fact that the Audi models were on sale for most of last year, and that these “corporate practices” directly affected the vehicles that consumers bought. It may be unfair to say, but it looks like Consumer Reports has traded in their credibility for controversy — propping up a brand that has reportedly lied to consumers runs counter to the very mission of the magazine:

When confronted with critical decisions about the products and services that matter most, consumers are bombarded with an onslaught of marketing, advertising, opinions, and options. That’s why for nearly 80 years, Consumer Reports has empowered consumers with the knowledge they need to make better and more informed choices—and has battled in the public and private sectors for safer products and fair market practices.
 

GSCT

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It's stuff like this that makes me wonder about CR. Their credibility when ranking Lexus seems lacking.
 
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It's stuff like this that makes me wonder about CR. Their credibility when ranking Lexus seems lacking.
I know CR has been known to have the most credibility in the past, but lately I even question their latest rankings regardless of whether they rank Toyota or Lexus high up or not.
 

krew

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I know CR has been known to have the most credibility in the past, but lately I even question their latest rankings regardless of whether they rank Toyota or Lexus high up or not.

That's exactly it -- I don't find it questionable that Lexus is ranked third, I just can't believe they would put Audi in first. Makes no sense.
 

meth.ix

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Last year, Toyota was second, and Lexus was first. This year, I don't know what happened. After all these are reviews from actual owners and testers.
 
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I am totally surprised at Consumer reports bashing of the NX and also the top Audi rankings despite the whole Diesel scandal. I'm quickly loosing faith in what they report and the judgement that show.
 

James

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I don't get how you can put a car company at the top of a list when was found out they were cheating in that calander year. Also what vehicles were tested? Do we get to see that? I would like to compare and see what vehicles were not recommending on a Lexus but were recommended in the segment with Audi.
 
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Bulldog 1

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And yet....the nearly Scientology level brainwashing that pulls people into believing everything they read at CR (hate them totally) is debunked just one day later by the more reliable in the automotive industry (and not toaster ovens) J.D. Powers rankings where Lexus sits atop the masses for half a decade now.
 

GSCT

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And yet....the nearly Scientology level brainwashing that pulls people into believing everything they read at CR (hate them totally) is debunked just one day later by the more reliable in the automotive industry (and not toaster ovens) J.D. Powers rankings where Lexus sits atop the masses for half a decade now.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: