Luxury Brands Take A Beating......

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Luxury Brands Take A Beating...... - 2/28/2007 7:57:50 PM    dustyloins Toys For Tots Fund Contributor Posts: 21161 Joined: 12/21/2003 From: Manassa, Colorado (Home of Boxer Jack Dempsey) Status: offline RELIABILITY BY NATIONALITY Nationality Best model Worst model American 2001 Ford F-250 (2WD) 2001 Chrysler Town & Country /Dodge Grand Caravan (AWD) Asian 2001 Lexus GS300 2001 Hyundai Sonata European 2001 BMW 3 Series Coupe & Convertible 2001 Volkswagen Cabrio By problems per 100 vehicles  CR'S GOOD AND BAD BETS CR Good Bets have performed well in CR's road tests and have had several years of better-than-average reliability. Bad Bets performed much worse than average. Good bets Bad bets Acura Integra BMW 7 Series Acura MDX BMW X5 (v8) Acura RL Chevrolet Astro Acura RSX (except '06) Chevrolet Blazer Acura TL Chevrolet Express Acura TSX Chevrolet S-10 (4WD) Buick Regal Chevrolet Venture, Uplander Chevrolet Prizm Chrysler Town & Country (awd) Honda Accord Dodge Caravan (awd) Honda Civic GMC Jimmy Honda Civic hybrid GMC Sonoma (4wd) Honda CR-V GMC Safari Honda Element GMC Savana HondaOdyssey Infiniti QX56 Honda Pilot Jaguar S-Type Honda Prelude Jaguar X-Type Honda S2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Infiniti FX Kia Sedona (except '06) Infiniti G20 Land Rover Discovery, LR3 Infiniti G35 Lincoln Aviator Infiniti I30, I35 Lincoln Navigator Infiniti QX4 Mercedes-Benz CLK Lexus ES Mercedes-Benz M-Class (v8) Lexus GS Mercedes-Benz S-Class (v8) Lexus GX Mercedes-Benz SL Lexus IS Nissan Armada Lexus LS Nissan Titan Lexus EX Oldsmobile Bravada Lexus SC Oldsmobile Cutlass Lincoln Town Car Oldsmobile Silhouette Mazda Millenia Pontic Aztek Mazda MX-5 Miata Pontiac Trans Sport, Montana, Montana SV6 Mazda Protégé Volkswagen Cabrio Mazda3 Volkswagen Jetta (turbo, gas) Nissan Altima Volkswagen Jetta (v6) Nissan Maxima Volkswagen New Beetle (4 cyl.) Nissan Pathfinder Volkswagen Touareg Pontiac Vibe Volvo XC90 (6-cyl.) Scion xB Subaru Forester Subaru Impreza Subaru Impreza WRX Subaru Legacy Subaru Outback Toyota 4Runner Toyota Avalon Toyota Camry Toyota Camry Solara Toyota Celica Toyota Corolla Toyota Echo Toyota Highlander Toyota Land Cruiser Toyota Matrix Toyota Prius Toyota RAV4 Toyota Sequia Toyota Sienna Toyota Tundra swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader'); By Chris Woodyard and James R. Healey, USA TODAYToyota's vaunted Lexus luxury brand has fallen from first to fifth in Consumer Reports magazine's annual predicted reliability survey, and it's not the only luxury brand taking a drubbing.Mercedes-Benz was last among 36 brands. Also at the bottom: Land Rover, Hummer and Jaguar. BMW-owned Mini took the biggest tumble, falling 17 places to 28th. The Toyota brand and the company's youth-oriented Scion brand are in the top three along with Honda, the magazine says in its April auto issue, on sale next week. Consumer Reports, operated by the non-profit Consumers Union, bases its reliability rankings on responses from 965,000 subscribers, covering 1.3 million vehicles. The auto issue also includes the magazine's ratings of vehicles based on its own testing. The reliability survey wasn't entirely dismissive of luxury makes. Nissan's Infiniti line was most improved, moving up 20 places from last year. Audi and Lincoln also moved up dramatically. David Champion, the magazine's director of automotive testing, blamed one model for Lexus's fall, the midsize GS, redesigned last year. He said the car had significant problems in three areas — body integrity, defined as rattles or poorly fitting panels; body hardware, such as locks and trunk mechanisms; and the sound system. The model still rated average — and earned a recommendation for purchase — but all other models in the Lexus line were better than average. While Lexus dropped, Toyota officials looked at the bright side. "We had three of the top five. It reflects well on our products," said spokesman Xavier Dominicis. Mercedes, DaimlerChrysler's luxury brand, tumbled four places to the cellar, "a very poor showing for a very expensive car," Champion said. Mercedes' quality is so imperiled that a nine-year-old Lexus LS400 has potentially fewer problems than a brand-new Mercedes ML. Champion said of Mercedes: "They perform well, have great fit and finish. But they seem to have a lot of problems with the seven-speed automatic transmission in all their products, and power accessories and electrical systems." Mercedes officials disputed the findings. "Today's Mercedes models ... are without question some of the best we have ever built," said spokeswoman Donna Boland. "If the survey doesn't reflect that, there's something wrong with the survey." She noted that 74% of the Mercedes models sold in the U.S. the past 50 years are still on the road. And a 2006 survey by R.L. Polk showed that Mercedes has the highest owner loyalty of any brand. Mercedes had well-publicized quality issues a couple years ago, but they were fixed, Boland says. "We have been out-front about that. But the data we have on the new models absolutely support that the quality is right up there with people's expectations." Mini fell because of reliability issues with the supercharged convertible version of the sporty car, Champion said. Mini spokesman Andrew Cutler said he couldn't explain why his brand fell in the rankings. An all-new replacement for the Mini was introduced this month. "They must be factoring in a drop in reliability (now) that the cars are all new from plant that's been upgraded," he said. From the 'net _____________________________ 2004 SRT-4 w/Stage 1, M/B Exhaust, BOV, 3-D Taillights, MPx Front STB, $22.78 OCC, K&N Filters. Dodge Forum's FIRST Car of the Month!!!!! Post #: 1

RE: Luxury Brands Take A Beating...... - 3/13/2007 5:18:44 PM    ViperGTS Posts: 14501 Joined: 9/28/2003 From: Maryland Status: offline quote: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (v8) Mercedes-Benz SL Oh no my ash tray's full! This d*mn car always leaves me stranded! I better take it to the shop stat! That's why you see many of them with nearly 200,000+ miles on them I bet. _____________________________ BK for teh winz bitches! 84' Mercedes 190D: SOLD 86' Mercedes 190E-16v: Still waiting to get here @ 51k 99' Honda Civic DX:Current DD (in reply to dustyloins) Post #: 2

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