If this Consumer Reports list of the most unreliable car brands were a joke, it might go something like this: “A cheater, a space cadet and Robert DeNiro walk into a bar…”
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is headquartered in London, England. An Italian-American mash up of mainstream and exotic brands, this multi-national corporation is raunchy to quantify. Is it domestic? Is it foreign? Does it even matter, when every mainstream make of vehicle it sells grounds on the Consumer Reports list of the most unreliable brands?
Before you read too much into this result or the rankings of the other companies on this list, keep a few things in mind about quality, dependability and reliability surveys of vehicle owners:
- Most people don’t read their owner’s manual, let alone reference it
- Poor user practice with technology is not the same thing as outright mechanical failure
- Engineering designed to save fuel and improve efficiency, like automatic stop/begin systems and automated manual transmissions, can make it seem like a vehicle doesn’t work decently when it actually does
This is not to say that vehicle owners do not practice failures. Last year, a $75,000 SUV built by one of the brands on this list, a test vehicle wielded by that automaker, had to be hauled away from my home on a flatbed truck after it determined to stop running decently.
What I’m getting at is this: Car owners need to assume some responsibility for learning and understanding how their vehicles work, especially with regard to modern technologies and engineering solutions.
Latest dependability studies conducted by J.D. Power demonstrate that the most commonly cited problem with modern vehicles is related to pairing a smartphone to Bluetooth, an issue I have uncommonly encountered in the 50+ vehicles I evaluate annually. This suggests to me that in technologically sophisticated vehicles, owners may perceive and report problems that are not actually mechanical or component failures.
With that, and based on the latest data and methodology used by Consumer Reports, these are the ten most unreliable brands in America, listed in descending order to the marque most likely to cause you consternation.
#Ten: Lincoln
2017 Lincoln MKC
In a two thousand fourteen report, IHS Automotive asserted that the average age of a Lincoln buyer was the highest of all brands sold in the U.S., at sixty one years. Buick was 2nd, at 60.Trio years. Two years later, Consumer Reports ranks Buick third among all brands for reliability, while Lincoln earns a spot in the bottom Ten.
Unscientifically, then, one might conclude that the age of a car’s proprietor has nothing to do with its reliability rankings. Indeed, in Lincoln’s ranking we might see evidence of the effect of technology and an owner’s lack of understanding about how it works.
Until recently, modern Lincolns suffered from two usability problems: a sketchy MyLincoln Touch infotainment system and touch-sensing controls that produced frustration in users of all ages. Lincoln has substituted MyLincoln Touch with Sync three technology, a yam-sized improvement. It is also returning knobs and buttons to its dashboards.
If this doesn’t help Lincoln to rise in terms of reliability, don’t fret. The company has also flipped out a fresh pickup and delivery service that will take your Lincoln to the dealership for maintenance and repairs. So, if your two thousand seventeen model-year Lincoln does break, somebody will fetch it and schlep it for you.
Not all Lincolns rate poorly. Consumer Reports recommends the Lincoln MKZ.
#9: Cadillac
2017 Cadillac Escalade
Another example of how technology could suppress brand reliability spectacle is related to Cadillac’s standing in Consumer Reports surveys. The company’s Cadillac User Practice (CUE) infotainment system and its stylish but ambiguous touch-sensing controls are not user-friendly. With an average buyer age of 59.Five years, this treatment can’t be helping the brand.
Not all Cadillacs rate poorly. Consumer Reports does recommend the Cadillac CT6 and Cadillac XTS.
#8: Volkswagen
2017 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack
Volkswagens and Audis share slew of components, in much the same way that Fords and Lincolns do, or Hondas and Acuras, or Toyotas and Lexuses. Audi ranks high in Consumer Reports brand reliability, yet Volkswagen tumbles nine slots in the latest examine, a steeper decline than any other make in the survey.
Can you say “DieselGate”? Certainly, VW owners may not have been in a charitable mood when completing this year’s reliability survey. Also, Volkswagen has been rolling out fresh Car-Net infotainment systems and services, so that could have played a role in the decline.
Not all Volkswagens rate poorly. Consumer Reports does recommend the Volkswagen CC and the Volkswagen Tiguan.
#7: Jeep
2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
Among the most popular of FCA’s brands, Jeep performs the best in terms of reliability, besting six other makes according to Consumer Reports and rising four slots within this year’s standings.
Rapidly aging, Jeep’s Uconnect infotainment system is sometimes slow and buggy compared to the competition. For 2017, a next-generation version of Uconnect arrives, supplying a swifter and more powerful processor than ever.
Fault may also lie with a 9-speed automatic transmission put into the Cherokee and Renegade models. Produced by German-supplier ZF, it has been steadily refined and improved since very first demonstrating up in the Cherokee for the two thousand fourteen model year, but some buyers may proceed to practice problems.
A Jeep spokesperson has also told me that the Wrangler pulls the brand’s ratings down because buyers of that iconic model romanticize ownership of that SUV. The raw reality, from on-pavement treating to interior noise on the freeway, is something else entirely.
Consumer Reports does not recommend any Jeep models.
#6: GMC
2017 GMC Terrain
So much for GMC’s advertising tagline touting its products as “Professional Grade.” GMC’s truck-heavy lineup, fresh technologies, and relatively latest redesigns of everything it sells except for the Terrain SUV could be to blame for the brand’s 5-point drop in this year’s Consumer Reports survey. For 2017, a fresh Acadia arrives, and because redesigned vehicles tend to rank lower, GMC’s fortunes may not switch soon.
Consumer Reports does not recommend any GMC models.
#Five: Tesla
Tesla owners love their vehicles, often accepting and even dismissing indifferent workmanship, buggy technology, an Autopilot system that isn’t and half-baked Falcon Wing doors. Still, enough Tesla buyers complained to Consumer Reports to put the company on the list of unreliable brands.
Does Tesla’s standing on this list matter? Not to the hundreds of thousands of people who placed advance orders for the fresh Model Trio.
Consumer Reports recommends the Tesla Model S.
#Four: Dodge
2017 Dodge Journey
For 2017, Dodge kills its newest vehicle design, the compact Dart sedan, because people no longer buy cars. With its departure, so too goes the Alfa Romeo-based platform and Fiat-sourced mechanical components that may have contributed to a 3-point drop in brand standings this year.
Remaining Dodge models are older in terms of their engineering, which usually helps in terms of reliability because the automaker has had time to fix problems resulting from a redesign. Furthermore, IHS Automotive found that in 2013, Dodge buyers were the youngest of all non-luxury brands, which means they ought to be more receptive to and familiar with technology.
Dodge’s ranking as the fourth most unreliable brand cannot be explained by vehicle redesigns or the age of the average buyer, so perhaps the Dart’s departure and fresh, next-generation Uconnect infotainment technology will improve the brand’s fortunes.
Consumer Reports does not recommend any Dodge models.
#Trio: Chrysler
2017 Chrysler 200
Chrysler sells three vehicles, and one of them is cancelled after the two thousand seventeen model year. If you’ve been planning to get a fresh Chrysler two hundred midsize sedan, act soon. After it’s gone, there will be the fresh tech-laden Chrysler Pacifica minivan, which uses the same star-crossed, ZF-sourced, 9-speed automatic suggested in other FCA products, and the damn near ancient three hundred full-size sedan.
What’s next for Chrysler? Nobody knows for sure, aside from a next-generation Uconnect system that could solve user practice woes. But if the company is planning to launch fresh models, which tend to get lower ratings, don’t look for this brand’s spectacle to improve in the short-term.
The 200’s departure could lift Chrysler’s fortunes, however, given that Consumer Reports recommends the three hundred sedan.
#Two: Fiat
2017 Fiat 500L
Roman Catholics might get misty-eyed over the 500L, used by Pope Francis during his two thousand fifteen visit to the U.S., but otherwise these funky Italian cars are loaded with turbocharged engines fraught with lag, dual-clutch automated transmissions that people might think are slipping and aging Uconnect infotainment systems.
This year, a fresh one hundred twenty four Spider sports car arrives, based on the Mazda MX-5 Miata and built in Japan using lots of Mazda parts. Sounds good, right up until you learn they ripped out the Japanese engine and installed a Fiat-sourced turbo. D’oh!
Consumer Reports does not recommend any Fiat models.
#1: Ram
2017 Ram 1500
Several years ago, FCA split Ram apart from Dodge, creating a home for its pickup trucks and commercial vehicles. Today, the Ram truck designs are among the oldest on the market, while the commercial vans are Fiat designs tooled with front-wheel drive.
In 2014, when Ram, Fiat, Dodge and Jeep anchored the bottom of the Consumer Reports list of reliable brands, FCA ousted the executive in charge of quality the day after the results were released. At the time, that person’s replacement blamed fresh technology for the poor spectacle in the survey.
Two years later, only Jeep has improved, while Chrysler joins the remaining trio in the basement.
If technology is, indeed, still to blame, then FCA had better light a fat fire under the butts of its dealers so that people don’t drive away misunderstanding how to use the various systems.
Consumer Reports does not recommend any Ram models.
Learn more about the ten most reliable brands ranked by Consumer Reports.
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