ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

Consumer Reports are not scientifically valid. They only survey subscribers to Consumer Reports, and those subscribers are not a randomly selected sample of the general population of product owners. It's the same classic surveying fallacy that led the otherwise well-respected Chicago Daily Tribune to publish a bold headline announcing "Dewey Defeats Truman" on the day after Truman won the Presidency. The fallacy was that its survey was of Tribune subscribers, which were not representative of the voting public.

Opinion surveys are a difficult science, and most organizations, like Consumer Reports, won't go to the considerable effort and expense of doing scientifically valid surveys. They just bank on the general public believing them without questioning. Why? It sells magazines!

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Two issues affect Mercedes: complexity and cost of parts/service. Mercedes tends to engineer highly complex technical solutions. The result is that even with excellent engineering, materials and QC, reliability is just average. Secondly Mercedes parts if purchased OEM, are very expensive and dealer labor is as well. That’s reflected in the poor resale value (which is likely the major cost driver of ownership). Because of the above, the more expensive (and technically complex) a Mercedes is, the lower the resale value. It’s not unusual to see a one owner, low mileage garage queen S or SL Mercedes for 10K$ or less.

twb930s Loc: Aldie, Virginia

American car manufacturers have never managed to defeat the buyer's perception that foreign (especially Japanese) cars are better whether true or false.

BebuLamar

I can afford to buy a Mercedes but I don't think I can afford to pay for its maintenance.

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Or a BMW. Both great cars but maintenance hogs.
Talk to any owner and they will tell you how they are nickel & dimed to death.
A dealer friend of mine explained that this is why so many are leased rather than purchased.

ackvil Loc: Delray Beach, FL

I find it amusing that some say they will only buy American autos. The last three autos I bought: GMC Arcadia, Chevrolet Impala, and Chevrolet Blazer were all assembled in Canada and Mexico!

When Consumer Reports reviews autos they independently check them. You can see how they check them here: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-what-goes-into-consumer-reports-overall-score-for-cars-a2015879559/

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Exactly. And just like Mercedes, as you move up the product line, reliability get’s worse. Hard to pick more expensive cars to maintain (other than exotics or Jags 🙀) than used 7/8 series BMWs or S/SL/CLS Mercedes

Vladimir200 Loc: Beaumont, Ca.

Good to know. Thanks for your info.

Canoon Loc: Carson City Nevada

There was a joint venture between Mazda and Ford at Ford's Flat Rock, Michigan plant, where they both assembled transmissions for Ford vehicles. Someone in QA at Ford started looking at warranty claims, and the Mazda-assembled transmissions had significantly fewer warranty claims than the Ford ones, even though they were building the same part to the same prints.

Curious, the QA team did a tear-down of the Ford vs. Mazda products and discovered that, while both were in spec, the Mazda-built ones were much tighter to the center design spec. Just another lesson from Japanese auto makers.

nervous2 Loc: Provo, Utah

Good comment AND I love your avatar!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I started driving Toyotas when I graduated from college and got a job. They do indeed last and last, with little maintenance and few repairs. We have three Priuses. They are boring, but reliable. They are also the least costly per mile of any cars we have ever driven. One of them has close to 210,000 miles. We bought all three of them used, with around 45,000 to 55,000 miles. Change the oil and rotate the tires every 5000 miles, and the engines keep purring.

Aloysius Loc: Tampa, FL

I know anecdotes are not data, but. . .MINI? Come on! My 2018 Cooper S was always touch and go, & if you’d peek into the very overcrowded engine compartment, you’ll see why. My 2002 BMW 5 series was quite reliable by comparison—as long as I rigorously followed the maintenance schedule.

avflinsch Loc: Hamilton, New Jersey

Same here, I have owned 3 modern BMW Minis and never had a major problem with any of them
a 2010 hardtop - given to my son at 100k miles, he drove it for a few years and then traded it in for a Honda Fit
a 2012 hardtop - still own it with 170k miles, I only drive it in lousy weather now
a 2014 roadster - now my main commuter vehicle has around 35k miles (I only got it 3 years ago with ~6400 miles on it)

Robert1 Loc: Davie, FL

This is when I used to buy American cars, Ford 500, AMC Matador, Jeep Cherokee, Crysler-Dodge Caravan, garbage, nothing but utterly garbage.

Since then, Toyota Sienna 14 years and the only reason to change it was because my wife got bored by then of driving a minivan. Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, a unrefined, noisy, underpowered SUV in comparison to the other Japanese and Korean companies, but, here's the but, my first one extremely highly reliable with adequate power handling for its size, 13 years in my hands, gave it to my daughter during high school, totaled it within 6 months, what a shame. My second Outlander Sport, so far 11 years, not one repair do to a failure so far. It's going strong, it's an underpowered when attempting acceleration and noisy. The Genesis coupe I bought to my other daughter, 10 years, no one single repair other the the standard wearables, Honda Accord Sport, 11 years and still going without a single repair other than the regular wearables. Nissan Sentra, had it for 13 years. This was the only Japanese car that by year ten started to have reliability problems.

I still remember the nightmare the Dodge Caravan was, at less than 36000 miles transmission had to be replaced, at 47000 transmission went again, by that time the interior plastic was disintegrating to a fine sand, the roof velour material was hanging (coming completely unglued. The change to the Toyota Sienna was a god sent. My wife's new (2020) Mazda CX 5 so far no a problem, but is still relatively new.

Bottom line each and every single American car that I ever bought were not only unreliable, but a junk nightmare of constant repairs. So, never again.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

My wife had a 2000 Sienna. Our daughter was on the way to a friend's funeral when she drove off a curvy country road into a big rock and totaled it. The airbags saved her. She'd bent down to grab a map...

Leigh was late to the funeral. I had to leave work, arrange for a wrecker service, and take her to the funeral as it was ending. We were all sad about the Sienna, as it had been a family vacation adventure mobile for years. That's when we got a new 2009 Prius.

My sister in law had a Caravan in the 1990s. The transmission and brakes were MAJOR failure points on it. My dad had a 2001 Olds Aurora that I inherited and gave to my twins when they learned to drive. It was a total POS. I spent more repairing that car than I spent to repair TWO 2009 Priuses over the same course of time. Starter, AC compressor, alternator, power steering hose and pump, electric window motors, water pump, thermostat, brake master cylinder, and more than that broke down. I should have sold the thing after Dad's funeral and bought the boys a used Corolla.