Toyota ’s youth-oriented Scion arm has topped the annual Consumer Reports reliability survey. The Scion xD ranked as the number one vehicle in the comprehensive survey. Scion was followed by Acura , Honda , Toyota and Lexus . Of the domestic manufacturers, Ford clearly emerged as the quality leader in the survey.
The Consumer Reports study looked at 1.4 million new vehicles and judged them in 17 different categories over a one year period. Joining the xD at the top were a handful of other fairly simple, small cars: Honda’s Fit, Smart’s ForTwo and Toyota’s Yaris.
The biggest movers and shakers over last year were included Ford and Mercedes-Benz . Nearly all of Ford’s vehicles were ranked above average, putting them on par with most of the Japanese brands. Mercedes-Benz had been ranked toward the bottom in years past thanks to complicated electronics, but improvements put a number of models at average or above average.
General Motors’ Chevrolet Malibu was also a bright spot, rating better than average in its first model year.
Only adding to Chrysler ’s perils, almost all of the Auburn Hills, Michigan, automaker’s products ranked below average. The only exceptions were the Dodge Caliber and Jeep Patriot .
Toyota , Kia , Hyundai , BMW and Volvo also ranked above average.
