Usually it is quite common: ugly girls most willing and giving. There is no beauty in those Scions, so its got to be reliability.

Wait, Volvo ranked above average??? Where’s TomF at (sorry to call you out buddy-couldn’t resist)? Consumer Reports has an interesting report they do called “Brand Perceptions.” Just for the edification of all those who think that Volvo is no longer perceived as safe, here is an excerpt from said report:

“SAFETY

Volvo has dedicated its brand to safety leadership for decades, introducing advances such as the three-point lap safety belt, laminated safety glass, side-impact air bags, and “pregnant” crash-test dummies. Despite an increasing emphasis on styling in recent years, safety still defines Volvo for consumers.”

Toyota comes in second, but is 10 percentage points behind Volvo and is just 3 percentage points ahead of Ford.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/cr-recommended/consumer-reports-brand-report-card/brand-perception-by-category/0701_consumer-reports-brand-report-card_design-style.htm

I know the above referenced survey is just perception and is sure to be attacked as therefore being sans merit. However, since Volvo is continuing to invest heavily in safety equipment, I think it is a deserved reputation. Moreover, I am only offering all this as a counterweight to those who decry Volvo in any thread which mentions it. Also, the perception survey indicates to me that Ford would be bonkers to sell Volvo as its association is probably helping Ford tremendously in Ford’s ranking. With Volvo around, Ford will continue to benefit from both the perception of Volvo safety and actual Volvo safety advances. They could sure use that since, as we all know, Toyota, Honda, SAAB, Mercedes-Benz, etc. will all continue to invest heavily in safety and safety DOES sell cars.

Volvo will never really compete on price, but Ford should keep them around simply for the fact that the Volvo engineers seem to have a culture of safety and reliability. Looks are subjective, but it is to be noted that Volvo has been making efforts in that category. Volvo does not really need to compete on performance (I think it need only be middle-of-the-pack here). Volvo has also spent some time trying to eke out some extra M.P.G. ratings. Overall, a brand that stands out in safety, is above average in reliability and is adequate on other metrics is a good brand to keep around.

Oh and, just so no one thinks I am trying to pull a fast one, I will submit C.R.’s current report on consumer expectations of safety (the one I used in my above post is the one from 2007). C.R.’s is harsh in their own assessment of Volvo; but, then what can one expect when a company only crashes a few of the cars from each company? I know I sound like a snot; but, from what little I understand of empirical testing (they would literally need thousands of tests, which is obviously unaffordable) and chaos theory (they could never account for, nor notice all the variables), that just is not enough for Consumer Reports to be utterly unquestioned. I will also admit, however, little testing is better than no testing. Anyway, here is what Consumer Reports wrote for 2008:

Top five in brand perception by category
Below, the categories are presented in the order of importance to new-car buyers.

1SAFETY
Brand Percent
Volvo 77%
Toyota 21
Subaru 18
Ford 17
Honda 17

No other category is so unilaterally dominated by one brand. With a score of 77 percent, Volvo is clearly first in consumers’ minds when it comes to safety. Volvo developed a reputation for safety based on its many technical innovations and consistent marketing theme. Volvos were the first mass-production cars to offer a laminated windshield, three-point front seat belts, rear seat belts, child-proof door locks, antilock brakes, and side air bags. Similarly, current Volvos offer many of today’s most advanced safety systems, including blind-spot detection and collision warning systems. But in our testing, Volvos have often earned mediocre scores within their class. And responses from our latest reliability survey show that Volvo is only midpack in our predicted reliability ratings for new cars.

Most of the automotive world has caught up to Volvo in terms of safety. Honda, for example, stands out with the highest crash-test scores and consistently good accident avoidance performances at our track. Likewise, Mercedes-Benz has historically been on the forefront of automotive safety and typically performs well.

Subaru’s high rank might be attributed to the perceived benefits of all-wheel drive, which is standard in all of its vehicles. But many lower-trim Subarus don’t include electronic stability control, a highly recommended safety feature. Even Subarus with ESC have posted modest results at our track.

Of the domestic manufacturers, Ford clearly emerged as the leader of blandness. Test subjects were shown photographs of automobiles from various manufacturers. The subjects that were shown photographs of Fords immediately fell into a terminal slumber, and soon thereafter died of boredom.

Ford is reliable, but damn are they ugly and bland. Can’t wait until they bring their exciting European models here.

http://www.blog.automotiveaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/2008-jd-power-vds-1.jpg

29th of 38, in JD Power’s VDS for 2008. It’s measured by the number of problems per 100 vehicles, so it’s a solid statistic. The top spot was Lexus with 120, the average was 206, and Scion scored a whopping 243. I smell a typical Consumer Reports rat.

And your editor still isn’t awake when he’s doing his job. You do have editors, right?

oldraven-

Your source is terrifying not just for Scion, but for Volvo as well. And yet, J.D. Power’s statement needs some tweaking. I cannot get around the fact that J.D. Power “says so.” While it is a fairly good statistic, it does not take into account that not all problems are reported. To be correct, it should read “the number of REPORTED problems per 100 vehicles.” Volvo and Scion owners may just be whinier than Lexus owners (can’t you tell this Volvo owner is a whiner?).

Moreover, this is the list of “major” problems J.D. Power found drivers were upset about (i.e. they were the most reported problems) and I have included my comments in parenthesis:

The problems include:
1. EXCESSIVE WIND NOISE (Soundproofing is a luxury and if you expected better sound-proofing you should have bought a different car. Keep in mind, this complaint isn’t about a degradation in soundproofing. As J.D. Power points out, that these problems are ones that were noticed in the first 90 days and not “corrected” within 3 years . . . as if you could make a car more soundproof than it already was when bought without going for aftermarket parts).
2. NOISY BRAKES (Umm, disc brakes get noisy with any type of moisture-this one can’t be helped)
3. VEHICLE PULLING TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT (Stop driving so fast and hitting pot holes)
4. ISSUES WITH THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND DASHBOARD (Remember to check your oil and actually show up for servicings)
5. EXCESSIVE WINDOW FOGGING (It’s a complicated concept folks; but, yeah, with most cars, including Volvos, the instruction manual says use your A.C. to de-fog . . . waiting for the car to heat up takes longer)

And just in case anyone is wondering, yes, my idiot self has complained about every single one of the things on the above list. And the mechanics have been nice enough to explain to me that I was being retarded (keep in mind, I may have misstated their answers; but, really that’s where I have gotten the things I have said above). A better example for the instrument panel would be my mom. Her car adjusts the airbag or turns it on/off depending on the weight of the person in the seat and then turns the airbag warning light on on the dashboard. She spent two years complaining about it to the dealership and they could not get through her head why it operated in the way it did (she’s the type who still won’t use a computer folks). Finally, she asked them to disconnect the light on the dashboard, so she wouldn’t have to look at it. That’s the type of person who is complaining about dashboard lights (in my opinion).

Consider the fact that the xA and xB have been replaced by larger, more stout vehicles.
The tC has never been redone
And all are built by ‘Yota.
A high ranking is only a matter of time.
Hondas and Toyotas round out the Top 5
DrFill

I like that Scion is leading Toyota, and Toyota leads Lexus.

’tis true, Toyota needs to fix their own lineup.

Eh.

-eat your cereal

What CR doesn’t say:

1. The data are already about five months old, and will be over a year old when many people use them to buy a car next summer.

2. The average problem rate isn’t very high, probably around 18 problems per 100 cars for the 2008s (based on past years; they didn’t have a number when asked this year). So the differences between the different “blobs” is three or four problems per 100 cars. In both cases, the numbers are probably much lower than many people think.

For a site that promptly updates its vehicle reliability information four times a year and posts the actual repair rates:

http://www.truedelta.com

After all, do you want to know how reliable a car was a year ago, when it was a year younger, or how reliable it has been recently?

Uh oh, where are all the US car honks that try to repeatedly convince themselves that GM and Ford make better, or even equal, cars than Toyota and the rest. Oh, and that Toyota only sells more cars because they trick American consumers into thinking the other companies’ vehicles are unreliable…. Good call. How can you even come to that conclusion?

DBro, it’s a CR finding. Most enthusiasts take anything from this publication with a grain of salt.

I happen to put a biblical amount of faith in all consumer reports No I was just crudely cracking back at some ridiculous comments made in the past

Consumer Reports is a joke.

To wit:

CR is staffed by these middle-aged bearded assholes that test drive everything and then go home in their Corollas and old Tercels to some smelly shack in rural CT or Vermont, where they chow down on alfalfa sprouts and rent Michael Moore videos. Don’t listen to anything they say. They’re a bunch of ****sucking tools.

Comment by deantj, posted on June29 at 2:07 pm

Lionwithoutpride: avery car is safe until you crash it.

howsmydriving: “Of the domestic manufacturers, Ford clearly emerged as the leader of blandness.” I’d say Chrysler.

oldraven: “it’s a CR finding. Most enthusiasts take anything from this publication with a grain of salt.” yep.