The Consumer Reports’ annual survey regarding cars has gained considerable importance over the years. The reason for this is that the survey provides a list of the most reliable and safest cars available on the market today. If you are in the market for a reliable car, the survey is a good place to find some suggestions. This year, the title for the most reliable car has been given to the 2014 Subaru Forester. In fact, Japanese carmakers dominate the list with several other companies having their cars ranked near the top.
The great thing about Consumer Reports is that they obtain feedback from a large number of consumers. For the current survey, they received feedback from over a million people. Therefore, you cannot argue that the results represent the viewpoint of only a handful of people. When a million people respond to a survey and provide their opinion, it has to hold some weight. This is the reason why many car buyers use the survey to find out the safest vehicles to buy today.
The main criteria for determining the reliability for a car is that it causes the least hassle for its owner. Customers are asked about the models they own and the problems they have faced over the course of the past year or so. This enables Consumer Reports to determine which models are the least reliable and which ones are the most reliable. Simply speaking, they tabulate the results according to the number of problems caused by each model. The one that comes out at the top is the most reliable car on the market.
The only drawback to the survey is that the 2014 Subaru Forester had been on the market for only a few weeks at the time it was taken. Therefore, the opinion of the customers might have been skewed. For instance, if they had more time to drive the car, they may have experienced some problem they would have reported when responding to the survey. Even taking that into account, it does show that the car is free from any problems from the start, so it is unlikely that the customers would face any issues in the future.
The survey also showed that the top three carmakers in terms of reliability are all from Japan. Lexus leads the list with Toyota and Acura not far behind. The interesting thing to note is that some US and European brands have also climbed up a few notches since the previous survey. Case in point is Audi which was ranked at number four while Volvo ranked seventh. Among the American companies, GMC managed to crack the top ten and ranked number nine, making it the most reliable US-based carmaker.
In case you are wondering which car brings up the rear, it is the Ford C-Max Energi. The plug-in hybrid has been named the least reliable car. So, if you are looking for a solid modern ride, the Consumer Reports’ survey is a good place to find out which cars to consider buying while which ones you should avoid.