Survey says: Chevrolet is more reliable than Honda and Toyota!

[Xist]

Those are all of the useful details from the ad. Obviously, it is Chevrolet.

Based on a survey?

Data?

That claim would come as a surprise to anyone familiar with reliability rankings from the most trusted nonprofit testing cars these days. In fact, if you dug into the data, you’d have to conclude Chevy’s claim is dubious at best (and incredibly misleading at worst).

Consumer Reports ranks Chevy among the least reliable car companies.
Going by 2019 Consumer Reports rankings, Chevrolet ranked 23rd among 29 car brands evaluated. That made Chevy vehicles seventh-worst overall. The Traverse SUV and Silverado 2500 HD pickup showed up among the year’s poorest-scoring vehicles for reliability.

So what about those other brands Chevy bragged it was beating in its TV commercial? Well, they would be surprised to learn they were less reliable than Chevy. After all, Toyota places first or second in reliability studies every year. If you looked at the decade’s 20 most reliable vehicles, 10 are Toyotas. None are Chevys.

Honda also consistently ranks among the top 10 auto brands for reliability. (Its 2019 rating was an exception.) As for Ford, the Dearborn-based automaker typically lands in the middle of the pack — but usually better than Chevy.

If you look at the fine print in Chevy’s ad — and we recommend doing this for any car commercial — you’ll see a footnote referencing a 2015 study by Ipsos. It also suggests viewers head to ChevyReliability.com to learn more about the study.

Anyone who typed in that web address would find themselves redirected to a page authored by Chevy’s press team with details on the study. Apparently, market-research company Ipsos came up with the results that looked great for Chevy based on vehicles in service from December 2014 to June 2015. About 49,000 people completed the surveys.

So Chevy’s claim that its vehicle scored so well on “a recent nationwide survey” doesn’t really hold water. A lot can change in four years for a car model. Meanwhile, that sample looks very small compared to annual Consumer Reports surveys that include data from over 500,000 replies.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertain...-ad-says.html/

A four year-old survey.

This study, performed by Ipsos, surveyed owners of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac versus competitive brands in the area of parts replaced or repaired in the past 12-months – excluding fluids, filters and those related to accident/collision.

This is not Chevrolet, it is GM.

For the purpose of this study, reliability is defined as the percentage of vehicle owners who reported they have not repaired or replaced any vehicle components in the past 12 months (excluding fluids, filters and those related to accident/collision).

Using a nationwide sample, a total of 840,979 non-sponsored letter invitations were mailed to 2015 Model Year vehicle owners (time in service starting December 2014 to June 2015).
Via the survey, respondents were screened to ensure they still owned or leased the vehicle and ensure they were the original owners of the vehicle. All data was weighed to reflect the population of model ownership.
In total, 48,679 surveys were completed.

https://www.chevrolet.com/content/da...lity-Study.pdf
They then list the thirty-two brands of cars these people owned.

Is it significant that less than 6% of people receiving junk mail responded?

1. Do you still own or lease this vehicle?
2. Are you the original owner of the vehicle?
3. Has your vehicle required a repair in the last twelve months?

Consumer Reports obtains its reliability data from an Annual Questionnaire that is sent to members of CR.org and Consumer Reports magazine. In all, we received responses on over 500,000 vehicles in our latest survey, detailing 2000 to 2018 models.

More than ten times as many responses and the inquire regarding cars up to eighteen years old, instead of up to twelve months old.

Cars really break down the first year?

In the questionnaire, we ask members to note any problems with their cars that occurred in the past 12 months. They are asked to identify problems that they considered serious (because of cost, failure, safety, or downtime). We ask them to include problems covered by warranty, but not the ones resulting from accident damage or due solely to recall. Respondents check off problems from a list of trouble areas, ranging from the engine and transmission to climate system, brakes, electrical system, and power accessories. They also tell us specifically what their experiences were to help us understand precisely what problems they are having. (See the full list of trouble spots below.)

It sounds like they forgo the first two questions and expound greatly on the last one.

Since 2015, we use an online questionnaire exclusively instead of our previous mix of electronic and paper ballots from members. That change shrank our respondent pool, but the Internet-only survey allows us to ask more in-depth questions and solicit detailed comments about problems.

Yay! Saving the world! Woo!

Problems with the engine-major, engine cooling, transmission-major, and drive system are more likely to take a car out of service and to be more expensive to repair than the other problem areas. Consequently, we weigh these areas more heavily in our calculations of model year Overall Reliability Verdict. Problems such as broken trim and in-car electronics have a much smaller weight. Problems in any area can be an expense and a bother, though, so we report them all in the Reliability History charts.

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-...liability-faq/

So, the Ipso-facto survey treats a blown head gasket or thrown rod equally with a panel gap.

[oil pan 4]

So buy a 2015?

[Xist]

1. Lexus
2. Toyota
3. Audi
4. Mazda
5. Subaru
6. Kia
7. Buick
8. Honda
9. Hyundai
10. Mini
11. BMW
12. Volvo
13. Volkswagen
14. Porsche
15. Nissan
16. Lincoln
17. Ford
18. Acura
19. GMC
20. Chevrolet
21. Mercedes-Benz
22. Chrysler
23. Dodge
24. Infiniti
25. Cadillac
26. Ram
27. Jeep
28. Fiat

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars...bility-survey/

Toyota was #2 (and #1), Honda was #8, and Chevrolet was #20--out of 28.

[redpoint5]

The thing is, I've never cared how reliable a car is while under warranty. It's not my problem regardless.

Reliability matters after the vehicle is out of warranty and owners are stuck with the bill for repair.

Perhaps VW has better than average reliability for vehicles under warranty, but there's no way the older vehicles hold up better than average.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

The thing is, I've never cared how reliable a car is while under warranty. It's not my problem regardless.

True, but then I've never bought a car that came with a warranty :-) There's really no point in trying to assess reliability until it's at least a decade old.

[redpoint5]

I bought a 2006 Acura in 2010, so I think the bumper to bumper had just expired, but the powertrain should have been covered for another 2 years.

Still, I don't expect major problems within the first 6 years of ownership.

I just had the first thing fail on my Acura, which is the cruise control switch. Bought a new one for $1 and haven't put it in yet, but should be super easy.

It would be a shorter to list what hasn't been replaced multiple times on my 1998 Dodge 3/4 ton. To be fair, it's got 350,000 miles, but some basic parts like low pressure fuel pumps only go 20,000 miles before crapping out.

[freebeard]

The Lounge isn't your personal forum. I suggest you have the mods move this. How about https://ecomodder.com/forum/general-...iscussion.html

[samwichse]

Originally Posted by freebeard

The Lounge isn't your personal forum. I suggest you have the mods move this. How about https://ecomodder.com/forum/general-...iscussion.html

This hasn't got anything to do with efficiency though. Seems perfect for the lounge.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

A bit surprised to see Kia and especially Audi up there. Honda and Toyota have both been rock solid as far as reliability goes, and from my own family's experience Honda has been a bit more reliable than Toyota, but you'll find people arguing for both. We've owned both (Sienna, Civic, Prius, Insight). Vehicles 10-15 years old.

[rmay635703]

Mini being above Chevy makes the whole data set suspect

I would expect mini somewhere below Chrysler

Further newer VWs are some of the biggest turds ever created, timing belts, injection pumps and failed auto transmissions just outside warranty.
The interior was uncleanable, even the glovebox broke, hidden bolt and all.