For anyone who does not know, the Consumer Reports annually release their Car Reliability Survey and this year’s edition is out with a couple of surprises no one expected. Firstly this respected publication does not recommend Honda Civic anymore, and it is the only Honda that didn’t get this year’s praise from Consumer Reports. Secondly, another surprise is that the Toyota and Lexus retained their positions as the most reliable brands on the market while the Buick managed to grab hold of third (from last years 7th) place which makes it first for an American car company to stand on the CR podium. Mazda also did well as they received Recommended checks for its entire lineup.
Also read: 2018 Honda Civic Type R
Now to get to the topic at hand. The main reason that Honda Civic is no more praised by CR is because of its touchscreen radio that has the additional option – driving you mad. Furthermore, lack of lumbar adjustability for the driver is not helping in this segment. On top of that, we have problems like limited cars on dealers lots that are equipped with Honda’s famous Sensing system and the decision of the company to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Because of all that the score that it received is very low, only 58 points.
But don’t think that the rest of automakers did any better than Honda with their model. The Civic isn’t the only one that lost the CR’s Recommended check. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports’ checkmark which is surprising just like in the case of the Civic. But it’s not all dark, there is a bright side because some vehicles managed to earn the Recommended badge including BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S.
What was most astonishing in this year’s Consumer Reports test is that the recall-prone Ford Escape managed to snatch a Recommended check. When we consider the Escape’s popularity this was probably a earned by the brand, as it is going to put it on a level and in line with the already Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. This was something that probably made Ford very happy, but the Consumer Reports list wasn’t this kind to others. From the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the retirement worthy Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check while there wasn’t a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list which made a huge impact on them. The GMC, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don’t have a vehicle on CR’s list as well, and the brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac have only a few models on the list. For more details on this feel free to check Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup for yourself. Maybe you will find something we have missed.
