Mazda MX5 Tops 2021 North American Reliability Report Card
Mazda just topped the Consumer Reports’ (CR) annual ranking of the most reliable automotive brands for the first time. To sweeten the win, the Mazda MX-5 roadster got the overall highest score for reliability against other Mazda models and also the rest of the automotive brands, overshadowing for the first time, long time winners, Toyota and Lexus.
“When it comes to the high-end vehicles, not only are you not getting anything more, sometimes you’re getting things you don’t want,” Fisher from CR said. “You’re getting complexity, you’re getting more of these gizmos and gadgets and all these things that don’t actually make your driving experience better.”
Mazda’s North America sales grew last year despite the Covid pandemic, thanks to the popularity of its CX-9 seven-seat sport utility vehicle and the latest CX-30 crossover. The Mazda MX-5 roadster emerged as most reliable car among those tested, getting a score of 98 out of 100. Meanwhile, the CX-30, CX-3, CX-9 and CX-5 SUV’s all scored 85 or better.
BMW, Subaru, Porsche and Honda rounded out the top five spots on the Consumer Reports 2021 Brand Report Card, which was released last week Thursday.
Alfa Romeo fell to the bottom of the list of 32 brands, behind Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Jeep and Lincoln.
To determine the rankings, Consumer Reports (CR) buys vehicles anonymously from dealerships for road testing. It conducts tests for braking, handling, comfort, convenience, safety and fuel economy, and includes survey responses from Consumer Reports subscribers in its analysis.
In 2020, Porsche and Genesis (which is owned by Hyundai) topped the report card. Genesis fell 13 places this year “due to declining predicted reliability among its models,” Consumer Reports said. Tesla’s position reduced as only the Tesla Model 3 sedan was given a decent reliability rating and was CR recommended. Tesla’s S dropped to below average reliability and is no longer recommended. Right after Tesla came Mini and Volkswagen which also fell in this latest rating.
It is time for Malaysia to implement a reliability rating for our car buyers who pay high prices for new cars due to taxes and also spare parts and yet many are stuck with ‘lemon cars’ that visit service centers over and over with no compensation for owners who have to continue paying the monthly installments.
In recent years we have seen a high number of complaints and issues coming from 2 to 5-year-old premium European vehicles and with brand owners ‘washing their hands’ and leaving the problems to be handled by dealers who try and fix factory defects over and over. Social media channels are fed daily with owner complaints as tribunals and courts take time and money.
