General Motors didn’t make out all too well in the latest Consumer Reports Reliability Survey. The non-profit organization ranked GM brands towards the bottom of the list.
The reliability survey comes from owner responses, which CR said it received feedback on more than 500,000 vehicles in the latest survey. Vehicles spanned the 2000-2018 model years and covered 300 models.
The biggest fall from grace was the Buick brand. The brand placed eighth last year but tumbled 11 spots to 19th place. That’s a major fall from 2016 when Buick became the first U.S. auto brand to crack the top three rankings since data collection began in the 1980s.
Owners cited issues with the 2018 Buick Enclave’s nine-speed automatic transmission as a real sour point. And it gets worse from there.
Buick was the best-ranked GM brand in the latest survey. Chevrolet placed 23rd, down from 18th place; GMC placed 25th, up from 26th place; and Cadillac held steady in 28th place. The luxury division was the second-worst ranked brand, only behind Volvo. The only Cadillac vehicle deemed “better than average” was the XTS sedan, coincidentally enough.
Ford placed 18th, down from 15th place, and FCA’s brands (Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler) placed 21st, 22nd and 24th, respectively.
Each GM brand has hovered toward the bottom of rankings for years, but this year’s list included a few bright spots. CR gave its recommendation nod to the Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Cruze and Chevrolet Suburban. Each vehicle earned good scores in the reliability survey.
Domestic brands continue to perform poorly in the survey partially due to adding some untested technologies. As GM tries to play catch up with new turbocharged engines, transmissions with more gears and other technologies, the likelihood something hasn’t been entirely ironed out increases.
But the model is still dead last in its competitive set.
Plus, a nationwide lease on extended-length full-size SUV.
With more than 2 million units sold in the U.S. since 1999.
Pulled down by the Lyriq's very poor performance.
Some 51 million airbags inflators are dodging a recall for now.
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If anyone takes the time to see how CR comes up with ratings you would realize that personal opinions don’t enter into the calculations and reliability doesn’t mean every single vehicle is bad from any given manufacturer. The fact is the newer cars (last 3 years or so) have huge electrical/infotainment/center stack problems across the board but sadly GM has gone downhill. My C6 Corvette has huge track mileage and is literally “Chevy tough” while 2 C7s have been taken back because of excessive problems. A few years ago their products were better, this is rating based on recent cars. So your old 150k truck isn’t like a newer vehicle.
CR methodology has strong selection bias (only CR members are surveyed, and only the ones who return their surveys get counted) and even worse confirmation bias (readers of CR are expecting to have more problems with American cars, thus such readers are more likely to engage in surveys).
I wouldn't dismiss CR's results, but their data isn't really all that great.
For an example of how much "noise" is in their data, you can compare the reliability of two vehicles made in the same factory. For example, Trax vs Encore. For some years they are vastly different in reliability despite being essentially the same car. That's noise, and it shows that CR's results are not accurate enough to make anything but the most vague conclusions.
GM is just a big corporation that doesn't give a damn about its customers only cares about its bottom line. Unfortunately they are all like that. If you like GM then buy GM, it really makes no difference.
if GM made the only cars on the road CR would still knock them down , CR 's opinion is worth zero I canceled mine
If recalls were included Toyota wouldn't be on the list at all. They have about a recall for as many vehicles made.
Again if a recall fixes the vehicle, that is what MOST vehicle owners want. Most owners WOULD prefer a recall because it FORCES vehicle brands to fix there products. Some recalls are voluntary some are forced. I would love to know which brands voluntarily recall there products more, and which brands are forced to recall there products more.
My chevy malibu 2005 was recalled in 2017 a steering wheel torque sensor replacement. Recall fixed the problem for 3 years ,2 mos, 5000 miles. Same problem with steering wheel twitching contacted GM said 1 recall after that 1 year warranty. Your problem. Did offer for me to go in debt for a new car with $1000 off sticker. I declined. Offer made to me after contacting BBB to resolve my issue. They did not. The repair bill came to $606.20 less that the $1000 I was offered in exchange for 5 years of car payments. The recall took 12 years, same issue after only 3 years after replacement. GM so generously offers 12 mos for the same issue to appear. Any reason to expect this sensor to last?
Consumer report is a left wing conspiracy.
https://media0.giphy.com/media/26n6ziTEeDDbowBkQ/giphy.gif?cid=3640f6095bd2378764383874516ab8ba
Consumer Reports is nothing but crap on paper. Anyone who buys anything based on their recommendation is a gullible fool. The people who subscribe to it are the ones who respond to their "survey" and if you want to see WHO that is just look at the trolls who jumped on this article to belch out their comments.
A lot of people like to bad mouth GM. Personally there are a hell of a lot worse car brands out there. Try buying a Nissan or Honda and see what will happen down the road. It's well documented their quality has diminished greatly. Watch 30+ year mechanic Scotty Kilmer on YouTube and find out the real truth about car brand reliability. Get a car with the crappy designed CVT transmission and see what happens at 20,000 miles.
Scotty Kilmer is the first that speaks bad about GM.
I've leased 2 Chevy Volts with 0 problems. Hats off to GM engineering.
Yeah I never believed gm was good anyway. Especially when my mother's equinox keeps stalling and it only has 40 something K miles.
Then my aunt's 15 Malibu sounds like it runs on
Rocks for motor oil.
Check the Corvette, Silverado, and Sierra forums if you want to read about GM's POS 8L90 transmission, and how AFM
contributes to wear. Horror stories about dealers and that is normal BS. Was thinking about a new Silverado not with that transmission or DFM.
My wife and I own a new 2018 Traverse and had nothing but problems with it. It's our first GM car in 9 years and might be our last again. It has had problems from day 1.
The roof rails were corroded and had to be replaced. The wheel speed sensor went out and the vehicle sat in the dealer for a month!! Meanwhile I contacted GM directly and had them pay for my monthly payment and my XM and my Wifi. Now the tailgate won't work properly and the engine is idling rough along with the transmission acting strange intermittently.
So go ahead and tell me CR is wrong. I used to believe that until now as I'm experiencing it firsthand.