GM Brands And Vehicles Struggle In 2019 Consumer Reports Reliability Survey
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General Motors brands and vehicles struggled in the 2019 Consumer Reports Auto Reliability Survey.
The annual Consumer Reports list ranks brands and vehicles using data from surveyed Consumer Reports members. This year, it gathered data on 420,000 different vehicles spanning the 2000 to 2019 model years, with members able to report vehicle problems across 17 “trouble areas” including engine, transmission and in-car electronics. Consumer Reports then uses the survey data to calculate a “reliability rating” for every major mainstream brand and vehicle.
GM did very poorly in this study. Cadillac was ranked 30th among the mainstream auto brands – which is dead last. Its other brands didn’t do too well, either. Chevrolet was 25th, GMC was 22nd and Buick was 18th. Lexus, Mazda and Toyota occupied the top three in that order, while Porsche and Genesis completed the top five, respectively. Joining Cadillac at the bottom of the order were two other luxury brands: Alfa Romeo was 29th, while Acura was 28th.
Some GM vehicles were also included in Consumer Reports‘ ranking of the least reliable vehicles. The Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon were found to be the least reliable vehicles overall, with a “reliability score” of just 4 out of 100. The Chevrolet Camaro was the second least reliable vehicle according to the survey, with a reliability score of 5 out of 100. The Chevrolet Traverse also found itself 10th in the bottom ten ranking with a reliability score of 18.
This survey takes small problems into account, such as squeaky brakes and broken interior trim pieces, along with major problems such as engine and transmission problems. Issues with in-car electronics are also accounted for, such as a buggy infotainment screen. It’s unclear what specific problems Consumer Reports users had with the Colorado, Canyon and Traverse, but they could range from fairly minor to major, as the survey scope is quite wide.
The most reliable vehicle in the survey was the Mazda MX-5 Miata, with an overall reliability score of 95. The Toyota Prius Prime was second with a score of 94, while the standard Prius was third with a score of 92.
Another takeaway from this survey, Consumer Reports said, is the clear drop off in reliability of a model when it receives a major update or when a next-generation version is introduced.
“CR’s proprietary analysis shows that vehicles tend to be most reliable by the final year of any particular model run (typically five to seven years), after many of the bugs have been worked out, and least reliable in the first year of a redesign, when freshly reconfigured and often touted as ‘all-new’,” the publication said.
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Source: Consumer Reports
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Way to go GM! The bean counters are in full control.
@Mark
Glad to see everyone now sees what I have been stating for years here. Ever since Lutz left, the Bean-Counters have just taken over everything in GM. They went back to ONLY caring about their Shareholders while neglecting their Customers and Workforce. History has proven so many times that this is a recipe for utter Disaster.
Just look at their All New from the Ground Up Cash Cows, they completely dropped the Ball due to the Bean-Counters and now Ram took over second place. Bean-Counting products NEVER works out for the better.
momo… you sound like a 10 year old. Maybe by saying bean counter 2 or 300 more times, we’ll assume you have an opinion. Or, simply move on Einstein
Lutz’s should have been given control of GM. Barra earns good margins but has done nothing for quality and withdrawn globally.
I still think a reverse merger will PSA would have been best for GM with Carlos Taveres taking charge. He saved Opel in one year. In addition, while Europe is a mature region, it is more profitable than China. PSA as part of GM could have been a great profit driver while providing solid yet inexpensive EV platforms to complement GEM.
As Henry Ford said running a auto company is a matter of nickels and dimes.
Just one item costing 10 cents more can cost you $100 k on a million models. You make 10 dime mistakes and you can cost a million. Now factor in the cost of items in a cars are dollars not dimes so the financial disaster could just be one major component away.
Every automaker need car people to run them but they need to be balanced out with financial people. The balance of finance and engineering is critical and not always easy to meet.
Finally you don’t make money you lose investors and stock vs,use if you are upside down on the money.
I know some here like to complain about bean counters but while in some cases they can hurt but in many cases they can save a company just as a good engineer in the right balance.
Please read Lutz book Car Guy vs Bean Counters. Bob and bean counters have had many a fight. He also has over ruled them often but he is the first yo say they are also needed to protect the company from those who create but don’t pay the bills. In other words it is a dirty job but someone needs to balance the books.
Anyone critical of Lutz as a bean counter need to get an education on the man. Most of his life has been pressing the bean counters at each company he has worked for.
I still see idiots blaming him for the Aztek when it had been out for a while before he even arrived. He was appalled by it as were we. .
Such a true story. I was burned in a brand new 2016 Chevrolet Silverado.Trade it in for a 2014 Toyota Tundra.And also burned in a used 2013 Chevrolet Malibu eco fully loaded.Figured I would give Chevrolet another chance.I’m finally done with General Motors altogether.Never will I purchase another Chevrolet brand.
GM quality has been crap for longer than that. I USED to be a Chevrolet fan, the fuel pumps and original electronic transmissions of the 90s is why I won’t ever own another. Why is this a shocker? I’ve seen lots of people I know struggle with repairs and car payments and it was always the same problems, I still believe they were engineered to fail. As long as brand loyalty exist they will keep taking advantage of bow tie fans.
Proof is in their ruined names, a Malibu was a trim of the rwd intermediate cars that also included chevelle, corporate is is laughing all the way to the bank cause people keep buying their trash. Have you seen the new blazer lol, yeah keep on folks, buy the garbage instead of holding them to a higher standard.
Pitiful…
Outside of v8 rwd based vehicles GM has fallen far. Far far to where Toyota was 10 years ago, minus the reliability.
Actually the CR reviews are nothing more than their opinion and mostly subscribers feed back. That means it is far from scientific and or accurate.
Many of the vehicles from year to year jump on and off the list even if nothing has changed on the vehicle. All brands are effected.
The thing is people tend to believe CR and not really know the truth. So MFG try to get on the list even if it is bogus as it is good Publicity.
These ratings are based on, in their own words “Our extensive survey data, combined with our technical knowledge, allows us to expertly predict the reliability of new and redesigned models.” Bottom line, they rarely cite actual statistics, but instead their ratings are based on really nothing more than a subscriber only feedback loop.
In other words much of their data is as accurate as an Amazon Rating.
right … let’s stick with JD Powaaaahhhhh.
I don’t mean to be ignorant to CR, but what on earth do they know about cars anyhow?? An unreliable source if you ask me. Yes, there may be a few GM vehicles that aren’t on top of the scale, but this is completely unrealistic and made up by folks that haven’t clue what their on about……
You are absolutely right! CR is all about owner complaints. If you want to go by actual numbers, Chevy has had the lowest cost of vehicle life ownership for nearly 20 years and the lowest number of recalls. If CR is any indication, it shows that picky buyers buy gm because they are the best option in a competitive set. Toyota has the least because people who don’t know what good cars are go buy the first 2007 architecture tundra on the lot. this report can be taken in a different light.
Part of they’re problem is they only poll people who subscribe to their magazine. It is not scientific at all and you don’t know who these people are or their demographics. Consumer Reports also outsources reviews to other companies and had that big debacle in the past with the child safety seats in which the company testing them made some big errors and CR had this big public apology because of it.
Consumer Reports has always been bias against GM, the last report had Range Rover at number 30 and Cadillac was higher up on the list. Just buy an Extended warranty on any vehicle you buy and make sure it covers all electrical and drive train.
scott3 AKA C8.R,
You seem to be a more advanced boomer than most, yet the overwhelming need on your part to try to convince the general public GM knows what they are doing is strange to me.
I know your livelihood is or was tied directly to GM as a GM performance shop, yet your boomerness shines through when you comment on the true tech.
Most of the gen – Ys and a some of the gen – Xs research on devices. Heck they do most on devices. Bank, buy and almost everything.
So this GM campaign on the data shows ( X ) is a waist. JD Power says this. When you research JD Power what do you find ? Its a shell, Pay for what data you want, and the gen – Ys know this.
Its like your comments on Amazon reviews, do you understand that ? Do you understand why Amazon Is as large as it is ? Microsoft ? Google ?
Its DATA, watching the DATA is what they do, Its how they operate, its how they know what you want, get it ?
You might think GM knows what they are doing, buy these tech companies do !!!!
Look at all the old boomer companies going out of business, look at retail sales, where are they coming from ?
Now I don’t believe CR any more than JD power or anything from GM.
But I purchase almost everything I need online, why do I, because you just cant get what you need from a old boomer owned store. Its like GM knowing what the customer wants ——–
They don’t know !!!!!
Ill help you out a little, when you purchase something on Amazon, when it is delivered to you ( which they know in real time ) you are asked to feedback how the purchase went. In a short while you are asked to give a review on how the product works and any feedback you want, not a questioner designed by the manufacturer. At any time you can add to your review, and other people can ask you questions on the product, through Amazon.
This feedback and review system if through the tech of the company and is the greatest way to know what the customer of a product thinks.
It would let the owners of GM vehicles ask other owners of the same vehicle direct questions. Some of the forums out their help with this, but are third party sites. GM and the OLD companies are trying to deliberately stifle the flow of DATA.
Facebook is sorting out some of this. as GM tries to get you to only private message them and get your opinion review off the site, but most have caught on as GM is doing nothing.
Anyway this for sure has already been proven, who is larger GM or Amazon ?
Some of you boomers will never get it, and I feel sorry for you.
I feel sorry as I watch the once great boomer companies and stores and automakers go bankrupt.
But as you know I have already watched GM do this once over lack of customer input.
so the koreans have kia, hyundai, and genesis in the top 10. gm … none.
but don’t worry … they are just “punching above their weight” delivering more reliable vehicles for less money. gm has nothing to worry about. consumers won’t notice.
Did CR ever give GM high marks?
The last book I bought the only car they recommended was the impala and regal which was rated like 77 out of 100
They quite liked the Impala, which has been the number 1 large sedan in their ratings consistently since 2014. They also reported above average reliability and owner satisfaction on it.
Yes. CR rated the Buick Regal at the TOP of it’s “Luxury Compact” Category in 2017 & 2019. EQUAL to the Audi A4 for $10-15,000 LESS and rated BETTER than the BMW 330i; Tesla Model 3; Acura TLX; Mercedes C300; Genesis G70; Lexus IS300; Infinity Q50; Kia Stinger; Jaguar XE & Alfa Romeo Guilia Ti. BEAT some pretty dam good company!! AND where are the overpaid “bean counters” & marketing Einstein’s in GM & Buick Division??? MIA and about to discontinue one of their current best products in lieu of crossovers etc “cause Americans aren’t driving sedans anymore”. They’ve NEVER seen the forest for the trees in the upper hierarchy of this bloated mega company with 50’s style industrial management philosophy. What a shame.
Here we go again with GM and Consumer Reports.
Everyone knows GM delivers very poor value, I seriously doubt anyone was surprised by this. I doubt GM will be a player in 20 years if this continues… very sad and unnecessary
What needs to be kept clear here is this is by “member”, or in other words from people who subscribe to C.R. and not people like me and most of you. C.R. has never been credible IMO because of huge flaws in how they report, where they attain the information, lack of a wide range of consumers (again, this is all from “members”), and well as C.R.’s inability to accurately report simple factual information about vehicles such as correct engines, dimensions, etc.
I sell Mazda’s now, and if they feel the Miata MX5 is a high quality car, then I have a bridge to sell them. Putting the Toyota twins up near the top as well is absolutely silly. As much as I have ridden in the Toyota’s and seen the “trim pieces” broken and fallen off, rattles, smoke coming out of the tailpipe, electronic issues. I’ve spoken with the drivers/owners of them. They are not what this C.R. report claims. What’s more, the vast majority of people who belong to C.R. (members) are not GM/Ford/Chrysler friendly. Never have been and most likely will never be.
CR is like public TV. Not ready for prime time accept for occasional things.
I’m not buying the bottom most scores of the Colorado and Canyon which have been out basically as is since 2015. The only issue I have heard with them is the shift quality on the 8 speed which was cured with a change of fluid type. Most everybody with one seems to really like them overall.
I know a guy who’s had 2 GMC Canyons. A 2015 and a 2018. the first had 122k miles on it and his current one has 56k on it and neither have had any problems. His second one started shifting hard around 8k miles but cleared up around 10k.
Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon are both very-reliable vehicles, but they have to be strictly 2.5L 4-CYLINDER RWD only with 6-speed auto. It’s a completely different breath of fresh air… Very sad and very unfortunate, but I do know the 3.6L V6 with 8-speed auto, and 4WD are very-troublesome drivetrain pairs in Colorado/Canyon. Hope this info helps…
Very true. My 18 4×4 crew cab V6 has been a nightmare since Day 2 of ownership. Major transmission problems (5 to 8 second delay to shift into drive or reverse after sitting for several hours), constant rattles in the B pillars, stripped lug nuts (right from the factory), and engine idling/stalling problems. Pile of junk in my experience.
So Consumer Reports surveys 420,000 of their subscribers about issues with vehicles they own with a model range between 2000 and 2019. Nearly a two decade model range…what could possibly go wrong?
I’m a current CR “member” AND GM owner. I’ve taken their highly exhausting, time consuming & detailed surveys twice now for BOTH my 2011 Buick Regal Turbos (I hit a friggin deer & totalled my 1st loved tooling around in it so much I bought another 2011). NO issues with either, except brakes needed servicing more than my usual. I HIGHLY recommended the vehicle. You listening out there GM & Buick mis-managers in the Detroit metro area??? KEEP the Regal going beyond 2020!!
What I find interesting is the essentially identical vehicles (take the GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado as examples) can garner significantly different scores. It makes me wonder if this is due in part to owner expectations? The GMC is considered to be the luxury brand and owners expect more from it. Yet in reality, the Sierra and Silverado as essentially identical.
@Cliff:
Way back around 1990, my aunt decided that I would like the C.R. auto edition where they “rated” all cars. This is when I was a very new sales person at the Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda store. The dealership considered me the product knowledge king and I was in charge of administering the GM tests in order to be certified. Someone else administered the Honda tests, but I still had to take them. My point is that I knew my product and we tested on them all. If you didn’t pass, you didn’t get the incentive money! So after my aunt left, I sat down and began to thoroughly go over this coveted C.R. magazine. In less than 10 minutes, I had found numerous errors in the reporting of engines, options, etc. just in the Cadillac cars. Then I found several in the Buick section, so any credibility they had just went out the door. Hey, if you can’t even copy down technical specs from the GM site, then how can you rate cars? A couple years later my buddy (who still sells Chevrolet’s to this day) and I were talking about C.R. and how they seemed to hate GM. He pointed out that the Caprice paint for the V8 was rated below average where the Caprice V6 paint was rated above average in the exact same issue. Yet both cars rolled off the same assembly line!
For me, C.R. has little value or car cred. Stick to appliances boys!
I generally read the CR recommendations and do the opposite of their advice, as taking their advice never worked out in anything.
When chrysler beats you – you know you are in trouble.
Same thing as for Ford and Lincoln. Dodge is now the most-reliable domestic car brand. It’s largely because Chrysler don’t offer many turbo engines in lineup, and ZF’s 8-speed auto in Ram trucks is a success compare to GM’s and Ford’s troublesome 8-speed. Remember 1960s before? Chrysler was once the most-reliable domestic automaker before at one time, and we’re glad to see where it once belong.
Kind of off-subject, but the article’s main pic of the white Chevrolet Colorado is great. There’s something about that exact trim (??) of the Colorado that I just love. And boy is that even nicer looking when compared to the “updated” 2021 Colorado with that new front end. If I were interested in getting one, I’d jump on a 2020 just to avoid that ultra ugly updated one.
I have a theory people that buy American cars particularly GM brand cars probably buy them with pride as opposed to people that buy a car like Toyota where it’s more of an appliance so if little things don’t hold up they don’t care as long as major things don’t fail.my bet is the people that report to consumer reports that have GM products are mad of the things that went wrong .with that being said I never met anyone that had problems with Japanese brands
I’ve been a Chevy Silverado owner for more than 20 years, purchasing 4 new trucks during that time frame, but loved the styling of the Colorado and in early 2018 decided to go with it on my last purchase. It’s a Ext Cab 3.6L V6 with 8-speed auto, and 4WD and with 30k on the odometer it’s been an exceptional vehicle.
I honestly don’t know what to think. My parents both drive Buick suvs and they have been great. The company I work for has a dozen GM vehicles that have all been great also.
I personally own a Toyota and a Cadillac. The Toyota is the best vehicle I have ever owned. The Cadillac……not at all.
GM vehicles just don’t age well…….maybe.
My experience has been exceptional with GM vehicles. I have owned 8 HD pickups since 01 two 6.0 gas and 6 Duramax trucks. I currently own an 06 3500 DRW, ’18 Duramax 3500 CC LB SRW, an ’18 Colorado ZR2, ’15 ZL1 Camaro, ’16 1500 GMC CC SB. I work my pickups hard pulling excavation equipment nearly every day of the day. I race the ZL1. My stuff is taken care of but nothing is babied. I have next to zero problems, a couple of nickle dime things with the 06 but its older and has a lot of miles. I am a very satisfied with GM quality and so is everyone that I know that owns GM vehicles, which is mostly contractors working their pickups every day as I do. I personally don’t care what CR has to say. My personal experience is what I go by.
Did GM pay you to say this lmao. GM IS GARBAGE bud. I would never deal with them again. 70k on a Yukon and its junk. Toyota does circles around gm in reliability.
So first the CR people give unreliable scores to their vehicles that still move down the road. By this I mean the new GM ” Good Enough ” moto is that the vehicle is 100% reliable unless it is sitting on the side of the road not moving !!
Lets look at these examples:
I would give my 2015 Canyon a bad score as I had to buy a tune to make it shift like a vehicle should. Did it quit on the road, no, but it shifted like crap and GM would do nothing. The Canyon also had a steering recall for the electric steering. The Canyon also had a seat recall as it wasn’t mounted to the floor. The Canyon also had the heater door recall where GM put a hose clamp on the actuator door, band-aid. The Canyon also had an air bag recall. Not to mention the 8 speed GM junk, like scott3 or C8.R had his whole transmission replaced by GM, yet other customers still live with the troubles.
So did the Canyon leave the customer by the side of the road, no, was it the greatest vehicle ever like some here would like you to believe, NOPE, NOPE it wasn’t.
And don’t even get me started on the Cadillac. 90% of the CUE screens, of the 2014 type faulty design, will delaminate in high ambient temps, if they have not already. Does this leave you on the side of the road, nope, would the customer rate this high, nope. Our 2014 ATS also had or has 5 letters of satisfaction for faulty parts and is still dripping rear end fluid on the garage floor. The ATS has a faulty switch in the gear shifter. The ATS had a faulty crash response system. The ATS had a recall also like the Canyon on the electric power steering. The ATS also has horrible shift points, ours is a 6 speed. The ATS also has run flats, that is ok but if you hit a pot hole the rims bend and break like the Corvette wheels, yes that also happened on ours.
OK lets shift to our 2017 HD Duramax. The HD had a recall for the emission system. The HD had a recall on the rear end axle nut. The HD had a faulty fuel cap. The HD had a recall for the wrong seatbelt pre tensioner. The HD had a rattle in the headliner. The HD had a block heater recall, and GM would not even fix it.
So if I were a Consumer Reports customer, and they asked me to rate my last 3 GM vehicles, a 2014, 2015, and a 2017, I would rate them low, LOW.
And I would rate the GM response to the problems, horrible, HORRIBLE !!!!!
GM has a ” Good enough ” attitude, and no, NONE, horrible customer support !!
Tossing out some CR numbers
Place. YOY change Brand (# of models rated) actual # of Models worst rated model, best rated model
8. +13 Dodge(3)5 Durango, Challenger
15. -4 Lincoln(4)6. Nautilus, MKZ
16. — Ford(9)16* F150, EcoSport
18. -5 Buick(5)6. Regal, Encore
19. +7 Chrysler(2)2 Pacifica, 300
22. +2 GMC(6)7* Canyon, Yukon
25. -3 Chevy(11)19* Colorado, Tahoe
26. -3 Jeep(5)6. Wrangler, Grand Cherokee
30. — Cadillac(3)6. XT4, XT5
Not Rated RAM
* HDs & SuperDutys are not grouped in with Fullsized Pickups
Observations
1. The Detroit brands sell in huge numbers. They are also quick to discontinue slow selling models. Given the large discrepancies between rated models and the actual number of models each brand sold. very few American vehicle buyers responded to this survey.
2. Due to lack of Detroit vehicle buyers responding to this survey. The data collected on the Detroit brands is worthless. My apologies for wasting your time.