Yahoo Finance How the American Brands Perform in Car Reliability
Each of Detroit's three domestic manufacturers fared quite differently for car reliability in our 2016 Annual Auto Survey. (See how all brands stack up for car reliability.)
General Motors, the largest of the Big 3, had hits and misses across its brands. Buick made impressive gains while Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC were hurt by GM's large SUVs and pickups, which are among the least-reliable models in our survey. Sharing the same platform were the large Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe SUVs, along with the Silverado 1500 and 2500 pickups; GMC's Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs and Sierra pickups; and the Cadillac Escalade. We saw common problems ripple across each brand on those models.
GM's vehicles ranged the full spectrum of reliability. The all-new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze, for example, came in tops among compact cars, but owners of the redesigned plug-in hybrid Volt noted problems—paradoxically—with its gas engine.
Ford continued to have problems with troublesome transmissions in the Fiesta and Focus, and the current-generation F-150 began to show reliability problems in its second year. That leaves a void in the market for a reliable domestic pickup truck that scored well in our road tests. A major bright spot for Ford and Lincoln was the new Sync 3 system, which was introduced in some 2016 models. Only Lincoln MKC owners noted Sync 3 as somewhat problematic. Unfortunately for Lincoln, the MKC and the redesigned for 2016 MKX SUVs had below-average reliability.
And last, Italian-owned Fiat Chrysler Automobiles continues its turbulent voyage. The Fiat 500L, the most trouble-prone new car for the past two years, has moved up slightly through the rankings; it's now the seventh most-troublesome car. Every Fiat and Ram vehicle had below-average reliability ratings. Among models from the FCA brands, only the Chrysler 300 sedan, the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, and the Jeep Patriot SUV managed an average or better score.
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