While there's certainly an order to the way the car companies fared on the Consumer Reports annual auto reliability survey, what's more important for consumers is that the companies' scores were all so low and so close.Consider that the average score for all of the brands was 16 problems per 100 vehicles on the latest survey by the influential magazine, down from 17 problems per 100 vehicles last year. In other words, more than 80 percent of the 800,000 people who took part in the survey had no serious problems at all with their vehicles for a year, regardless of the age of the cars, pickups, vans and SUVs.For the record, Asian brands scored 12 for 100 vehicles, US brands 17 for 100 vehicles, and European brands 21 for 100 vehicles. That's a one-point decline for the American companies, a one-point increase for the Europeans, and the same score for the Japanese and Korean firms.These figures cover 17 different trouble areas, ranging from the engine and transmission to body hardware and electrical systems for vehicles up to eight years old. The responses allow Consumer Reports to calculate problem rates for 1997 through 2004 vehicles and to predict reliability for 2005 models.The magazine operated by Consumers Union of Yonkers, New York, also uses these figures to recommend vehicles to its subscribers.The worst makes continued to be luxury nameplates such as Lincoln (with an average of 26 problems per 100 vehicles), Mercedes-Benz (25 problems per 100), and BMW (21 problems per 100). Also in this bottom group were Volkswagen (23 problems per 100), and Saturn and Nissan -- both with 19 problems per 100 vehicles.Though CR did not give specific scores for all vehicles, it did make some general comments on how various manufacturers fared on the survey. -Ford's reliability varied substantially between models. Some Ford vehicles have proven to be very reliable, while others have been extremely trouble-prone. The previous-generation, 2004 Ford Mustang, for example, was the most reliable domestic car in CR's survey, with a problem rate of five per 100.The Ford Focus and Escape continue to improve and are now among the more reliable domestic products, but the Lincoln Navigator, with 49 problems per 100, was tied with the redesigned Nissan Quest as the least reliable vehicle.-DaimlerChrysler's overall reliability has been close to the overall industry average, albeit with some highs and lows. The PT Cruiser continued as Chrysler's most reliable vehicle, with only eight problems per 100, followed by the four-wheel-drive Dodge Ram pickup with nine. But the four-wheel-drive Dodge Dakota -- in its last year before a redesign -- had 33 problems per 100.-General Motors has made overall improvements, although the results haven't been uniformly good, as evidenced by Cadillac and Buick. The Cadillac CTS sedan, which was one of the least reliable GM products in CR's 2003 survey, is now one of the best, at 10 problems per 100. But the new Cadillac SRX SUV, with 19 problems per 100, has been subpar. Buick, the most reliable domestic brand in Consumer Reports' 2003 survey, is now worse than average at 18 problems per 100. One reason for the poor showing from Buick stems from the fact that CR did not have enough survey responses to properly assess the quality of the now-discontinued Buick Regal, which had been very reliable in previous surveys.
CR quality survey shows how good cars are