2010 Consumer Reports Car Brand Perceptions Survey

I am surprised about Infiniti, but not Mazda. I have never been impressed with their cars.
It's funny how Ford is so high and Mercury so low. Aren't they basically the same car?
I am surprised also about Cadillac and Chevy. Also Mercedes, I have seen too many Mercedes vehicles from my bosses with mechanical issues.

 

I am surprised Prius scored the highest in this "perception" survey. I thought it is the car that most love to hate.

It is interesting that Ford is better perceived than Honda.

 

But where's the chart that shows perception vs actual reliability? That one is hilarious - Ford is not so good on reliability, but their perception rating is very high...

 

I would like to see that chart also.

 

I'm surprised by the difference between Toyota and Lexus (which shares toyota's quality and longevity). From what I have seen, the Infinitis are plagued by problems, but not just from the quality of the car. it's (the G35/37) a heavily modded car. Take a look at g35driver.com or another of the forums. A large amount of the complaints are like this:

"my car was always running fine, then I installed these unsupported mods, now my car is messed up... Infiniti is crap!!!!!!!"

I am glad Ford shot up in the ratings. Ford has put alot of work into their cars and they deserve to reap the hard work they have sowed.

 

Value is one of the important categories in the survey. That is why Lexus rates lower than Toyota; Lincoln and Mercury rate lower than Ford.

 

Very interesting survey. Toyota has cornered the 'green' demographic, and continues to do well with the 'value' and 'reliability' minded folk.

So, what's a person like me to do who wants high value, green reliable car to do ?

 

Here are the seven criteria: Safety, quality, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation, and environmentally friendly/green.

With these factors in mind it's hard to fathom how Benz and BMW can be perceived as better than Lexus. Everybody (even the owners) know that they would buy a Benz or BMW for the label only and that they would get a Lexus if they wanted a better car.

 

Tom183 said - "But where's the chart that shows perception vs actual reliability? That one is hilarious - Ford is not so good on reliability, but their perception rating is very high..."

Wow, look at all the red for Toyota and Lexus and all the black for GM, Ford, and Chrysler: ConsumerReports.org - Used Cars Make/Model - A to Z Index B - Consumer Reports

 

Exactly - and the Edmunds report on NTHSA incidents shows much the same.