Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
The only brand I think I would consciously avoid is Land Rover. I've seen many of these charts over the years, and manufacturers change places frequently. But one constant is Land Rover is always at the bottom
|
That's exactly what I talk about when I say that Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, et al. doesn't tell the whole story and why you should prioritize buying what you like over simply going by the numbers.
Look at the brands above the industry average and below. Three luxury brands above the line: Lexus (yawn), Genesis, and BMW. The rest of them overwhelmingly sit on the lower half of the bottom of the list.
Porsche generally is regarded as a very reliable brand, yet it's below the line. Mitsubishi is churning out hot garbage, and it's 6th place? Well, how much
could go wrong with a Radio Flyer wagon that someone bolted a drivetrain and doors onto?
Land Rovers are complex vehicles; luxury vehicles are complex by design. There's simply more little stuff to go wrong with them. It doesn't mean you're going to be flat-decking it around any more than any other vehicle, but yeah, you might get a light on the dash because the
f#$%ing TPMS sensors have lost connection for a split second or didn't wake up quickly enough upon starting the vehicle
again. Or the module for the soft-close passenger doors got confused and thinks it's already shut. It's stupid little stuff, annoyances. But you aren't getting individual wheel-specific TPMS or soft-close
anything on a papier-mâché Mitsubishi. or pretty much any other brand above that line (again, save for the luxury brands).
So charts like this generally tend to reflect, especially where premium/luxury brands are concerned, the complexity of the vehicles themselves compared to their non-luxury counterparts.
I mean, I have a thermoelectric fridge in the center armrest. Starting with room temperature bottled water and driving to Banff; 45 minutes and I have properly cold water. But if that fridge stops working, it isn't stranding me in town, it's just annoying. Nevertheless, it's another statistic just the same as if the engine started spitting connecting rods out the side of the block.