Anyone read the latest Consumer Reports (April, 2009)?
They rank Chrysler at the bottom with regards to test scores
and reliability. For reliability, it is third from bottom. But, it's range
of models puts it at the lowest. No Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep vehicle
is recommended.

 

Consumer Reports also rated the Avalance the best truck!!! It's not even really a truck. Only tow 8100lbs. that's 1000 less than the Ram.
They also rated the Hyundai Elantra the best automobile. Whatever!!!!!
They might know about appliances, but not automobiles. They usually only praise Foreign cars, not American.

 

Consumer Reports auto issue is good for two things, advertising for Toyota and toilet paper... actually on second thought, one thing, it makes terrible toilet paper.

 

No surprise, really. You get what you pay for. I drove Chrysler products for over 15 years, thats why now I have a Toyota and a Nissan. Its a shame, they have some nice looking vehicles (not the 2nd gen Durango or the redesigned Dakota they ruined or that trailer park Avenger monstrosity, or the Sebring redesign they screwed up, gee-when youre the biggest joke on the automotive block in terms of reliabilty you really want to get your redesigns right), but people talk, and you cant hide decades of sub-par quality issues. Chrysler will fail.

 

I see somebody's been drinking the Toyota/CR kool-aid...

 

Consumer Reports is complete BS and it's obvious they have some major bias or some companies pay them. Chrysler is no where near the bottom. Anyone who regards them as a credible source is a joke.

 

lxman said it! And theres another way of looking at that statement too: CR knows appliances, so they tend to like cars that pretty much ARE appliances. Anything with style, performance, character or made in USA theyre gonna poop all over. Makes me sick really, since people do read them and perception IS reality for some...

 

Oh, and sorry buddy but youre WAY off on the QC issues. My last 2 Jeeps were both Chrysler Wranglers.

My '95 Rio I bought in '98 with 30K on it, and drove it until '04 with well over 100K on it. I literally drove it from one side of the country to the other at one point or another and it spent a LOT of time offroad, being driven good and hard, and while I performed regular maintenance for the most part, here are the only issues Ive had were the alternator went out after I busted a heater hose and soaked it in coolant (kills those every time) and it did finally spit out 5th gear at 90K miles. The transmissions on 4cyl Wranglers are like 1/2 the size of whats on the 4.0, so it was something that wouldve been fine on a minitruck but totally inadequate on a wrangler.

My '00 which I bought in '03 (yes, I had the 2 together for over a year) with 33K on it has only sprang a leaky radiator tank. It now has 96K on it, has been rolling on 33" tires with 10" wide rims on it the whole time, and outside of oil changes and coolant flushing that radiator is all thats ever gone wrong. When I moved from TN to OR, I piled everything I owned onto a 4x8 foot trailer and hauled it 2500 miles from downpour rains in St Louis, endless corn in Kansas, 400 mph winds in Wyoming, grades that went straight up in Idaho and 6 hour stints of seeing nothing but tumbleweeds in eastern oregon and not one damn flaw. I even slid on black ice doing 50 mph last year, hit a concrete barrier and the only real damage was a bent tie rod, a transfer case mount that got sheared in half, and I destroyed the dash when the airbags blew. The only frame damage was from the little tags that mount the front bumper. Ive been driving it trouble free ever since.

Anytime Ive had to do repairs on any of my 5 my jeeps, from my first '78 CJ-7 up to this Wrangler have been WAY cheaper than than the equivalent items on any other vehicle. Theyre easy to work on, reliable, solidly built, fun to drive and can tackle anything you can throw at them.

The one Toyota my family ever owned was my sister's supra, and any little thing you had to replace on it was stupid expensive. There was some part relating to the windshield wipers that for my dad's '84 ram wouldve been like $40 my '95 Rio wouldve been $50, for that supra the USED part cost $300. Nice car, solidly built but thats insane. And when the clearcoat started to peel prematurely, the dealership wanted to wish away the problem.

Ive read the Edmunds consumer reviews on that new FJ cruiser. I like the truck, its sharp, capable and a good overall design but the QC issues are just scary. These are OWNERS' reviews. Honda is no better, and it seems Nissan is about the same.

 

yeah i hate all of those consumer report ppl they have no idea what they are talking about most of the time. I was watching car and driver the other day and they were comparing the new ram to the new f-150 and they said the f-150 was far superior quality cus this dumb plastic thing on the tailgate of the ram fell off when the guy was standing on it with all of his weight. Like youve got to be kidding me. Does everyone of these places forget that the ram produces 100 more hp and only 1 mpg less or that its the only truck to ever have a 5 link coil. this is what the guy said " the 5 link is great but this plastic piece is unforgivable so the ford takes this one by a fairly large margin " I dont listen to a damn thing any of them say Chrysler dodge and jeep are the best selling line in canada and thats where i live so thats all i need to say. I think there is one thing ppl realy need to consider when determining reliability in cars and trucks. Look who drives them i bet the percentage of asians who drive hondas and toyotas far out weighs the percentage of white ppl that drive those brands. And im not saying it in a racist way but asians are probably alot easier on there cars then white ppl, I know i beat the SH*T outta my truck and i've never had a problem with it and its a dodge. I think some company needs to take like 100 cars from each manufactuer and treat them all the same and see where the standings are after 50,000 miles then we wouuld realy see who is best.

 

I've always liked Fords, but the 09 F150 is too heavy and ugly to boot. The 09 RAM is a nicer truck in my honest opinion.
I do prefer leaf springs on my trucks. Coils are for the front, not rear.