Ford’s Sync 3 and utes score well with consumers

Sync 3, the latest generation of Ford’s infotainment system introduced on some 2016 Ford and Lincoln models, received positive feedback from users in “Consumer Reports’ annual Auto Reliability Survey”.

The design of Sync 3, which features faster performance, conversational voice recognition, an intuitive smartphone-like touch screen and an easier-to-understand graphical interface, is based on feedback from more than 20,000 customers.

The system will be available on every 2017 model year vehicle in North America and will be further enhanced by Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mobile integration, which will be available on all Sync 3-equipped 2017 model year vehicles worldwide.

Other notable results from the Consumer Reports survey included Ford utility vehicles.

The survey rated the Expedition the most reliable large SUV, while the Escape Titanium was considered the best American-made compact SUV.

The Ford Escape and Ford Edge were added to the “recommended buy” list thanks in part to solid reliability performance for those models. The 2017 Lincoln MKZ achieved “recommended buy” with “average” reliability in the latest survey.

Other Ford vehicles also topped the domestic rankings.

The Fusion SE (Mondeo) and Edge SEL were named best Americanmade mid-size car and midsize SUV, respectively.

Overall, Ford declined one spot to 18th overall in reliability, while Lincoln dropped four positions to No. 20 among the 29 brands in the study.

Consumer Reports also dropped its “recommended buy” rating for the Ford F-150 and Lincoln MKX due to reliability issues in the latest survey.

The survey was compiled using feedback from Consumer Reports subscribers who collectively owned or leased more than 500,000 vehicles from model years 2000 to 2017.