Consumer Reports’ annual survey reveals which cars earn owners’ love
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the February issue of Consumer Reports magazine has a relationship theme going. CR’s editors devoted eight pages to the ins and outs of online matchmaking sites on the information highway and ran the same amount of ink on the love affair (or not) between owners and the vehicles they tool around in on real roads.
Each year the reader-supported magazine, which eschews advertising to avoid potential conflicts of interest or advertiser influence, sends its auto survey to subscribers. The February piece looks strictly at actual consumers’ reports and opinions on whether they’d buy the vehicle all over again, factoring in cost, performance, comfort and enjoyment. (The readers’ feedback is factored in to the magazine’s ratings, along with staff road testing and reliability data from the same auto survey.)
The survey went out in the spring and covered more than 300,000 20142016 vehicles and some 2017 models that were introduced early. Statisticians reviewed the tabulation and analysis for quality.
The 2016 owner satisfaction survey shows that although 70 percent of owners did, in fact, get satisfaction, with other models, the chances of winning their owners back sank like a rolling stone.
The standout models in their respective categories: » Subcompact cars: Honda Fit
» Compact cars: Toyota Prius
» Midsize cars: Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
» Large cars: Toyota Avalon
» Electric/plug-in hybrid cars: Tesla Model S
» Luxury entry-level cars: Audi A3
» Luxury compact cars: Audi A4
» Luxury midsize cars: Hyundai Genesis
» Luxury midsize cars: Lincoln
MKZ hybrid
» Ultra-luxury cars: Tesla Model S
» Coupes & convertibles: Audi S5
» Sports/sporty cars: Chevrolet Corvette
» Minivans: Chrysler Pacifica
» Wagons: Subaru Outback
» Subcompact SUVs: Subaru Crosstrek
» Compact SUVs: Toyota RAV4 hybrid
» Midsize SUVs: Kia Sorento
» Large SUVs: Ford Expedition
» Luxury entry-level SUVs: Audi Q3
» Luxury compact SUVs: Porsche Macan
» Luxury midsize and large SUVs: Audi Q7
» Compact pickups: Honda Ridgeline
» Full-size pickups: Ford F-150
» Heavy-duty pickups: Chevy Silverado 3500HD/GMC Sierra 3500HD Consumer Reports notes that the survey results show that some cars earned their owners love despite their reliability or conclusions of professional reviewers or CR’s battery of tests.
Most satisfying brands
Here are the ten most satisfying brands, ranked by the survey respondents:
1. Tesla
2. Porsche
3. Audi
4. Subaru
5. Toyota
6. Honda
7. Mazda
8. Chrysler
9. Chevrolet
10. Lexus (Each brand’s ranking is based on at least two models)
For more, see the 2016 owner satisfaction report at: http://bit.ly/2ilC6fH.