Consumer Reports: Vehicle redesigns feature glitches

DETROIT — When it comes to buying a new car, the latest and greatest may not be the most dependable.

In its annual auto reliability survey this year, Consumer Reports found that while newly redesigned models have the latest infotainment, safety and fuel-economy technology, they also come with glitches that frustrate owners.

Problem-prone new models caused brands such as Acura, Volkswagen and Audi to fall in the annual rankings, while Dodge, Chrysler, Infiniti and Mini gained because they haven’t made many changes in their model lineups.

Overall, Japanese brands Lexus, Mazda and Toyota led the nonprofit magazine and website’s reliability rankings, followed by Porsche and Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand. Rounding out the top 10 were Hyundai, Subaru, Dodge, Kia and Mini.

General Motors’ Cadillac was the least reliable of 30 brands, followed by Alfa Romeo, Acura, Volkswagen and Jeep. The remaining least-reliable brands were Chevrolet, Volvo, Tesla, GMC and Mercedes-Benz.

Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of auto testing, said auto companies are making more changes faster, and that’s causing more complaints from owners of new or redesigned models. Generating frequent complaints are transmissions with more gears that make cars and trucks run more efficiently to meet government fuel economy standards. For years, car companies used four-speed automatic transmissions with few problems, but now they’re adding speeds, Fisher said. “We’re seeing a lot of manufacturers having problems with eight, nine, 10speed transmissions,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve really seen that extent before.”

Readers reported that the transmissions can jerk, shift roughly and slip, sometimes becoming a safety concern, Fisher said. Owners of Ford’s F-150 pickup, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S., reported numerous problems with a new 10-speed transmission. GM, which developed the transmission jointly with Ford, also had problems with it, according to the survey, Fisher said.