Acura reliability ranks higher than Lexus in 2007

Toyota's vaunted Lexus luxury brand has fallen from first to fifth in Consumer Reports magazine's annual predicted reliability survey. Acura is currently ranked fourth. The top 3 spots are not "luxury" brands. An interesting note is that the top 5 positions are held by either Toyota or Honda. Mercedes-Benz was last among 36 brands. Other luxury brands at the bottom: Land Rover, Hummer and Jaguar.

The magazine's director of automotive testing, blamed one model for Lexus' fall, the midsize GS that was redesigned last year. He said the car had problems in three areas — body integrity, defined as rattles or poorly fitting panels; body hardware, such as locks and trunk mechanisms; and the sound system.

Mercedes, DaimlerChrysler's luxury brand, tumbled four places to the cellar, "a very poor showing for a very expensive car," Champion said. Mercedes' quality is so imperiled that a 9-year-old Lexus LS 400 has potentially fewer problems than a new Mercedes ML. Champion said of Mercedes: "They perform well, have great fit and finish. But they seem to have a lot of problems with the seven-speed automatic transmission in all their products, and power accessories and electrical systems."

How 'Consumer Reports' survey ranks cars
Predicted reliability of brands and where they placed last year (Bold = gained; italics = lost.)
Maker	'07	'06
Toyota	1	3
Honda	2	2
Scion	3	7
Acura	4	6
Lexus	5	1
Subaru	6	5
Hyundai	7	13
Infiniti	8	28
Mitsubishi	9	4
Mercury	10	8
Mazda	11	9
Audi	12	27
Lincoln	13	30
GMC	14	25
Volvo	15	12
Ford	16	16
Kia	17	14
Buick	18	20
BMW	19	21
Pontiac	20	17
Chevrolet	21	24
Dodge	22	18
Chrysler	23	15
Nissan	24	26
Saab	25	23
Suzuki	26	10
Volkswagen	27	33
Mini	28	11
Porsche	29	36
Saturn	30	29
Cadillac	31	22
Jeep	32	19
Jaguar	33	31
Hummer	34	35
Land Rover	35	34
Mercedes-Benz	36	32
Table Source: Consumer Reports

[Source] USAToday.com - Japanese brands dominate
[Source] USAToday.com - Luxury brands take beating in auto-reliability survey