For the 36th consecutive time we have updated car reliability stats before the end of the quarter’s second month, covering through the end of the previous quarter (June 30, 2015, in this case). Reliability scores elsewhere are based on data about 14 months older.
Three months ago I thought I’d be reporting now that Tesla’s quality had turned a corner. Through the end of the first quarter no repairs had been reported for the latest iteration of the Model S.
Well, enough 2015 Model S repairs were reported during the second quarter to bump the repair rate to about three times the average. While this might be an improvement over previous model years, it’s not enough of one. The repair frequency for the 2012-2013 has been improving, such that in the past year it has been about twice the average. Worth noting: Tesla does providing outstanding service when a repair is needed, and some glitches should be expected when buying a revolutionary car from an all-new company.
The Model S was not the most troublesome 2015 in the survey. That honor goes to the Lincoln MKC, continuing a tradition of glitchy new model launches by Ford. It was the only 2015 with a repair frequency of more than one repair trip per car. Bucking this tradition: the new Mustang, which has been nearly repair-free. The all-new aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup also seems to be requiring few repairs so far, but it’s early and the number of responses was a few short of the minimum. Let’s see how it looks next quarter. Of greater concern than first-year reliability: will those aluminum panels corrode in a few years, like the aluminum hoods on many other Fords have?
The 2014-2015 BMW i3 was the third-most-troublesome 2015 in our survey owing to a common problem with its charging module. On the other hand, the 2014-2015 Mini Hardtop was about average while the 2014-2015 BMW 2 Series was, like the Mustang, nearly repair-free.
We didn’t receive quite enough responses for the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The data we do have suggests a glitchy first model year, perhaps about even with the i3.
Among other cars redesigned or significantly updated for 2015…
Both the Audi A3 / S3 and the Volkswagen GTI continued to have better-than-average repair frequencies in their first model years. The Golf 1.8T isn’t faring as well in our stats, but this could be due to a small sample size–let’s see how it looks next quarter.
Though owners have complained about the behavior of the new nine-speed transmission (engineered by German company ZF), few completed repairs have been reported for the Chrysler 200. The related Jeep Cherokee is also faring pretty well in its second year. (If only the larger Jeep Grand Cherokee was as free of bugs.)
We don’t have much data on GM’s redesigned large SUVs, but what we do have suggests they’re doing pretty well. GM’s new midsize pickups…maybe not quite as well, but we need more responses for a reasonably precise stat.
Absolutely no repairs were reported for the Honda CR-V, with 37 members responding. The Accord and Civic weren’t updated for 2015, but it’s noteworthy that no repairs were reported for either for them, uh, either. The all-new Fit wasn’t quite so lucky, and wasn’t as problem-free as previous model years, but was still considerably better than the average 2015. Recent Acuras have been considerably more troublesome. Though we don’t have a sufficient sample size for the new TLX, the twenty responses we did receive suggest a worse-than-average repair frequency.
Two redesigned Hyundais, the Genesis and Sonata, continue to do well in their first model year, but not as well as they were doing in previous quarters. They’re now near the average for all 2015s–about one repair trip for every four cars in their first year.
The Porsche Macan has been requiring repairs about 50 percent more often than the average 2015, not too bad for an all-new complicated German product.
First-year reliability of the new Subaru Legacy and Outback has worsened since last quarter, but remains near the average. We had 120 responses for these. The new WRX has improved from about double the average to about 1.5 times the average. This improvement will continue if no new common problems pop up as some initial ones (sticking fuel doors, paint rubbing off the edges of the trunk) drift out of our one-year window.
Interested in some cars that weren’t redesigned for 2015, or in something older? To check the latest car reliability stats for these and other models: