September 1, 2012
Consumers expect their vehicles to stand the test of time. Americans are experiencing high numbers of unemployment with more layoffs in the forecast, people don’t want to take a chance spending their money on an unreliable vehicle.
The average age for cars on the road is at record setting levels, but it’s other factors of dependability consumers are putting more of their buying decisions into. They want to know maintenance and minor problems aren’t going to nickel and dime them and which vehicles rate the highest in safety along with long term fuel economy. If driving safety training and dependability are what matter to consumers, automakers have begun to listen.
This particular infographic illustrates the comparisons of different makes and models with dependability factors like:
• Which make of vehicles accounted for the highest number of reported problems? Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler (all from the same family automaker) take the hit on the highest number of problems. It’s the only American automaker to make the list. • Dependability factors and the companies show overall ratings for different sized vehicles. Each size had at least one vehicle score 5 star ratings overall. • Safety picks were rated on price as well as size. • Fuel economy picks are always a cause for debate given how the different size and types of vehicles are compared. It doesn’t make sense to some to compare electronic vehicles with gas only vehicles if they are both hatchbacks.
All of the data continually gathered from all of the types of vehicles on the road is then taken into consideration with consumer reviews and reports. Also, dot training videos may be used as a type of reference when determining dependability for todays cars.
Note: We received a tip from Zack over at The Smoking Tire who let us know that the ‘Quickest Vehicles’ section is not accurate. This section is based on a report from Consumer Reports but they neglected to include the Corvette Z06 which clocked in at 4.3s.
