Ford leads the domestics

Ford's three brands-Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury-continue to pull away from the rest of the Detroit automakers. Almost all Ford models are now average or better, with the exception of some that are truck-based. Excluding those, Ford's reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers.

General Motors is a mixed bag. Among the bright spots is the redesigned Chevrolet Malibu; in its first year, the four-cylinder version is better than average and the V6 is average. The Buick Lucerne with a V8 and the Pontiac G6 with a four-cylinder are above average, and the Chevrolet Avalanche has improved to average.

But a quarter of GM models are still well below average in reliability. Some that didn't fare well are fairly new designs that did well in our testing, such as the Cadillac CTS and the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook SUV triplets. Chrysler trails the pack. Almost two-thirds of its products rate below average for reliability. The redesigned 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans earned low scores, as did the Chrysler Sebring V6 and Dodge Avenger sedans and the Jeep Liberty SUV. The Sebring Convertible has the worst score: 283 percent worse than average. The only above-average models are the Dodge Caliber hatchback and Jeep Patriot SUV.


Toyota bounces back

Last year we called out three Toyota models that had slipped to below average: the Camry V6, Tundra V8 4WD, and the Lexus GS AWD. Toyota seems to have rectified some of the problems-all 42 of the Toyota, Lexus, and Scion models in our survey scored average or better. While the three models noted above scored merely average, most models got above-average Ratings. Almost all models from Honda and its Acura luxury division received above-average scores. In addition, Subarus for which we have sufficient data scored average or better in reliability.

Nissan showed striking improvements, with the perennially troublesome Armada SUV, Titan pickup, and Infiniti QX56 SUV finally gaining average reliability. The new Nissan Rogue and Infiniti EX SUVs have started out above average, which is a good sign, and the Altima Hybrid sedan is well above average.

The two closely related South Korean nameplates, Hyundai and Kia, rank right up there with the better Japanese makers. Most of their models scored average or better, with only the Hyundai Entourage and Kia Sedona minivans receiving below-average scores.


Europe rebounds

While Mercedes-Benz has improved in reliability, none of its models scored above average and a third are still below average. Audi continues to improve, with two-thirds of its lineup scoring average or better. Its sister brand, Volkswagen, has several models rating average or better in our survey, but the Passat sedan, Touareg SUV, and Eos convertible have not done well. BMW has also shown progress in recent years, with most versions of the 3 Series and some 5 Series models being average or better. The 6 Series improved to above average.

Volvo has continued the upward march as well. Of the nine Volvos for which we have sufficient data, only the redesigned XC70 wagon rated below average in reliability. Land Rover continued to fare poorly, with all four of its SUVs, including the new LR2, scoring well below average.