Despite all of the recalls and bad press Toyota had a few months ago they have pulled through stronger and better than ever. Some recent surveys about car reliability and dependability show that Toyota is still at the top of the list. Toyota as a company has also stepped up and added some major safety features to its line-up of cars for 2011.
Over 1.3 million vehicle owners who are also readers of Consumer Reports voted for which cars they found most reliable. The study covered model years 2001 to 2010. The vehicles that made the list of Most Reliable Cars must also have performed well in government and insurance industry crash and rollover tests. The cars also had to have electronic stability control available in a mainstream high-volume trim line in order to be considered. The results of the reliability study put Toyota Cars at the top of the list. Models from Toyota, Scion and Lexus (brands of Toyota) were among the most reliable cars and earned top scores in five different vehicle categories. The Toyota Yaris, FJ Cruiser, Sienna V6 and Tundra V6 all scored top scores in the study. The Lexus LX also earned top marks.
J.D. Power and Associates conducted another similar study to find the dependability of vehicles. They surveyed owners of 3-year old models that were purchased new and asked them to identify problems that had arisen in the last 12 months. The Vehicle Dependability Study asks owners to identify any issues they've had in 200 different problem areas. Toyota performed very well in this study and received four different segment awards- more than any other brand in the study. The Toyota Highlander, Prius, Sequoia and Tundra all received above average marks for their dependability. Toyota's Lexus brand also made the top 5 list. In the compact car category the Toyota Prius was number one followed by the Corolla. In the Large Multi-Activity category the Toyota Sequoia topped the list as did the Tundra in the large pickup category. In the midsize multi activity category Toyota took the top 2 spots with the Highlander and the 4Runner. The Toyota Sienna and Yaris were in the top 3 for the minivan and sub-compact car categories respectively. Lexus made the top 3 in the large premium car category (LS460), midsize premium car (ES 350) and midsize premium multi activity category (GX 470, RX).
