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General Motors brands and vehicles struggled in the 2019 Consumer Reports Auto Reliability Survey.

The annual Consumer Reports list ranks brands and vehicles using data from surveyed Consumer Reports members. This year, it gathered data on 420,000 different vehicles spanning the 2000 to 2019 model years, with members able to report vehicle problems across 17 “trouble areas” including engine, transmission and in-car electronics. Consumer Reports then uses the survey data to calculate a “reliability rating” for every major mainstream brand and vehicle.

GM did very poorly in this study. Cadillac was ranked 30th among the mainstream auto brands – which is dead last. Its other brands didn’t do too well, either. Chevrolet was 25th, GMC was 22nd and Buick was 18th. Lexus, Mazda and Toyota occupied the top three in that order, while Porsche and Genesis completed the top five, respectively. Joining Cadillac at the bottom of the order were two other luxury brands: Alfa Romeo was 29th, while Acura was 28th.

Some GM vehicles were also included in Consumer Reports‘ ranking of the least reliable vehicles. The Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon were found to be the least reliable vehicles overall, with a “reliability score” of just 4 out of 100. The Chevrolet Camaro was the second least reliable vehicle according to the survey, with a reliability score of 5 out of 100. The Chevrolet Traverse also found itself 10th in the bottom ten ranking with a reliability score of 18.

This survey takes small problems into account, such as squeaky brakes and broken interior trim pieces, along with major problems such as engine and transmission problems. Issues with in-car electronics are also accounted for, such as a buggy infotainment screen. It’s unclear what specific problems Consumer Reports users had with the Colorado, Canyon and Traverse, but they could range from fairly minor to major, as the survey scope is quite wide.

The most reliable vehicle in the survey was the Mazda MX-5 Miata, with an overall reliability score of 95. The Toyota Prius Prime was second with a score of 94, while the standard Prius was third with a score of 92.

Another takeaway from this survey, Consumer Reports said, is the clear drop off in reliability of a model when it receives a major update or when a next-generation version is introduced.

“CR’s proprietary analysis shows that vehicles tend to be most reliable by the final year of any particular model run (typically five to seven years), after many of the bugs have been worked out, and least reliable in the first year of a redesign, when freshly reconfigured and often touted as ‘all-new’,” the publication said.

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Source: Consumer Reports