FYI: ConsumerReports.org: Prius 9th most reliable new car

Here are the rankings starting from the best:

1. Honda Insight
2. Lexus SC 430
3. Mercedes-Benz GLK350
4. Honda S2000
5. Toyota Yaris Hatchback
6. Toyota FJ Cruiser
7. Honda Fit Base AT
8. Honda Fit Sport MT
9. Toyota Prius
10. Scion xD AT

Really 8th when you consider the Fits are basically the same car.

Kudos for the Insight. Still glad that I bought my Prius though!! There was no comparison when it came to comfort, features, and space.

Not bad! The Toyota group has 5, Honda group 4, Mercedes 1. I would love to know who is #11 because the double listing of the Fit does not make sense just because they have different trans and engines.

Engines are the same if I'm not mistaken.

To me reliability is something that manifests long term. You can have a lemon, or a badly built and designed car and start having problems right away but when they make these lists of "most" reliable and they include cars that haven't been in the public useage domain for even a year (new honda insight, 2010 Prius, Others) then how are they defining "reliable"?

Hypothetically we could find in a year or two that any of these cars on the list have a huge flaw that would make then "unreliable". In my opinion it's just not something that can be evaluated except with the passage of time.

So when I see lists like this instead of "most reliable" -I read, Cars that are reflecting good initial quality. But to me there is a difference.

Don't jump on me Prius lovers...I also know that Toyota has an excellent reputation for long term quality and so does The Prius. Just saying that it seems flawed to make a list of new cars and call them "The Most Reliable".

I do think you could do the converse and given reports by new owners of problems make a list of those cars with the most initial complaints or reported problems...but since reliability doesn't manifest immediately to me, this is actually a list of "initial quality" not reliability.

Spot on, The Electric Me.
JD power's "3 year reliability" is initial quality too, since the average car ownership age is 18 months.

Yeah. All the GM commercials tout their cars as having the best "initial reliability" and "initial satisfaction". I'd like to see JD Powers go back to those people a year or 2 later and see if they still feel the same.

Its a new car reliability survey. They send out a survey and ask people how many issues they've had with their new car.
For example I purchased a Nissan minivan many years ago. The AC had a bad oder and the dealer said they couldn't fix it. I listed this as an issue in the survey.

If someone doesn't like the sound a car makes then they get a negative mark for that too, such as rattling.

so that basically means that some cars could be at the top simply because the law of averages has not caught up to them.

it would be interesting to take the same cars and compare sales figures.

would be much more likely to find a flaw in say 150,000 cars (2010 Pri) than it would be to find one in say 40,000 cars (#1 insight)

For folks like me who keep cars a long time, 2 years is still "initial". I want to see the survey results at 10 and 20 years.

By the time GM catches up to Honda and Toyota on this scale, I'm not sure I'll be buying cars anymore.

Don't know about the law of averages , but seems to me more issues are going to found 10 months after owning a car as compared to the first few months. This would apply to the insight.

The list doesn't specifically mention the model year. Does the list at ConsumerReports.org mention the model year? Seems to require a subscription to access the info.

well there is no 2009 insight so...

Ford is the only US manufacturer gaining ground in reliability. The percentage of their car lines with above average reliability over three years are as follows:

Ford 90%
GM 44%
Chry 38%

2000 - 2006? Probably not based on all years for that model though.

ummm, the title "most reliable new car" right?

Typical Nissan, nothing is ever fixed, they just tell you to deal with it.

Oh, and as the other thread pointed out, the Prius is the most reliable in the family car category.
Why is the Insight in a different category?

Insight is in the hatchback and small wagon category. Weird.

Keep in mind, there are two main JDPowers surveys vis-a-vis automobiles. The IQS is the "Initial Quality Survey", taken at around the 90-day mark. This shows issues present in new vehicles. The VDS is the "Vehicle Dependability Study", and is taken around the 3-year mark. This shows overall dependability after some years of ownership.

They show two different, albeit important, metrics.