Hyundai - Not as bad as the rest.

[Capt Steve]

I posted this in response to another thread that said Hyundai was not as reliable as compared to Lexus or Toyota.

Since I don't always agree with "owner satisfaction survey" data, which I feel is rather subjective, I did a little digging for some objective data.

The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is responsible for investigating possible automotive design and manufacturing defects. Often consumers file a complaint to NHTSA. And after several people file a complaint about the same mechanical or safety related problem, NHTSA will investigate the issue to determine whether the consumer or the manufacturer is at fault.

According to the NHTSA, Office of Defects 2012 database, Toyota/Lexus has 1,126 documented recalls in the database. Compare that to; Ford with 2,900, Chevrolet 1,969, MB 388, Honda/Acura 1,017, Volvo 426, BMW 917, Mazda 341, Nissan/Infiniti 804, Volkswagen 395, Chrysler 551, Audi 265, and Bently 208.

Oh yeah, Hyundai has 269 documented recalls.

This is based on 9/18/2012 data, the last year the NHTSA released their full data file. They now only allow searches of their database.

Of course, just because the NHTSA gets a complaint, the manufacturer does not always issue a recall. If the problem is serious enough, The NHTSA can then investigate the problem further and force a recall. Which is what they did when Toyota refused to acknowledge the "runaway" issue a few years ago.

Of course, not even a small percentage of "problems" with a car will result in a recall, I think that the relationship between recalls and reliability significant.

In addition, the number of models, types of vehicles, etc. will affect the numbers for a manufacturer, i.e. Ford who produces Large Trucks, Pickup Trucks, SUVs, Vans, and many models of cars, will naturally have a larger amount of recalls.

JMHO.

 

[Mark_888]

There are mandatory recalls and voluntary recalls. Not all of them are mandatory. The fact that a manufacturer decides to do a voluntary recall is usually a sign that they are willing to fix a potential problem for all vehicles, even if only a minority have reported a problem. I personally don't necessarily see that as a big concern. I personally think Hyundai lags in the area of voluntary recalls based on problems I have seen described on this forum regarding brake failure on older Genesis vehicles. I would like to see Hyundai more proactive in addressing critical issues such as the brakes.

There are several sources of statistical information about reliability, mostly from JD Powers and Consumers Reports. I think the Consumer Reports ones are more accurate for long term reliability (they conduct an annual survey of all subscribers about problems with all the vehicles and appliances they own for a specific model year), whereas the JD Powers ones tend to focus more on initial quality and customer satisfaction. JD Powers is paid by the auto manufacturers and Consumers Reports is funded by subscribers and donations.

One thing that is probably true is that Hyundai reliability has improved over the years and is getting better. So Hyundai's reputation may be based on outdated data if some people are using prior reliability to predict future reliability, or if just based on general perceptions.

Regarding the Toyota "runaway" problem, I don't think they ever determined there was any problem with Toyota or Lexus engines or accelerator mechansims, other than floor mats might have slipped into the gas pedal. Usually that happens when the mechanism to secure the floor mats is broken and the owner does not repair it (I witnessed this on a 6 year old Lexus ES I saw). Toyota has very deep pockets and sell huge numbers of vehicles (more than Ford), and are very profitable, are a foreign company, which makes them a logical target for lawsuits by ambulance chasers in the US.

 

[RonJ]

According to the NHTSA, Office of Defects 2012 database, Toyota/Lexus has 1,126 documented recalls in the database. Compare that to; Ford with 2,900, Chevrolet 1,969, MB 388, Honda/Acura 1,017, Volvo 426, BMW 917, Mazda 341, Nissan/Infiniti 804, Volkswagen 395, Chrysler 551, Audi 265, and Bently 208.

Oh yeah, Hyundai has 269 documented recalls.

In addition, the number of models, types of vehicles, etc. will affect the numbers for a manufacturer, i.e. Ford who produces Large Trucks, Pickup Trucks, SUVs, Vans, and many models of cars, will naturally have a larger amount of recalls.

JMHO.

The figures Toyota 1126 (or any of the other makes) versus Hyundai 269 are meaningless seeing as we don't know how many vehicles of each make were sold in the time period that the database covers. It would be interesting to know, for sure!

RonJ

 

[JasTheAce]

Every manufacturer makes really dumb moves from time to time:

http://jalopnik.com/5377355/your-new-lexus-floor-mats-will-look-like-crap/