Consumer Reports most satisfied car owners are. . .
Would you buy the same car you now own if you had to do it over again? That's the question Consumer Reports asked in a survey released today, and Tesla and Porsche owners answered a resounding yes.
Behind those 1-2 finishers, two Detroit-based brands also finished in the top 10. Chrysler, led by its popular Pacifica minivan, finished fourth -- up four spots from last year's ranking. Lincoln, paced by its new Continental model, finished 10th.
Just behind Tesla and Porsche in third place came Genesis, a new luxury brand owned by Hyundai. Previously,the model was called the Hyundai Genesis and counted in the Hyundai results for last year's survey. Deprived of the strong results of the Genesis this year, the Hyundai brand dropped 11 places to 24th overall.
The rest of the top 10, in places five through nine, were Audi, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota and Honda.
Acura, Honda's luxury brand, finished last of the 30 names ranked. Owners indicated that their vehicles' comfort and driving experience did not meet their expectations for a luxury car.
To determine owner satisfaction, Consumer Reports asked "Would you buy it again?" of subscribers to its website and magazine, who own about 500,000 vehicles, of the 2015 to 2018 model years. Respondents to the Owner Satisfaction Survey also rated their vehicles in six categories: driving experience, comfort, value, styling, audio and climate systems.
These rankings by owners combine with the evaluations of the test drivers on the CR staff to make up the overall ratings for brands and individual models, which the magazine publishes annually in its April issue. "Along with reliability and performance, owner satisfaction is a key factor in the overall score we calculate for every vehicle we test," said Jake Fisher, CR director of automotive testing.
In addition to ranking brands, the CR report also ranked individual vehicles. Here are some of the highlights of those rankings:
- The Tesla Model S and the Porsche 911 tied for the top score, with 92 percent of owners saying they would buy those cars again.
- Like the 911, other sports cars scored well, including the Chevrolet Corvette and the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
- In a surprise result, the redesigned Honda Ridgeline pulled away from competitors like the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon in the compact pickup category.
- The Ford F-350, the heavy work truck in the Ford pickup line, also made it into the top 10 of individual vehicles. This is the first time in at least five years when even one pickup cracked the top 10.