Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/carbuying/" rel="tag">Car Buying</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/audi/" rel="tag">Audi</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/buick/" rel="tag">Buick</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/honda/" rel="tag">Honda</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/kia/" rel="tag">Kia</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/lincoln/" rel="tag">Lincoln</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/mazda/" rel="tag">Mazda</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/porsche/" rel="tag">Porsche</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/scion/" rel="tag">Scion</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/subaru/" rel="tag">Subaru</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/toyota/" rel="tag">Toyota</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/ownership/" rel="tag">Ownership</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/27/consumer-reports-says-infotainment-systems-growing-first-year-r/#continued"><img alt="Auto Sales" data-caption="A Lexus sign is shown at Lexus of Kendall in Miami Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)" data-credit="ASSOCIATED PRESS" data-mep="529040" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/crop/5488x3572+0+0/resize/628x409!/format/jpg/quality/85/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/midas/6cbd356b42fb92a58f0ab39bc a09331c/200989585/b5f2ba83a54841b7ac643c013 03a6ddf.jpeg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2014-consumer-reports-annual-auto-reliability-survey/"><img alt="2014 Consumer Reports Auto Reliability Survey" class="right border" data-credit="Consumer Reports" data-credit-link-back="undefined" data-mep="529041" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/crop/800x1021+0+0/resize/250x319!/format/jpg/quality/85/http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/6bab38090f06fcc432958d866 a5a4a46/200989607/Consumer-Reports-Reliability-List.jpg" style="float: right;" /></a>The <em>Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey</em> (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2013/10/28/consumer-reports-auto-reliability-japan/">as last year's list</a> with <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/lexus/">Lexus</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/toyota/">Toyota</a> in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/acura/">Acura</a> plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/mazda/">Mazda</a> replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/honda/">Honda</a> and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/audi/">Audi</a> round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.<br />
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Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/infiniti/">Infiniti</a> is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/mercedes-benz/">Mercedes-Benz</a> with an 11-place fall to 24th, and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/gmc/">GMC</a>, which declines 10 positions to 19th.<br />
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to <em>Consumer Reports</em>, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.<br />
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The biggest offender was Infiniti's InTouch infotainment system on its new <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/infiniti/q50/">Q50</a>, with over 20 percent of owners reporting problems. The <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/infiniti/qx60/">QX60</a> SUV also was dinged on its reliability. Hence, the Japanese brand dropped 14 places in just a year.<br />
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<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/ford/">Ford</a> has reason to celebrate, though. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/lincoln/">Lincoln</a> deserves a gold star for the best improvement by moving up 12 spots to take 15th place. Also, improvements to MyFord Touch helped the Blue Oval to jump three places to 23rd position. According to CR, the Explorer had just a 3-percent complaint rate for its infotainment system, versus a peak of 28 percent for the model in years past.<br />
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The data in the table above (click to expand) is based on responses to surveys from CR subscribers. The institute claims that 2014 was its largest one yet, with info gathered for over 1.1 million vehicles. <a href="/2014/10/27/consumer-reports-reliability-infotainment-woes/#continued">Scroll down</a> to read the full press release about the results.<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/27/consumer-reports-reliability-infotainment-woes/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/27/consumer-reports-reliability-infotainment-woes/">Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Mon, 27 Oct 2014 16:02:00 EST. Please see our <a href="/rss-term-of-use/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/27/consumer-reports-reliability-infotainment-woes/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20984632/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/27/consumer-reports-reliability-infotainment-woes/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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