Drivers continue to report problems with infotainment systems in new cars and trucks, according to Consumer Reports’ Auto Reliability Survey.
Of all the areas in its annual survey, the category including in-car electronics generated more complaints from owners of 2014 models than any other category.
“It’s this plague that is, like, infecting across the industry,” Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports, told reporters during an Automotive Press Association meeting Monday in Detroit.
In recent years, technology flaws in infotainment, hands-free voice recognition and Bluetooth systems have caused major headaches for automakers. Common issues from past surveys included unresponsive touch screens and problems pairing phones.
First-year models from Infiniti, Jeep, Fiat, Ram, Cadillac, Ford and Honda have all had significant problems with infotainment bugs and glitches, according to the survey.
Michelle Krebs, AutoTrader.com senior analyst, said in-vehicle technologies need to improve because they are a serious consideration for car buyers.
“The industry doesn’t do it very well,” she said. “There’s a lot of work to be done there.”
Some of the worst offenders of faulty infotainment systems in recent years are improving. While not trouble-free, updates to Ford and Lincoln’s MyTouch systems have made them less troublesome. When introduced, the 2011 Ford Explorer had a 10 percent infotainment complaint rate and peaked at 28 percent. The 2014 Explorer’s has a 3 percent complaint rate.
In-vehicle tech issues aren’t the only reliability issues plaguing automakers. Problems with transmissions with more gears, turbochargers and other traditional drivetrain problems haven’t disappeared.
Buick was the only domestic brand to make the top 10. Japanese brands Lexus, Toyota and Mazda topped the list, followed by Honda, Audi and Buick.
Japanese and Korean brands historically perform well in the survey, while European and American brands fluctuate depending on how long they’ve been on the market. Cars and trucks that tend to do well have been in the market a few years and have corrected serious problems.
General Motors Co. for a second straight year led Detroit automakers on the annual survey but was still below the industry average. Ford Motor Co. improved from the bottom of the survey last year to “worse than average.” Chrysler Group LLC plummeted to “much worse than average,” with four brands rated at the very bottom of the 28-brand reliability rankings.
Chrysler performed the worst of any automaker, with Fiat, Jeep, Ram and Dodge brands at the bottom of this year’s list. The company’s namesake brand ranked 22, down four places from a year ago.
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