The RL made Consumer's Reports Best of the Best List.

Generally speaking, I do not put much value in CRs auto reviews, but the reliability reports are generally informative. Where they fall short, is when an entire model run reputation suffers due to a review of an early model with issues. Such was the case with the 2005 RL review.

But yet the RL made the list. Perhaps the issues found in their 2005 RL review were not reflected in the stats for later model years. It also does not specify what years are depicted. I would assume it speaks to current model generations / iterations.

Also interesting that the Japanese models dominate this list.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/artic...umentid=435706

 

Good to know our RLs are the best at something. Of course, we already knew that.

 

That's great to see- it's well deserved.

I must say that I'm not surprised at all that the Japanese cars dominate the list.

 

Dominate? Only one American car was even ON the list. I'd say that was a landslide, a mandate....

 

bob, you are very knowledgeable and you are usually right...however there are several american cars...

lincoln contenental
lincoln towncar
buick lacrosse

but the substance of your claim is still true. I am surprised that the Hyundai Azera & Sonata didn't make the list.

 

+1

I honestly think that if Car magazines rated cars completely honest without regard for advertising, then Japanese cars would rate even higher than they do now.

 

I have an 05 RL from new and apart from software updates back in 05, I have had zero issues. Yes, the 06 and onwards had a couple of extra features but, in my experience, the 05 is no less reliable than the newer cars.

 

I agree, the 05 is no less reliable. There were some TSBs issued to address some bugs in the 1st year of the 2nd Gen RL. However, these did crop up in CRs review of the 05 RL and subsequently they reported them in the 05 RL review. I believe it had an impact on the perception of the level of quality as I saw the comments of bugs echoed in other media. From what I read, they were addressed (TSBs) and the 05 RL should be no less reliable then the remainder of the model run.

That said, any car in its 1st year is likely to have some teething issues. How quickly the manufacturer addresses and corrects them is a better indicator to me of the brand quality. So I think the CR reported issues with the 05 they reviewed are truly moot. And therefore, I am glad the Best of the Best list did not exclude the RL, as likely the stats were better than their 05 review may have slanted.

 

Mad they don't list the CL(S), at least the 2003 6MT. very reliable. I guess it's too low volume.