When purchasing something we often think about reliability. Will this pair of scissors dull after the fiftieth cut? Will this glove fall apart after a season of riding? No matter what the product, reliability always crosses all of our minds.

This brings me to what we depend on everyday...our transportation. Some buy cars based on this topic alone. I think this is why everyone from a first-time driver, to baby boomers drives Honda Civics. Such cars have not only thrived on the element of reliability, they have made it cool!

So, where do the cars of recent years stack up? According to a recent Consumer Reports article, the answers may surprise you. The 2009 auto survey put out is based on subscribers' experiences with 1.4 million vehicles.

While the Honda Insight tops the import list, the German's take bottom spot with the Volkswagen Toureg. Ford leads top build quality for domestics which I find as very cool, being they are the only domestic manufacturer to not take bailout money.

Lincoln hits a home run with the 2009 MKZ.

Even more interesting is that the much loved Toyota Camry and Honda Accord got beat out by the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. Those industry savvy have seen a drop in build quality for both Lexus and Toyota since the automotive giant took first place for global manufacturing. Another success story is in the luxury class. The Lincoln MKZ beat out both the Lexus ES and the Acura TL.

2009 Lexus ES, falling short on the all-wheel drive review.

Lexus also came in low on the all-wheel drive list with their ES model. The Nissan Versa and Subaru Impreza WRX were also among the bottom dwellers. This report covers every category of vehicle you could imagine. The nice thing about it is there's no bias to it.

Being subscribed to Car & Driver, Road & Track, Automobile and Motortrend, I notice most reviews are bias. Even I favor some makes over others, but at least I base my opinion on years of wrenching, writing service and towing for AAA.

Likewise this report comes from real world people, individuals that own and drive these cars for more than a day or a month. They require at least a minimum of 100 responses before a car gets accepted to the list. Just FYI in case you were wondering if Bob Lutz and his five best friends got Cadillac ahead of Lexus!

Read all about it at ConsumerDigest.org

Motor On, Lance