Camaro, Mustang, Challenger Having an 'Off Year'

You might want to think twice about buying a new muscle car from Dodge, Chevrolet or Ford this year.

Consumer Reports released its latest reliability survey last week and with the exception of a few surprises it was more of the same. Japanese automakers performed the best while the Detroit Three took a bit of a tumble.

Among other findings the sporty-car segment is one area of interest on this year’s survey. According to the consumer-focused magazine this is an especially volatile vehicle segment when it comes to quality. Supporting this claim are the latest scores.

Last year 13 of 16 sporty cars had at least average reliability or better. This year only 11 out of 21 made the grade, quite a back-slide.

Consumer Reports said “American muscle cars are having an off year.” That segment includes, of course, the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang.

Against the odds Nissan’s 370Z topped the quality chart. Making this feat all the more impressive is that last year the two-door was Consumer Reports’ lowest-rated sporty car. It seems Nissan sorted things out in the quality department.

Of America’s three retro-themed road rockets only the Chevy Camaro and six-cylinder Mustang delivered average reliability, and by a small margin. The bad-boy Challenger and the V8-powered ‘Stang were both below the statistical average for reliability.

In particular, the Dodge had a rough year. It plummeted from better-than-average to worse-than-average reliability thanks to squeaks and rattles as well as issues with its brakes and audio system.

The Camaro had trouble with body hardware including windows, door latches and seat controls. The Mustang GT on the other hand suffered from minor transmission issues.

[Source: Consumer Reports]