ratings
Years ago, Michael Karesh created a new service, TrueDelta.com , to counter some of the limitations of Consumer Reports car reliability ratings [link] .  Some major differences in the services include TrueDelta’s far more frequent check-ins, avoiding the Consumer Reports “try to remember the past year” issue; and asking respondents to say exactly what was done and providing specific examples of maintenance vs repairs, rather than leaving customers to guess what “serious” repairs are.

Mr. Karesh provided some feedback on Chrysler’s efforts so far. The 2013 minivans are “off to a good start,” he said both 2011 and 2012 have moderate repair frequencies, near the average. The Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna are fairly close, with Sienna having the advantage so far, “but the differences aren’t large” (the numbers are successful repair trips per hundred cars).

Dodge Dart has a moderate repair frequency so far, despite an early common problem with the slave cylinder on dual-clutch transmissions. 2012 Fiat 500 started out well, but in recent quarters had a high repair frequency including oil leaks (due to a known problem with some bolts), a clunking intermediate steering shaft, and the Bluetooth™ module. “The 2013 has been much better so far.”

For more, see  TrueDelta.com .