The 10 Most Reliable and Durable Cars of Model Year 1985 This page lists the top ten cars of model year 1984 by reliability-and-durability grade point average (Reliability-Durability GPA or more concisely, R-D GPA). 1985's Top 10 Cars These 10 car classics are listed below in descending order of Reliability-Durability GPA (best first). The equipment of each model is that offered in the U.S.
As in 1983 and 1984, Honda dominated 1985's list of the best, accounting for 4 of the Top 10. It is also interesting to note that 5 of the Top 10 cars were sporty cars. 1985 was the fourth year that one or more vehicles by Nissan Motor Company made the list. Toyota Motor Corporation and Daimler-Benz AG had automobiles that made the Top 10 every year from 1975 to 1985. A version of the Toyota Pickup has made the Top 10 list every year since 1975, and the Mercedes-Benz 300D made the best list every year save 1981. Note the very small difference in Reliability-Durability GPA among the Top 10, but the rather large range of base prices. As noted in earlier Top Ten lists, by the early 1980s there appears to have been no relationship between engineering excellence and price; the old adage "You get what you pay for" had no application in automobiles. Manufacturers of the Top 10 Honda Motor Company accounted for 4 of 1985's best, same as in 1984 and 1983 and up from 3 in 1982. Toyota Motor Corporation accounted for 3 of the most reliable and durable cars of 1985, same as in 1984 and an increase from 2 in 1983, but a decrease from 4 in 1982, 8 in 1981, 6 in 1980, 5 in 1979 and 1978, and 4 in 1977, 1976 and 1975. Although Toyota's rapid expansion of product offerings likely made quality control more challenging even in the early 1980s; nonetheless, Honda did a very fine job of displacing Toyota as leader of the Top 10. Daimler-Benz AG accounted for 1 of the best in 1985, as did Nissan Motor Company and Mazda Motor Corporation. Japanese-built cars accounted for 9 of 1985's best cars, same as in 1984 and up from 7 in 1983; German-built cars accounted for the remaining 1, same as in 1984 and down from 3 in 1983. Note that in 1985 (as in 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, and 1979) none of the Detroit 3 had a car among the Top 10. The following chart gives each car maker's percent share of the Top 10 of 1985.
The Next 10 Cars of 1985 The next 10 cars are listed below in descending order of Reliability-Durability GPA (best first).
The 20 best automobile models of 1985 were engineered by companies headquartered in either Japan (85%) or Germany (15%). Note that all of the 20 most reliable and durable cars of 1985 had a Reliability-Durability Grade of A. Auto Company shares of the Top 20 Cars of 1985 The car manufacturer shares (rounded to the nearest percent) of the Top 20 vehicles are:
The Next 10 Cars of 1985 The next 10 cars are listed below in descending order of Reliability-Durability GPA (best first).
The 30 best automobile models of 1985 were engineered by companies headquartered in either Japan (83%) or Germany (17%). Note that all of the third-tier cars had a Reliability-Durability Grade of B, still a notable achievement. Auto Company shares of the Top 30 Cars of 1985 The car manufacturer shares (rounded to the nearest percent) of the Top 30 vehicles are:
Chart of the 30 Best Cars of 1985 The following bar graph depicts how much above average the Top 30 cars of 1985 are. The 30 best are listed in descending order (best first). Particularly noteworthy is that all of the Top 30 of 1985 have a Reliability-Durability GPA greater than that of the 10th-place vehicle of 1975. This is a consequence of two factors - a greatly expanded product offering by Japanese manufacturers and a gravitation to these high-reliability, high-durability vehicles by the consumer-savvy subscribers of Consumer Reports. This expanded offering from abroad occasioned quite an upheaval in the U.S. automobile industry in the 1975-1985 decade, and the first U.S.-government bailout of a U.S. automobile manufacturer. Computations To compute the reliability-durability grade point average of the MY 1985 cars, Consumer Reports' reliability ratings for the age ranges 4-to-5 years and 5-to-6 years are used. CR's ratings are converted to numerical values following the standard academic pattern: a grade point of 4.0 (an A) is accorded a rating of Much Better Than Average, a 3.0 (a B) is accorded a rating of Better Than Average, a 2.0 (a C) is accorded a rating of Average, a 1.0 (a D) is accorded a rating of Below Average, and a 0 (an F) is accorded a rating of Much Below Average. Then, for each age range, the grade point of CR's overall reliability rating is weighted 2/3 and the average of the grade points of the category ratings is weighted 1/3. Finally, the average for the two age ranges is taken. The Honda Civic 2wd, the Honda Civic 4wd, and the Mazda Pickup Truck offered only one age range of data. Best and Worst Vehicles of Each Model Year The Best Cars of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Worst Cars of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 Additional Resources The Best Car Brands of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Worst Car Brands of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Best Car Manufacturers of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 The Worst Car Manufacturers of Each Model Year by Reliability-Durability GPA: 1985 1986 ... 2004 2005 Best Car Brands by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Worst Car Brands by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Best Car Makers by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Worst Car Makers by CR's List of Used Cars to Avoid: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 For additional car quality information, visit www.AutoOnInfo.net and CarsOnInfo.net.In particular, for additional durability information, see:
www.CarQualityInfo.net: The car-quality website for the brighter-than-average North American consumer.
To help support independent car quality information, shop Amazon.com by clicking a link from this site.
|