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The Best Minivan in 2011
by James Bleeker
Photograph of a 2007 Toyota Sienna
XLE Minivan on 2011-08-16
| The V6, front-wheel-drive Toyota
Sienna minivan has a 2011 Auto Reliability
GPA of a 2.94 over a 10-year data history. |
Although not one of the Top 30 autos of 2011, the reliability of the V6, front-wheel-drive Toyota Sienna minivan exceeds all of its competition by a good margin. Its closest competitor is the Honda Odyssey, with a 2011 Auto reliability GPA of 2.44, versus the Sienna's 2.94.
Generally, the reliability of minivans is not good. More than
20% of the
30 worst automobiles of 2011 are minivans.
The method of computation of the GPAs is probably familiar to nearly
every college, technical school, and high school student. A Grade Point of
4.00 (that is, an A) is given to a Consumer Reports "Much Better
Than Average" rating, a GP of 3.00 (that is, a B) is given to a
CR "Better Than Average" rating, a GP of 2.00 (that is, a C) to
an "Average" rating, a GP of 1.00 (that is, a D) to a "Worse
Than Average" rating, and a GP of 0.00 (that is, an F) to a
"Much Worse Than Average" rating. A Grade Point Average (GPA) is
an average of the Grade Points and is computed using Microsoft's
Average(a:b,[c:d],...) function. The above GPAs are the Average
GPAs given in the table "The Updated 2011 Motor Vehicle Reliability
Grade Point Averages (GPAs) and Grades with
Reliability GPAs for Four 4-Year Age Ranges and
an Overall Average Reliability GPA" on the
Updated Auto
Reliability Grade Point Averages and Grades page.
The sources for Consumer Reports' ratings are the reliability
tables in (1) the April 2011 issue of Consumer Reports, (2) Consumer
Reports New Car Buying Guide: 2011, and (3) Consumer Reports Used
Car Buying Guide: 2011.
Consumer Reports defines reliability as the infrequency
of reported serious problems.
AutoOnInfo.net: The auto-quality website with the
Open Directory Cool Site Award.
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