Infotainment Woes Hurt Vehicle Reliability Ratings

Struggles with balky infotainment controls are an increasing cause of eroding reliability ratings from car owners, according to Consumer Reports.

The magazine says in-car electronics generate more complaints than any other category in its annual Auto Reliability Survey. The poll of new-vehicle owners tracks serious problems in 17 areas within the past 12 months.

CR released results during an Automotive Press Assn. luncheon in Detroit.

The magazine reports individual victories but little industrywide improvement. Complaints continue about unresponsive touch screens and trouble pairing smartphones with a vehicle's audio system, especially in brand-new models. But the survey says frustrations are rising about quirky multi-use controllers.

This year's worst example: the Intouch system in Nissan Motor Co.'s redesigned Infiniti Q50 sedan. CR says one in five owners complained about the feature, contributing to a six-point drop in Nissan's overall reliability rating.

The strongest improvement came in the Ford Explorer SUV, where the complaint rate for Ford Motor Co.'s troublesome MyTouch system dropped from a peak of 28% to only 3%. The report also cites significant improvements for infotainment controls offered by Chrysler (Uconnect) and Honda (HondaLink).

Asian brands captured eight of the top 10 overall reliability positions this year. Domestic brands occupied seven of the bottom 10 positions. Buick was the only American nameplate to land in the top 10 this year.