[Derived42]

Consumer Reports has released it's rating of the Ascent.

It is currently the highest rated "Midsize SUV" scoring an 88. The next highest is the Highlander at 85.

It also scored the highest on the "Road Test" at 93. The next highest is a tie with Ford Edge and VW Atlas at 84.


Link if you are a member:
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/types/new/suvs/ratings?categoryId=11327

 

[Derived42]

Funny that if you click into the rating it says "In Test". Guess they're still in the process of publishing the FULL write up.

 

[Foveator]

It's been updated. Ironic that some of the previous reviews thought that the Ascent's braking was a little weak, but Consumer Reports has it best in class.

 

[the_mexican]

A new report that just came out, Best of 2019


https://news.yahoo.com/10-best-cars-suvs-pickups-174735820.html

 

[Robert.Mauro]

Trouncing everyone else!!!

Consumer Reports has released it's rating of the Ascent.

It is currently the highest rated "Midsize SUV" scoring an 88. The next highest is the Highlander at 85.

It also scored the highest on the "Road Test" at 93. The next highest is a tie with Ford Edge and VW Atlas at 84.


Link if you are a member:
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/types/new/suvs/ratings?categoryId=11327

Not just is it still #1, but, after continued testing and consumer feedback, it's risen from 88 to 96!!!


It is **TROUNCING** everyone else ( The closest non-Subaru #2 is still at 85).

See for yourself!!!


Oh, btw, that ALSO means it beats ALL SUVs of ANY size in the non-luxury classes. And it's followed by... SUBARUS in the All SUV categories.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/types/new/suvs/ratings?categoryId=11327

Number Ones:
Subaru won #1 three of three times in each SUV class they have a car in.
---------------------
96 - Subaru Ascent (mid)
89 - #SubaruForester (compact)
87 - #SubaruCrosstrek (subcompact)


Yes, Subaru not just won each category they have an SUV in, but ALSO beat ALL others.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/types/new/suvs/

Here's the top five SUVs of ANY non luxury class size:
#1 96 - Subaru Ascent (mid)
#2 89 - Subaru Forester (compact)
#3 87 - Subaru Crosstrek (subcompact)
#4 85 - Toyota Highlander (mid)
#5 82 - Mazda CX-5 (compact)


Even when you get to the luxury class, it's STILL Subaru in the top 2:
#1 96 - Subaru Ascent (mid)
#2 89 - Subaru Forester (compact)
#3 88 - BMW X5 (luxury)
#4 87 - Subaru Crosstrek (subcompact) (tie)
#4 87 - Audi Q7 (luxury) (tie)

 

[Trey T]

A new report that just came out, Best of 2019


https://news.yahoo.com/10-best-cars-suvs-pickups-174735820.html

It's flattering to be in the top five among the four luxury (genesis, porsche, audi, lexus), but there's an elephant in the room - Genesis!!!! That brand was born just 4yrs ago.

 

[Steve]

Heh, Lexus dropped from first to third and over on the Lexus forum people are like Consumer Reports is "laughable" or "confused"

 

[Foveator]

Heh, Lexus dropped from first to third and over on the Lexus forum people are like Consumer Reports is "laughable" or "confused"

I took out a Lexus 350L to test drive and was not impressed. The seats were a bit more comfortable, something that the Toyota lines get right, but my Ascent Touring comes close. But on virtually everything else, I chose Subaru. I didn't feel the visibility was as good, the cabin quietness (which Lexus is supposed to be known for) was nothing special, the tablet that you must look at to control almost everything requires you to use a mouse-like device on the center console to control it as it is to far to touch (so you must shift your gaze to the tablet AND take one hand off the wheel to move the cursor) AND worse of all, that horrendous mutation of a front grill makes this car a bad joke out of a Transformers movie... (hint, the Lexus would be the bad player).


Very satisfied with my decision and apparently Consumer Reports concurs. (A 96 rating is virtually unheard of for any vehicle!)

 

[GHP1]

I took out a Lexus 350L to test drive and was not impressed. The seats were a bit more comfortable, something that the Toyota lines get right, but my Ascent Touring comes close. But on virtually everything else, I chose Subaru. I didn't feel the visibility was as good, the cabin quietness (which Lexus is supposed to be known for) was nothing special, the tablet that you must look at to control almost everything requires you to use a mouse-like device on the center console to control it as it is to far to touch (so you must shift your gaze to the tablet AND take one hand off the wheel to move the cursor) AND worse of all, that horrendous mutation of a front grill makes this car a bad joke out of a Transformers movie... (hint, the Lexus would be the bad player).


Very satisfied with my decision and apparently Consumer Reports concurs. (A 96 rating is virtually unheard of for any vehicle!)

Who here thinks the new 350 is good looking? It's ugly IMHO. I'm not saying the Ascent is a masterpiece but I think it will age well

 

[Cactus99]

The enthusiasm here is great.

Here are the 2019 J.D. Power Rankings for Brand Reliability. The link was in the article above. These rankings are based on 3 yr old vehicles, so that would mean the rankings are based on 2016 models of all brands if I understand correctly what was stated in the piece. J.D. Power does different rankings of reliability, to which this is only one, but gives a general idea of what one can expect in a late model vehicle of the various brands. So what's the difference between the CR scoring above & the J.D. Power scoring? The CR scoring is an evaluation of the vehicle after road testing it, comparing it to competing vehicles and "expected reliability" data. While the J.D. Power score is based on reliability only, after three years.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...che-most-reliable-dependable-cars/2846324002/

 

[DocRock]

A "96" rating is pretty heady stuff. I presume this rating was elevated primarily due to feedback from CR staffers who have driven the Ascent on a continuing basis.

CR does seem to be going a bit out on a limb giving the Ascent a 5/5 score on "Reliability" and "Owner Satisfaction." New model, limited data. I hope it proves correct.

 

[pro10is]

A "96" rating is pretty heady stuff. I presume this rating was elevated primarily due to feedback from CR staffers who have driven the Ascent on a continuing basis.

CR does seem to be going a bit out on a limb giving the Ascent a 5/5 score on "Reliability" and "Owner Satisfaction." New model, limited data. I hope it proves correct.

Their scores are relative to other vehicles. A score of 5/5 does not mean a car is perfect, it means it's better than the competition. We all know the Ascent isn't perfect, no car is. But compared to the competition, it's doing quite well.

 

[Carl Abrams]

While the J.D. Power score is based on how much money they can get from the car company, after three years.

Fixed that for you.

Any 'award' that says we'd like to rate your cars, so please pay us to do so, is worth exactly that. I specifically know this because I ended up getting the call from them a couple of years ago. They said, hey, you've won this award for best dealership in town. I went, oh, cool, go ahead and ship it to us. The next question they asked was, how will you be paying the $10,000 for that award? I hung up on them.

 

[Cactus99]

Fixed that for you.

Any 'award' that says we'd like to rate your cars, so please pay us to do so, is worth exactly that. I specifically know this because I ended up getting the call from them a couple of years ago. They said, hey, you've won this award for best dealership in town. I went, oh, cool, go ahead and ship it to us. The next question they asked was, how will you be paying the $10,000 for that award? I hung up on them.

Carl,

I have heard of those types of awards. 1) I doubt that was J.D. Power & I find it curious as to why any company would try to seek a 10K payment through a salesperson rather than through the general manager's office? If you are the GM of your dealership, my apologies. 2) The rankings I spoke of have to do with brand reliability as reported by customers during 3 years of use, not dealerships. 3) J.D. Power ranks all brands in North America and does so in Europe as well. And no, the highest ranked vehicles are not from company's that give them the most money or any money. J.D. Power scores have strong support & credibility within the automotive industry. They don't shy away from placing even high priced luxury brands, like Landrover, continually at the bottom of their rankings for reliability - just where they belong. Casting aspersions on them and leading readers to believe they are not honest, their scoring not accurate & biased or that they have ulterior motives in their rankings is improper. I have no reason to disbelieve their finding of 136 problems per 100 cars or 14 out of 31 brands, placing Subaru just ahead of mid-pack (or average) reliability. BTW I am happy with my Subaru Outback and comfortable with the level of reliability Subaru's offer and the accountability to customers that Subaru seems to do a mostly good job with (i.e. proactively covering the CVT transmissions for my vehicle for an extended period of time).

 

[Robert.Mauro]

Besides making up awards categories for whomever is paying them, they require payment for awards. If you don't pay, then you might as well not have the award, because you can't mention it, and they won't.

Fixed that for you.

Any 'award' that says we'd like to rate your cars, so please pay us to do so, is worth exactly that. I specifically know this because I ended up getting the call from them a couple of years ago. They said, hey, you've won this award for best dealership in town. I went, oh, cool, go ahead and ship it to us. The next question they asked was, how will you be paying the $10,000 for that award? I hung up on them.

Carl,

I have heard of those types of awards. 1) I doubt that was J.D. Power & I find it curious as to why any company would try to seek a 10K payment through a salesperson rather than through the general manager's office? If you are the GM of your dealership, my apologies. 2) The rankings I spoke of have to do with brand reliability as reported by customers during 3 years of use, not dealerships. 3) J.D. Power ranks all brands in North America and does so in Europe as well. And no, the highest ranked vehicles are not from company's that give them the most money or any money. J.D. Power scores have strong support & credibility within the automotive industry. They don't shy away from placing even high priced luxury brands, like Landrover, continually at the bottom of their rankings for reliability - just where they belong. Casting aspersions on them and leading readers to believe they are not honest or have ulterior motives in their rankings is improper. I have no reason to disbelieve their finding of 136 problems per 100 cars, placing Subaru just ahead of mid-pack (or average) reliability.

 

[Sparkland]

Kudos to Subaru for building a great SUV. Now the other manufacturers will be gunning for them and the real competition begins. It all starts this year and next with the redesigned Ford Explorer, the Hyundai Palisade, and the Kia Telluride. It should be a wild ride.

Thought Subaru owners would enjoy the poll CR had on which of the 2019 Vehicles of the Year people would purchase. The Forester was #1 with the Ascent #2. The poll is continuing, but these results are when I took the poll. I could not get all of the vehicles on the page, but the bottom two had a small percentage of votes.

 

[Carl Abrams]

Carl,

I have heard of those types of awards. 1) I doubt that was J.D. Power & I find it curious as to why any company would try to seek a 10K payment through a salesperson rather than through the general manager's office? If you are the GM of your dealership, my apologies. ... I have no reason to disbelieve their finding of 136 problems per 100 cars or 14 out of 31 brands, placing Subaru just ahead of mid-pack (or average) reliability. BTW I am happy with my Subaru Outback and comfortable with the level of reliability Subaru's offer and the accountability to customers that Subaru seems to do a mostly good job with (i.e. proactively covering the CVT transmissions for my vehicle for an extended period of time).

What ended up happening was that the receptionist got confused about who they were asking for, and ended up sending it to me. We had just moved into our new building from the quadruple wide trailers, and I was charge of putting up our already received plaques and awards on the walls and in the customer lounge, so she thought it was part of that. Since then, we've discussed it and while we use their representatives for ideas, we

I'm in sales, and have no desire whatsoever to move into finance and then into management - I prefer to have at least some family life outside this place.

 

[Sigmonster]

It's flattering to be in the top five among the four luxury (genesis, porsche, audi, lexus), but there's an elephant in the room - Genesis!!!! That brand was born just 4yrs ago.

Genesis came out in 2008 as the "Hyundai Genesis", 2007 in concept form.

 

[rockthebeef]

I still read the Highlander forum because I joined before I got the Ascent. I was very close to getting a HL at one point.

The reaction to the CR ratings is interesting to read from the persepective of their forum.

First post: "Not even close really. Overall score 96 vs 87. I just find it really funny they would rate a first year vehicle this high. Oh well, I’ve never been a big fan of CR anyway."

https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/.../1647912-cr-rates-ascent-limited-over-hl.html

Please don't troll the nice Toyota dudes (well, one of them seems to be a jerk). I have chimed in that thread to give clarity though.

 

[Titanrx8]

First post: "Not even close really. Overall score 96 vs 87. I just find it really funny they would rate a first year vehicle this high. Oh well, I’ve never been a big fan of CR anyway."

The January 2020 CR has downgraded the original 96 score. In it's brand reliability article it lists the Ascent as Subaru's least reliable model. This is the result of survey data from CR readers who own the Ascent.

This is giving me serious pause before buying the Ascent vs the Telluride vs the CX9.