Everybody wants a reliable car. CarMD follows the automotive diagnostic world and compiles an annual report on the subject of vehicle health. In this instance, the study isn’t looking simply at major problems, but issues that could trigger a check engine light. The best-case scenario is to not have any problems in the first place, and to that end, the study found Mitsubishi to be the best brand when it comes to not triggering the dreaded light.
These days, Mitsubishi only offers a small selection of vehicles in the US, but the study creates a score based on the lowest percentage of repair incidents per percentage of the vehicle population. All total, 19.5 million vehicles were examined in the study, and as an overall brand, Mitsubishi vehicles triggered needed the fewest CE-light-related repairs. Taking the second spot behind Mitsubishi was Mercedes-Benz, followed by Volkswagen for the top three.
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The study doesn’t stop at evaluations for brands. While Mitsubishi takes the overall win for an automaker, the 2018 Toyota Tacoma won for the specific vehicle that sets a CE light the least often. Second place went to the 2015 Honda CR-V, with another Toyota – the 2018 Camry – landing in third. Additionally, the study highlights Kia as the brand with the lowest average repair costs for a CE-light-related repair, at $322. That was only $11 less than Chrysler at $333, and Mazda at $339.
Once upon a time, reliability boiled down to mechanical failures, but advanced technology has changed everything. Computer operation with sensors monitoring and controlling mechanical systems certainly improves reliability and performance. However, those complex systems can also lead to all kinds of issues, with the check engine light being the first indication that something is amiss. Sometimes, the light is simply triggered by a one-time false sensor reading, but usually the light indicates something amiss with various aspects of engine operation.
Simply ignoring it could lead to bigger problems, not the least of which being a loss of power or higher fuel consumption. In short, it’s not a good idea to ignore the light, but if you’re driving a Mitsubishi, you probably don’t see it very often. You can see the full report showing a range of data at the source link below.