CONSUMERS FOR AUTO RELIABILITY AND SAFETY

"Saturn was by far the best-rated automaker, and Ford was last on the list in the fifth annual California Auto Lemon Index. Overall, there were two arbitrated disputes between Saturn and the purchasers of 27,529 Saturns in California last year, compared with 811 disputes between Ford and buyers of 294,092 Ford products.

General Motors, which sells more vehicles than any other automaker in the world, arbitrated 739 disputes out of its 352,495 California sales.

The data provided by the Department of Consumer Affairs was compiled by Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) and the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), two independent auto industry watchdog groups. Following top-rated Saturn were Honda/Nissan, Nissan/Infiniti, Volkswagen/Audi, Hyundai, General Motors, Daimler/Chrysler, and Ford."

– Sacramento Bee, June 13, 2000

[Note: Ford complained publicly about the data used in this survey. However, Ford itself supplied the figures used in the survey, and had underreported its sales to the California New Motor Vehicle Board. It later had to pay a larger share of the costs for funding California's Arbitration Certification Program, after its error came to light.]

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