Poll: Detroit’s ‘Reliability Gap’ Remains : Automobiles: Japanese firms still take top honors in Consumer Reports’ annual reader survey. But the gap is narrowing.

When it comes to car reliability, Detroit still takes a back seat to Japan, according to the April issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

The magazine’s annual auto edition, which hits the streets next week, calculated an overall “trouble rate” for more than 300 of the 1993 model vehicles based on owner complaints for 1990, 1991 and 1992 models.

The report concluded that Japan still builds more reliable cars and trucks than Detroit’s Big Three car manufacturers, but the gap is narrowing.

“Japanese and European nameplates still crowd the ranks of the above-average cars,” the publication said. “The indexes reaffirm a trend we first noted a few years ago: Detroit has narrowed the ‘reliability gap’ between its products and those of Japan’s Big Three--Toyota, Honda and Nissan.”

The widely watched edition is one of the magazine’s most popular publications and is read by thousands of car buyers.

Every year, the nonprofit organization asks subscribers to share any serious problems they have had with their vehicles, giving particular attention to problems with engines, cooling systems, drive trains or body rust, because these repairs are often difficult and costly.

This year, Consumer Reports revamped its frequency of repair format to recognize recent improvements in quality.

Under the new format, Toyota Motor Corp. and its luxury division, Lexus, built the most reliable cars and trucks, with the Lexus LS400 earning the distinction as a “quality benchmark” by having the best ride ever experienced by Consumer Reports’ drivers.

The $47,000 luxury sedan was also a hit with subscribers, who said they would buy the car again if they were shopping today.

How They Rated Below are the most and least reliable cars and trucks by class for 1993 based on their performance in 1990-92, as compiled by Consumer Reports magazine based on a poll of readers.

Category Best Worst Small cars Toyota Tercel Hyundai Excel Sporty cars Toyota Paseo Mercury Capri Compact cars Infiniti G20 Volkswagen Passat Mid-sized cars Lexus ES300 Hyundai Sonata Large cars Buick LeSabre Chevrolet Caprice Pickup trucks Toyota 4 Dodge Dakota V8 Small vans Toyota Previa (2WD) Plymouth Grand Voyager V6 (4WD) Sport utility Toyota 4Runner V6 (4WD) Jeep Wrangler 6