Ford is the only Detroit automaker with world-class reliability, according to Consumer Reports' 2009 annual car reliability survey.

About 90% of Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln products were found to have average or better reliability, according to the magazine's survey.

Other than the Toyota Prius, the reliability of the four-cylinder Fusion and Milan ranks higher than that of any other family saloon, beating both the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, while the Lincoln MKZ tops its rivals, the Acura TL and Lexus ES.

"It's rare for Consumer Reports to see family sedans from domestic carmakers continue to beat the reliability scores of such highly regarded Japanese models as the Camry and Accord," said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' automotive test centre. The last domestically-built car that had better reliability than the Camry and Accord was the Buick Regal in 2004, he added.

Ford's position as the most reliable domestic carmaker includes good scores for its new Flex SUV. But the Lincoln division has had mixed results; some models score below their Ford equivalents. All wheel drive versions of the MKS, MKX, and MKZ, essentially high-end versions of the Taurus, Edge, and Fusion, respectively, are all below average.

A large margin separates the best from the worst. The least reliable vehicle, the Volkswagen Touareg, is 27 times more likely to have a problem than the most reliable car, the Honda Insight.

In addition to the Insight, small car reliability scores stood out. Twenty of 37 small cars have above-average predicted reliability including the Honda Fit [Jazz], Scion xD and Volkswagen Golf. Family cars fared nearly as well, with 21 out of 42 scoring above average. Five of the eight most reliable family cars are hybrids, including the Toyota Prius, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry.

Even good brands falter. Among the least reliable vehicles in their respective classes are the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS, the Nissan Versa sedan, and the Subaru Impreza WRX.

Some newer GM products are bright spots. Overall 20 of the 48 GM models Consumer Reports surveyed have average reliability scores, while the Chevrolet Malibu V6 has shown better than average scores and is on par with the most reliable family sedans. The Buick Lucerne did well in road tests, and it scores average in reliability.

Chrysler continues to struggle. More than one third of Chrysler products are much worse than average, including its new car-based SUV, the Dodge Journey. Last year, Consumers Reports couldn't recommend any of its products either because of mediocre performance, poor reliability scores, or both. However, this year CR can recommend one important vehicle in Chrysler's lineup: the four-wheel-drive version of the redesigned Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. It did well in CR road tests and rates average in reliability.

Of the 48 models with top reliability scores, 36 are Asian - Toyota accounts for 18; Honda, eight; Nissan, four; and Hyundai/Kia and Subaru, three each.

With only a few exceptions, Japanese vehicles are consistently good. All Honda and Acura products have average or above average reliability. Although, Toyota, with its Lexus and Scion brands, provides a broader product range; the Lexus GS AWD is the only Toyota model with below average reliability.

Models from Nissan and its Infiniti luxury division have mostly been very reliable. The once-troublesome Infiniti QX56 and Nissan Armada are now average, as is the four-wheel-drive Nissan Titan, although its rear-wheel-drive version is still troublesome. The Nissan Versa has produced uneven results. Over the last two surveys, the hatchback has been average while the sedan has been far below average. The Nissan Quest minivan also remains troublesome.

Hyundai and Kia continue to make reliable cars. The Hyundai Elantra and Tucson, and the Kia Sportage get top marks. The new Hyundai Genesis V6 is better than average; the V8 version is average. Only Kia's Sedona minivan and Sorento SUV score below average.

European brands continue to improve. Mercedes-Benz has significantly rebounded, with most models average or better, and the GLK did exceptionally well in its first year in CR's survey. Scores from rival BMW are more mixed. The 535i sedan and X3 SUV declined in reliability, and the 135i, debuting in this survey, scores below average. Some BMW models have average or better reliability, but the 328i versions are the only ones that CR tested and recommended.

Volkswagen and Audi are also staging a nice reliability recovery. The Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf) and the new CC earn top scores. The VW Jetta's recommendation now extends to the diesel version, making it the only diesel Consumer Reports currently recommends.

Both the VW Passat and Audi A3 have improved so that they now have average reliability scores. The new VW Tiguan SUV is average. The Audi Q7 SUV continues to be much worse than average, but not as bad as its platform mate, the VW Touareg, which not only scores poorly but has the worst new-car predicted reliability score in the survey.

All of Volvo's sedans are average or better, but Volvo's XC90 SUV is below average. Porsche's  Boxster drops to below average, which strikes it from Consumer Reports 'recommended' list. But the Cayenne SUV improved to average.

Findings are based on responses on more than 1.4m vehicles owned or leased by subscribers to Consumer Reports.  The survey was conducted in the spring of 2009 by Consumer Reports' National Survey Research Center and covered model years 2000 to 2009.