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Electric cars and hybrids generally performed well, but the Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid got the worst reliability scores. Ford and its luxury Lincoln brand were near the bottom of the rankings because of customer complaints about their glitch-prone touchscreen dashboard systems and lower-than-expected fuel economy numbers. The key to reliability is a conservative approach to vehicle redesigns. The brands that do best, like Toyota and Honda, often use time-tested engines, transmissions and other parts from prior models in their newer cars, Fisher said. Automakers with new engines or other untested features in their new cars
-- like Ford or Cadillac -- tend to do worse. "When you redesign cars from the ground up, you're going to expect those issues," Fisher told The Associated Press. Brands with many older models, like GMC and Volvo, also tend to do better.
[Associated
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