Convertibles are fun cars to drive. Many people, teenagers to middle-agers, await the first warm day of spring to take a spin through the country, to downtown, or on an outing. And a chance encounter with friends in the city or suburbs will result in a lively and carefree conversation lasting minutes to hours.
In this article, I list the 10 most reliable of these transports to fun from the fast lanes of modern life. I do this for each of four different age intervals, followed by a list of those most consistently reliable convertibles that appear in each of the preceding four 4-year age intervals.
For the age interval 0-to-4 years, the 10 best convertibles, together with their 2010 Car Reliability GPA for this age range, are:
Toyota Motor Corporation’s Lexus SC, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The V6 Toyota Camry Solara convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 4.00,
The Honda S2000, with a 2010 GPA of 4.00,
The 4-cylinder Toyota Camry Solara convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.67,
Toyota’s Lexus IS300, IS350 convertible, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 3.50,
The V6 Ford Mustang convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The Mazda MX-5 Miata, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The Nissan Z convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The Porsche 911 convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00.
Of these 10 most reliable convertibles, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 4 and Honda Motor Company, Ford Motor Company, Mazda Motor Corporation, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Nissan Motor Company, and Porsche AG each account for one.
For the age interval 2-to-6 years, the 10 (13 by tie) best convertibles, together with their 2010 Car Reliability GPA for this age range, are:
Toyota Motor Corporation’s Lexus SC, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The 4-cylinder Toyota Camry Solara convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 4.00,
The V6 Toyota Camry Solara convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 4.00,
The Honda S2000, with a 2010 GPA of 4.00,
Toyota’s Lexus IS300, IS350 convertible, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 3.50,
The Mazda MX-5 Miata, with a 2010 GPA of 3.25,
The V8 Ford Mustang convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The Porsche 911 convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 2.67,
The rear-wheel-drive BMW 325i, 328i convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 2.50,
The BMW Z3, Z4, with a 2010 GPA of 2.50,
The V6 Ford Mustang convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 2.50,
The Volvo C70 convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 2.50.
Of these 13 most reliable convertibles, Toyota accounts for 4, Ford and BMW AG each account for 2, and Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche AG, and Volvo each account for one.
For the age interval 4-to-8 years, the 10 best convertibles, together with their 2010 Car Reliability GPA for this age range, are:
Toyota Motor Corporation’s Lexus SC, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The V6 Toyota Camry Solara convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 4.00,
The Honda S2000, with a 2010 GPA of 4.00,
Toyota’s Lexus IS300, IS350 convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.75,
The 4-cylinder Toyota Camry Solara convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.75,
The Mazda MX-5 Miata, with a 2010 GPA of 3.75,
The BMW Z3, Z4, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The V8 Ford Mustang convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
The Volvo C70, with a 2010 GPA of 3.00,
General Motors Corporation’s Chevrolet Corvette convertible, with a 2010 GPA of 2.75.
It should be noted that General Motors’ Chevrolet Corvette has a GPA of only 1.50 for the most recent 4-year age range.
Of these 10 most reliable convertibles, Toyota accounts for 4 and Honda, Mazda, Ford, BMW AG, Volvo, and General Motors Corporation each account for one.
For the age interval 6-to-10 years, the 10 (12 by tie) best convertibles, together with their 2010 Car Reliability GPA for this age range, are:
Toyota Motor Corporation’s Lexus SC, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Honda S2000, with a 4.00,
The Mazda MX-5 Miata, with a 3.75,
Toyota’s Lexus IS300, IS350 convertible, with a 3.67,
The 4-cylinder Toyota Camry Solara convertible, with a 3.25,
The BMW Z3, Z4, with a 3.25,
General Motors Corporation’s Chevrolet Corvette convertible, with a 3.00,
The Jaguar XK Series convertible, with a 3.00,
The V8 Ford Mustang convertible, with a 2.75,
The Mercedes-Benz SL, with a 2.50,
The Mercedes-Benz SLK, with a 2.50,
The Porsche 911, with a 2.50.
Of these 12 most reliable convertibles, Toyota accounts for 3, Daimler AG accounts for 2, and Honda, Mazda, BMW AG, General Motors, Ford, Jaguar, and Porsche AG each account for one.
The consistently most reliable convertibles, those that are common to all four of the above age intervals, are:
Toyota Motor Corporation’s Lexus SC, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 4.00 over a 7-year data history,
The Honda S2000, with a 2010 GPA of a perfect 4.00 over a 8-year data history,
The 4-cylinder Toyota Camry Solara convertible,
Toyota’s Lexus IS300, IS350 convertible,
The Mazda MX-5 Miata.
In addition, the V6 Toyota Camry Solara convertible has a 2010 GPA of a perfect 4.00 over a 5-year data history.