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Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.

2019 Lexus NX F Sport gets the Black Line treatment

Lexus is debuting a limited-production NX F Sport Black Line edition at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show. Set to be sold for the 2019 model year only, the Black Line is essentially an appearance package with some added equipment as well — Lexus previously made a Black Line version of the RC coupe with similar results. The package takes a normal NX 300 F Sport and jazzes it up a bit. The NX in this spec is equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making 235 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Forged 19-inch chrome wheels and a faux carbon bodyside graphic are the main exterior changes. Only three colors will be available for the Black Line, including black, silver and the white you see here. The interior gets colors to complement the exterior, with two-tone white and black seats. A black headliner is standard, as are unique Black Line floor mats, cargo mats and key fob gloves. Extra equipment comes in the form of a new Mark Levinson 14-speaker, 835-watt audio system. This audio setup isn't available on any other version of the NX crossover. Beyond that, the Black Line is a fully-loaded NX with nearly all of the available option boxes checked. Notable upgrades include navigation, blind-spot monitoring, heated/cooled seats, an auto-dimming mirror and moonroof. Lexus is limiting production to 1,000 units for this special edition, which will be arriving in dealerships in February — as in, right about now. It's available in either front-wheel or all-wheel drive. The front-drive version goes for $49,600, while all-wheel drive will run you $51,000 including destination charges. Related video:

Xcar gets Lexus LFA serviced at TMG

Toyota has made all manner of vehicles, from sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and pickup trucks. It's even done a handful of sports cars over the years. But it's only ever done one real supercar, and that was the Lexus LFA. The ten-cylinder supercar was built at the dedicated, purpose-built LFA Works, a facility within Toyota City in Japan that's since moved on to making everything from bicycles to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. But if you were lucky enough to be among the 500 customers to get your hands on an LFA, you may not be inclined to send it back to the factory every time it needs servicing. Especially not if you live in, say, Europe. That's why Toyota Motorsport GmbH was tasked with handling service for the LFA for Europe. The facility in Cologne, Germany, was once home to the automaker's F1 team, now runs its championship-winning endurance racing team and will soon again serve as the home base for its renewed assault on the World Rally Championship. So it's just the type of facility that could handle whatever comes up with Lexus' high-strung exotic, from servicing the V10 engine to repairing the carbon-fiber chassis if need be. After checking out the underground collection in its last episode, the guys at Xcar popped their heads in at the LFA service center. There they spoke with TMG VP Rob Leupen, who seems convinced that Toyota should make a new hybrid supercar. We hope he turns out to be right.