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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.

Here's why the most-ticketed cars story is junk

A recent study from Insurance.com found that owners of the Subaru WRX were the most likely people in the US to be ticketed for traffic infractions, with 33.6 percent of them receiving a citation in the last three years. Coming in a close second and third were drivers of the Pontiac GTO at 32.7 percent and the Scion FR-S at 32.6 percent. At first glance, this report looks like just a mildly interesting anecdote to tell your friends during a lull in conversation, but there seems to be a serious problem with the methodology here that might be blowing these numbers way out of proportion. Insurance.com explains that it based the study on 557,238 drivers who requested online insurance quotes from its service from January 1, 2013 to July 2014. To make it onto the list, a vehicle needed over 50 quotes, and in the end that left 526 models. However, these facts are almost useless because the list isn't based on percentages from the whole pool. The study's ranking comes from owners of specific vehicles, and these numbers aren't mentioned anywhere in the company's press release. All we know about the sample size for each model is that it's higher than 50. Assuming that amount for the WRX means it would only take about 17 people with tickets using the site to put the sporty car in first place. These unknown model sample sizes might explain some of the extremely odd entries on the list. For example, the long-discontinued Mercury Topaz is in seventh place with 28.8 percent of its drivers receiving tickets. The GTO and Toyota Supra are also in the top ten and out of production. Just a few people searching for these vehicles could be the reason for these strange results. Obviously automotive studies have their place, but this one just appears to have gotten confused along the way. Scroll down to read the report to see what we mean. Ticket magnets: The cars with the most violations September 30, 2014 (Foster City, CA) – One in three drivers of the Subaru WRX has a recent traffic violation, according to a study by Insurance.com, the car insurance comparison-shopping website, putting the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive sport-compact atop its ranking of cars that get the most tickets. The most-ticketed brand overall was Scion, with 27.5 percent of all owners reporting a traffic violation. Insurance.com looked at data from 526 models and more than 557,000 recent customers.

Check out the 2017 Subaru Impreza live from New York

We just attended the reveal of the 2017 Subaru Impreza. While we don't have any more details ... yet, we do have live photos and video of the car to tide you over. Subaru will unveil its brand-new 2017 Impreza sedan and hatchback at the New York Auto Show on March 23. The reveal will finally tell us whether the company's designers will bring the sharp styling from its concepts to the road. From what we can see in this teaser, though, the production car won't be quite as forward thinking as we'd like. View 11 Photos Subaru has released a single teaser image of the front end, and we can already see that the headlights look like fairly conventional units. In the conceptual models, LED running lights came to a sharp point that drew the eye to the grille. It was certainly a more interesting design than in this photo. The new Imprezas are the first models to use the Subaru Global Platform, which underpins all the company's upcoming models. It's 70- to 100-percent more rigid than the current chassis and has a 40-percent increase in impact energy absorption. A lower center of gravity and reduced body roll should improve the handling. Subaru also promises the 2017 Imprezas have a more spacious interior and upgraded in-car tech. Subaru's concepts made the new Impreza look exciting, and we still hope some of that translates to production. The hatchback arrived first wearing silver at the Tokyo Motor Show. A red sedan then added a trunk to the honed shape at the LA Auto Show about a month later. Related Video: 2017 SUBARU IMPREZA TO DEBUT AT NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW ? Reveal on March 23, 2016 ? Completely redesigned for 2017 ? Sedan and 5-door to debut March 10, 2016 – Cherry Hill, N.J. – Subaru of America, Inc. announced today that the all-new 2017 Impreza will debut at the 2016 New York International Auto Show on March 23, 2016. The Impreza has been completely redesigned inside and out, from upgraded in-car technology and a more spacious interior to its sleek new body design. The updated model will include signature Subaru features such as Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and award-winning safety technology. Both the sedan and 5-door model will be unveiled at the press conference scheduled for 12:20 p.m. ET on March 23, 2016 at the Subaru display following a speech by Fuji Heavy Industries president & CEO, Yasuyuki Yoshinaga. About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan.