Earlier today Consumer Reports (CR) magazine released some highlights from its annual reliability survey. This year's announcement includes some bad news for Toyota, but some really good news for Saturn.

While it wasn't specifically mentioned in CR's press release, a Saturn insider tells SaturnFans.com that the magazine has added the Outlook crossover sport-utility and Aura XE sedan to its vaunted list of "recommended" vehicles. Details will be published in the magazine's "Best & Worst for 2008" issue, which goes on sale November 6th. According to CR's website, in order to earn a recommended rating, "vehicles must have performed well in CR's tests, have average or better predicted reliability, and, if crash-tested, provide good overall crash protection based on our composite of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash tests. Pickups and SUVs also must not have tipped up in the government rollover test, or, if not tested, must offer electronic stability control (ESC)."

Overshadowing the CR press release was news that three Toyotas were stripped of their recommended status, and as a result, Toyota will now be treated like all other brands in the magazine. The Camry V6, four-wheel-drive (4WD) V8 version of the Tundra pickup, along with the all-wheel-drive (AWD) version of the Lexus GS sedan "now rate below average in Consumer Reports' predicted reliability rating. Because Consumer Reports does not recommend models with below-average reliability, these models no longer make CR's 'Recommended' list."

Worse for news for Toyota is that CR says that it won't give the manufacturer special treatment in its trusted ratings system. "Because of these findings, CR will no longer recommend any new or redesigned Toyota-built models without reliability data on a specific design. Previously, new and redesigned Toyota models were recommended because of the automaker's excellent track record, even if CR didn't have sufficient reliability data on the new model. If Toyota returns to its previous record of outstanding overall reliability, CR may resume this practice. Typically, CR will only recommend a vehicle if the magazine has at least one year of reliability data for that specific model."

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Source: Consumer Reports