It should be obvious to you all that the majority of the people that reply
to those surveys are those with an ax to grind..in other words the
complainers and bitches of the world...they can't wait to complain about
something or some one. Why is that so difficult to understand. ( Sorry to
say that any complaints about the Vettes are probably correct.we all know
that.)

Dash failures,optispark,cracks,squeeks,alternators..and so on for several
more pages ..!!!!!!!!!!

Criterion:  Subjective recall of anonymous folk who may be
fibbing about the products they own and use. This is a
once-a-year survey encompassing autos, dishwashers,
refrigerators etc.  It asks the respondent to recall issues
reaching back 5 years or more years for some products.  We
aren't asked to keep running logs to jog our memory come
survey time; and, as Bob notes, memories may be somewhat
selective.  If you place any faith in it, you've got to hope
that the statisticians who validate the results are earning
their keep. If not, take it with a grain of salt and move on.

Suggestion:  Find someone who is a long-term CR subscriber
and ask them to share their next product questionnaire.
Then, make up your own mind.  CU's reliability question
doesn't look much different from what you are suggesting.
Survey design isn't my expertise so I can't judge whether
your's is better than their's from an accuracy viewpoint.

There's a loyalty question, "would you buy this again?"

Then, for each of the major auto subsystems, the respondent
is asked to itemize the number of *repaired failures.*  They
also itemize *un-repaired failures* that they are living
with. The sub-system categories are not clear-cut so there
may be some overlap or gaps.

I vividly recall an exterior lighting control module that
misbehaved for over two years before acting up for the
service advisor.  I vividly remember the driver's window
snubber that failed every six months.  On that car, those
items got reported, every year, for five years.

The results can be skewed by how the dealer and manufacturer
handle recalls and repairs...

For several years I forgot about the recall-replacement of a
#1 main bearing.  The GMC dealer handled that "during" a
lube job. (Tuesday thru Thursday-- "PJ if you don't need
your truck for a couple of days we've got a factory
*upgrade* we'd like to accomplish." )  I also failed to note
a complete disassembly & reseal job on the intake manifold
of my wife's car--they did find anti-freeze leaking into the
air plenum.  Either of those issues could have left me
beside the road but they didn't and I forgot them at survey
time.  --so my reliability score was higher than it should
have been.

Two identical vehicles with the same serious issues may be
reported differently just because of a difference in
Customer Relationship Management.

I've read CU since the late '40s.  They are a fairly good
resource.  They aren't a God but like a God, they are
biased.  Over the years, those biases have shifted.

Thirty-five years ago, CR bitched about U.S. car
manufacturers not putting enough controls on steering column
stalks.  The last couple of years, they've bitched about too
many controls being on stalks in U.S. cars.