Japanese auto brands nabbed five of the top 10 spots on this year’s Consumer Reports Reliability Survey, with Mazda finishing on top for the first time, followed by Toyota and Lexus. The survey, which covers the 2000-2020 model years, is based on data collected from the organization’s members about their experiences with more than 300,000 vehicles.
A model’s overall reliability score also includes road-test performance, owner satisfaction survey results, whether the model comes with key safety systems and crash test data, where available.
Rank | Brand | Score |
1 | Mazda | 83 |
2 | Toyota | 74 |
3 | Lexus | 71 |
4 | Buick | 70 |
5 | Honda | 63 |
6 | Hyundai | 62 |
7 | Ram | 58 |
8 | Subaru | 57 |
9 | Porsche | 55 |
10 | Dodge | 54 |
11 | Infiniti | 54 |
12 | BMW | 52 |
13 | Nissan | 51 |
14 | Audi | 46 |
15 | Kia | 45 |
The consumer organization had been predicting that EVs would, by their nature, be more reliable than a brand’s combustion-powered vehicles, because they have fewer moving parts. But, he said, in many cases, that’s turning out not to be the case. “Almost all automakers seem to use the opportunity to make these vehicles a technological tour de force, and as a result, they’re creating problems because they’re changing everything.”