JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The consistently reliable models built by Lexus, Mazda, and Toyota put them at the top of Consumer Reports’ annual auto reliability brand rankings. This year, some traditionally lower-scoring brands show improvement.
Chrysler, Dodge, Infiniti, and Mini all moved up, primarily due to few redesigns in their shrinking model lineups, as well as average or better reliability of their older models that no longer have new-model bugs to work out. Some models, such as the Infiniti QX60 SUV, had below-average reliability when they first went on sale in 2013 but are now benefiting from fixes over time and have become more reliable.
At the other end of the spectrum, Volkswagen and Acura have existing models that continue to have below-average reliability. CR members report that their Volkswagen Atlas and Tiguan SUVs are problematic, just as they were in 2018 when first introduced.
The Acura MDX has had below- to well-below-average reliability since its light redesign, also called a freshening, in 2016, as has the redesigned 2019 RDX. The brands dropped nine positions, the biggest fall in this year’s rankings.
Audi, BMW, and Subaru also dropped because they introduced redesigned models—including the Audi A6, BMW X5, and Subaru Forester—that lowered the automakers' overall brand reliability scores.
Consumer Reports’ brand-level rankings are based on the average predicted reliability score for vehicles in a brand’s model lineup. There was insufficient data to rank the Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, and Ram brands.
Consumer Reports'predicted reliability score is calculated on a 0-to-100-point scale, with the average rating falling between 41 and 60 points.
For more details, go to CR’s Guide to Car Reliability.