Most reliable and least reliable cars named in the US

A new study out of the US has named the most reliable and least reliable cars in one of the world’s biggest automotive markets.

Toyota, Lexus, BMW, Mazda, and Honda made the top five of the brands with the most reliable cars, with BMW jumping up from 10th to third position in just one year, pushing German rival Audi to sixth.

Each car receives a score of between zero and 100 – compiled by not-for-profit organisation Consumer Reports – with data from more than 300,000 vehicles built between 2000 and 2022 – with the average score sitting between 41 and 60.

The data is sourced from vehicle owners and regarded as among the most comprehensive study of its type.

Popular brands such as Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mini, Mitsubishi, Polestar, Porsche, and Rivian were excluded from the study because the sample sizes were not large enough to be statistically valid.

Volkswagen recorded the lowest score for any single vehicle model.

The widespread adoption of the latest technology in Mercedes-Benz vehicles made its vehicles more vulnerable to failures, bringing the brand’s average down to last place for the first time – dropping five spots from last year.

“A lot of technology doesn’t necessarily work all the time, and there’s more potential for problems,” Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, told US publication Automotive News.

“Mercedes-Benz has chosen to really try to distinguish themselves with all of the latest gizmos and gadgets … and it’s kind of come back to bite them.”

The Toyota Corolla Cross took the top gong as the most reliable model in the report, with a score of 96 out of 100, while the Corolla Hybrid, Corolla, and outgoing Prius were also ranked “well above average”.

The Ford F-150 Hybrid was one of the worst performing vehicles in the reliability survey, with a score of just four out of 100.

Electric cars did not rank well, either, with just four of 11 models receiving a score of average or above average for reliability.

“It’s very easy for someone to say, ‘Electric vehicles are unreliable,’” Mr Fisher said.

“It’s not so much that, as the point of any car that is loaded with technology is [that it is] going to have problems. And right now, that’s not where the hybrid market is at all.”