Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports Reveals Most, Least Reliable Cars

Consumer Reports has released its annual list of the most and least reliable new cars.

There are some big changes this year, with an American car manufacturer making the top 10.

The most reliable new car you can buy is the the Scion xB, according to Consumer Reports’ latest reliability survey.The agency collected data on over a million vehicles across 28 brands.

The most reliable brands on the list were dominated by Japanese carmakers, with Lexus, Toyota and Mazda taking the top three spots. Honda came in at number four.

The four least reliable models are Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Fiat, which are all owned by Chrysler. The new Fiat 500L was ranked the least reliable car out of the 248 vehicles Consumer Reports rated.

“Chrysler has traditionally had more than its fair share of trouble. And the addition of Fiat in the mix, it really hasn’t helped," said Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at Consumer Reports.

“We value customer feedback and use it to continuously improve our vehicles," Chrysler told News4. "Many of the issues identified in the survey coincided with new product and technology introductions and have already been addressed with vehicles currently in production.”

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Some American brands did fare well. Lincoln shot up 12 spots this year, and Buick made it onto the top 10 list of reliable brands  - it's the only American car to do so.

"GM has been one of the better domestic brands in terms of reliability, and Buick has often been their top brand,” Fisher added.

A few first-year cars, like the Mazda6 and Kia Cadenza, got high marks for reliability. But most didn’t.

“If you’re looking for a reliable car, it’s really not best to buy a car that’s in its first year of the redesign. Wait a year or two until they work out some of those bugs,” Fisher advised.

According to Consumer Reports, the most reliable SUVs are the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, the Subaru Forester, the Toyota Highlander and the Lexus RX.

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