Which cars are the most reliable?

By Herb Weisbaum

Story
Audio

Summary

Story Published: Oct 24, 2008 at 8:42 AM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 4:28 AM PDT

Toyota Scion xD

When it comes to building reliable cars, Japan again tops this list. The Consumer Reports 2008 Car Reliability Survey uses responses from more than 1.4 million vehicle owners to predict the reliability of the new models on the market.

Here are the headlines from this year's survey:

The editors say the Toyota Scion xD, has the best predicted reliability score for all new cars with about 80 percent fewer problems than the average model

The two South Korean nameplates, Hyundai and Kia, rank right up there with the better Japanese makers.

European automakers, especially Mercedes are improving.

When it comes to American-made models, Ford remains in the lead.

"They average Ford product is on par with most of the average Japanese," said Consumer Reports auto expert Jon Linkov. "They're not really on par yet with Toyota of Honda, but Ford is a very reliable brand overall."

Chrysler trails the pack; almost two-thirds of its products rated below average for reliability.

"The Chrysler Sebring for example has had very bad reliability," Linkov told me. "Overall, while there are a few shining spots for Chrysler, most of the line is very poor reliability-wise."

GM is a mixed bag. A quarter of its models rated below average.

Hybrid vehicles did very well. "Whether you're talking about the Ford Escape, the Mercury Mariner hybrid, the Honda Civic, the Toyota Prius, the Lexus or Toyota SUVs, they've all had very good or above average reliability," Linkov said.

Based on its survey, the magazine does not recommend any Land Rover models.

For More Information:

The most and least reliable cars

Which cars are the most reliable?

Summary

Most Popular