When looking to buy a car, reliability is important, but it’s one of the harder things for car reviewers like us to evaluate. Thankfully, Consumer Reports polls its subscribers annually in order to judge which brands and models are the most reliable. CR also shows the least reliable brands in that ranking, which should help you narrow down your shopping list, giving you a sense of which brands to best avoid if squeaks, rattles or major malfunctions are a big concern for you.
CR says it didn’t have enough data to rate the Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mitsubishi and Polestar brands.
Here, we’ve listed the 10 least reliable car brands in the U.S., according to CR’s data.
Despite the Kia Niro Electric making the top 10 reliable models this year, the brand as a whole gets dragged down by poor ratings from the Sorento, Forte and Seltos.
Historically, Volvo is known for making safe and reliable cars. Its current lineup falls short, however, with the XC90 being the brand’s least reliable model.
The Ram 2500 and 1500 pickups don’t get stellar reliability scores, but the 1500 Classic had a predicted reliability score of just 11 out of 100, bring the brand as a whole down by 12 positions compared to last year’s overall reliability rankings.
GMC as a brand suffers from a terrible 2-out-of-100 score for the Yukon and a score of 11 for the Sierra 1500.
Mercedes scores two positions worse this year, with the GLE being its least reliable model in CR’s survey.
None of four VW models — Jetta, Atlas, ID.4 and Tiguan — score above 50 points out of 100, but The Tiguan was the worst, at just 17 points.
Hyundai’s luxury brand had just two models represented in CR’s study, and while the G70 scored 55 points out of 100, the GV80 SUV scored just 5 points.
Though the Jeep Cherokee, Wrangler and Gladiator are able to get you off the beaten path, they can also land you in the shop, with reliability scores of 30, 25 and 23, respectively.
The Tesla Model 3 EV scored the best of the brand, with 59 points, but the Model S, Y and X scored 20, 18 and 5, in that order. It retains its position on the list as the second-least reliable brand.
Ford’s luxury brand Lincoln retains the dubious honor of being the least reliable, with the Aviator being the most egregious offender. It’s a shame, as Lincoln makes some otherwise enjoyable vehicles.
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