Most Reliable Vehicles

Most of the vehicles found at Earthy Cars are small and good for families . And we have several hybrids.   Earthy Cars generally finds the most reliable car models. - Earthy Cars

Most Reliable Cars
Small, family, and hybrid cars lead the way, and Ford continues its strong showing.

By Consumer Reports

Article via MSN Autos 

Paying more for a new car doesn't guarantee better reliability. As a group, inexpensive small cars and midsized family sedans are the most reliable. That's one of the findings of our 2009 Annual Auto Survey, based on our subscribers' experiences with 1.4 million vehicles.

Small cars stand out. Twenty of 37 small cars have above-average predicted-reliability scores. Family cars fare nearly as well, with 21 out of 41 scoring above average. Other interesting findings include the following:

-A wide gulf separates the best from the worst. The least reliable vehicle, the Volkswagen Touareg, is 27 times more likely to have a problem than the most reliable car, the Honda Insight.

-Ford is tops among the domestic automakers. The Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan once again beat the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The upscale Lincoln MKZ beat its rivals, the Acura TL and Lexus ES.

-Even good brands falter. Among the least reliable in their respective classes are the all-wheel-drive Lexus GS, the Nissan Versa sedan and the Subaru Impreza WRX.

-Five of the eight most reliable family cars are hybrids.

But reliability isn't everything. Some very reliable models do not perform well enough in our road tests for us to recommend them. One example is the Toyota Yaris: Its ironclad reliability doesn't make up for its below-average performance. The same applies to the Honda Insight and the Volvo S40, one of the most reliable nonhybrid family cars.

For full reliability charts and predicted reliability on hundreds of 2010 models, plus a list of what's up and what's down, visit ConsumerReports.org.

Ford Dominates the Domestics

Ford has consolidated its position as the only Detroit automaker with world-class reliability. Of the 51 Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln products that we surveyed, 46 — or about 90 percent — are average or better, including the new Ford Flex SUV. But the Lincoln division has mixed results; some models score below their Ford equivalents. All-wheel-drive versions of the Lincoln MKS, MKX and MKZ, essentially high-end versions of the Ford Taurus, Edge and Fusion, respectively, are all below average.

GM shed the Hummer, Pontiac, and Saturn brands after emerging from bankruptcy. It now consists of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. Of the 48 models we surveyed from those brands, 20 have average scores, and only the Malibu v6 sedan is better than average.
Some newer GM products are bright spots. In addition to the Malibu, the Buick Lucerne did well in our road tests, and it scores average in reliability. The Chevrolet Traverse SUV also makes the cut, as does its cousin, the Buick Enclave, but only in the all-wheel-drive version. The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, two good performers, earn our recommendation as well. GM has a number of strong contenders either just released or in the pipeline, but they are too new for us to have reliability data on them.

We recommend the Pontiac Vibe, the V8 version of the Pontiac G8, and the Saturn Aura, which have average or better reliability. Some of those cars can still be found on dealer lots.

As for Chrysler, we couldn't recommend any of its products in last year's survey because of mediocre performance, poor reliability, or both. Now we can recommend one: the four-wheel-drive version of the redesigned Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. It did well in our road tests and rates average in reliability. Still, more than one-third of Chrysler products are much worse than average, including its new car-based SUV, the Dodge Journey.

Asian Brands Still Command

The major Japanese brands and South Korea's Hyundai and Kia make plenty of reliable vehicles. Of the 48 models with top reliability scores, 36 are Asian. Toyota accounts for 18; Honda, eight; Nissan, four; and Hyundai/Kia and Subaru, three each.

Japanese vehicles are consistently good. All Hondas and Acuras are average or above. Toyota, with its Lexus and Scion brands, provides a broader product range. The Lexus GS AWD is the only Toyota model below average in reliability.

Nissan and its Infiniti luxury division have mostly been very reliable. The once-troublesome Infiniti QX56 and Nissan Armada are now average, as is the four-wheel-drive Nissan Titan, although its rear-wheel-drive version is still troublesome. The Nissan Versa has produced uneven results. Over the last two surveys, the hatchback has been average while the sedan has been far below average. The Nissan Quest minivan also remains troublesome.

Subaru has been a very reliable brand. But this year the turbocharged Impreza WRX turned up with a worse-than-average reliability score, even though other Imprezas have been average or better, as are all other Subarus.

Hyundai and Kia continue to make reliable cars. The Hyundai Elantra and Hyundai Tucson, and the Kia Sportage get top marks. The new Hyundai Genesis V6 is better than average; the V8 version is average. Only Kia's Sedona minivan and Sorento SUV score below average.

Good News From Europe

European brands continue to improve. Mercedes-Benz has significantly rebounded, with most models average or better, and the GLK does exceptionally well in its first year in our survey. Scores from rival BMW are more mixed. The 535i sedan and X3 SUV declined in reliability, and the 135i, debuting in this survey, scores below average. Some BMW models have average or better reliability, but the 328i versions are the only ones that we have tested and can recommend.

Volkswagen and Audi are also staging a nice recovery. The Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf) and the new CC get top scores. The VW Jetta's recommendation now extends to the diesel version, making it the only diesel we currently recommend. Both the Passat and Audi A3 have improved so that they now have average reliability scores. The new VW Tiguan SUV is average. The Audi Q7 SUV continues to be much worse than average, but not as bad as its platform mate, the VW Touareg, which not only scores poorly but has the worst new-car prediction score in the survey.

All of Volvo's sedans are average or better, but Volvo's XC90 SUV is below average. Porsche, which has been doing quite well in our survey of late, has one serious hiccup this year: The Boxster drops to below average, which strikes it from our recommended list. But the Cayenne SUV improved to average.

How We Assess Reliability

Our data are based on an annual survey of subscribers to Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org and are not derived from our vehicle testing. A model needs at least 100 responses for us to score it.

From the survey, we create a reliability history for each model over the course of 10 years, 2000 to 2009. We use the data, in part, to help readers determine which used cars to choose. We also use it to forecast how 2010 models will hold up. That predicted-reliability score is based on a model's overall reliability for the latest three model years, provided that the 2010 version hasn't changed significantly. If a model was new or redesigned in that period, we might use one or two years of data. We will make a prediction for a newly redesigned model only if previous versions had outstanding reliability.

Article was produced by Consumer Reports and MSN, not Earthy Cars.