What is the Most Reliable Car?

When you decide you're in the market for a new-to-you used car, one of the first things you'll want to do is start to narrow the field of cars down to a few models. That will help reduce distractions when searching through ads and car lots.

If you start to search around for the “best” car, you'll see that different authorities create all types different lists based on different classifications. There's a list of the 'Best Family' cars, the 'Most Fuel Efficient' cars, the 'Best Car Under $10,000”, and even the very broad “Best Deals” types of lists. By the time they've created all of their lists, they've listed virtually every vehicle in production.

They simply all can't be the 'best'. In fact, 'best' is different for different people. Some people need an inexpensive commuter that's small and easy to park downtown. Some people need to carry a lot of family members. In terms of styling, some like sporty, some like hip, some like conventional. Some people need 4-wheel drive, some wouldn't know what to do with it.

The one common thread which everyone can agree on is that they want a dependable car. What is the most reliable car? Well, there are several most-reliable cars in each category. We need to determine which organizations can speak with some authority on the topic of dependability. Some of the lists are created by organizations that never touch one of the automobiles they're ranking. Many of the lists are recaps of someone else's list, without the context that this is a single list in a sea of lists.

Authorities on Reliable Cars

At Clever Customer, we've chosen four authorities on reliability, we've studied their lists, and we're presenting what we've learned as a result. The first authority is Consumer Reports. They have a long-lived and well-earned reputation of being a consumer advocate. They do their testing on vehicles they purchase, not donated ones. The second authority we are using is Kelley Blue Book. As the de fcato reference on vehicle values, they understand which vehicles hold their value for longer periods of time, a reflection of their quality. The third authority we are using is J.D. Power. The information they collect for their Dependability survey is from actual owners of the vehicles, three years after the vehicles are new. Their surveys are not sponsored by a manufacturer or dealer, they intended to represent the voice of the consumer. The last authority we are using is CarMD. The name might not be as familiar to you, and that's because their customers are primarily auto repair facilities. They collect and analyze data from actual diagnoses and repairs from cars in North America and around the world. One of the reports they publish is a list of vehicles least likely to encounter a “check engine” related problem. We've used the top 20 vehicles from that list on ours.

One thing you would learn from reading all of these lists is that each organization seems to have it's favorites. The same organizations ranks many of the same models year after year, category after category. Part of that result is because those models are reliable. Part of that result may also be some partiality, which is why we're looking at four different ranking organizations. No single model has rankings from all four authorities. Two models, Toyota's Camry and Prius, have three rankings.

So, what is the most reliable car according to our authorities? Find the category you're shopping in the list below and see which models were ranked, and by how many organizations. We've omitted model years in order to help normalize the rankings. One model may have shown up multiple times because different model years of the same model were on different lists due to their value. For example, the same model can be on a “Best under $10,000” for older model years, and a “Best Under $20,000” for newer model years, we list the model once because it's ranked as reliable, regardless of price.

Most Reliable Cars

Subcompact Cars

Compact Cars

Mid-Size Cars

Luxury Cars

Sports Cars

Minivans and Wagons

Sub-Compact and Compact SUV's

Mid-Size and Full-Size SUV's

Full-Size Pickup Trucks

Now that you have a good idea of the model of vehicle you're looking for, continue on to Step 2 below in our used car buying process.