Ten Most Reliable Cars

Here’s a quick rundown of the most and least reliable new cars (according to Consumer Reports) in ten different categories… Not many surprises here, but it’s still an interesting list to look at. All cars are 2007 models unless otherwise indicated…

Small Cars
Best: Honda Fit
Worst: Chevrolet Cobalt

Family Cars
Best: Honda Accord Hybrid (slightly better than the 4 cyl Accord)
Worst: Volkswagen Passat

Upscale/Large Cars
Best: Lexus ES350
Worst: Jaguar X-Type

Luxury Cars
Best: 2006 Lexus LS
Worst: Cadillac STS

Sporty Cars
Best: Lexus SC
Worst: Pontiac Solstice

Wagons/Minivans
Best: Pontiac Vibe (the Toyota Matrix is essentially the same car)
Worst: Buick Terraza

Small SUV
Best: Toyota FJ Cruiser (though I’ve never thought of this as being particularly small)
Worst: Kia Sportage

Midsized SUV
Best: Toyota Highlander Hybrid (slighly better than the regular Highlander)
Worst: Mercedes-Benz M-Class

Large SUVs
Best: Toyota Land Cruiser
Worst: Nissan Armada

Pickup Trucks
Best: Subaru Baja (this is hardly a truck!)
Worst: Nissan Titan

Interestingly, the hybrid version of a couple of cars aced out the standard version. Not by much, but still.

[Source: CNN/Money]

Published on November 16th, 2006 - 7 Comments
Filed under: Automotive
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

  1. They added a four cylinder camry convertible (solara) to the list for sporty! My S2000 would be even higher without that garbage. :-)

    Comment by kurt — Nov 17th 2006 @ 10:10 am
  2. It would seem that Japanese and German cars seem to be more reliable.

    Comment by Vans girl — Jul 3rd 2007 @ 7:39 am
  3. “It would seem that Japanese and German cars seem to be more reliable.”

    With the exception of the Volkswagen – I owned a Passet for 6 months last year, only two months of that time was it in full working order.

    I second the remark on Japanese cars though – I’ve owned Toyotas, Hondas & a Mazda – other than routine maintenance they just keep going!

    (Admittedly I traded my VW for a Saturn – FWIW) :)

    Comment by Jesse — Sep 7th 2007 @ 2:53 pm
  4. This is the 2nd article I’ve read that backed up the fact that Mercedes & some asian companines is having a reliability problems and that the domestic companies are continuing to make some strides!! A recent article researching reliability of vehicles from 2004 (Top 5) found that Buick TIED Lexus for the # 1 spot and Cadillac & Mercury were included, not Mercedes, Nissan, BMW, Sabb or Infiniti!!

    Comment by Lakerman — Oct 29th 2007 @ 4:32 am
  5. Lakerman: With the exception of the Pontiac Vibe (which is a rebranded Toyota Matrix), all of the “best” (and none of the “worst”) cars are foreign. The only way this list can be viewed as a positive for domestic car manufacturers is that only some of the “worst” cars are American-made.

    (Then again, many of the “foreign” cars are built in America, so…)

    Comment by nickel — Oct 29th 2007 @ 8:53 am
  6. @nickel:

    Don’t forget the exception of the Kia Sportage ranking as “Worst small SUV”. It’s Korean. :)

    Comment by Eric — Mar 24th 2008 @ 3:33 am
  7. Lexus knows styling they know the road to success lexus is the most reliable car in the world 13 years in a row. Lexus creates real luxury cars the Lexus ls600hl check it out

    The owner of the M-class is likely to experience 10 times as many problems as the owner the Highlander Hybrid, the magazine said.

    Comment by malcolm st.pete florida — Jan 31st 2009 @ 9:43 pm

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