Consumer Reports evaluated more than 200 new vehicles, incorporating crash-test results, road-test scores, and owner-reported reliability from roughly 380,000 vehicles—its largest data set in years. The findings, the organization says, are designed to guide buyers toward long-lasting and dependable models at a time when household budgets remain under pressure.
Subaru once again tops the overall brand rankings, holding onto the number one position for the second consecutive year and the third time in five years. BMW and Porsche follow closely behind, with Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Lincoln, Hyundai, Acura, and Tesla rounding out the top 10. Five of those brands are non-luxury carmakers, underscoring Consumer Reports’ view that strong performance does not always require a premium price tag.
Lincoln makes the biggest leap of the year, rising 17 spots to seventh place on the strength of improved reliability scores, while Audi sees the steepest drop, falling 10 positions to sixteenth.
The lower end of the rankings shows little change. Dodge, GMC, Land Rover, Rivian, and Jeep remain at the bottom, with Jeep finishing last for the third year in a row, weighed down by chronic reliability issues and low owner satisfaction.
Toyota leads the 2026 reliability rankings, narrowly surpassing Subaru. The company’s steady rollout of updates to models like the Camry, Tundra, and Tacoma, paired with a strong early showing from the redesigned 4Runner, helped improve its standing. Seven of the top ten most reliable brands are Asian manufacturers, a trend Consumer Reports says is consistent with long-term industry patterns.
The news is less encouraging for Mazda, which falls to fourteenth place amid widespread problems with its CX-70 and CX-90 SUVs. Genesis faces similar challenges, landing twenty-first with no models earning an average reliability score.
Among American brands, the results are mixed. Buick remains the highest-ranked domestic manufacturer, while Tesla earns its best placement ever—ninth overall—driven by incremental improvements in build quality. Ford also posts its strongest reliability ranking in fifteen years, buoyed by better performance from the F-150 lineup. But Stellantis brands continue to struggle, with Chrysler, GMC, Jeep, and Ram occupying the lower third of the list.
European automakers are similarly uneven. BMW emerges as the standout, placing fifth overall with consistently strong reliability across its lineup. Mercedes-Benz lands nineteenth, hindered by poor showings from the E-Class and GLS. Audi, Volkswagen, and Volvo fall in between, each dealing with issues related to electrification, electronics, or battery systems.
Consumer Reports’ findings reflect broader growing pains in the electric and plug-in hybrid market. Hybrids remain the most reliable category of electrified vehicles, with roughly 15 percent fewer problems on average than gasoline-only models. Battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, by contrast, experience about 80 percent more issues, often tied to charging systems, batteries, and drive components. Still, the organization notes that some EVs are improving with age, and more than a dozen models earn at least average reliability, including offerings from Tesla, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai.
The Tesla Model Y is deemed the most reliable electric vehicle; the Rivian R1T is ranked the least.
Consumer Reports releases the full brand and model rankings, along with detailed ratings tools, on its website. The organization says it hopes the expanded dataset—based on feedback from nearly 400,000 vehicle owners—will give shoppers more clarity as they navigate a shifting market, rising costs, and a surge of new technologies.