Toronto, Ontario — Consumer Reports has released a study outlining rankings for used cars, with Lexus and Toyota topping the list.
The report specifically focused on the reliability of five to 10-year-old models and looked at 26 automotive brands. To calculate a vehicle’s longterm reliability, Consumer Reports compared how many problems a model has to the average number of problems for that model year.
Alongside Lexus and Toyota, Mazda, Acura and Honda rounded out the top five most reliable automotive brands. At the other end of the spectrum, Tesla, Dodge and Chrysler came in the 24, 25 and 26th positions, respectively.
“Brands like Lexus and Toyota have a history of conservative redesigns, incrementally improving their entire product line, rather than introducing many all new systems,” said Steven Elek, Consumer Reports’ senior automotive data analyst. “Our data consistently shows over time that cars from those brands are reliable when new and they continue to be reliable as they age.”
Contrastingly, the report further noted that a big reason for the indicated unreliability of the vehicles at the lower end of the spectrum is due to increases in redesigned models as well as greater moves to electric systems.
In this way, “taking this longer view, looking at reliability over five to 10 years, gives a clear picture of what used car buyers can expect,” concluded Elek.
To see Consumer Reports’ full report, click here.
