Here Are The Most Reliable Used Car Brands According To Consumer Reports - The Autopian (2024)

If you’re in the market for a used car, you might want to take a look at this. Consumer Reports has issued its first ever brand ranking for used vehicles, using reliability data from model years 2014 through 2019, and it has some surprises on it.

While the new car supply issues of peak COVID have waned, higher interest rates than many consumers are used to combined with a cost of living squeeze are pushing consumers into used cars, even if used cars are still more expensive than many are used to. As Alex Knizek, Consumer Reports‘ associate director of auto test development, said to the Detroit Free Press:

Although prices have come down from their pandemic highs, the average cost of a used car is nearly $30,000. That’s why we placed a big emphasis on value in selecting these 10 vehicles, looking for the hidden gems that offered the right blend of reliability, performance, and safety at the most budget-friendly prices

Unsurprisingly, the big winner here is Lexus, followed closely by Toyota. Mazda rounds out the podium, and while the gulf between that brand and Toyota is considerable, the Mazda lineup from 2014 to 2019 still makes for solid used car bets, especially if you’re looking at powertrain reliability. Plus, used Mazdas often aren’t as expensive as used Toyotas or Hondas, so if you’re looking to save some coin, a Mazda could be a sleeper hit.

Further down the list, things start to get weird but in interesting ways. Buick nabbed the sixth place spot, making it the most reliable American car brand by a considerable margin. While there are definitely still engines to avoid in the Buick lineup like the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine in the Verano and the 3.6-liter V6 in older Enclave crossovers, it’s still fascinating to see Buick rank 12 spots higher than Chevrolet.

BMW is in seventh place, ahead of Subaru and Nissan but behind Honda and Buick. Given the brand’s reputation combined with this survey covering a few years of the trouble-prone N20 four-cylinder engine, it’s surprising to see the brand rank so high, but that likely speaks to the reliability gains found with the B48 four-cylinder and B58 six-cylinder engines.

Perhaps contradicting stereotypes around electric vehicles, Tesla ranks way down the list in 24th place, slotting in between Jeep and Dodge. While electric vehicles do have substantially fewer requirements than combustion-powered cars when it comes to regular maintenance, Tesla’s score may be down in the dumps due to a combination of teething issues on early Model S sedans and quality control issues on early Model 3 sedans, since this study only involves cars from 2014 to 2019.

While Consumer Reports‘ overall brand rankings make sense, some of the individual models recommended might not be the best options for you depending on your needs. For instance, the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze recommended as a used car under $10,000 may be feature-rich with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but its turbocharged engine has more potential failure points than a naturally aspirated powerplant including reports of cracked pistons, and while owners are unlikely to run into any issues in the short term, anyone looking to run a car into the ground might want to look at something mechanically simpler.

Likewise, the publication’s recommendation of a 2019 Hyundai Elantra for less than $15,000 is great in the short term, as it does come with a whole bunch of amenities. However, the two-liter Nu engine hasn’t proven to be quite as stout as Mazda’s naturally aspirated Skyactiv inline-four or Toyota’s two-liter four-banger, so if you’re looking to keep a used car for the long haul and value powertrain reliability over everything, it might not be a bad idea to go by brand ranking rather than individual model recommendations.

Still, it’s always interesting to take a gander at reputable used car reliability studies, because the data from them can steer people away from potentially problematic vehicles and possibly even turn some prejudices on their heads. Who knows? Maybe buying that used BMW isn’t such a dumb idea after all.

(Photo credits: Lexus, Consumer Reports, BMW, Tesla, Hyundai)

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