Green cars hold up
When the Prius came to market 12 years ago,
there was plenty of skepticism about how well hybrid powertrains would hold up.
But those fears were unfounded: Reliability is a high point for most hybrids. All
but the relatively new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid proved reliable in this year’s
survey.
Hyundai
Sonata Hybrid
So far, electric vehicles have also been
reliable. The Nissan Leaf had an excellent showing and was the most reliable
Nissan in the lineup. The Chevrolet Volt has been above average in our past two
surveys. And Toyota’s new Prius Plug-in earned a top reliability score in this
year’s survey.
Chevrolet
Volt
Owners helping buyers.
Unlike our road-test scores, our
reliability ratings to not come from our experience during vehicle testing.
Instead, we rely on car owners to supply the Consumer Reports National Research
Center with the data.
Earlier this year, we asked our subscribers
to tell us about serious problems they’ve had with their vehicles in the prior
12 months. We base our predicted reliability scores on eh most recent three
model years of data, provided the model has not been redesigned for 2013. The
scores are presented as a percentage better or worse than the average of all
cars.
Hyundai
Elantra
Our minimum sample size is 100 vehicles,
but we often get many more. Among 2012 models, the Honda CR-V drew the most
responses: 2,981. Other 2012 models with more than 2,000 responses are the
Hyundai Elantra sedan and the four-cylinder Toyota Camry and Subaru Outback.
Some new and redesigned models were
released too late to be in our survey, and redesigned 2013 models are not
included in the brand’s average reliability score. Occasionally, we make
predictions for redesigned models with exceptional track records, such as the
Lexus ES 350.
Lexus
ES 350
What’s up, what’s down
Our reliability predictions play an
important role in our decision to recommend a model or not, along with our
road-test results and independent safety tests.
Here we how our recommendations have
changed based on the latest reliability results. We list models that are newly
or no longer recommended, based on improved or declining reliability,
respectively. We also list models for which we now have sufficient data to
rated and recommend or not
Models that changed status are those that
turned out better or worse than we thought they would last year.
Models with scores previously based on
respondents’ short exposure to them sometimes proved less reliable in their
second year. Predictions based on only a single year’s data are somewhat
tentative, because many problems don’t emerge right away, and others are
addressed by the carmakers during the production run.
That reinforces our advice to not buy a new
or redesigned model in its first year. Models marked with an asterisk (*)
indicated data based on one model year only.
Newly recommended
Models
with improved reliability
·
BMW 135i*
·
BMW 535i
·
BMW X5 (6-cyl., turbo)
·
Buick Enclave
·
Buick Regal
·
Chevrolet Cruze
·
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (V8, 4WD)
·
Ram 1500 (V8)
·
GMC Acadia
·
GMC Sierra 1500 (V8, 4WD)
·
Honda Odyssey
·
Nissan 370Z*
·
Toyota Sienna (AWD)
·
Volkswagen CC
·
Volkswagen Eos
·
Volkswagen Jetta Sedan TDI
Models
that now have sufficient data
·
Audi A6 (3.0T)*
·
BMW 328i*
·
Chevrolet Sonic*
·
Chrysler 300 (V6)
·
Hyundai Accent*
·
Hyundai Equus*
·
Hyundai Veloster*
·
Kia Rio*
·
Lexus GS*
·
Mazda 2*
·
Mazda CX-5*
·
Mercedes- Benz C250 (1.8T)*
·
Mitsubishi Outlander Sport*
·
Nissan Leaf
·
Nissan Quest*
·
Toyota Camry (V6)*
·
Volkswagen Passat (5-cyl.)*
·
Volkswagen Passat (TDI)*
Not recommended
Models
with declining reliability
·
Chevrolet Corvette
·
Dodge Challenger (shown)
·
Ford Mustang (V8)
·
Hyundai Genesis Coupe
·
Hyundai Sonata (turbo)
·
Infiniti G Convertible
·
Jeep Grand Cherokee (V8)
·
Mini Cooper Countryman
·
Nissan Titan
·
Volkswagen GTI
·
Volvo C30*
·
Volvo C70*
Models
that now have sufficient data but are below average
·
Buick LaCrosse (4-cyl., eAssist)*
·
Buick Verano*
·
Chrysler 300 (V8)*
·
Dodge Charger
·
Ford Edge (4-cyl., EcoBoost)*
·
Mercedes- Benz M-Class*
·
Volkswagen Touareg
New or redesigned 2012 or early 2013 models
for which we have insufficient data include the BMW 6 Series and X3 (2.0T),
Chevrolet Malibu, Fisker Karma, Ford Escape, Hyundai Azera, Land Rover Range
Rover Evoque, Mercedes-Benz SL and SLK, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Porsche 911 and Boxster,
Scion iQ, and Toyota Yaris.
Chevrolet
Malibu
Fisker
Karma
How the brands compare
This graph shows how the brands rank based
on the average of their models’ predicted-reliability scores. The score is
calculated as a percentage better or worse than the average of all cars. Each
bar shows the range between a brand’s best and worst models. The rank change
shows how many spots a brand rose or fell in the standings compared with last
year’s survey. We needed sufficient data on at least two models to include a
brand. Ram (formerly Dodge trucks) was not separated out from Dodge last year.
“-” indicates no change from last year.
Chart
toppers: Japanese brands took the top seven spots, with none of their models
scoring below average.
