Reliability should always be something you factor into buying a new car. Whether you buy a used vehicle or pick up something straight from the showroom floor, reliability determines how long that car will last. Vehicles with terrible reliability will let you down, cost a fortune in ongoing maintenance and force you to buy another new car within a couple of years. They’re horrific money pits that cause so much stress – so which brands make the most reliable cars in the world?
It’s normally hard to pin this down, yet a recent study from Consumer Reports looked at dozens of major car manufacturers and revealed the top three brands for ultimate reliability.
Toyota
Anyone who knows the slightest thing about cars will understand that Toyota always wins awards for reliability. It’s a combination of making cars that just seem to work super well and providing massive 10-year warranties for all customers. You tend to know that, if you buy a Toyota, it’s going to stand the test of time and won’t be a pain in the backside. What’s interesting about this brand is that it’s one of the few to not go fully electric in its product line. And yet, it is the most reliable – coincidence? Perhaps.
Subaru
In all honesty, Subaru isn’t that much of a household name, and yet it is right up there in terms of reliability. Consumer Reports gives it a predicted reliability score of 63, just 3 shy of Toyota’s top score of 66. However, if you rank all cars based on user satisfaction and reliability, Subaru comes out on top. This is likely down to the fact that all of the brand’s cars are made with excellent materials and a fantastic all-terrain platform. Even used Subaru cars are built to last; they’re made of strong stuff that’s hard to corrode and can handle the deep pot holes you go through every day. There’s a sense of ruggedness here that makes the Subaru brand extremely reliable.
Lexus
Funnily enough, this is technically another win for Toyota, as Lexus is its luxury car division. It’s the third-most-recommended luxury car brand in the world and first in terms of used car reliability. That’s great to know, especially if you’re interested in investing in a quality vehicle. Lexus cars are made to make you feel special when you’re in them, yet unlike other luxury brands, they’re also designed for reliability. Perhaps this is down to the shared Toyota platform – who knows? All you need to know is that a Lexus car normally won’t let you down.
Probably the most interesting thing to take from this top three is that all three are Japanese brands. Even more so, the 4th and 6th brands for reliability are Honda and Nissan, two other Japanese manufacturers! BMW is the only non-Japanese brand in the top six, which goes to show that you should probably consider a Japanese car if your main focus is reliability. They might not make the flashiest cars or cars with the most revolutionary features, but if you want to drive something for years without constant problems, a Japanese-branded car makes the most sense.
