Toyota Is Unstoppable in Consumer Reports' Reliability Rankings

The most reliable vehicle in America, according to Consumer ReportsPhoto: Toyota

Consumer Reports has released its 2022 list of the most reliable car brands. Toyota has overtaken its sister luxury brand Lexus to dominate the top spot in the rankings. Four of the top five spots in the rankings are now occupied by Japanese automakers. The exception is BMW in third place, a position gained after jumping up ten spots compared to last year’s rankings. There are plenty of other interesting notes to take from the Consumer Reports’ Reliability Rankings.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the annual rankings, Consumer Reports itself best describes how its reliability rankings are compiled:

“Our predicted reliability score is calculated on a 0-to-100-point scale, with the average rating falling between 41 and 60 points. For a brand to be ranked, we must have sufficient survey data for two or more models.”

“Every year, CR asks its members about problems they’ve had with their vehicles in the previous 12 months. This year, we gathered data on over 300,000 vehicles, from the 2000 to 2022 model years (with a few early-introduced 2023 model years), that address 17 trouble areas, including engine, transmission, in-car electronics, and more. We use that information to give reliability ratings for every major mainstream model.”

“Consumer Reports’ brand-level rankings are based on the average predicted reliability score for vehicles in the brand’s model lineup.”

It’s unsurprising to see Toyota take the top spots, with most of the manufacturer’s models scoring above average in predicted reliability. The Toyota Corolla Cross was the list’s most reliable model with a predicted reliability score of 96. The only Toyota model to score severely below average was the Tundra pickup. Full-size pickup trucks were the least reliable vehicle category with an average score of 30.

The Lincoln Corsair help its brand become the most improved in reliabilityPhoto: Lincoln

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There was a mixed showing from the U.S. domestic brands. Lincoln was the highest-ranking American domestic brand with its tenth-place ranking and the biggest mover over the past year. Consumer Reports attributed Lincoln’s 14-spot climb to the improvements made with the Corsair and Nautilus SUVs. Meanwhile, Chevrolet dropped ten spots down to 20th, just over sister brand GMC. The Chevy Bolt was noted among EV models that have had issues crop up in reports. Electric vehicles were the second-least reliable vehicle category.

As more time, money and resources get put into electric vehicle development, EVs are bound to get more reliable. Though, I’m not too sure about full-size pickup trucks on the other hand.