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Tesla Gets Crushed in CR's Car Brand Reliability Survey, but It Could Be Worse

Consumer Reports has published its latest annual auto reliability brand ranking, and the results show that eight of the most reliable brands are from Asia. The other two to make the top ten are Buick and MINI. What about the brands with the worst scores?
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Well, as you may have read in the title of this article, Lincoln, Tesla, and Jeep had the worst rankings in Consumer Reports’ 2021 Brand Reliability Survey. Mind you, this survey only includes 28 brands, as other marques had too few models or insufficient data to be able to obtain a rank.

In other words, Consumer Reports did not have enough info to work with when it came to brands like Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mitsubishi, and Polestar. The survey worked with data gathered from over 300,000 vehicles, with model years ranging from 2000 to 2021.

If one brand did not have enough models in its range, or if it was not accurately represented within the CR subscriber database, it had to be left out to prevent affecting the overall result. The publication also has statisticians and data analysts to make sure the results are correctly shown.

Owners reported issues as severe as transmissions that required replacements at just 5,000 miles (ca. 8,047 km), as well as misaligned tailgates or doors, or display screens that required hardware replacement. Yes, these things may happen even with a new or almost new car, but that is why warranties exist.

However, Consumer Reports makes reliability predictions based on overall reliability for the past three years, or the past two if a particular model was redesigned in 2021 or 2020. Reliability data is gathered from Consumer Reports members and only covers issues with their vehicles in the past 12 months.

After careful data analysis, Consumer Reports makes a predicted reliability score for each brand, which is on a 0-to-100-point scale. The industry average sits between 41 and 60 points. The best-ranked marques come from Asia, followed by others Europe. Some American makes and models fared better than their foreign equivalents.

You should know that pickups and minivans had the lowest average score in predicted reliability, with an average of 43. SUVs beat them with an average predicted reliability of 50 out of 100, while the other body styles, ranging from convertibles, coupes, and hatchbacks to wagons and sedans had an average predicted reliability score of 57.

It is worth noting that electrified models had above-average reliability ratings, but all-electric SUVs failed to beat the overall average of the category. That goes to show that having fewer moving parts does not guarantee fewer issues. In-car electronics may have been the least reliable element of affected electric SUVs, but that is a different story.

Lexus managed to stand out this year as all its models managed to have average or better reliability this year than any of the other top-five brands in the survey. All Mazda models managed to score above average except for the Mazda3, which was on par with the industry average on reliability, just like last year, as CR notes.

Now, let us move on to the average scores of predicted reliability based on Consumer Reports member surveys. Lexus tops the survey with 76 points, and Mazda manages a close second with 75 points. Toyota gets a third place with 71 points, while Infiniti gets a six-position jump to fourth place with 69 points.

Buick drops one position, reaching fifth with 66 points, but having the best rank across domestic brands. Honda also obtained an average of 66 points and dropped a position from last year, while Subaru gained a position from last year with its 66-point raking that landed the marque in seventh place.

Acura has obtained 65 points on its first-ever ranking, enough for eighth place, while Nissan got an average of 63 points. MINI earned 13 positions and obtained tenth place with an average of 60 points. On the other hand, Hyundai dropped four positions and was ranked 11th this year, with 56 points.

Chrysler's first-ever ranking got the brand 54 points and 12th place this year. Porsche dropped two positions, stopping in 13th place, with 52 points. Chevrolet earned four positions and ranked 14th this year with 48 points.

Audi had to settle for 15th place with 47 points, just ahed of Cadillac and BMW. While Cadillac gained six positions this year and obtained 47 points, BMW dropped four positions and only got 45 points this year.

Ford was ranked 18th in the survey this year, with 44 points, an increase of five positions.

Just under the Blue Oval, Kia dropped three spots and finished with 43 points, while Volvo dropped a position and ended this year's survey with 42 points, just at the edge of the industry average.

Ram dropped 12 positions and rested in the 21st place with 40 points, followed by GMC with 37 and Mercedes-Benz with 34. GMC lost five positions, while Mercedes lost two. Volkswagen gained one position this year, with 31 points, but ranked 24th at the end, while Genesis got to be on the scale for the first time, ranking 25th with 30 points.

Jeep only got 26 points and the 26th place, which marked a five-position drop for the brand. The marque was followed by EV-only brand Tesla, which got the 27th place with just 25 points. Lincoln had the worst rating of this year's survey, with the last position and just 18 points.
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Editor's note: Tesla Model 3 featured in photo gallery for illustration purposes.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
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Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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