The latest Consumer Reports Auto Reliability Survey names the Prius C the most reliable vehicle and puts Toyota firmly at the top overall and Jaguar at the bottom in the 2012 league table.
Japanese car manufacturers occupy eight of the top 10 places in the 2012 survey of over 800,000 US motorists and 1.2 million cars sold between 2010 and 2012 with only two non-Japanese brands -- Audi (8th place) and Kia (10th) making it into the top half of the table.
And while the Toyota Prius C hybrid was named the most reliable vehicle, it was another Toyota brand, Scion, that took the top spot, followed by Toyota in second and Lexus in third, giving the car company a clean sweep of the medal places.
At the other end of the table, Ford has dropped from its top-10 position two years ago and finds itself one place from last. However, there are mitigating circumstances. Ford's MyFord telematics system is still problematic and many of its historically reliable models, including the Escape and Fusion were redesigned for 2013 and are therefore not included in the results. Therefore, Cadillac (owned by GM) is the most reliable US brand in this year's table. Other US brands to fall into the bottom 10 places include Lincoln, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Buick and Jeep.
European brands have fared much better. As well as Audi returning to the top 10 following reliability issues in recent years, 10 of BMW's 12 US models have shown signs of significant improvement and were rated 'average' or better in the survey. Likewise Mercedes Benz V6 E_Class has moved to 'above average' and the C250 is performing well in the first year of its release, even if the new M-Class came in below average in its first year of availability in the US. But most surprising of all is Jaguar's drop to the bottom of the pile. Since the company was sold by Ford it has been unable to maintain its reliability ratings which used to constantly place it in the top 10 car brands.
The top 10
Scion (Toyota)
Toyota
Lexus (Toyota)
Mazda
Subaru
Honda
Acura (Honda)
Audi
Infinity (Nissan)
Kia
The Bottom 10
Jaguar
Ford
Lincoln (Ford Motor Company)
Ram (Chrysler)
Dodge (Chrysler)
Chrysler
Mini (BMW)
Buick (GM)
Volvo
Jeep (Chrysler)
