Consumer Reports Names Subaru The Most Reliable Brand, Rivian The Least
The owners have spoken.
The Consumer Reports 2025 Automotive Report Card is out and for the first time since 2020 a brand other than Toyota or Lexus is at the top of the reliability chart.
Subaru led the owner survey, which tracks issues over the past year, with a score of 68 out of 100.
Lexus followed with 65 and Toyota with 62.
Japanese brands dominated the top six spots with Audi and BMW coming in seventh and eight ahead of Kia and Hyundai. Buick was the top-rated American brand in 11th with a score of 48 that tied Nissan, while Ford took the 13th spot with a 44 score.
Electric truck brand Rivian was dead last with a score of 14 as the startup automaker continues to work through the teething process. Tesla ranked 17th with a 36 score.
“While brand rankings can guide you to the showroom, it is critical to look at reliability for specific models before making a purchase decision,” Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center, said. “Even within high-ranking companies, there can be significant variation in reliability.”
Several brands were not included in the study due to a lack of sufficient data or because they only sell one model, including Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Infiniti, Lincoln, Lucid, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche and Ram.
One development was that the average reliability of hybrid vehicles was on par with conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) models, while electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) saw improvements. However, EVs still had 42% more issues than ICE vehicles, which was down from 79% last year, and PHEVs 70% more issues, down from 146%.
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Subaru also topped the 2025 Brand Report Card, which combines reliability, safety and customer satisfaction scores along with Consumer Reports road test evaluations.
BMW, Lexus, Porsche and Honda rounded out the top five with Chrysler the top American brand in 16th.
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