Buying a New Vehicle in 2024? Skip These Surprisingly Unreliable Cars

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Day-to-day life is expensive these days. Inflation has caused an increase in so many categories, including groceries, gas, and even pet care. The last thing you need on top of expensive basics is car trouble. That’s why it’s helpful when Consumer Reports shares their research on the most reliable new cars.

In order to find which new car models are the most reliable, Consumer Reports conducted member surveys on over 330,000 vehicles. The survey asked about small car issues like brakes all the way to highly expensive transmission and engine repairs. The data included information on internal combustion engines, EVs, hybrids, and plug-in electric vehicles.

The 5 Most Unreliable Car Brands

This year, Consumer Reports ranked thirty car brands after calculating average problems for all brand models. The brands that scored in the bottom five were as follows.

• Jeep.
• Volkswagen.
• Rivian.
• Mercedes-Benz.
• Chrysler.

Interestingly, electric vehicles did not score well. In fact, the data showed electric vehicles have 79% more problems than gas vehicles, plug-in hybrids have 146% more problems than gas vehicles — while hybrids have 26% fewer problems than gas vehicles.

Tesla scored in the middle, ranking 14th out of 30 for reliability. However, Rivian, a newer electric vehicle in the marketplace, was third from the bottom on the reliability list.

Looking Beyond Brand Ratings

If you’re currently shopping for a reliable car, it’s important to look at reliability by model, not just the brand. For example, Toyota is the second most reliable brand on the Consumer Reports list, behind Lexus. However, their data shows the Toyota Tundra pick-up trick is one of the less reliable vehicles overall.

Consumer Reports does have detailed reliability information and test results for many different car models, but you need to subscribe in order to view the data.

Which Car Brands To Buy Instead

Now that you know which cars to skip in 2024, here are a few consistently reliable car brands.

• Lexus.
• Toyota.
• Mini.
• Acura.
• Honda.

The order of this list is a slight change from last year, when Toyota took the top spot, followed by Lexus. The data noted that within the top brands, the hybrids that scored especially well were the Lexus UX, NX Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Highlander Hybrid and RAV4 Hybrid.

So, if you’ve never considered a hybrid before, this data shows they’re worth considering, especially if you’re focusing on reliability as one of your top priorities with your next vehicle purchase.

Reliability Is Key to Satisfaction With Your Car Purchase

When shopping for cars, many consumers focus on size or safety ratings, which are important factors. However, in the current economic climate where everyday expenses have increased rapidly, it’s also good to know which car brands produce reliable vehicles.

Car repairs can get expensive, and no one likes a surprise transmission bill. While no car manufacturer can guarantee you won’t have maintenance issues, with the proper research, you can identify cars that have fewer issues than most.

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