Questioning which automotive, truck or crossover is the perfect so that you can purchase? There are many components to think about, together with worth, efficiency, dealing with, options, and security — although reliability usually lands within the high spot for many American customers. Shopper Experiences has handed out its 2025 Automotive Report Card and this yr put a premium on dependability. The outcomes would possibly take some readers without warning.
New car costs have been hovering close to document ranges because the COVID pandemic struck, at the moment averaging round $48,000. That’s loads to shell out for a automotive, truck, or crossover. And, no matter you purchase, you wish to make certain it lives as much as your expectations.
“Shopping for a brand new automotive is a giant expense and one which requires numerous analysis to reach at the only option,” stated Jake Fisher, senior director of Shopper Experiences’ Auto Take a look at Heart. “Our new expertise at CR.org makes that analysis simpler by presenting unique unbiased information and insights on every thing from reliability to price of possession in a streamlined method that’s easy to navigate.”
Readers Weigh In — And Ship Some Surprises
Because it has for many years, Shopper Experiences at the moment issued its newest annual Automotive Report Card, grading particular person manufacturers and fashions utilizing quite a lot of metrics. Amongst different issues, it put scores of latest fashions via their paces on each public roads and the group’s Connecticut check monitor.
It checked out security and tech options, and it pulled collectively reviews from about 300,000 readers who weighed in on merchandise from mannequin years 2000 to 2024, in addition to early 2025 fashions.
The outcomes had been, in some circumstances, stunning. For one factor, little Subaru outscored larger manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai on the reliability chart. Equally surprising, stated Fisher, Toyota landed third, behind its upscale Lexus model. Honda and Acura rounded out the highest 5 manufacturers.
Rivian Unplugged
On the different excessive, Rivian got here in at all-time low, with a Model Reliability Rating of simply 14, in comparison with Subaru’s 68. Cadillac was second from final with — working up the size — GMC, Jeep, and Volkswagen rounding the bottom-of-the-barrel manufacturers.
CR’s proprietor/contributors stated Rivian suffered from all types of issues, every thing from battery failures to defective onboard electronics. Cadillac’s weak standing, in the meantime, was largely the results of points with the Lyriq EV.
And should you acknowledge a sample right here, it’s the truth that “we’re seeing extra issues with all-electric and plug-in hybrid automobiles” than these utilizing inner combustion engines or hybrid powertrains, Fisher instructed me.
“It’s no shock,” he added, contemplating the novelty of the expertise. However, as automakers get extra expertise with electrified drivetrains, “The hole is closing. We’re seeing huge enhancements.”
That’s already occurred with typical hybrids, which confirmed little distinction in reliability between fuel and gas-electric variants.
Japan Dominates
From a reliability standpoint, Japanese marques tended to high the CR chart, whereas Koreans had been a blended bag. Kia was ninth of twenty-two manufacturers, Hyundai rounding out the highest 10. However the high-line Genesis fell to 14th, largely on account of points just like the drive and gasoline techniques on its best-selling mannequin, the GV70.
Audi and BMW had been the one Europeans in that rarified group, at seventh and eighth. U.S. automakers weren’t faring properly, nonetheless. Buick was the highest-ranked model, at eleventh, whereas others landed within the center and decrease third of the chart.
Tesla Hassle
Tesla clearly can be grateful that it isn’t Rivian, however nonetheless made it solely as much as seventeenth place. It had its good product traces, stated Fisher, the Fashions 3 and Y, and its downside youngsters: the unique Fashions S and X being a number of the most problem-plagued within the business.
There wasn’t but sufficient information to measure how the brand new Cybertruck fared — however Fisher isn’t optimistic, based mostly on early reviews. “We don’t count on nice issues,” he stated.
Subaru Repeats
Whereas CR put the emphasis on its reliability report, it additionally checked out how numerous manufacturers and fashions fared from a broader perspective. And right here’s the place Subaru delivered one other shock, coming in because the primary model general. It clawed its option to the highest, surpassing BMW by a single level.
The general outcomes, the nonprofit stated, are based mostly on “a mixture of CR’s road-test scores, predicted reliability and proprietor satisfaction information, and security for the entire fashions from every automaker.”
At Least It Isn’t Rivian
Touchdown on high isn’t simple, defined Fisher, noting that some manufacturers do very well in the case of reliability, touchdown within the quantity 3 spot. However “it was mid-pack in the case of highway checks,” he defined, dragging its general rating all the way down to ninth.
For its half, Rivian didn’t undergo the ignominy of anchoring each charts — Jeep fell to the underside within the general outcomes. However that was small consolation for the EV startup. It managed to clamber up only one place, rating second-to-bottom.