Questioning which automotive, truck or crossover is the perfect so that you can purchase? There are many components to contemplate, together with value, efficiency, dealing with, options, and security — although reliability usually lands within the prime spot for many American customers. Client Experiences has handed out its 2025 Automotive Report Card and this 12 months put a premium on dependability. The outcomes would possibly take some readers without warning.
New automobile costs have been hovering close to document ranges because the COVID pandemic struck, presently averaging round $48,000. That’s so much to shell out for a automotive, truck, or crossover. And, no matter you purchase, you wish to be certain that it lives as much as your expectations.
“Shopping for a brand new automotive is an enormous expense and one which requires a number of analysis to reach at your best option,” mentioned Jake Fisher, senior director of Client Experiences’ Auto Check Heart. “Our new expertise at CR.org makes that analysis simpler by presenting unique unbiased information and insights on all the pieces from reliability to price of possession in a streamlined means that’s easy to navigate.”
Readers Weigh In — And Ship Some Surprises
Because it has for many years, Client Experiences as we speak 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 by way of their paces on each public roads and the group’s Connecticut check observe.
It checked out security and tech options, and it pulled collectively studies 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 instances, shocking. For one factor, little Subaru outscored larger manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai on the reliability chart. Equally sudden, mentioned 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 mentioned Rivian suffered from all types of issues, all the pieces 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 in the event 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 standard hybrids, which confirmed little distinction in reliability between gasoline and gas-electric variants.
Japan Dominates
From a reliability standpoint, Japanese marques tended to prime the CR chart, whereas Koreans had been a combined bag. Kia was ninth of twenty-two manufacturers, Hyundai rounding out the highest 10. However the high-line Genesis fell to 14th, largely attributable to points just like the drive and gas 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 nicely, nonetheless. Buick was the highest-ranked model, at eleventh, whereas others landed within the center and decrease third of the chart.
Tesla Bother
Tesla clearly might be grateful that it isn’t Rivian, however nonetheless made it solely as much as seventeenth place. It had its good product strains, mentioned Fisher, the Fashions 3 and Y, and its downside youngsters: the unique Fashions S and X being a few 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 studies. “We don’t count on nice issues,” he mentioned.
Subaru Repeats
Whereas CR put the emphasis on its reliability report, it additionally checked out how varied 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 solution to the highest, surpassing BMW by a single level.
The general outcomes, the nonprofit mentioned, 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 prime isn’t straightforward, defined Fisher, noting that some manufacturers do rather well in the case of reliability, touchdown within the quantity 3 spot. However “it was mid-pack in the case of highway assessments,” he defined, dragging its general rating all the way down to ninth.
For its half, Rivian didn’t endure 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.
