Car brands that break down twice as fast as others: 12 outsiders

When choosing a car, drivers primarily pay attention to the price-quality ratio. Finding a reliable and durable used car is an asterisked task. You need to havean idea of the brand's reputation, performance, and costs.

Experts conducted a thorough study and found that some cars can be a waste of money. The specialists analyzed reliability data based on feedback from thousands of real owners.

What could be worse than buying a car that will require regular repairs? Every year, Consumer Reports evaluates the reliability of each major vehicle model by collecting data on the problems that owners of these cars have experienced over the past 12 months.

You may be surprised to learn that the least reliable company last year, Mercedes-Benz, is once again among the outsiders. It came in second place behind Chrysler, which, by the way, received a terrible average predicted reliability score of 18 out of 100. Rivian, Volkswagen, and Jeep round out the top five unreliable brands to avoid. This is primarily about buying used cars.

Below are the 12 least reliable brands based on new CR data on more than 330,000 vehicles from 2000 to 2023 (plus a few rare 2024 models). Also below are the average annual maintenance costs provided by RepairPal.

Audi

• Predicted reliability score: 43
• Average annual maintenance costs: $987

Chevrolet

• Predicted reliability score: 43
• Average annual maintenance costs: $649

Dodge

• Predicted reliability score: 42
• Average annual maintenance costs: $634

Ford

• Predicted reliability rating: 40
• Average annual maintenance costs: $775

Lincoln

• Predicted reliability rating: 38
• Average annual maintenance costs: $879

GMC

• Predicted reliability score: 36
• Average annual maintenance costs: $744

Volvo

• Predicted reliability rating: 28
• Average annual maintenance costs: $769

Jeep

• Predicted reliability rating: 26
• Average annual maintenance costs: $634

Volkswagen

• Predicted reliability score: 26
• Average annual maintenance costs: $676

Rivian

• Predicted reliability rating: 24

Mercedes-Benz

• Predicted reliability rating: 23
• Average annual maintenance costs: $908

Chrysler

• Predicted reliability rating: 18
• Average annual maintenance costs: USD 608.

Experts also named the top five CR brands by average predicted reliability:

1. Lexus
2. Toyota
3. Mini
4. Acura
5. Honda.

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