ICEs, Hybrids Win Consumer Reports Kudos While Plug-Ins/EVs Suffer

Subaru tops Consumer Reports’ latest list of most reliable new-car brands, displacing Toyota and higher-priced luxury brands such as BMW. The product testing organization attributes Subaru’s ascent to the top of the list to its conservative model updates and redesigns, as well as its lack of electrified offerings in today’s lineup.

Consumer Reports has more than 6 million subscribers and is a key reference source for buyers of both new and used cars.

Consumer Reports graded 22 brands based on combining surveys and scores related to road-test results, predicted reliability, owner satisfaction, availability of collision warning and mitigation systems and crash-test results. Some brands were not graded out because of limited sales or product lineup. Brands not graded, for example, include Lucid, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo and Land Rover.

The organization notes that plug-in electric vehicles continue to be less reliable than  traditional internal-combustion-engine models, though traditional parallel hybrid systems, such as those found in the Toyota Prius and Camry, are at parity with ICE. The reliability of BEVs and PHEVs is improving, cutting the gap with ICE vehicles in half compared with last year’s rankings.

PHEVs have 74% more problems than gas and hybrids, down from 146% more last year. BEVs have 42% more problems than ICE and traditional hybrids, and that’s down from 79% last year. “It’s trending in the right direction,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Testing Center.

If the trend continues whereby PHEVs and BEVs experience more problems, while traditional parallel hybrids are closer to reliability levels of ICE vehicles, Subaru’s time atop the list could last a few more years. Subaru’s 2025 Forester hybrid and 2026 Crosstrek hybrid, the brand’s top sellers, are both parallel hybrids with technology lifted from Toyota, which holds a stake in Subaru. The Subaru Solterra is the brand’s only BEV, but it sells in such small volume that it did not impact Subaru’s ranking.

“Subaru is slower (than other automakers) to change in technology, which, from a reliability standpoint, is a good thing, because they share many reliable components across their product line,” says Fisher. “This reduces the risk of new problems.”

Toyota’s RAV4 and Corolla remain solid reliability performers, but the redesigned Tundra and Tacoma pickups are having issues, says Fisher. Early buyers complain about braking issues, as well as trim pieces not seating properly around the windows, as well as loose trim.

BMW has the most reliable EV models.

Mazda, says Fisher, exemplifies the gap between PHEVs, BEVs and ICEs, especially in the same automaker’s lineup. Mazda’s ICE vehicles  – CX-50, CX-30 and MX-5 Miata –   continue to be very reliable. “But the new CX-90 PHEV, new from the ground up with different designs with new powertrains on a rear-wheel-drive platform, did not perform well in terms of reliability.” Fisher noted problems were reported on those vehicles with transmission, steering, suspension and telematics, while the PHEV has battery and electrical accessory issues.

Despite Toyota’s slip in the rankings by its most recent models, the automaker remains at the top of rankings for used-car reliability, with Lexus the top-ranked brand and Toyota the No. 2 brand, followed by Mazda, Honda and Acura.

The results show that automakers who care about the rankings should listen to consumers regarding switchgear and telematics user interfaces. Designers have been trying to eliminate knobs for audio systems, HVAC and other frequent functions, and moving controls to center screens, but consumers rebel and punish automakers on surveys for bloated telematics menus and lack of physical knobs.

Tesla, says Fisher, while the longest established BEV maker, is “a tale of two companies,” with the higher-volume Model 3 and Model Y recommended by Consumer Reports, but the Model X and Model S, which Fisher notes tend to get the latest technology before it migrates to other models, tend to be unreliable. The build quality that bedeviled Tesla a few years ago on Model Y and Model 3, says Fisher, however, is greatly improved.

Rivian ranks last in reliability as startup works through maturing as vehicle builder.

The current Consumer Reports ranking is not going to help sales for Stellantis’s Jeep brand, which has seen falling sales this year, contributing to the automaker’s financial woes. Jeep’s reliability fell to 19^th place, with only one model, the Gladiator pickup built on the Wrangler platform, ranking average in reliability while all other Jeeps ranked below average.

General Motors, while rolling out an aggressive BEV product cadence and rapidly developing some hybrid and PHEV versions of some of its popular models, is seeing early growing pains with its premium/luxury Cadillac brand. The brand ranks second to last in reliability, with the new Lyriq ranking well below average, with buyers reporting battery issues, problems with electrical accessories, climate system and telematics.

Rivian scored last among all ranked brands, with owners reporting build issues, powertrain performance and charging problems, as well as climate and brake problems among others. Legacy automaker BEVs are experiencing battery problems with battery-pack replacements the only cure.