I don’t agree with Consumer Reports when it comes to their reporting on cars. Over time, they have been wrong way more than they’ve been right. I think they do good work on many items, just not vehicles. Case in point: The opening sentence in this recent press release about the Consumer Reports 2023 Annual Auto Reliability Survey. The first line reads: "Consumers are buying electric vehicles in growing numbers....". Consumers are NOT buying electric vehicles in growing numbers, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. However, there are some valid points in their reporting.
- Jerry Reynolds, The Car Pro
Consumer Reports is sharing the results of its 2023 Annual Auto Reliability Survey. It finds that while electric vehicles are improving, poor reliability remains an issue and charging and battery issues persist for consumers. The report finds that, on average, new electric vehicles have 79 percent more problems that traditional ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. Plug-in hybrid vehicles fare even worse with an average of 146 percent more issues.
Hybrids are another story. CR says according to its survey, hybrids have 26 percent fewer problems than ICE vehicles on average.
“EVs are still in their relative infancy as mainstream vehicles, so it’s really not surprising that manufacturers, by and large, are still working out the kinks,” said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports. “That said, we are seeing signs of movement in the right direction. And as our data has consistently shown, reliability-minded consumers would be best served by forgoing brand new vehicles in their first model year.”
Overall, CR says the most reliable auto brands are headquartered in Asia. Lexus and Toyota take the top two spots in CR’s 2023 brand level rankings. Five other Japanese or Korean brands are in this year’s top ten: Acura, Honda, Subaru, Mazda and Kia. Three German automakers make the top ten list as well: Mini, Porsche, and BMW. No U.S. automakers make the top ten. Buick is the top domestic automaker coming in at #12.
Some other report highlights:
- Charging and battery issues are bedeviling EVs, but Tesla is bucking that trend with comparatively fewer issues in those categories. Two of its four models, the popular Model Y and Model 3, are Recommended by CR. The Model 3’s reliability has been average in recent years.The Model Y improved to average this year.
- Full-sized pickup trucks remain near the bottom of CR’s brand ranking but aren’t the least reliable category. Midsized and electric pickups are worse for reliability.
- This has been a challenging year for domestic manufacturers. Buick ranks highest among the domestic brands, at 12th overall. All the rest are in the bottom half of the brand rankings; Chrysler is dead last.
For this year's annual survey, CR says it gathered data on more than 330,000 vehicles from the 2000 to 2023 model years, with a few newly-introduced 2024 models.
To read the press release click here.
To read the CR report and see a full list of 2023 brand reliability rankings click here.
Photo Credit: Hrecheniuk Oleksii/Shutterstock.com.
