The 20 Most Reliable Car Brands of 2024

Reliability is something we all want, in all our products and especially with cars, for which maintenance costs will quickly soar to the skies when something breaks down.

A recent Consumer Reports survey discovered that people in general tend to care more about the reliability of a car than other characteristics such as safety, affordability, or fuel efficiency.

And that’s normal when you think that a car is something you’ll have for many years to come, and there’s regular maintenance costs involved each year that you need to account for when buying a car, beyond the initial price.

They went further on to gather data from owners about their cars and the problems they’ve had with them in these last couple of years, then putting everything together and finally determining a reliability score for each car brand they’ve studied this way.

The results can be seen below, as a list of the 20 most reliable car brands of 2024, ranked from worst to best.

20. Chevrolet – 40/100

Chevrolet, or Chevy, as its owners often call it, is basically a division of the General Motors Company, an automaker that was also formally known as the Chevrolet Motor Division.

The company, initially Chevrolet Motor Car Company, was founded back in 1911 by Louis Chevrolet, Arthur Chevrolet, and William C. Durant, to compete with other big names in the industry, mainly Ford and their models. Chevrolet was merged into General Motors as its own division in 1917.

Chevrolet’s competition with Ford spawned another competitor in the industry, Chrysler, and the three companies eventually became known as the “low priced three”.

Chevy gained in popularity, and eventually became one of the most influential American car company on the market during the ’50s and ’60s, which was helped tremendously by the release of the Corvette in 1953, a car that has become legendary. The name Chevrolet has remained associated with good cars even today.

19. Tesla – 40/100

Tesla is a relatively new player on the automotive market, but one that quickly established itself as a disruptor of the industry, by designing and creating electric vehicles, thus pushing the electric revolution to new heights. Some people hate the company, others praise it, but for sure you’ve heard about it.

Originally called Tesla Motors, it was created in 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon Musk, known all over the world as the face of Tesla, joined the company only in 2004. The name of the company changed to Tesla in 2017.

What made the company so famous was that they were the first to create an entirely electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, that also had practical specifications that could meet the demands of the real world. The rest is history, as they say.

18. Ford – 41/100

Founded by Henry Ford in 1903 in Dearborn, Michigan, US, the eponymous American car company is already a legendary name in the automotive industry. The company produces both trucks and small passenger cars, and is involved in other car producing companies in the world.

Ford is controlled even today by the Ford family, who, despite the fact that they don’t have majority ownership over the company anymore, they still have the majority of the voting power.

What began with Ford Model T in 1908, the company’s first successful car, went on to change the industry forever, as Henry had to develop mass production methods to manufacture his vehicle to keep up with demand and eventually opened the first ever moving assembly line for cars in 1913.

The success of Ford changed everything for the entire world, including that 8 hour workday we know so well today.

17. Cadillac – 42/100

Part of General Motors, Cadillac is their luxury line of vehicles, formed back in 1902 from the remains of the Henry Ford Company, which Henry left to form Ford Motor Company. Cadillac sells its vehicles in more than 50 countries all over the world, and recently, they’ve reached a record 390,458 vehicles sold worldwide.

Cadillac brought immense value to the industry through their advanced engineering, luxury, and style, and made its way to the top automakers in the US and the world. Cadillac cars quickly became known as the world’s finest made automobiles, and that belief still holds true even today.

16. Ram – 42/100

Formerly a Chrysler division, Ram Trucks, mostly known as RAM, is an American brand that manufactures light and middle weight trucks. Ram diverged from Dodge’s line of pickup trucks in 2010, establishing itself as a separate entity specializing in designing and creating that classic looking American truck that we love.

Lesser known is that they also sell the Fiat Ducato cargo van in North America under the name Ram ProMaster, in an attempt to fill a gap created by the ending of the production for the Dodge Sprinter.

Ram obtained a score of 42 out of 100 points for reliability in the Consumer Reports survey. Also something the survey uncovered is that pickups are the least reliable car category, with an average score of 39, which means that Ram is above average.

15. Nissan – 44/100

Nissan might be the least reliable Japanese car brand in this top 20, but that only means good things about Japanese cars in general. The official name of the company is Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., and it was founded back in 1933. Though not as old as the likes of Ford, Nissan was the largest car manufacturer in North America in 2014, and the sixth largest in the world one year earlier.

Since then, it has dropped a few spots, and in 2022 it was the 10th largest automaker in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Nissan produces a wide range of mainstream vehicles, both small cars and trucks, and during its history it has created several cars that the automotive world will never forget.

14. Volvo – 45/100

The Swedish car and truck manufacturer Volvo is well known for the quality and safety of its vehicles, so it makes sense to be among the most reliable car brands in the world. The company was founded in 1927 in Gothenburg, Sweden, with the primary role of producing, distributing and selling trucks, buses, and construction equipment.

Volvo Cars, their automobile manufacturing branch, was part of the bigger Volvo Group, or AB Volvo, until 1999, when it was sold to the Ford Motor Company. In 2010, it changed ownership again, and became part of the Geely Holding Group, another automotive company. Volvo Cars continues to use the same logo as its parent company even today.

Over the years, they’ve brought several innovations to the industry, one being the three-point safety belt that everybody uses today, and have come to be loved by drivers all over the world for the safety and quality of their cars.

13. Hyundai – 46/100

Hyundai Motor Company, or Hyundai Motors, is a South Korean automobile manufacturer founded in 1967 and based in Seoul, South Korea. Though much newer in the industry, Hyundai has managed to progress a lot faster than the already established manufacturers in only 5 decades, today selling its vehicles in almost 200 countries worldwide.

The company has also helped South Korea modernize and improve, inspiring the entire country with its drive for progress. Since its inception, Hyundai has sought ways to improve the industry, becoming a pioneer of automotive technologies. Recently, they’ve started to invest resources in the development of low-emission gasoline engines and hydrogen powered fuel cells to help combat the effects of climate change.

The company produced a good number of car models that became popular all over the world.

12. Genesis – 52/100

Genesis Motor is the luxury car division of the Hyundai Motor Company, founded only recently, in November 2015, though its development began back in 2008.

The American consumer research, data, and analytics firm, J.D. Power, named Genesis the most dependable automotive brand in 2020, and the most technologically innovative in North America in 2021, so it’s no surprise it’s among the most reliable car brands after the 2022 survey done by Consumer Reports.

With astonishing sedan models such as the G70, G80, or the G90, Genesis won the hearts of many automobile enthusiasts around the world who wanted something fresh, high performance, and luxurious at the same time.

11. Buick – 54/100

Buick started on its own in 1903, as the Buick Motor Company, but it eventually became a division of General Motors in 1908, as Buick, a premium automobile brand for the North American market.

Its lineup consists of vehicles marketed towards the American successful executive with a family, higher priced than other GM’s mainstream brands, but second after their top tier luxury label, Cadillac.

10. Lincoln – 54/100

With Lincoln and its 54 out of 100 points, we’re heading into the top 10 most reliable car brands in the world. The Lincoln Motor Company, as it’s officially called, was founded back in 1917 by Henry Leland – who co-founded Cadillac in 1902, and his son, Wilfred, and acquired by the Ford Motor Company in 1922. It functions as a luxury vehicle division of Ford since then.

The Lincoln brand has always been associated with luxury and quality, and their cars have achieved legendary status. The iconic Lincoln Continental was one of the most influential cars of all time, setting the basis of the personal luxury car segment during the 1940s.

9. Kia – 54/100

Kia Corporation, formerly Kia Motors Corporation, commonly called Kia, is another highly successful South Korean automobile manufacturer, the second largest after its parent company, Hyundai.

Kia was founded back in 1944, and it went through its share of ups and downs throughout its history, including a bankruptcy in 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, after which it was resurrected by the Hyundai Motor Company through an exchange of ownership between the two companies.

That’s how it got to Hyundai having 33.8% ownership of Kia today, but that also led Kia to prosperity after bankruptcy, nowadays selling its vehicles all over the world.

8. Acura – 57/100

Being the luxury and performance division of the legendary Japanese carmaker Honda, Acura scores high in the reliability department, as you might expect. Though it comes from Japan, Acura is a brand created for and launched in North America, in Canada and the United States, though it serves a few other countries as well.

Acura was established in 1986, but it was the first luxury division created by a Japanese automaker. The success of their first flagship vehicle, the Legend, inspired other Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and Nissan to do the same, who created Lexus and Infiniti.

One thing about Acura that’s less known is that their name is derived from the Latin “acu”, which means done with precision, or mechanically precise, which is something you’d expect from a carmaker like Honda.

7. Subaru – 59/100

Subaru is the Japanese automobile manufacturing division of the larger Subaru Corporation, a transportation conglomerate. They became well known in Japan for the practicality of their cars even before they entered the world market, and when they eventually did, they managed to impress everyone through the high performance, high safety standards, and discreet looks of their vehicles.

It’s not for nothing that one of their models, the WRX, became one of the most praised rally cars in history.

The company started in 1953, and by 2017, they were the twenty first largest automaker by production in the world.

6. Audi – 60/100

There couldn’t be a talk about car reliability if there wasn’t any German brand involved, could it?

The well known Audi AG is a German luxury vehicle manufacturer based in Bavaria, part of the larger Volkswagen Group. Their story goes back quite a long way, as they were founded in 1909 initially, led to the creation of the Auto Union in 1932, which was acquired by Volkswagen from Daimler Benz in the 1960s.

That period also marks the beginning of the modern Audi era. From then on, they began creating some of the most iconic and recognizable cars in the world, with their logo being instantly recognized by many people all over the world. It was thanks to them that the automobile industry adopted the four wheel drive system on commercial vehicles.

5. Honda – 62/100

Honda is among the most well known names in the automotive industry worldwide, and that’s partly attributed to their motorcycles, which have become famous all over the globe. After all, Honda has been the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world since 1959, so it makes perfect sense for their fame to come from there.

Another thing their motorcycles are famous for is their reliability, which also translates to their cars as well. Honda has also become the largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines in the world, and was the second largest automobile manufacturer in 2001.

Everything began with the question of what if a bicycle had an engine. That led Honda to create some of the finest motorcycles in the world, which inevitably led to them start diving into the automobile world with the same passion and drive to create high quality cars.

4. Mazda – 65/100

The Mazda Motor Corporation, or simply Mazda, is a Japanese automotive manufacturer founded in 1920 in Hiroshima, and one of the largest and most reliable automakers on the globe.

Over their impressive history, they have contributed to the industry with several technological innovations that have been widely adopted by other automakers as well, and they’ve released some of the most impressive cars, establishing a good reputation everywhere. 

3. BMW – 65/100

Another reputed German car maker, BMW, formally known as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, is operating since 1916, when it started as an aircraft engine manufacturer for the war effort. They did that between 1933 and 1945 again, before establishing themselves as an automotive manufacturer.

The war left them producing pots, pans, and bicycles, but in 1948, they restarted their motorcycle production, and in 1952, car production. Since then, they’ve only been on an uptrend, and their range of cars expanded after 1955, remaining one of the top car manufacturers of the world until today.

2. Lexus – 72/100

The top two places are practically occupied by the same company, as Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese carmaker Toyota, so they’re very similar in the reliability department, both scoring 72 points out of 100.

Lexus was founded in 1989, right after Honda created their Acura division. They produce their cars mostly in Japan, which is part of why they have such a high reliability score, but almost all Lexus models have been extremely sought after all around the world.

1. Toyota – 72/100

The Toyota Motor Corporation, widely known as Toyota, has been the best car brand in the world in these last couple of years, at least in terms of reliability, but it’s no wonder, as most Japanese car manufacturers are very strict when it comes to quality and long term reliability of their vehicles.

The company’s history began in 1933, as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, but it became an independent company in 1937. Their biggest expansion came during the 1960s, when the Japanese economy was booming. Toyota created a new research and development facility, and started becoming a presence in nearby external markets, which led to further expansion.

Since then, they’ve gone to have notable successes, and their cars have became well known all over the world. By 2020, Toyota was the largest automaker in the world, taking the lead from Volkswagen, but that change reversed again in 2022. Nevertheless, it wins the reliability contest, which is what matters more.

Final thoughts

There’s cars and cars, but over the span of several years, some will eat your savings a lot faster than others, and that’s something nobody wants. That’s why you’d rather look for a reliable car over anything else.

And truth is, there’s quite a few of them out there, listed above. Depending on your personal style and preferences, there’s plenty of reliable choices you could go for. Just keep to the bottom half of the list, if possible.