Consumer Reports, the non-profit consumer advocacy publication, has released its annual automotive brand ranking reports for 2026.
Japanese automakers, particularly Subaru and Toyota, cleaned up.
The publication released both its overall rating and its reliability rating.
Overall score ranking
The publication’s overall score rankings includes an overall score based on CR’s road tests as well as safety assessments, reliability and owner satisfaction surveys.
Subaru has repeated as the No. 1 brand in the overall score rankings, while BMW came in at a close second.
“While Subaru models provide good performance and comfort, they also excel in areas that may not be immediately apparent during a test drive,” said Jake Fisher, CR’s senior director of auto testing, in a news release. “They share proven parts that help assure consistently great reliability. They also use cutting-edge safety systems and perform well in our emergency handling and braking tests.”
Top 10 overall brands
The brands in the top 10 overall score rankings (and their scores) are:
- Subaru – 82
- BMW – 82
- Porsche – 79
- Honda – 76
- Toyota – 75
- Lexus – 75
- Lincoln – 75
- Hyundai – 74
- Acura – 73
- Tesla – 72
The full list includes 31 brands, including a deeper explanation of how the brands were rated, is available on the CR website.
Brand reliability ranking
The publication also released its reliability rankings. The publication calculates predicted reliability ratings on almost every new car based on its annual reliability surveys of members. This year, CR had data on about 380,000 vehicles.
CR requires data on a minimum of two models from a minimum of two of the 2023 to 2026 model years. Certain brands were excluded from this ranking due to insufficient data.
Toyota edged out last year’s winner Subaru to regain the No. 1 spot on the new car reliability ladder.
Top 10 most reliable brands
The top 10 most reliability brands (including their predicted reliability rating and most reliable model) are as follows:
- Toyota – 66 (4Runner – 95)
- Subaru – 63 (Impreza – 80)
- Lexus – 60 (IS – 84)
- Honda – 59 (Passport – 97)
- BMW – 58 (2 Series – 73)
- Nissan – 57 (Kicks – 76)
- Acura – 54 (Integra – 56)
- Buick – 51 (Envision – 61)
- Tesla – 50 (Model Y – 81)
- Kia – 49 (Carnival Hybrid – 72)
The full list of 26 brands, including a deeper explanation of the ratings, is available on the CR website.
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