These Are The Most Reliable Car Brands In The US

Reliability is one of the most important aspects to consider when buying a new vehicle, especially as cars become ever more technologically complex…

In this graphic, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualizes the results of J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, which ranked automakers by the number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100).

Data and Methodology

To come up with this ranking, J.D. Power collected responses from 30,595 original owners of 2021 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. Their study was fielded from August to November 2023, and covers nine categories of problems:

Exterior
Seats
The driving experience
Climate
Features/controls/displays
Interior
Infotainment
Powertrain
Driving Assistance

The data shown in this infographic is also listed in table below. Note that Tesla was not included because it did not meet study award criteria.

Brand
Problems per 100 Vehicles
🇯🇵 Lexus
135
🇯🇵 Toyota
147
🇺🇸 Buick
149
🇺🇸 Chevrolet
174
🇬🇧 MINI
174
🇩🇪 Porsche
175
🇯🇵 Mazda
185
🇰🇷 Kia
187
🇩🇪 BMW
190
🇺🇸 Dodge
190
🇺🇸 Jeep
190
Average
190
🇺🇸 Cadillac
196
🇰🇷 Hyundai
198
🇯🇵 Subaru
198
🇯🇵 Nissan
199
🇰🇷 Genesis
200
🇺🇸 Ram
201
🇺🇸 GMC
206
🇯🇵 Honda
206
🇺🇸 Acura
216
🇩🇪 Mercedes-Benz
218
🇯🇵 Infiniti
219
🇺🇸 Ford
239
🇸🇪 Volvo
245
🇺🇸 Lincoln
251
🇩🇪 Volkswagen
267
🇬🇧 Land Rover
268
🇩🇪 Audi
275
🇺🇸 Chrysler
310

From this dataset, we can declare Toyota and its luxury arm, Lexus, as the most reliable car brands in the United States.

Compared to the other Japanese duos, Honda and Acura rank a distant 20th and 21st, with 206 and 216 PP100. Meanwhile, Nissan and Infiniti diverge, with the former ranking 16th (199 PP100) and Infiniti at 23rd (219 PP100).

The least reliable automaker in this ranking is Chrysler, which was also the only brand to surpass 300 problems per 100 vehicles. It’s worthy to note that for the 2021 model year (basis of this study), Chrysler only offered two models: the Pacifica/Voyager minivan, and the 300 sedan.

Infotainment Systems a Major Pain Point

According to J.D. Power’s study, “Infotainment” was the most common type of problem experienced by owners, with nearly twice as many problems as the second-highest category, “Exterior”.

Within the Infotainment category, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity was a frequent issue, as was built-in voice recognition.

If you enjoyed this post, check out Charted: Automaker Sales by Region in 2023 to see which markets are the most important for major car brands.