Posted on 05/08/2025 8:26:14 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In today’s environment, buying a new car has become a stretch for many households - fueling demand in the used-car market.
But not all used vehicles are created equal, and reliability plays a major role in long-term ownership costs.
For buyers looking to avoid expensive repairs down the road, brand reputation is more important than ever.
In this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu ranked the best used-car brands of 2025, using data from Consumer Reports.
To come up with these reliability scores, Consumer Reports asked its members to report how many problems they’ve had with their vehicles over the past 12 months.
This analysis focused only on cars from the 2015 to 2020 model year, with a sample size of over 150,000 vehicles.
From this data we can see that Japanese brands are generally the most reliable when buying used, with the lowest ranked Japanese brand being Subaru, in ninth place. Toyota and its luxury arm, Lexus, hold the top two spots, while Honda and Acura come in fourth and fifth.
Brands like Lexus and Toyota have a history of conservative redesigns, incrementally improving their entire product line rather than introducing many all-new systems. Our data consistently shows over time that cars from those brands are reliable when new, and they continue to be reliable as they age.
Steven Elek, Senior Automotive Data Analyst at Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports has released its latest list of top used-car picks, all of which offer good reliability, safety, and value across various price points. These selections are based on comprehensive road tests and owner satisfaction surveys.
For more detailed information and additional recommendations, visit the full article on Consumer Reports.
If you enjoyed this post, check out our ranking of the most reliable new-car brands based on data from J.D. Power.
I have gotten SEVERAL new batteries, AND alternators. And an accessory battery cable pigtail.
It IS a bad design, a LARGE part of the bad design is making it difficult to mitigate the consequence so the bad design.
There IS a Daytime Running Light fuse, but it affects other things that I do not wish to disable.
Wow.
All I can say is switch to a Toyota Sienna. I’ve had three Toyotas and the nickel-and-diming starts usually after 240K, and it’s not as severe as what you’re describing; you can keep the car going with not as much expenditure.
I had a Nissan Altima, bought one of the first imported into the US. Absolutely great car, very few problems over the many years I drove it. Border to border and coast to coast, in fact.
My daughter is a Subaru fan. She’s on her fourth now. Even bought an old Subaru recently as her “dogmobile”. Didn’t want her four dogs messing up her newer Subaru.
Can’t drive now, can’t see well enough. But after I have a corneal transplant in June, I think I’ll get another car. Probably another Altima. My neighbor has one and he loves it.
For many years I purchased vehicles at State and local government auctions. I found nearly everyone in our extended family dependable vehicles. Cars and trucks owned by state and local government tend to get regular maintenance, so they tend to come with less surprises for their new owners.
I did a lot of research on vehicles that I was thinking about bidding on. Certain makes, models, and years of vehicles tend to have more issues than others. People who purchase vehicles regularly at auctions find out about these problems and this tends to put a damper on the price that they go for.
But the price also is influenced by the public's beliefs about certain brands, etc... which may or may not have much to do with reality. I do not trust articles such as the one this thread is based on... Consumer Reports which this article is based on is not as reliable a source of meaningful information as most people believe.
I once gave a very dependable domestic car which I had thoroughly checked out to one of my daughters who needed a dependable vehicle to get to work. She immediately traded it in on a used foreign car that was a piece of junk. I asked her why she did it... she said that the car she purchased had a better reliability rating from Consumer Reports. I spent a lot of time patching that foreign piece of crap up over and over again.
I have also found that many people who swear by or curse various brands of vehicles have never done any of their own work. These people are often not very good sources of information. If you have no clue where your dip stick, oil filter, drain plug, air filter, spark plugs are at or how to check the condition of your brake pads, or on and on... you should probably be talking to someone who does know about how to take care of maintenance issues to help you make informed decisions.
I personally do not have the firsthand knowledge or experience to make meaningful judgments about most of the vehicles being discussed in this thread. If I was thinking about purchasing a vehicle that I am not familiar with I do have the ability to do meaningful research. If you do not have much experience working on vehicles, you should make friends with someone who does and get their help. Or pay a mechanic to do a pre-buy inspection on vehicles that you are interested in. Relying on the generalizations made in threads like this one is not that great of an idea.
That is probably the J.D Powers "Initial Quality Survey"...a kinda useless survey...all brand new cars have few issues. Since I tend to keep my vehicles 10+ years and 190K miles I am more interested in "long term" quality data like this article. We currently have a 2015 Lexus RX-350...172,500 miles...no repairs, only tires, wipers, brake pads, upgraded halogen headlight bulbs and a couple of standard lead-acid starting batteries.
Also have a 2022 Ford F-150 "Powerboost" hybrid pickup...430HP and 25mph highway but approaching 3 years/36k I am worried...32 computer modules!! (And a Ford).
Proven technology such as front engine, rear wheel drive is highly reliable and much easier to fix then the crowded front engine design.
No KIA’s on the list?
I had a VOLVO... it was a ‘lead sled’
“Don’t install Day Time Running Lights that cannot be turned off,”
That’s a pet peeve of mine. I don’t think we can escape that stupidity with any newer vehicle. Another one is the engine shutting off when coming to a full stop, which our 2018 F150 does.
Another is the starter cannot be stopped by releasing the ignition key. If the engine won’t start, the damn thing keeps working until it times out or the battery goes dead.
Now my idea of the most reliable car brands are any GM vehicle made between 1995 and 2001. Up here where we live they are all over the place. We own a 1997 Silverado and it is a sweetheart to drive. None of the stupid bells and whistles mandated on modern vehicles. And it is dependable. Parts are cheap and can be found anywhere. The ride is so much more comfortable than our 2018 F150 or 2015 Outback.
[The best new cars or used cars to buy depends on who is making up the list.
Pro-tip: If Motor Trend rates it highly - RUN AWAY. They do what their advertisers tell them to.
I trust Consumer Reports for no other reason than they don’t take advertisements.]
How much $$?
Hi Doc,
If I understand correctly You want to be on Base and do not want the Daytime Running Lights to be ON.
It looks to Me like the simplest fix is going to be cover the Daytime Running Light Sensor. It looks to be located on the TOP CENTER OF THE DASHBOARD. I’m thinking all You need to do is put a little piece of black tape (or colored to match the Dash color) over the Sensor. You might even be able to paint it with some Nail Polish. That would give You a few thousand options for the color if You want it to match the Dashboard Top.
As I understand the information I looked at the Daytime Running Lights use the Sensor on the Dashboard to determine if it may turn on the Daytime Running Light Circuit with the Electrical Ground controlled by the Light Control Module that is located near the top right of the steering column.
After rooting around the .net I found this info. As far as I can tell is for Your vehicle. I have circled around the Daytime Running Light Control Sensor.
Other Wiring Diagrams related to Your vehicle are below:
https://free-auto-repair-manuals.com/1996-2005-chevrolet-venture-wiring-diagrams-13/
https://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/gm-daytime-running-lights-dont-work/
You just remove the DRL bulbs ...
My daughter has a 2013 Ford Focus. The Transmission is in the process of failing and the repair will be about the value of the car.
Before that happened we were talking about her getting a newer car.
Perfect timing. A co-worker is trading in his 2022 Ford Escape company car. We can buy them at the wholesale rate from the fleet management company. He’s a couple hours from me and twelve hours from my daughter, so she bought it sight unseen.
It’s in the shop for a door hinge related recall. They are putting new doors on it.
Yep owned a 2009 Rav 4 with V-6, a 2010 Camry with V-6, a 2017 Rav4 4 cyl, 2018 Mercedes GLC300, 2017 Toyota Highlander and now have a 2024 Rav4.
The only Toyota that ever had a ‘problem’ was the Highlander which had a rear shock go bad at about 50K. The Mercedes had a really screwed up computer - the backup camera would periodically blank out and once, the blind spot warning went out - due to the system saying a sensor was bad - but the car didn’t have that sensor.
Never had a lick of trouble with the other Toyotas
2012 4WD Long bed Tacoma just turned 120K miles this morning. Third Toyota Pickup(1988, 1999).
Wife drives a Honda CRV. Previously had Honda Odessey and Civic.
Son drives on Honda CRV. Previously a Suburu Impreva.
Of all those vehicles the Subaru was probably the worst.
The 1999 Tacoma turned into the best investment. I paid 19.( K brand new. I sold it back to Toyota of NA for $14.5K in 2012. These were the trucks that had the frame rusting issue.
BMW gets real high rankings for initial quality too.
However, you want to get rid of them when they are 4-5 years old because they get VERY expensive to keep repaired after that. Mercedes are even worse now.
Love cars and have had many in my 70 years of driving (legally). Took care of them myseelf until I couldn’t; me too old and them too complicated.
They always had a feminine aspect for me. Some were good motherly types and some flashy lookers.
So now I have a motherly Lexus and a difficult Jaguar convertible.
I notice Jaguar must be on another list.
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