Consumer Reports: Lexus Is the Most Reliable Car for 2016

Christmas has come and gone, and now —

This is the season for car buying.

As dealers work hard to clear the last of last year’s models off the lot, and look to get a jump start on sales numbers for the new year, prices are slashed and buyers like yourself are motivated to find the best deal on the most reliable car.

But how will you know? Who can you trust to give you the straight skinny when it comes to new car reliability? Certainly not always the salesman, right. Well, in a word: Us. You can trust Chantilly’s premier auto center to give you the information you’re looking for, because we trust the organization who does the research the nation trusts:

Consumer Reports knows the most cars on the market.

Consumer Reports has performed and released its annual Reliability Survey, a tool which has for many years helped the American public determine which vehicle brands they can trust, and which they should avoid. (The publication ranks brands with an overall score out of 100 based on how many cars an automaker has in its lineup, their average predicted reliability score, and their reliability score from the past three years.)

For 2016, the most reliable car brands are:

• Lexus earned the top spot again this year with seven models in its arsenal and an average score of 64 percent.
• Toyota is another trustworthy brand that earned top marks. Its dozen models and overall reliability earned the carmaker an average score of 56 percent.
• Audi is up two spots to third place this year with eight models and an average score of 41 percent.
• Mazda (and the other four such brands in CR’s top five this year) says, “Buy Japanese.” The automaker earned an average score of 35 percent across four models.
• Subaru gets fifth place (up from seventh last year) with a score of 28 percent.
• Kia: This surprised even us. The Korean automaker jumped from 10th place to sixth this year with six models and a score of 27 percent.
• Buick, Honda, Hyundai, and MINI round out the top ten.

It’s important to know which cars you can depend on, but perhaps it’s even more so to know which cars just might leave you stranded on the side of the road.

For 2016, the least reliable car brands are:

• GMC
• Chevrolet
• Mercedes-Benz
• Chrysler
• Dodge
• Infiniti
• Cadillac
• Ram
• Jeep
• Fiat

Really, though. Just don’t buy a Fiat.

Note: Jaguar, Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Scion, Smart, and Tesla were excluded from the survey for a lack of data.

Happy car shopping! And when it comes time for that new whip’s first oil change, first tire rotation, or tune up, you know who to call: Advanced Automotive, Chantilly VA’s premier auto center.