How Toyota Ranks Amongst The Most Reliable Car Brands
Anyone who purchases a new or used vehicle hopes that the one they buy will have very few issues while they own it, and they hope it lasts a long time. Cars can be a major financial burden on people, so the less stress surrounding the vehicle just makes that burden less burdensome. This goes for people buying their very first car or their sixth. Sure, it's neat to have a vehicle with a ton of bells and whistles, but if it is going to break down on you fairly quickly, are those bells and whistles worth it?
From personal experience, this was a major factor in choosing my first car, and I had always heard of how reliable Toyota vehicles were, which propelled me to get a Toyota Tacoma. That was in 2010, and I am still driving that car today. The Japanese automaker has a reputation for making solid, well-made vehicles, which is partly why five of them rank among the 25 best-selling vehicles in the United States in 2023, according to Car and Driver. That includes trucks like the Tacoma, SUVs like RAV4, and sedans like the Camry.
Now, this reliability may be their anecdotal reputation, but do the actual reports of their reliability measure up to their sterling word of mouth?
Toyota is number one... sort of
The main brand, Toyota, is not actually the number one consensus choice for the most reliable vehicles out on the market, though they rank high in most places. The top spot virtually across the board goes to Lexus, which just so happens to be the luxury arm of Toyota. So, they are number one in a way. Out of 30 different car companies, Consumer Reports has Lexus at the top of its list, based on a 79% reliability prediction rating. Toyota itself lands just behind it at number two with 76%.
J.D. Power tells a similar story, as they have also placed Lexus at number one on their ranking. The reliability was measured based on the number of problems per 100 vehicles, and they had 11 fewer than the second-place finisher. Toyota does not come in second here, though. They fall to seven, which is still great considering its vehicles encounter about 18 fewer issues per 100 vehicles than the industry average.
To get even more granular, J.D. Power specifically lists the Lexus RX and Toyota CH-R as the most dependable cars on the market in a tie. The Lexus NX topped their luxury compact SUV category, the Toyota Highlander, the highest upper mid-size SUV; the Toyota Tacoma, the highest mid-size pickup; and the Toyota Sienna, the highest minivan. Clearly, the folks over at Lexus and Toyota know exactly what they're doing when it comes to making a vehicle that you can count on.
Look to the Asian automakers
Beyond the realm of Toyota and Lexus, nearly all of the most reliable cars across all of these rankings are made by Asian companies. For J.D. Power, the most reliable car maker for a non-luxury vehicle wasn't Toyota. It was the South Korean automaker Kia, which placed third overall. It also shot them praise by naming the Kia Forte the most reliable compact car, the Optima the best mid-size car, and the Sportage the best compact SUV. Consumer Reports wasn't as effusive, placing them at 10, but they still rank among the seven Asian companies that make up the top 10.
South Korean luxury automaker Genesis was the other big winner from J.D. Power, placing second overall. Meanwhile, the Genesis G80 was named the most reliable larger car by U.S. News. Considering Genesis placed one spot below Lexus, it makes sense that Genesis' parent company, Hyundai, finished one spot below Toyota. Honda, Acura, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Nissan — all of which are Japanese companies — also scored highly on either survey.
The European and American car companies were a mixed bag, with Chrysler bringing up the bottom for Consumer Reports and Land Rover for J.D. Power. They could only agree on Mini, which cracked the top 10 for each and even the top three for Consumer Reports.
With these reports, Toyota's reputation for reliable cars is well-founded. Not only that, but the entire Asian car market can be proud of the vehicles they make.