What Is The Most Reliable Used Car To Buy In 2025?

No matter what you're after from your next used car, be it a sports car, super-efficient hybrid, or maybe even one of the few heavy-duty Cummins-powered pickup trucks, one thing you'll be wishing for no matter the segment is impressive reliability. While other qualities, such as towing capacity and top speed, are rather segment-specific, reliability and durability are things everyone wants.

This is why we've done the research to highlight two of the most dependable used cars on sale in the US right now. Specifically, we are looking for affordable models that are at least a few years old so that buyers will benefit from the effects of depreciation, and the cars we've featured should also work for a wide audience. So we won't be including two-door sports cars or gas-guzzling V8 trucks. In an effort to ensure we pick the right models, the findings of well-respected third-party sites have been taken into account.

The first model we'll look at is the Mazda6, more specifically the third-generation model, which was available between the model years 2014 and 2021. Consumer Reports lists this as its used car top pick for August 2025 in the under $10,000 category, which demonstrates just how affordable the mid-size Mazda is. Our second pick is the 2020 Honda Fit, which iSeeCars chose as the best five-year-old used car currently out there, with an average list price of $18,336.

The mighty Mazda is a lot of car to a lot of people. On the face of it, it's a spacious four-door sedan with ample seating for five, a sensible amount of cargo space, a capable duo of inline-four engines, and as we'll explore now, an impressive reputation for reliability. We had the pleasure of driving and reviewing a 2021 Mazda6 Carbon Edition when it was first released, and found the styling graceful, the turbocharged powerplant more than punchy enough, plus the cabin ergonomically friendly and well-equipped.

Mazda's now discontinued midsize sedan impressed elsewhere, too, managing to attract an impressive 84 out of 100 Quality and Reliability score from J.D. Power for the 2017 model year, the most recent model year tested. Equally as confidence-inspiring is the fact that Consumer Reports ranks Mazda third overall in its list of the most reliable car brands when it comes to used models. This ranking takes into account the reliability of models that are between 5 and 10 years old; Mazda only lost out to reliability giants Lexus and Toyota.

While it may not be as practical as the Mazda6 in some ways because of its smaller size, the 2020 Honda Fit excels in other ways. For instance, its diminutive size, ease of parking, and fuel efficiency (about 36 MPG combined) make it the perfect commuter car or city runabout. It's also wonderfully reliable. Honda ranks just below Mazda in the aforementioned survey of the most reliable automakers in terms of their used cars, according to Consumer Reports. 

While J.D. Power hasn't actually rated the 2020 model year for reliability, the preceding year received an impressive 84 out of 100 Quality and Reliability score, matching that of the Mazda6. Since Honda didn't exactly rewrite the rulebook for the 2020 Fit, there's no reason to think it would be any less dependable. Sadly for new-car shoppers, the Honda Fit has been discontinued, but for anyone who loves a bargain — and a dependable one at that — the final model-year Fit is up there with the very best.