Consumer Reports Says This Car Brand Has The Lowest Customer Satisfaction Score For Usability

When you're buying a car, there's a whole lot more to think about than just how it feels to drive. It's also important to consider its practicality, reliability, and how much it's likely to cost over the course of your ownership. Then, there are the smaller things that aren't necessarily going to be instant dealbreakers but might sway you one way or the other if you're stuck choosing between two models. One of those things is the usability of the car's controls and its infotainment system.

To an extent, the usability of the controls will come down to personal preference, but some car brands are consistently rated higher than others in this regard. According to Consumer Reports' survey results, brands like Genesis, Rivian, and Chrysler are among the top-rated for controls and infotainment usability. Then, on the other end of the scale, Volkswagen's controls and infotainment systems are rated the least satisfying to use overall.

It isn't just Consumer Reports' survey responders that find Volkswagen's infotainment systems to be a disappointment. We also highlighted them in our rundown of infotainment systems that missed the mark, noting that several generations of the brand's touchscreen-based systems have been awkward and unintuitive. A lack of physical buttons can make changing many basic functions annoyingly difficult, but after years of continuing outcry from owners, it seems like there might finally be some good news for Volkswagen fans.

Given that its current generation of in-car controls has been so widely panned, it's almost surprising that it's taken the brand so long to fix it. However, bosses did eventually take notice, and Volkswagen design chief Andreas Mindt told Autocar in 2025 that a redesign was imminent. He said that future models "will have physical buttons for the five most important functions – the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans and the hazard light – below the screen," adding that "it's not a phone: it's a car."

For now, though, infotainment and basic controls remain a sticking point even in Volkswagen's most desirable cars. In our review of the 2025 Golf R, we found the physical controls to be "somewhat underwhelming," adding that "VW's infotainment system is reasonably straightforward to navigate, though it can feel overwhelming at first." It's one of the few annoyances in a hot hatch that's otherwise easy to live with. 

We raised similar infotainment usability concerns about the Atlas Cross Sport, although in that case, the car wasn't especially enjoyable to drive either. The good news is that these complaints should be fixed soon in upcoming cars, although that won't be much consolation to owners of older Volkswagens that are stuck with their irritating infotainment systems.