Mazda ranks number 1 in US Consumer Reports

Mazda has ranked number one for the first time in Consumer Reports’ 2020 USA Auto Reliability Survey. The survey is conducted with Consumer Reports' members, who have shared over 300,000 car ownership experiences. Consumer Reports is a non-profit consumer organization. 

Mazda has scored 83 reliability points, beating Toyota and Lexus who have scored 74 and 71 points respectively. It’s considered a big win because Toyota and Lexus are traditionally associated with reliability. 

Consumer Reports has attributed Mazda's win to the largely conservative model updates and redesigns this year, as there were no introduction of new powertrains and infotainment systems, 2 aspects where other carmakers fall short of. 

The Toyota RAV4 is the reason Toyota dropped ranks - owners have been experiencing minor issues. It’s worth noting that other models in the brand’s stable still ranked average or better in terms of reliability. In fact the title of the most reliable car goes to Toyota Prius, which scored 93 points. However, if one delves deeper, there are many other cars with higher scores, including the Mazda MX-5. No reason was given why the Prius won - but if we had to guess, the amount of cars sold played a part as well. 

In th place is Honda, which has gained 7 spots from the previous year. The models dragging down the Japanese carmaker are the Passport SUV and Odyssey MPV - which had below-average ratings. The Honda HR-V and Honda Insight (which shares the same technology from the upcoming Honda City RS e:HEV) scored well-above average, which is good news for Malaysians. 

Hyundai occupies the 6th spot with a score of 62. The recently launched Kona ranked above average but the all-new Sonata is the South Korean carmaker least reliable vehicle. Kia on the other hand dropped six place, to 15th, 2 spots above the last placed Lincoln. 

The lowest placed Japanese carmaker is Nissan at 13th place, while the second last is Subaru at 8th. The latter was weighed down by the 7-seater Ascent, which has “subpar reliability due to multiple problem areas”. For Forester owners, you will be happy to know that your SUV has ranked above average. 

European marques in general did not do well, the best-performing one being Porsche. The Stuttgart carmaker ranks right behind Subaru at 9th place, dropping five spots from last year. BMW finished 12th with a score of 52 while arch rival Mercedes-Benz is 8 spots behind at 20. Audi remains at 14th place. Swedish carmaker Volvo rose to 18th this year while Volkswagen ranked 24th in this year’s survey, the only model that did well was the Volkswagen Golf.

To be fair, Consumer Reports’ way of determining reliability might not be agreeable to all, just too many variables are at play here. Also this report is meant for American consumers, it’s better to take it with a pinch of salt when it comes to the Malaysian market - what do you think?

Mazda, 83

Toyota, 74

Lexus, 71

Buick, 70

Honda, 63

Hyundai, 62

Ram, 58

Subaru, 57

Porsche, 55

Dodge, 54

Infiniti, 54

BMW, 52

Nissan, 51

Audi, 46

Kia, 45

GMC, 43

Chevrolet, 42

Volvo, 41

Jeep, 41

Mercedes-Benz, 40

Cadillac, 38

Ford, 38

Mini, 37

Volkswagen, 36

Tesla, 29

Lincoln, 8