2010 Annual Car Reliability Survey: Best and worst car types

Consumer Reports' 2010 annual car reliability survey underlines a little-appreciated fact: Quality and reliability are not the same thing. As the graph shows, small cars are the most reliable car type as a group, and luxury cars, especially luxury SUVs, are the most troublesome.

Why is that? Part of the answer is complexity. Expensive cars have a lot more gadgets and thus more things that can go wrong. These cars also tend to be the staging area for brand-new technology, and that too is an invitation to trouble.

But complexity isn't the only factor. The other question to ask is who's making it. Take, for instance, luxury SUVs. Several are quite reliable, such as those made by Acura, Lexus, and Lincoln. But the group is dragged down by unusually troublesome models from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Quality, they have. Peace of mind, maybe not. The fact that some makers manage to deliver feature-laden vehicles that also stand up well proves that complexity alone is not the issue.

If we see high-quality but troublesome cars at one end of the spectrum, there are some reliable but low-quality cars at the other. A good example is the Toyota Yaris, which has been among the most reliable cars in our survey for years, but one that scores so low in our road tests that we can't recommend it, anyhow.

This highlights the need to look beyond your brand perception, as each brand has a product portfolio that performs across a spectrum—not every model is equal. Most car shoppers will find plenty of good choices through our ratings for Consumer Reports-recommended vehicles that perform well in our tests, are safe, and reliable.

Use our dynamic new-car selector to find vehicles that meet your personal criteria.

Learn more about car reliability.

—Gordon Hard