Recent Consumer Reports and J.D. Power reports and studies present dramatically different results for many vehicles.
Consumer Reports and J.D. Power both recently released ratings and rankings of vehicle brands based on their reliability, durability and performance. But their ranking of brands is, for the most part, very different because they're measuring different things. As an example, Audi was #1 in Consumer Reports brand rankings but came only 11th in the J.D. Power study.
While Consumer Reports does rate vehicle reliability, the organization's annual brand report card also takes other factors into account. An aggregate overall score is based on a combination of road-test performance, reliability, safety performance, active safety aids and owner satisfaction. Those scores for each model of a given brand tested are averaged to determine an overall brand score. That average overall score is used to rank the car brands as an indicator of who makes the best cars. The rankings do not account for corporate practices or brand perceptions. Brands must have at least two models with test and reliability data to be included: Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Maserati, Ram, Smart, and Tesla lacked sufficient data t be ranked.
The J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, now in its 27th year, examined problems experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of 2013 model-year vehicles. Overall dependability was determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality. The study covered 177 specific problem symptoms grouped into eight major vehicle categories. It encompassed not just component and system failures but difficulties in operation, such that the problems most often reported were related to Bluetooth pairing/connectivity, voice recognition systems and navigation systems.
Given the differences in what these studies measure and their corresponding disparity in brand rankings, combined with seemingly conflicting advertising claims from manufacturers, it's no surprise that car shoppers might be confused. To help make sense of it all, we came up with a rating/ranking system that combined the results of the two, giving them equal weight. The highest scoring brand in each study got a score of 100; the scores for the rest were converted to a percentage of the top score; then the combined scores for each brand were averaged.
Here are our rankings, from best to worst, showing our combined overall score as well as the J.D. Power (JDP) score – where lower is better – and Consumer Reports (CR) score – where higher is better.
Overall Rank & Score: 1 – 97.5
JDP Rank – Score: 1 – 95
CR Rank – Score: 3 – 76
Overall Rank & Score: 2 – 96.5
JDP Rank – Score: 2 – 97
CR Rank – Score: 4 – 76
Overall Rank & Score: 3 – 91.1
JDP Rank – Score: 3 – 106
CR Rank – Score: 7 – 74
Overall Rank & Score: 4 – 87
JDP Rank – Score: 4 – 113
Overall Rank & Score: 5 – 85.4
JDP Rank – Score: 11 – 134
CR Rank – Score: 1 – 80
Overall Rank & Score: 6 – 82.7
JDP Rank – Score: 7 – 126
CR Rank – Score: 10 – 72
Overall Rank & Score: 7 – 81.0
JDP Rank – Score: 14 – 142
CR Rank – Score: 5 – 76
Overall Rank & Score: 8 – 78.0
JDP Rank – Score: 6 – 125
CR Rank – Score: 20 – 64
Overall Rank & Score: 9 – 77.4
JDP Rank – Score: 23 – 166
CR Rank – Score: 2 – 78
Overall Rank & Score: 10 – 77.1
JDP Rank – Score: 12 – 135
CR Rank – Score: 14 – 67
Overall Rank & Score: 11 – 77.1
JDP Rank – Score: 5 – 120
CR Rank – Score: 24 – 60
Overall Rank & Score: 12 – 76.8
JDP Rank – Score: 8 – 129
CR Rank – Score: 19 – 64
Overall Rank & Score: 13 – 76.6
JDP Rank – Score: 10 – 132
CR Rank – Score: 16 – 65
Overall Rank & Score: 14 – 76.0
JDP Rank – Score: 17 – 153
CR Rank – Score: 9 – 72
Overall Rank & Score: 15 – 75.4
JDP Rank – Score: 21 – 163
CR Rank – Score: 6 – 74
Overall Rank & Score: 16 – 74.4
JDP Rank – Score: 16 – 152
CR Rank – Score: 12 – 69
Overall Rank & Score: 17 – 73.8
JDP Rank – Score: 19 – 158
CR Rank – Score: 11 – 70
Overall Rank & Score: 18 – 73.3
JDP Rank – Score: 13 – 136
CR Rank – Score: 22 – 63
Overall Rank & Score: 19 – 73.1
JDP Rank – Score: 18 – 155
CR Rank – Score: 13 – 68
Overall Rank & Score: 20 – 70.0
JDP Rank – Score: 25 – 169
CR Rank – Score: 15 – 67
Overall Rank & Score: 21 – 69.1
JDP Rank – Score: 24 – 167
CR Rank – Score: 18 – 65
Overall Rank & Score: 22 – 69.0
JDP Rank – Score: 15 – 145
CR Rank – Score: 24 – 69
Overall Rank & Score: 23 – 66.8
JDP Rank – Score: 27 – 173
CR Rank – Score: 21 – 63
Overall Rank & Score: 24 – 65.0
JDP Rank – Score: 22 – 165
CR Rank – Score: 26 – 58
Overall Rank & Score: 25 – 64.5
JDP Rank – Score: 31 – 204
CR Rank – Score: 16 – 66
Overall Rank & Score: 26 – 61.4
JDP Rank – Score: 20 – 161
CR Rank – Score: 28 – 51
Overall Rank & Score: 27 – 59.1
JDP Rank – Score: 32 – 208
CR Rank – Score: 25 – 58
Overall Rank & Score: 28 – 58.4
JDP Rank – Score: 29 – 198
CR Rank – Score: 27 – 58
JDP Rank – Score: 28 – 181
CR Rank – Score: 29 – 43
Overall Rank & Score: 30 – 51.5
JDP Rank – Score: 26 – 171
CR Rank – Score: 30 – 38
Overall Rank & Score: NA
JDP Rank – Score: 9 – 129
CR Rank – Score: NA
JDP Rank – Score: 30 – 199
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