When you hear Toyota or Honda, the first word that often comes to mind is reliability. However, in the latest study of the reliability of Consumer Reports, another brand took first place. While Lexus and Toyota still have some of the best new cars and jeeps under $ 30,000, Subaru has become the most reliable brand of 2025. So what divides Subaru?
First, let’s find out how our Consumer Reports friends conduct their annual survey. The publication asks its subscribers about the problems they have faced with their vehicles in the last year. Feedback was requested for specific areas for problems, including power unit, suspension, control, brakes, air conditioning systems, quality of construction and electronics in the car. Using data from over 300,000 vehicles, this information was evaluated to identify potential problems and assign an estimated evaluation of the reliability of each model. Based on these results, Consumer Reports provides a general assessment for each brand.
Using a 100-point evaluation system, Subaru is ranked as the best brand with a score of 68 out of 100, followed by Lexus with 65 and Toyota with 62. All three results are classified as a reliability of “above average” by Consumer Reports. Fourth is Honda (59), while the most reliable brands were Cadillac (27) and Rivian (14).
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What contributes to the high evaluation of Subaru’s reliability?
Red 2024 Subaru Impreza Sport parked in Dealer – Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
Subaru’s back-to Basics mentality, characterized by conservative redesign, shared components and a smaller model of the model, probably contributes to its strong reliability assessment. With each Subaru redesign, it tends to adopt a more intelligence approach by minimizing the application of new technologies and engineering, which can lead to problems, especially among the first year models. In addition, Subaru maintains a relatively small composition; While Toyota offers over 20 models in the United States, Subaru only produces nine.
Within this smaller composition, Consumer Reports notes that Subaru models share many components, which can further reduce the risk of introducing new problems. For example, Subaru Impreza, Crostrek and WRX are connected to all models. Another example of simplification is observed within its models; The popular Forester offers only one power engine from 2019. However, this is changing with the new Forester hybrid.
As the individual ratings of the model affect the overall assessment of the brand, it is important to emphasize the star 98 of Forester from 100 reliability assessment. Not only does this position it as the MVP of the composition, it also makes it one of the most reliable rated models, with an almost perfect rating. Impreza also provided a good average reliability assessment by winning an impressive result of 89. Meanwhile Crosstrek (75), Legacy (66) and Outback (61) received better than average estimates, while Ascent won an average of 50. The only model received a score below the average: Solterra (38). Neither the Subaru Brz nor the WRX had sufficient data on the reliability study to be considered with the other seven models.
Why are some brands dropped?
White Toyota Tacoma Truck on a rough mountain – EB Adventure Photography/Shutterstock
We were discussing why Subaru did well, but why did Toyota drop out of reliability? First, it is important to note that Toyota is in third place, and its luxury Lexus division is ranked second – both impressive achievements, given that 22 marks are evaluated. Offering twice as many models than Subaru, including minivan, two pickups, several medium-sized SUVs and a full-size all-terrain vehicle, an increased variety of unique Toyota models can add more complexity, which can lead to more problems and potentially affect its overall result.
Most Toyota models have received medium, above medium or well average evaluation of reliability in the study. Only three Toyota models have evaluated below the average: BZ4X EV (38), a Tacoma medium -sized pickup truck and a full -size Tundra (32) pickup truck. Given that the new Tacoma has experienced problems with the transmission of less than 1000 miles, and Tundra is part of the massive recall of the engine, it is not surprising that these trucks reduce the total average of the brand. If it wasn’t for these low -grade pickups, Toyota could surpass Subaru. Meanwhile, the overall evaluation of Honda is influenced by its Prologue EV crossover (30/100), which shares many components with Chevrolet Blazer EV. Nevertheless, Toyota and Honda remain among the four best brands.
With a smaller, simpler composition, Subaru claims that the first place for reliability this year. However, Toyota and Honda are close. Although this ranking of reliability is based on the brand, it is essential to explore the specific model you are considering, as even the most reliable brands have vehicles that can encounter problems.
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