AUSTIN, Texas — With car prices at or near record levels, and interest rates still high, buying any car, new or used, is a high-stakes financial decision. – That’s why Consumer Reports puts together report cards for all the cars it tests to help you make the right choice that will last for years.
Consumer Reports engineers and automotive experts put every car it buys through more than 50 tests.
“Everything from acceleration and braking and high-speed maneuvers on the track.”
CR compares over 250 models on road performance, comfort, reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety. – And testing doesn’t end at the office –
“We live with these vehicles every single day. We take them home, we drive them on public roads, we put our families in them, we go to the grocery store and we use all of this data, combined with our survey information to figure out who makes the best cars.”
Among the 32 brands in CR’s 2025 report card, the top five remain unchanged from last year, with one significant shift – Subaru claims the top spot.
One reason? Reliability –
“When they design or redesign a new model, they tend to iterate on last year’s models. And this approach tends to lend itself towards good reliability because they work out the kinks, so to speak, over time. On top of that, their vehicles perform well in our testing.”
Also making the grade – BMW, Lexus, Porsche, and Honda…
“Part of buying, testing, and living with these vehicles is not only experiencing what is good about the best scoring vehicles, but also the things that are maybe annoying or not so good.”
Dodge, GMC, Land Rover, Rivian, and Jeep – were ranked at the bottom.
“Even top scoring brands can have vehicles that don’t score so well. So it’s really important that you do your research and you check the ratings for the vehicles that you’re specifically interested in.”
CR says this is especially true for bigger brands.