Misc

Ranked: Most Satisfying vs. Most Reliable Car Brands in 2024

Published

4 weeks ago

December 22, 2024

Marcus Lu

Graphics/Design:

Sam Parker

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Use This Visualization

Ranked: Most Satisfying vs. Most Reliable Car Brands in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic visualizes data from recent Consumer Reports surveys on car brand satisfaction and reliability.

Rivian, BMW, and Tesla were the three most satisfying brands in 2024, but far from the most reliable. In terms of reliability, Japanese brands like Subaru, Lexus, and Toyota came out on top.

Data and Key Takeaway

The underlying data behind these rankings is listed in the tables below.

Satisfaction is represented as the share of owners who would buy another car from the same brand, while reliability is based on Consumer Reports’ proprietary survey data.

Brand	Satisfaction (% who would buy again)	Brand	Reliability Score
Rivian	86%	Subaru	68
BMW	73%	Lexus	65
Tesla	72%	Toyota	62
Lexus	70%	Honda	59
Chevrolet	70%	Acura	55
Subaru	68%	Mazda	55
Genesis	68%	Audi	54
Ford	67%	BMW	53
GMC	67%	Kia	51
Hyundai	67%	Hyundai	50
Toyota	67%	Buick	48
Honda	66%	Nissan	48
Cadillac	65%	Ford	44
Kia	64%	Genesis	40
Volvo	63%	Volvo	38
Mazda	61%	Chevrolet	37
Acura	61%	Tesla	36
Audi	60%	Volkswagen	34
Buick	59%	Jeep	33
Nissan	54%	GMC	33
Volkswagen	54%	Cadillac	27
Jeep	51%	Rivian	14

Note: several brands were left out due to insufficient data. These are: Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Lucid, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Mitsubishi, Polestar, Porsche, Ram.

A key takeaway from this data is that owner satisfaction isn’t necessarily tied to reliability. For example, both EV brands in this survey (Tesla and Rivian) scored very highly in satisfaction, but poorly in reliability.

On the other hand, brands like Acura and Mazda rank highly in reliability, but lower in satisfaction.

There are limitations to this data, of course. Satisfaction is highly subjective and prone to bias (e.g. Rivian is a new brand that caters to a specific demographic), while reliability is a complex metric that can be difficult to properly gauge.

Rivian satisfies, Volkswagen disappoints

Consumer Reports also highlights which brands satisfy owners within specific areas. Rivian ranked the highest in terms of comfort, usability, and ownership costs (which are typically lower for EVs).

Meanwhile, Volkswagen ranked the lowest in terms of driving experience and usability. Audi, another VW group brand, ranked lowest in terms of cabin storage.

It’s interesting to note that Rivian and Volkswagen have recently joined forces to share EV platform technology.