Lexus and Toyota Tops In Two Reliability and Durability Reports Released This Week

Normally, reliability and durability reports by trusted sources like Consumer Reports and J.D. Power are spaced out, but this week they both came at once. Maybe they should merge, because regarding reliability on the CR side, and durability on the J.D. Power side, the top brands are both Toyota and Lexus. This is not new, but an affirmation of a long run of top quality, durability, and reliability ratings.

Consumer Reports has started to meld its tests of the vehicles that manufacturers make available to the group with its legendary consumer survey. This is why Audi and Subaru are proud this week to have been singled out as great car companies by Consumer Reports. They earn high scores on road tests and having tested them myself I would agree with that praise. Both are great brands and deserve honorable mention, but neither is the top rated in the part of CR’s report focusing only on the reliability survey results. That would be Lexus. The second most reliable brand on CR’s ranking is Toyota. To see this for yourself, you can subscribe on-line or buy the newsstand issue this month.

J.D. Power’s Durability Study looks back three years, and again its data is compiled from consumer survey reports. J.D. Power does not meld its test of manufacture-supplied cars with its consumer data analysis but keeps it separate. In its durability report, Lexus is the number one brand with a score of 95 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). The average overall is 152. Toyota is the top non-premium brand with a score of 113. We would be remiss if we did not mention that Buick (106) does well at both surveys. Audi (134) finished 11th overall in the J.D. Power ranking, and Subaru finishes below average with a score of 166.

J.D. Power does not require a subscription and you can read the full report right here.