Consumer Reports names the Toyota Prius the most reliable vehicle.
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Consumer Reports has confirmed what all Toyota Prius owners already knew; The Prius is the most reliable vehicle. Period. The honor earned by the Prius isn't the opinion of editors. Rather, it is the result of owner surveys.
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Consumer Reports says that it studied 17 trouble areas, from nuisances—such as squeaky brakes and broken interior trim—to major bummers, like out-of-warranty transmission repairs or trouble with four-wheel-drive systems. The group's researchers then give weight to the severity of each type of problem to create a Predicted Reliability Score for each vehicle, from 1 to 100. To be considered for this list, we must have at least two model years of data in calculating the predicted reliability score. Consumer Reports results are presented in rank order, starting with the most reliable. On this ranking, the Toyota Prius is the highest vehicle overall with a score of 93 points.
Amazingly, the Prius earns a five out of five score for reliability from model year 2020 all the way back to 2009. For each model it lists, Consumer Reports then also shows the areas of most concern. It calls these "reliability trouble spots." But the Prius has none. None.
Joining the Prius on the podium is the Lexus NX with a score of 91. The sixth-ranked vehicle overall is the Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle. This makes the Prime the top-ranked EV overall. Four of the top-ten vehicles are from Toyota/Lexus.
Do you feel this ranking is deserved? Tell us in the comments below. You can view the top-ten report from Consumer Reports at its focus page.
John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. Following his engineering program, John also completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin
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My 2010 Prius is still going
My 2010 Prius is still going strong with 205K miles on it. Very reliable. Only needed regular maintenance visits. It even survived a collision with a deer recently, with only minor bumper damage.
Because it has lasted as long as the previous 3 cars I owned combined, the extra expense in the beginning was well worth it.
It has been so reliable that I just purchased a 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime plug in hybrid electric vehicle. Toyota hybrid technology has been tested over the years and is reliable.
Not only that, my new RAV4 Prime is the best car I have ever owned, and is great fun to drive--with exceptional acceleration to highway speed for all those difficult merges.