Yahoo Autos These Brands Make The Best Used Cars According To Consumer Reports
When shopping for used cars, buyers tend to care the most about price, fuel economy and reliability, because, well, duh. You need to be able to afford your car, you don’t want to spend a fortune filling it up and you just want it to work. Unfortunately, with used cars, you probably won’t have much of a warranty left, if any, so you’re taking a risk that you wouldn’t if you went for a new car.
To help you figure out where to look and how times have changed — or maybe haven’t — our friends at Consumer Reports put together a list of the brands that make the most reliable used cars. This data comes from owners who participated in CR’s annual survey and own cars that are between five and ten years old. Let’s take a look at which brands made the list.
10. Mercedes-Benz
With a reliability score of 43, Mercedes-Benz barely beats out Cadillac for tenth position. There’s still room for Mercedes to improve, but it still did better than Lincoln or Audi.
9. Nissan
Nissan tends to get overlooked because its cars aren’t all that interesting aside from the Z and maybe the GT-R. And yet, it’s still one of the most reliable brands in the U.S. Nissan had a reliability score of 45.
8. Subaru
In eighth place is Subaru with a score of 46. It’s nice to see that Subaru has generally gotten its stuff together because those old head gasket issues are infuriating to deal with.
7. BMW
BMW has been through some rough spots over the last several years, but these days, BMWs are actually pretty reliable. They’re also some of the most well-reviewed luxury cars on sale today, which is a one-two punch when it comes to attracting new customers. BMW had a reliability score of 46.
6. Buick
It’s currently unclear what GM plans to do with Buick, and it’s never really caught on with younger buyers, but Buick sells some pretty darn good-looking cars, and they’re generally great deals, too. With a reliability score of 47, Buick shows its cars will also last you a long time.
5. Honda
Honda has been the default choice for a lot of car buyers for years now in part because they’re generally reliable but also because they were typically a little more fun and youthful than the more serious, buttoned-down Toyota. Honda has a reliability score of 55.
4. Acura
If Honda was on this list, then you knew Acura had to be, as well. Not only does Honda own Acura, but many of their cars share a lot of components. Its cars probably won’t ever take the handling crown from Porsche, but they’re generally pretty fun to drive on top of being reliable. Acura has a reliability score of 57.
3. Mazda
With a reliability score of 59, Mazda earns itself a podium finish. Its cars are reliable, look fantastic, offer great interiors and are fun to drive. Why more people don’t buy Mazdas, we have no idea because they really are great cars.
2. Toyota
Toyota isn’t perfect, but generally speaking, you’re going to have a hard time finding something more reliable than a Toyota. That’s Toyota’s calling card. You’ll probably sell it before it dies on you. That’s reflected in Toyota’s significantly higher reliability score of 72.
1. Lexus
Lexus is more than just fancy Toyota, but it still has the same commitment to building reliable cars. And even the cars that are mechanically Toyotas, no one’s going to complain about driving, say, a more comfortable Prius. Lexus also narrowly beat Toyota’s reliability score, coming in with a 75.
