These are the most dependable car brands in 2023

According to the JD Power US Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) for 2023, the Toyota C-HR and Lexus RX are tied for the most dependable vehicles.

JD Power’s VDS, currently in its 34th year, examines how 2020 model-year cars perform in terms of component replacement, attractiveness, and quality, including vehicles equipped with innovative technologies. The VDS aims to assist manufacturers in creating vehicles that will survive the test of time and encourage high resale value.

The Toyota C-HR and Lexus RX had 111 problems per 100 cars sold, compared to the industry average of 186 PP100. Both models improved in eight of the nine issue categories noted by JD Power the previous year. The cars take the crown from last year’s champion – the Porsche 911.

Lexus has the greatest overall vehicle dependability rating among brands, with a score of 133 PP100. Other high-ranking luxury brands included Genesis (144 PP100), Cadillac (173 PP100), and BMW (184 PP100).

Toyota Motor Corporation also got the most model-level accolades, with six, for the Lexus NX, Lexus RX, Toyota C-HR, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Sienna, and Toyota Tacoma.

Kia (152 PP100) ranked top in the mass market sector for the third year in a straight, but lost its title as the most dependable vehicle manufacturer overall in 2022. In the 2023 mass market sector, Buick (159 PP100), Chevrolet (162 PP100), Mitsubishi (167 PP100), and Toyota (168 PP100) were close behind.

Land Rover (273 PP100), Lincoln (259 PP100), and Audi (252 PP100) were rated the most untrustworthy brands in JD Power’s rankings.

Ram (77 PP100 improvement), Volvo (41 PP100 improvement), and Nissan had the largest improvement in the number of difficulties (35 PP100 improvement).

Surprisingly, luxury products have considerably more issues (205 PP100) than mass-market goods (182 PP100). One major reason for this is because premium brands frequently employ more technology, which leads to greater complexity and extra challenges.

“It is typical in the automotive industry to roll out concepts and features by putting them in premium vehicles first,” Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at JD Power, said.

With an average of 49.9 PP100 – twice as much as the next-highest category – infotainment systems remain the most troublesome sections of a car. Built-in speech recognition, Android Apple CarPlay compatibility, Bluetooth systems, problematic touchscreens, insufficient power connectors, and outdated maps are all issues.

According to JD Power’s results, owners’ relationships with their automobiles involve how technologically advanced the vehicle is. Vehicle satisfaction levels, for example, rise when vehicles receive over-the-air software upgrades for out-of-date infotainment systems.

Despite the fact that the rankings take new technologies into consideration, Elon Musk’s Telsa (242 PP100) is not included in the brand rankings since the electric car business did not provide owner information in states where such consent is needed by law.

Overall, according to JD Power, component replacements have decreased, with 63% of cars requiring fewer component replacements over the previous year (excluding wear and tear) compared to the 2022 VDS. Brake rotors, headlamp components, external lighting, and key fobs needed less replacements.

According to JD Power’s investigation, long-term quality has a significant impact on residual values for automobiles.

“The used-vehicle market has helped sustain dealers’ profitability in the past couple of years, but they need to know which vehicles to have on their lots,”  said Jonathan Banks, vice president and general manager of automotive valuations at JD Power. Vehicles with high reliability ratings frequently bring in more customers to dealerships.

The following are the most dependable automobile brands: