Stellantis products make up 40 percent of the naughty list, but Rivian’s electric R1T doesn’t fare well either
December 9, 2023 at 14:16
New cars are more complicated than ever, but in the main they’re also more reliable and built from better quality materials than the vehicles they replaced. As we also all know, however, new cars are not created equal when it comes to reliability, and Consumer Reports has named the 10 vehicles in its 2024 reliability hall of shame.
The organization pulled together reports from its subscribers about the reliability of their cars, using data for more the 330,000 vehicles to work out which is the most- and least reliable. Twenty potential trouble areas were checked, including minor grievances like squeaky brakes to major bummer such as engine meltdowns and EV charging problems.
The results don’t make comfortable viewing for Stellantis, whose products occupy four of the 10 available spots. Wait, it gets worse. Three of those entries are from the same brand: Jeep. The only vaguely positive thing you can say is that two of the Jeeps, the tenth-placed Wrangler and ninth-placed Grand Cherokee were at the better end of the table, while the Grand Cherokee L’s sixth placing only put it mid pack.
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Related: Consumer Reports Says BMW Makes The Best Cars, Land Rover The Worst
You’re probably not surprised to learn that their are no Honda, Toyota or Lexus vehicles in the list of top 10 dogs, and the only entry from a Japanese brand is the Nissan Frontier pickup (seventh spot), which scored better than the two other pickups on the list, they being the Ford F-150 hybrid (third) and our only EV villain, the Rivian R1T (fifth).
That leaves three places still to fill, and they’re all occupied by brands that we tend to think of as dependable, perhaps erroneously. One of those is Volvo, whose XC60’s fourth placing means it only narrowly missed out on the poop podium. The other is VW, which ran a much-loved TV ad in the 1980s whose tagline was “If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen.” We doubt it would dare repeat the exercise 35 years on given that the brand has two cars in the Top 10. The Jetta came home in ninth and the Taos placed second.
There’s one place left and it’s more bad news for Stellantis, because Consumer Report’s readers reports say the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is the least reliable car in America.