DETROIT – Mazda beat traditional winners Lexus and Toyota to win top honors as the most dependable auto brand in Consumer Reports' annual reliability survey.
Mazda took top honors for the first time in the survey, which this year included Consumer Reports organization members who own more than 300,000 vehicles from model years 2000 to 2020.
Consumer Reports said that the Ford Explorer SUV, redesigned for the 2020 model year, is among the lowest-scoring models of any manufacturer with transmission, electronic, and engine issues.
Only the company's Model 3 small car was rated as reliable and recommended by Consumer Reports.
Nearly half of the new models have much worse than average reliability, Consumer Reports said.