Subaru makes the best car, according to Consumer Reports

Unsold 2024 Outback wagons sit on the lot of a Subaru dealership Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Loveland, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalu/AP Photo)

Subaru is the new best car brand of the year, according to a recent ranking.

Every year, Consumer Reports (CR) magazine ranks the best new car brands of the year, and there have been some major changes in their list.

Among the 32 brands in CR’s 2025 report card, the top five remain unchanged from last year, with one significant shift as Subaru clinches the top spot. The reason? Reliability.

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“When they design or redesign a new model, they tend to iterate on last year’s models and this approach tends to lend itself towards good reliability because they work out the kinks, so to speak, over time. On top of that, their vehicles perform well in our testing,” CR’s Alex Knizek said.

Toyota had been at the top of that list for several years but dropped to ninth for this year’s list.

For these rankings, Consumer Reports engineers and automotive experts put every car it buys through more than 50 tests.

“Everything from acceleration and braking and high-speed manoeuvres on the track,” Knizek said.

They then compare over 250 models' on-road performance, comfort, reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety – and testing doesn’t end at the office.

“We live with these vehicles every single day. We take them home, we drive them on public roads, we put our families in them, we go to the grocery store, and we use all of this data, combined with our survey information, to figure out who makes the best cars,” Knizek said.

Joining Subaru on the top five list is BMW, Lexus, Porsche and Honda.

“Part of buying, testing, and living with these vehicles is not only experiencing what is good about the best scoring vehicles but also the things that are maybe annoying or not so good,” Knizek said.

At the bottom of this year’s rankings are Dodge, GMC, Land Rover, Rivian and Jeep.

“Even top-scoring brands can have vehicles that don’t score so well. So, it’s really important that you do your research and you check the ratings for the vehicles that you’re specifically interested in,” Knizek said.

CR also ranks brands that make the best-used cars. This year, the magazine gave top marks to Lexus, Toyota and Mazda.