Toyota, Lexus and BMW top Consumer Reports’ survey of brand reliability for 2022, nudging Mazda from the podium after its No. 2 finish last year.
BMW climbed 10 spots to place third in the survey, released Tuesday during a presentation before the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. The brand’s 3 and 4 series models improved to “above average” rankings, while the X3, X5, X7 and 5 series are ranked “average.”
For the first time, Mercedes-Benz finished in last place in the Consumer Reports rankings, falling five spots.
Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, said the wide gap between the two leading German luxury brands can be attributed to how they implement new and advanced technology.
“The short answer of it really has to do with BMW and Mercedes-Benz’s current approach to technology,” he said.
BMW has generally scaled back the amount of technology it adopts in the cockpit, while Mercedes-Benz has embraced more technology to separate itself from its rivals, Fisher said.
More technology means more bugs and glitches, such as frozen or blank screens — leading to less reliability.
“A lot of technology doesn’t necessarily work all the time, and there’s more potential for problems,” Fisher said. “Mercedes-Benz has chosen to really try to distinguish themselves with all of the latest gizmos and gadgets … and it’s kind of come back to bite them.”
Consumer Reports notes that in some cases, Mercedes-Benz owners have required hardware replacements.
Japanese brands continue to dominate the ranks of most reliable light vehicles in the world, with Toyota, Lexus, Mazda and Honda making up four of the top five. Lincoln, vaulting 14 spots, is the only domestic brand to place in the top 10.
Tesla gained four spots this year, but still finished 19th out of 24 brands.
Pickup trucks, one of the industry’s biggest and most lucrative segments, continue to struggle with subpar reliability, the survey finds, with only seven of 17 models ranking “average” or better.
Large-scale changes at Chevrolet led to a 10-spot drop to No. 20 for the brand in the rankings. The Bolt and Bolt EUV are specifically called out for battery problems and electric drive failures, part of a larger trend that is seeing electric vehicles struggle with reliability.