American brands take 11 of bottom 12 spots in Consumer Reports reliability survey

American brands such as General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and even Tesla had a rough showing in the results of Consumer Reports’ annual reliability survey released last week, which gathered data on half a million vehicles this year.

Volvo was dead last in 29th place, but every American marque occupied the next 11 worse spots, from Cadillac at 28th to Ford at 18th. For the second year in a row, Lexus and Toyota took the top two spots respectively, though the two brands switched places this year.

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Volvo’s reliability issues stem almost entirely from the brand's Sensus infotainment system, which uses an iPad-sized screen in the dashboard to control almost all of the vehicle’s important functions, including climate control. The S90 sedan also experienced engine knocking according to some customers.

A surprising result was Tesla in 27th place, plagued by suspension problems on the Model S and many issues with the Model X including the infotainment screen and “falcon” doors. Buick had the biggest fall from grace, dropping 11 spots from last year to 19th place, mostly for issues with the 9-speed automatic transmission in the new Enclave SUV.

Mazda had the biggest jump, moving up 9 spots from last year after ironing out issues with models like the CX-9 crossover SUV and MX-5 Miata roadster. The top four brands were all Japanese, and German brands lined the middle of the pack with Audi highest at 7th and Mercedes-Benz lowest at 17th.

The list didn’t include Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mitsubishi or Smart for a lack of usable data, though Consumer Reports mentioned that Alfa Romeo Giulia owners have experienced much worse than average reliability, and Jaguar F-Pace owners have also had sub-par reliability, thanks in part to infotainment issues.

The full ranking can be found below:

1. Lexus
2. Toyota
3. Mazda
4. Subaru
5. Kia
6. Infiniti
7. Audi
8. BMW
9. Mini
10. Hyundai
11. Porsche
12. Genesis
13. Acura
14. Nissan
15. Honda
16. Volkswagen
17. Mercedes-Benz
18. Ford
19. Buick
20. Lincoln
21. Dodge
22. Jeep
23. Chevrolet
24. Chrysler
25. GMC
26. Ram
27. Tesla
28. Cadillac
29. Volvo

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