As the price of cars and also repairs increase, car buyers are increasingly considering the cost of maintenance as they research options.
Using historical reports, CARFAX compiled its list of vehicles ranked as the most reliable across three segments, with those being cars, SUVs, and trucks.
Driving the news: Parts and repair costs are both running above the 5-year CPI, Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jeremy Robb pointed out this summer, with the average repair topping $700.
And Santander’s recent survey of middle-class car buyers found that a vehicle’s reliability and maintenance cost were among the top two influences in their purchase decision.
And now: CARFAX just evaluated model years 2019-2023 for its reliability rankings.
The rankings arrive as the CARFAX Report, and CARFAX Car Listings now include future Reliability insights, predicting the likelihood of repairs for a specific vehicle over the next three years.
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Top performers: The most reliable vehicles on the list for the three segments had less than a 4% likelihood of unexpected repairs.
The noted cars were the Kia Rio, Mitsubishi Mirage G4, and Toyota Camry, with an unexpected-repair likelihood of around 2%.
For SUVs, the best performers were the Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.
Meanwhile, the Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier, and Toyota Tacoma were the top trucks at less than half of the segment’s 9.1% likelihood of an unexpected repair.
Looking ahead: When stocking used inventory, the nine models on the list are worth a second look, especially with reliability being a key item to point out to customers right now.
“If someone is comparing similar cars and about to make one of the biggest purchases of their life, future Reliability data helps shoppers see a clearer picture of what ownership may look like over time,” said Paul Nadjarian, Chief Product Officer at CARFAX.
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