Lexus builds probably the most reliable vehicles on the market in America. Toyota builds probably the most reliable autos accessible at mainstream costs. However they’re standouts in a struggling trade as general automobile dependability, measured after three years of possession, fell within the 2024 version of J.D. Energy’s U.S. Automobile Dependability Research.

The COVID-19 pandemic could also be guilty.

J.D. Energy’s examine surveys house owners of 3-year-old vehicles. Researchers requested 30,595 house owners of 2021 model-year autos whether or not they’d had issues with 184 particular facets of their vehicles.

Meaning most of the vehicles studied this yr had been constructed throughout the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when producers struggled to get elements amid worldwide manufacturing unit pauses.

This yr, house owners reported a mean of 190 issues per 100 autos — 4 greater than final yr. The distinction, mentioned Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Energy, “can seemingly be attributed to the tumultuous time throughout which these autos had been constructed.”

As standard, infotainment programs posed probably the most issues.” Amongst infotainment points, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity (6.3 [problems per] 100) is the highest drawback, adopted by built-in voice recognition (6.1 [problems per] 100),” the researchers mentioned.

Many house owners additionally complained in regards to the security alerts constructed into driver help programs like lane-centering. “Many would suppose that after three years, house owners would turn into used to the alerts on their automobile,” Hanley mentioned. “Nonetheless, that isn’t the case.”

Electrical vehicles posed extra issues than gas-powered vehicles — not shocking with a comparatively new expertise. Electrical autos (EVs) posed 256 issues per 100 autos. Plug-in hybrids, with the complexity of two propulsion programs, posed 191. Hybrids posed 191 — nearly the identical because the 187 present in gas-powered vehicles.

Rank by Producer:

Tesla doesn’t permit J.D. Energy entry to proprietor info in states the place permission is required by regulation, so the corporate is rarely ranked and will get unofficial scores primarily based on partial knowledge. This yr, its unofficial rating was 252 — 10 factors worse than final yr.

Scores by Mannequin

The automobile with the very best general dependability rating was the Porsche 718 Cayman/Boxster, which J.D. Energy treats as a single mannequin.