The Most Reliable And Least Reliable Cars of 2021
not reliable…
Back in 2018 I did a post comparing the vehicles with the highest and lowest recall rates. Of course the vehicles with the highest recall rates averaged $35,365 in MSRP, while the ones with the lowest recall rates had an average MSRP of $21,261.
As if you needed yet another reason to stay away from expensive cars.
This post started as an attempt to update that list, but that list has not really changed. So instead I thought I’d look at the most and least reliable vehicles of 2021 and compare MSRP prices of those lists to see if the lower cost vehicles win out again.
Let’s go!
The Lists
Consumer Reports publishes the most cited lists of reliability for vehicles every year. Here are the least reliable cars of 2021 according to them:
| Vehicle | Base MSRP | Highest Model MSRP |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | $29,300 | $57,700 |
| Subaru Ascent | $32,295 | $45,445 |
| Volkswagen Atlas | $31,545 | $50,725 |
| Jeep Compass | $24,495 | $31,395 |
| Volvo XC90 | $49,000 | $70,250 |
| Chevrolet Colorado | $25,200 | $44,200 |
| Tesla Model S | $80,825 | $98,175 |
| Jeep Wrangler | $28,900 | $73,500 |
| Ford EcoSport | $20,395 | $28,345 |
| Volvo XC60 | $41,700 | $69,500 |
| AVERAGE | $36,366 | $56,924 |
Here are the most reliable cars of 2021 according to Consumer Reports:
| Vehicle | Base MSRP | Highest Model MSRP |
| Toyota Prius | $24,525 | $32,820 |
| Lexus NX | $37,610 | $46,910 |
| Buick Encore | $24,600 | $25,220 |
| Lexus GX | $53,450 | $64,715 |
| Honda HR-V | $21,220 | $29,340 |
| Toyota Prius Prime | $28,220 | $34,425 |
| Hyundai Kona | $20,950 | $28,250 |
| Audi A5 | $41,800 | $50,400 |
| Audi A4 | $39,100 | $41,200 |
| Mazda CX-5 | $25,370 | $37,505 |
| AVERAGE | $31,685 | $39,079 |
In this case the difference is not nearly as stark as the recall list, but there’s still a difference. The most reliable cars are cheaper, both in base price and the “high end” model that includes all the crap you don’t need extra things you want.
You could also argue that if you took the Tesla Model S with it’s ludicrous price of $80,825 out of the least reliable list the averages between the two lists would be very close, and you’d be right.
But the Tesla Model S is a pretty darn popular car nowadays, I can’t seem to spit in any direction while riding my bike without hitting one, so it’s on the list. Folks are dropping $80k in droves to get a cool but unreliable car.
Pro tip, buying an $80k car is not helping you if you wish to achieve financial independence. Actually, buying any of these vehicles new – reliable or not – is not a good idea if you wish to achieve financial independence.
Yes the used car market has become much more expensive in the past year due to global chip shortages and other factors stemming from the pandemic. But new cars have gone up as well, with the average price paid for a new vehicle now an astounding and face-palming $40,800.
Car Hack
not reliable…
As The White Coat Investor says, you can get good and reliable transportation for under $10,000, and doing that will put your journey to FI on steroids in comparison to buying a new vehicle at $40,000.
It’s what I did, and I can tell you I wouldn’t be FI today had I behaved like the average American in my 20’s and 30’s when it came to cars. Only when I was financially independent did I finally buy a new vehicle – something I still thought I’d never ever do. But I had sound mathematical reasons and you can read about them here.
I still have that vehicle 7 years later, and it only has 36000 miles because I choose to get around by bike more than car.
If you’re a regular reader, you’ve seen me mention it over and over. Transportation costs are one of the big three costs for most people and families in America, usually the second biggest behind a mortgage or rent.
Hopefully you’ve been able to work from home the majority of time or even permanently since the pandemic started. Working from home more often or living closer to your place of employment is one of the main ways to reduce your transportation costs.
And a shorter commute will make you healthier as well.
Your turn – Do you have any of the cars listed above? If so, does it belong on the list it’s on?
I have a model S which I bought new at the end of 2015. I have to say that it has been incredibly reliable (in my ownership there was one part that failed that I paid out of pocket (rear window would be difficult to close) and 1 that was placed out of warranty for free because of a recall (memory chip for the touch screen).
Because it is fully electric I have avoided oil changes and other routine maintenance issues associated with ICE cars so I know I came out ahead in terms of time spent in service.
I put a lot of miles on the vehicle as well (over 140k of miles driven since ownership) so I think it is pretty impressive to only have those issues.
We have three vehicles between the two of us because what we need to tow the boat and utility trailer isn’t sporty or fun enough to be a daily driver. I agree that transportation costs can make you poor when you are accumulating your nest egg portfolio but once you’ve got more than enough money it is a fun area to splurge in. When you drive as much as those of us in rural America do having a fast and fun car definitely adds to the quality of life. I don’t care at all about impressing other people with my ride, I just want it to impress me with its quality and performance. My daughter in law had a Tesla Model S, and it was a kick to floor the accelerator on that car, but its not practical unless you live in a big city and don’t drive long distances.
I’d just kindly suggest being careful with the “fast” car aspect and to stay within the realm of being a law-abiding citizen. It’s important to remember that cars leave a trail of over 40,000 needlessly slaughtered humans on the roads of America every year.
Perhaps Tesla is getting worse at making it’s own car, haha
I wonder if either of these lists would compare to the list of cars millionaires purchase the mostst. I can’t help but think of Millionaire Next Door and wonder if they list is close to it.
Also, how do either of these lists compare with their safety ratings? Does it make sense to pay more for safety?
You’d have to look that up. To me the differences in safety ratings have become pretty negligible especially in cars made since 2010, they all pretty much have the main safety features that can do the most to help protect you, the rest is usually “long tail” stuff that’s gimmicky, expensive, and not really helpful.
we’re on our second mazda 6, bought new in 2014. both cars were problem-free mechanically and served us well. the first one died of rust before we ever hit close to 100k after about 12 years. hopefully mine fares better. anyhow, it does everything we want for a 20k price tag. if they made a wagon version i would think about buying that base model.
it still bothers me that cars cost 20k and up for anything but a tiny clown car.
If you saw in the Consumer Reports article from my post that Mazda now is the top overall brand for reliability, dethroning Toyota. Great choice dude. My friend Anna got a used Mazda 6 recently and loves it. They should last a long time
I reviewed an fun exercise I did last year involving totaling up the vehicles my husband and I have owned over the last 37 years of marriage. The number climbed to 14 total vehicles, 4 of which were new for a total cash sum of $81,250. We subtracted trade-in values and private sales from the total and ended up with a net purchase price for all of $60,400. This fact produced a couple of high-fives. It should also be noted we also raised 3 boys during the process. Our walkability rating for where we live is a whopping 1. Both our current cars are fully paid for. Life is good.
Wow that’s a pretty low total car expenditure for 37 years, way lower than most Americans I’d assume! I haven’t been driving for that long yet but I’m sure I’ll be lower than that when I get there, not that it’s a competition 🙂
My Model S, purchased in Aug. 2014, is one that tilts the scale towards unreliable, though not into lemon territory. The most fun one: 2nd day of ownership, the new software package bricked the car when it went to “sleep” to reduce vampire drain. Most repairs were under warranty: two new 12V batteries, drive motor replacement, air bag recall, 3 door handle replacements, rear lift strut replacement, and a few fit and finish repairs that put the car out of action a few days early in its life.
The reason for purchasing the car was to gain access to carpool lanes, which would save ~200 hours of commute time each year. The other carpool cheater cars available at the time didn’t have the range we needed or were likely to lose their carpool lane access at the end of the year.
Yikes, that’s alotta repairs and problems. But if you have a long commute I can see the advantage of carpool access, I live in the DC region which has some of the worst traffic in the country.
Wow, car price went up quite a bit since 2010. Our Mazda 5 is reliable and I haven’t had any problem with it. We don’t drive much either, it has less than 60,000 miles on it. I just hope it lasts until our son goes off to college. After that, I don’t want a car anymore. We won’t need it.
Mazda again for the win, everyone seems to have great experiences with them. Thx Joe
I’m really surprised to see the Model S on the unreliable list! Especially knowing that it was also Consumer Reports car of the year for sometime when it came out. But I guess “great car” doesn’t necessarily equal “reliable car”! In my head, I’ve thought I’d eventually switch to an all-electric sometime in the future once reasonably reliable ones can be had commonly under $10K and with a pretty good (200+ miles) range. Perhaps that won’t be a Model S!
Jenni drives an ’08 Prius. She’s had it for maybe 5 years or so and it’s been nearly problem free. She did replace part of the computer within the dash—a cheap part but quite time consuming to get to.
I’m still tooling around in a ’90 300ZX Twin Turbo. Far from reliable, but certainly fun! I believe I picked it up around 2010. I think I’ve put about 5,000 miles on since. Ha.
“Car of the year” from a ‘cool’ perspective, and it probably got them lots of clicks too. But perhaps not from a reliability or cost effectiveness perspective. Priuses are almost failproof, I don’t know anyone who has one who has had any issues. They just run.
It always amuses me when people come out of the woodwork to defend the status quo by stating how amazing their extremely expensive lifestyle is. There’s nothing wrong with buying a new car, but that’s not the point: the point is that there is tremendous money to be saved by taking a different route, and there is great potential for this option to be perfectly satisfactory, too.
Over the 12 years I’ve owned cars, I’ve put less than $25k into them total, including maintenance and repairs. Mind you, my first car had a lot of problems, but this encouraged me to learn how to do the work myself. After buying my second car half a decade ago, I’ve done the vast majority of work on it, mostly preventive maintenance. For me, it’s actually a lot of fun “upgrading” old parts to quality new parts. Not everybody can do this, but I’ve learned quite a few skills over the years and am getting faster at things, too.
It makes me scratch my head that you can buy a $5k car, put $2k into it, and have a reliable $7k car, but some of these really expensive new cars will lose that much value (or more) in depreciation alone over just a few years. Of course, there are many variables that go into people’s decisions about cars, and I’m very biased toward DIY, so I do understand that there are many paths out there. Also, I think there is some virtue, from a life systems and reliability perspective, to keeping your driving mileage low, or not needing a vehicle in the first place. Cars are stupid expensive to own relative to most things in life, even if you do the work yourself, so props to you for your dedication to biking 🙂
25k in 12 years is great, awesome job. The DIY ethos not only saves money, it also teaches you great skills and builds a great sense of accomplishment. Thanks for the great comment!
Nope, I don’t own any of the cars on this list! Thankfully I’ve never had a taste for expensive cars either! The most expensive car I’ve ever owned was $19k.
Even that seems like a lot! In hindsight, my lack of interest in cars probably fueled my portfolio way ahead of were it might have been.
I’m rather thankful my mistakes on cars were minimal.
I could’ve guessed your answer before you commented. You are in the position you’re in for many reasons, this is one of them 🙂