The #1 Worst Car Brand To Buy Used

The prices for used cars have hit record highs recently, and many buyers have put off making a car purchase as they wait for prices to stabilize.

If you have a reliable used car, this might not be a big issue. However, if you own a car from one of the worst car brands for reliability, you might be in the market sooner than you think.

The Worst Used Car Brand In America

Consumer Reports often releases various studies to examine the reliability of used cars. A recent study analyzed cars, SUVs, and light trucks from the 2017 model year to find out how these cars were performing. As of 2023, a 2017 model-year vehicle is about six years old. The main metric used by Consumer Reports to analyze these vehicles is simple reliability. This includes a combination of repair history, fuel economy, owner satisfaction, and safety.

The study then rated the different car brands with a scale ranging from 100 to zero based on the evaluated models. The brand with the lowest score based on model reliability was GMC. Seven GMC models were rated and the final score for reliability combining all rated models was 26. The highest score in the study was 91 and belongs to Lexus based on an evaluation of five models.

Best Used Car Brands

On top of the heap for the best used car brand were the usual suspects of Lexus, Toyota, Acura, and Infiniti. However, Toyota and Lexus stand out for having several models analyzed. The latter two brands only had a few models analyzed. In the middle of the pack with scores below 70, you’ll find Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Buick, Mazda, Lincoln, and Volkswagen.

It’s somewhat surprising to find some of the other Japanese brands even further down with scores below 60. These include Honda and Subaru. Kia, Tesla, and BMW also posted scores below 60. For cars below 50, the European brands Audi and Volvo check in. Ford, Hyundai, and Jeep can also be found in this lower tier of reliable used cars.

American Auto Brands Among the Least Reliable

At the very bottom of the used car rating by Consumer Reports are three American auto brands. These include Chevrolet, Ram, and GMC with GMC being the least reliable. Unlike Chevrolet, GMC and Ram only make trucks and SUVs. Both brands sell a lot of vehicles as well. However, some of these vehicles simply aren’t holding up on the used market.

Despite these rankings, certain car brands continue to be in demand and have plenty of fans on the used market. For example, the Jeep Wrangler belongs to one of the least reliable brands, but sales of this vehicle remain healthy. As used cars, the Jeep Wrangler models often command higher prices than you would expect.

If you’re looking for used cars, now might be a good time to find some reasonable prices. Experts believe that prices for used cars may go up in the summer.