2019
Make & Model Rankings
Published by CarMD, December 2019
The 2019 CarMD® Vehicle Health IndexTM Make and Model Reliability Rankings studies and ranks in-use vehicles and brands based on frequency of check engine light problems and then separately on average cost of repairs. In this report you will find the following:
- 10 brands with the lowest repair incidents/lowest average car repair costs
- 10 vehicles by year, make and model with the fewest repair incidents/lowest average repair costs
- Top three vehicles by category
This Index report summary also provides insight on the most common repairs for the top 10 vehicles in each category. This can be useful to vehicle owners, used car buyers and repair professionals.
Published annually since 2011, the CarMD Vehicle Health Index Make and Model Reliability Rankings is the only ranking that statistically measures check engine failures and repair costs. While other industry reports often rely on subjective survey data, we base our figures on statistical analyses reported directly from model year 1996 to current vehicles on the road in the U.S. over the past year, which is more comprehensive than many first-year owner surveys and studies. To achieve this unmatched level of accuracy, we have analyzed the vehicle data and health of more than 14.4 million in-use vehicles manufactured from 1996 to 2019 reporting check engine health between Oct. 1, 2018 and Sept. 30, 2019.
Highlights
The vehicle brand with the lowest average repair cost for CHECK ENGINE problems in 2019? Kia, which had an average parts & labor estimate of $321.
The 2017 Subaru Outback had the lowest average car repair cost.
CarMD found that over the past year, Mercedes ranked no. 1 as the brand least likely to have a check engine light on. Mercedes is followed by Mitsubishi (no. 2) and Buick (no. 3).
The 2017 Honda CR-V is the vehicle least likely to have a check engine light on among the 8,440 different model year 1996 to 2019 vehicles analyzed by CarMD in 2019.
The CarMD Vehicle Health Index also lists the top vehicles by category:
Top 10 Makes Least Likely to Have a Check Engine Light On
CarMD studied data from more than14.4 million vehicles from many sources to help identify the makes/brands least likely to need check engine repairs. To rank these brands, CarMD developed an Index frequency score formulated by the lowest percentage of repair incidents per percentage of vehicle population. The lower the score the higher the vehicle make ranking. From this data, CarMD found the following brands were least likely to need a check engine repair over the past year:
Top 10 Vehicles Least Likely to Have a Check Engine Light On
Any given brand can have a mix of very reliable vehicles along with some that are inherently known to have more frequent issues. And vehicle reliability can vary from year to year, particularly when a substantial model change occurs. For this reason, our Index drills down to rank vehicles by year, make and model. Three Hondas, three Subarus, two Lexus, and two Acura vehicles comprise this list of 10 vehicles with the lowest check engine light-related repair frequency among the 8,440 different model year 1996 to 2019 vehicles on the road over the past year.
Top 10 Brands with Lowest Average Repair Cost
Of the 14.4 million unique vehicles analyzed by CarMD as needing repairs this past year, which brands cost their owners the least? CarMD found that the brand with the lowest average check engine-related repair cost this past year was Kia ($321). Last year, Kia ranked second with an average repair cost of $319. Mazda ($332) drops one spot from first to second this year. Hyundai ($333) moves up one spot from fourth to third. Rounding out the top five are Chrysler ($338) and Dodge ($350). Joining this year’s list of the 10 vehicle brands with the lowest average repair costs are Ford and Buick, debuting at no. 9 and no. 10 respectively.
Top 10 Vehicles with Lowest Average Repair Cost
When the check engine light comes on, here are the 10 vehicles with the lowest average repair cost among the 8,440 different year, make and model vehicles on the road today.
Top Three Vehicles by Category – 2019 CarMD® Vehicle Health Index Make & Vehicle Rankings & Lists
The following is a list of the top three vehicles by category using data reported from Oct. 1, 2018 through Sept. 30, 2019, according to CarMD, which based its ranking on the used vehicles with the fewest and those with the lowest cost check engine-related problems reported by or to our network:
