Manufacturer Quality Index

Rankings combine our stored reliability scores — built from official NHTSA recall and complaint records, plus EPA fuel-economy data — into a brand index. Each model line is weighted equally; within a model, newer model years count more than very old ones. This is an independent composite, not a consumer survey. Higher scores indicate better predicted reliability, and lower scores reflect a real history of recalls and complaints for that vehicle, not just an absence of data.

Data Sources: NHTSA (recalls & complaints), EPA fuel economy

Scale: 0-100 (Higher = Better)

Manufacturer Rankings

Rank	Manufacturer	Quality Index	Rating	Vehicles	Models
#1	Mercedes-Benz	77	Excellent	113	8
#2	Infiniti	65	Good	72	6
#3	Cadillac	65	Good	64	7
#4	Lexus	64	Good	115	8
#5	Audi	63	Good	118	8
#6	Mazda	63	Good	90	7
#7	Buick	63	Good	58	5
#8	Porsche	62	Good	87	6
#9	BMW	57	Average	135	9
#10	Volkswagen	56	Average	76	6
#11	GMC	56	Average	80	5
#12	Volvo	56	Average	86	7
#13	Genesis	51	Average	49	6
#14	Land Rover	50	Average	60	4
#15	Subaru	48	Below Average	101	7
#16	Jeep	47	Below Average	101	7
#17	Chevrolet	46	Below Average	153	11
#18	Lincoln	45	Below Average	58	6
#19	Nissan	44	Below Average	154	10
#20	Dodge	43	Below Average	68	5
#21	Toyota	38	Poor	188	12
#22	Acura	37	Poor	64	5
#23	Hyundai	37	Poor	102	8
#24	Kia	32	Poor	99	8
#25	Honda	26	Poor	127	9
#26	RAM	26	Poor	62	4
#27	Ford	21	Poor	155	11
#28	Tesla	21	Poor	47	5

How Quality Index is Calculated

Per model year

Uses the stored overall reliability score (0–100). That score already reflects NHTSA recall and complaint signals, so we do not subtract raw complaint or recall counts again—doing so double-counted and biased high-volume vehicles. When component scores (powertrain, body, electrical) disagree meaningfully with the headline score, we blend slightly toward the component average.

Across years (same model)

Recency: newer model years get higher weight (exponential decay by age; floor so old years still contribute a little).

Brand index

The manufacturer score is the simple average of each model line’s index (each model counts equally—not every model-year row), which aligns better with “how good is this brand’s lineup” than averaging every year of every vehicle.

Data sources

Underlying rows come from NHTSA's official recall and complaint bulk datasets, joined with EPA fuel-economy records. When a make/model/year has little or no NHTSA history, its score leans on a brand-tier baseline instead of guessing—so thin data pulls a score toward the brand's typical reliability rather than inflating it.