[00:00] This morning we are revealing Consumer Reports' top picks for best and most reliable used cars. For the first time, Consumer Reports looked at the reliability of cars between 5 and 10 years old from 26 different car brands.
[00:14] They also picked their top 10 used car models. We're joined by Consumer Reports Associate Director of Auto Test Development, Alex Nizek. How are you doing, man? I'm good. Thank you for having me. Of course, let's jump right into it.
[00:26] What's the process for rating the best, most reliable used cars? Yeah, well, when it comes to our testing, for those who aren't familiar, Consumer Reports actually buys everything that we test, and that includes the cars. So if you're kind of obsessed with cars like me, it's a dream job.
[00:39] So when we're recommending cars, whether they're new or used, it's something that we actually have experience with. But when it comes to used car reliability, reliability is actually a whole different animal. We survey our members every single year, and when we're thinking about reliability, it really
[00:53] comes down to how many problems that car is going to have while you own it. And we separated into major and minor trouble spots, we call them, we have 20 different areas of the car that we're asking our members about.
[01:06] Things like the engine or the transmission, right, major bumpers that are going to be expensive or potentially leave you stranded with your car, down to minor things like squeaks and rattles. And all of that comes together to really come up with a reliability version. It's amazing.
[01:18] How old is two old? That's a great question. I mean, it depends on the model. Some vehicles can go almost, you know, up to 200,000 miles or more from some of these more reliable brands. Others, not so much, but it depends.
[01:31] So you rank 26 brands, what are the top three? Top three are Lexus, Toyota, and Mazda. Huh, how about that? I didn't expect Lexus to top the list. All right. So what makes them reliable?
[01:43] Yeah, sure. So again, we survey our members every single year to find out the problems that they're having with their vehicles. And in the case of these five to ten year old models that we're talking about, we have data points on over 150,000 different cars.
[01:56] And brands like Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, tend to be more conservative when they redesign their cars. So, instead of throwing it all away and starting over, they tend to iterate on their products, which lends itself to good reliability, whereas some other brands, maybe not so much.
[02:10] And you also rank the top ten used car models, why do these certain models stand out? Yeah, absolutely. Well, there's three major things that go into making a top pick for used cars. They have to be reliable first, like we're talking about.
[02:23] Most important. We know that's most important. It really is. I'm going to say it again, too, probably. But the other things they have to do really well in our testing when they were new. And lastly, safety. So, safety's key. It's key.
[02:35] All these cars have standard electronics stability control, which is a proven safety feature that became mandatory in 2012. Usually do this for new cars, why now are we looking at used cars? So what was it about?
[02:47] Yeah. The used car market. It's starting to rebound a little bit. So in the last year, prices have started to come down about ten percent, and inventories up a little bit, too, compared to the pandemic.
[02:59] And so all that means you're more likely to find the car that you actually want, and hopefully pay a more reasonable price for it. Not to mention the average transaction price of a new car is about $48,000, which is just a ton of money.
[03:11] So I don't know about you, but I don't really want to spend that. So you can find amazing deals on cars, consumer reports, dot org slash use cars. See, my 1987 Toyota Celica that I drove in high school is not on the list.
[03:23] That might start getting into two old, and I thought it had a good run, though. It did. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.