I picked up the latest Consumer Reports print edition with the full reliability ratings (the one with the MkIII Prius and the new Outback on the front) and there's some interesting things to note.
(As a disclaimer, Consumer Reports collects data from subscribers on mechanical problems they've had with their cars. Problems are weighted based upon severity, and then the cars are compared to all other cars from that year to see how they stack up reliability-wise; all ratings are based on how far above or below average for the year the car is. "Predicted new reliability" is an extrapolation based upon the last three years of data--not brand reputation or problems-after-30-days or anything like that).
If you want reliable and European, go "entry-level" and naturally-aspirated.
The Volvo S40 2.4i is about 50% more reliable than average, slightly more reliable than a four-cylinder Camry. The Golf (Rabbit) is similarly excellent, slightly outscoring the Honda Civic. The BMW 128i and 328i both came in about 20% more reliable than average. And the Porsche Cayman is the most reliable sporty car on the market, coming in at about 60% more reliable than average. Typically, the higher-end models did more poorly. The C30 T5 is about 15% better than average (not bad, but a big step down from 50% more reliable than average), the 135i is about 40% worse than average, and the GTI is barely worse than average (maybe 8% worse). This point is based completely on the comparison charts on pp. 10 and 11, giving actual percentage ratings better and worse than average instead of the five dot colors.
Current scandal aside, Toyotas are still a safe bet reliability-wise.
Looking at the individual ratings for each year of each model, Toyotas are still getting very good marks. Essentially every single year of every car Toyota sells is rated at "better than average" or "far better than average" for reliability. This point is based on the individual car pages for Toyota, pp. 157-165.
If you want American, Fords are the safest bet reliability-wise.
The current-generation Mustang does very well in both V6 (50% more reliable than average) and V8 (35% more reliable than average) trims. For comparison, a Civic Si comes in at 25% more reliable than average, and a Miata is about 30% more reliable than average. (p. 11). The Fusion also comes in at "far above average," and the Focus comes in at "above average." Most other Fords come in at "average," including the Edge, Escape, Expedition, Sport Trac, F150, Flex, Ranger, and Taurus. For comparison, instead of coming in at average or above average, Chevys and Chryslers typically came in somewhere between "far worse than average" and "average."
As one confusing point, the Mustang gets those exceptional ratings on p. 11, but is listed as "average" on p. 81. I think that the p. 11 ratings might be against other sporty cars of the same year and the p. 81 rating is against all other cars of the same year, but I'm not positive.
Want to enjoy your purchase? Buy what you want, not the most reliably-rated.
On p. 3, a survey of owner satisfaction appears (which is not tied in any way to the reliability ratings; it's a separate survey). For sporty cars and roadsters, the ones with the highest "% of respondents who would definitely buy one again" are not the most reliable in the segment . Though some above-average-reliability performance cars like the Mustang and Cayman and Miata appear, you also have the 135i, the M3, the Corvette, the Mini Cooper, and the Challenger V8 getting top ratings (the Challenger V8 actually has the highest owner satisfaction of any car of any genre). For family cars, the top four rated cars were the Fusion Hybrid, the Prius, the Jetta TDI, and the Camry Hybrid...notice a trend?
Worst owner satisfaction? Noticing a trend here.
Ten vehicles with the lowest overall satisfaction ratings: Chevy Cobalt, Dodge Caliber, Pontiac G6, Chrysler Sebring, Saturn Vue Hybrid, Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent (AWD), Pontiac Torrent (FWD), Dodge Nitro, and Chevy Colorado.
