​​Consumer Reports Says Subaru Is The Best Overall Car Brand​

At the same time automotive publications announce their best vehicle awards, Consumer Reports publishes its yearly ranking of overall car brands in its annual car brand report card. Ewing Subaru of Plano is proud to announce that in 2025, Subaru ranked as Consumer Reports’ number one car brand.  

Consumer Reports does not separate luxury and mainstream brands, which means that Subaru was rated #1 out of 32 brands in its rankings. The next three-ranked brands—BMW, Lexus, and Porsche—are all luxury brands. Brands that have not had more than one vehicle road tested by Consumer Reports are not included in the ranking. For this year, that includes Fiat, Lucid, Maserati, Polestar, and Ram. 

The ratings combine individual model road test scores, safety ratings from NHTSA and IIHS, predicted reliability based on owner surveys, and owner satisfaction, which is also based on owner surveys, particularly responses to whether they would buy the same vehicle over again. It is worth noting that Subaru was one of only three brands with an overall positive predicted reliability score. 

The surveys are based on responses from their subscriber base.  The positive side of this method is that it is based on consumer’s real-life experiences of having owned, maintained, and occasionally repaired their vehicles. A test of a vehicle from a manufacturer’s press fleet tells you nothing about the vehicle’s reliability over the years. On this note, it bears mentioning that Consumer Reports purchases all the vehicles they test. Nor can a test, not even with Consumer Report’s own extensive testing methodologies, hope to cover the broad scope of user experiences from a consumer base.  

However, magazine subscribers may also gravitate to brands and models that have previously been rated well. Indeed, Subaru has consistently scored well in this brand evaluation, which has likely attracted subscribers to the brand.   

Still, that doesn’t keep everything frozen in place.  Subaru itself moved up from last year’s second position to trade places with BMW. Other brands moved up or down as much as six, seven, and even eight places.  

Consumer Reports cautions that a poorly rated model can exist within a highly rated brand, particularly if that brand has a broad spectrum of models, like Toyota or Chevrolet. Subaru has a much tighter set of model offerings, and they consistently test well by the magazine. Eight model lines are rated as recommended, and the Crosstrek and Forester are both rated as Top Picks in their category.  

There are many reasons to buy a Subaru, but now, there is yet another one.  If you are looking for a crossover, sedan, or even a sports car, make sure you visit Ewing Subaru of Plano and test drive the models from Consumer Report’s highest-ranked automotive brand.