Shaquille O’Neil is a big guy, so fitting inside cars built for the average human isn’t easy. He’s filled his garage with vehicles modified to accommodate his seven-foot-one frame better, including cars from Ferrari and Lamborghini. He recently added a one-off Lucid Air coupe to his customized car collection.

Shaq shared a tagged post on his Instagram that showed off the sleek electric vehicle. West Coast Customs completed the conversion, turning the four-door Lucid into a coupe that looks like it rolled off the factory floor alongside the sedans.

 

Losing two doors doesn’t detract from the Air’s sleek, coupe-like design. The long doors fit the styling and should make it easier for Shaq to get in and out. West Coast Customs also replaced the Lucid branding at the front with one of Shaq’s nicknames—Diesel—while the wheel center caps are donned in Superman logos.

We don’t know which Lucid Shaq received, but the Sapphire is one of the most powerful cars in the world, making 1,234 horsepower and 1,430 pound-feet of torque. It can hit 60 in just 1.9 seconds. Even the Air Touring, which starts at around $80,000, has 620 hp. Whichever trim he went for, he’s going to have a good time.

BMW’s M division is going electric. Last week the company teased an all-electric version of its iconic M3, set to hit showrooms in 2027. Now, the company is showing off another all-electric M car: A prototype based on the first-generation M2 coupe. 

The car, internally called The Beast, was conceived by a small group of engineers in 2018 on a “mission to explore what’s possible,” according to Michael Sailer, one of the team’s dynamics engineers.

The car looks fairly stock on the outside, save for a couple of tow hooks, a ducktail trunk spoiler, and a set of gold-painted brake calipers—likely carbon-ceramics. The cabin has been stripped to accommodate a roll cage, a racing seat, and a suite of testing equipment.

BMW did not go into detail on the M2 prototype’s powertrain, but it’s clear the factory turbocharged straight-six has been replaced by some kind of electric power. Seeing as how every electric M car will have four motors, this M2 may be rocking a quad-motor setup itself. But that’s just speculation.

Engineers describe the battery-powered M2 prototype as hard to control. M boss Frank Van Meel compares it to the F10-generation M5, which sent power to the rear wheels only, making it a relative handful considering its twin-turbo V-8 power. It forced the team to turn to AWD for the next-generation car.

“I can still remember January 2015, Cobo Hall, Detroit Motor Show, where I said in an interview, the next M5 generation will need four-wheel drive,” he said. “And everyone was going ‘this is the end of the universe,’ because if you put four-wheel drive on an M car it will only go straight forward, there will be no dynamics left.”

Van Meel said he had to “live with this shit-storm” for three years until the first all-wheel drive M5 came out, then everyone drove it and loved it. He likens the transition to electric power to the transition from rear-wheel drive to all-wheel drive. 

“Trust me, that what we’re working on now for the future will be at least as great as what we did [with the first AWD M5],” he said. “Now we will make that beast controllable, so that the next step in high performance is on the horizon.”

“What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?”

As car reviewers, we get asked that question all the time. But since we drive so many cars throughout the year—Motor1 published just shy of 200 reviews and first drives in 2024—digging through our mental Rolodex and trying to select one single vehicle worthy of being dubbed the “best” is nearly impossible. But hey, we try all the same.

That’s why we’re introducing the first-annual Motor1 Best of the Best Awards. Each year, we’ll put together our collective noggins and pick the very best vehicles from the previous 12 months out of three respective categories:

• Best Car
• Best Truck
• Best SUV

Of course, we had to follow a few rules. We love rules.

To qualify for our Best of the Best Awards, each vehicle must have been new, facelifted, or significantly updated in the previous year. It also must have been a vehicle we’ve driven in the past year or so, be it a first drive or a full review.

And since our Cool Car Cup takes the best performance cars of the year and puts them to the test on the track (which you should read if you haven’t), we’re sticking with the normal stuff for this one—SUVs your mom might buy, sedans your sister would consider. Since there aren’t as many new trucks, we’re leaving that category more wide open.

Thankfully, this past year was chock full of exciting new products.

Dozens of automakers released updates or all-new iterations of their cars, trucks, and SUVs for the 2024 and 2025 model years, making it tough to whittle down to just three favorites. But worry not, Motor1 reader, we tirelessly traversed the globe—from Spartanburg to Spain—in search of this year’s Best of the Best.

After countless discussions, many spreadsheets, and a few friendly arguments, we narrowed the field down to one winner per category with two runner-ups each. That way you can get an idea of which cars nearly made the cut, and how we decided upon each winner.

Stay tuned throughout the week as we roll out the first winners of our new Best of the Best Awards, and make sure to follow along on social media.

And the next time your grandma asks, “What’s the best car to buy?“—you’ll have an answer.

In the grand, glowing mural of NPC cars (for all you noobs out there, that’s a “non-playable character”), very few do anything to stand out. Every small car has a four-cylinder engine—maybe hybridized—and gets good fuel economy. Every small car is comfortable and reliable. And for the most part, every small car is pretty nice to drive.

But none of them have the charm of the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Why The Civic Hybrid?

Photo by: Honda

The Honda Civic Hybrid is easily the best small sedan money can buy. It feels nearly as spacious as the larger Accord inside, with moving-houses trunk space and comfortable rear seats. Rear headroom is actually usable for taller people, and the front seats feel as wide and accommodating as any small SUV.

Then, there’s the baked-in excellence of the eleventh-generation Civic as a whole: Genuinely industry-leading interior fit and finish with zero rattles or shakes, while physical controls and premium materials abound—especially those wonderful knurled HVAC knobs. Those are the details that help the Civic Hybrid look and feel a class above its station.

The powertrain is something of a miracle. It’s the old 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder but tweaked for efficiency, further assisted by a new generation of hybrid system. It’s nothing special on paper, but it achieves astonishing fuel economy numbers: 50 city, 47 highway, 49 miles per gallon combined. It even outclasses the sportier Civic Si in output.

 

The Honda Civic Hybrid is easily the best NPC car money can buy.

In practice, it’s one of the loveliest hybrid powertrains anywhere. It feels substantially more powerful and responsive than the Civic Si’s motor, but returns real-world economy numbers far exceeding its EPA numbers. In a 300-mile New York-to-Connecticut road trip, my dash showed 56.7 mpg—a serious overachiever. The handoff between electric power and gasoline power is always imperceptible. And it’s smooth, with minimal noise and almost zero vibration making it to the cabin.

Most of all, the Civic Hybrid has charm. It doesn’t just do its job, it does its job exceptionally well. And it does so without gimmicks. The Civic Hybrid feels like a lost future that never arrived. What if we’d ditched our ambitions to build small cars with colossal screens and annoyingly intrusive driver’s assistance tech, and instead built something as simple and lovely and dignified as the Honda Civic Hybrid?

It’s simply a Very Good Car.

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Runner-Up: Toyota Camry

Photo by: Ralph Hermens | Motor1

There are two constants in life: Everyone will die, and the Toyota Camry will forever be a perennial best seller. Since the first generation arrived on US shores in the early 1980s, Toyota has sold millions of Camry sedans in the 40 years since. After driving the 2024 model, it’s easy to understand why this car will forever be a smash hit.

The latest Toyota Camry builds upon the previous generation with a now-standard hybrid powertrain, a suspension update, and a sleek redesign. With that, this Camry looks better, drives better, and sips fuel like nobody’s business, returning up to 51 miles per gallon combined. There isn’t another car in the class that’s more efficient.

 

After driving the 2024 model, it’s easy to understand why this car will forever be a smash hit.

The turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid makes 242 horsepower, which means the Camry is no slouch, either. It has strong acceleration and solid top-end speed, while the balanced chassis and updated suspension make it more fun to fling around than you might think. We can only imagine what TRD will cook up for this new Camry.

And in an era where most cars are simply too expensive, the 2024 Camry costs just $29,495 out of the box. It’s still one of the most affordable cars in the class. There are dozens of reasons for it to be considered one of the year’s best cars.

— Jeff Perez, Managing Editor

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Runner-Up: Lucid Air Pure

Photo by: Ralph Hermens | Motor1

The Lucid Air is no stranger to superlatives. Previous models have stacked the startup EV automaker’s trophy case deep: The 1,234-horsepower Sapphire trim is one of the fastest production EVs ever built; The Lucid Air Grand Touring has the longest range (512 miles) of any EV on sale, a crown it has retained since the Air debuted.

The newest addition to the Air lineup, the base-model Air Pure, is also excellent—even if it’s a little less headline-grabbing. All Lucid Airs possess the best coefficient of drag of any car ever sold to the public in America, at an astounding 0.197 Cd. Combine this with the Pure’s ruthlessly efficient 430-horsepower rear motor and a curb weight of 4,506 pounds, and this base model is the most efficient EV on the market. Its 88.0-kilowatt-hour battery delivers a staggering 419 miles of range, a distance most competitors take double the lithium—and the weight—to deliver.

 

The Lucid Air Pure is one of few cars that truly feels best in its cheapest, purest form.

If this were all the Air Pure could offer, it would still be enough to make this list… but it’s also a genuinely pleasant car. The cabin is a rare example of functional minimalism, with responsive software and well-engineered touchpoints delivering on the promise of luxury. It’s one of the best-handling EVs on the market, with responsive turn-in and communicative steering aided by its reasonable curb weight (for an EV).

At $71,400, the Pure undercuts its luxury competition by tens of thousands of dollars, delivers dozens upon dozens more miles of range, and demands absolutely no sacrifices from its buyers for doing so. The Lucid Air Pure is one of few cars that truly feels best in its cheapest, purest form.

— Victoria Scott, Staff Writer

When the latest Lexus GX hit the market, it arrived with huge expectations. Being a Land Cruiser derivative, Lexus’s LC needed to excel in errand-running and off-road adventure, comfort and capability. It needed to be just as good at slumming to Safeway as traversing the Matterhorn. Thankfully, it’s lived up to every one of those expectations and then some.

The Lexus GX550 isn’t just the greatest SUV of 2024. It might be the greatest SUV ever.

Why The Lexus GX?

Photo by: Lexus

This off-road-focused people-mover could win this contest on looks alone. Lexus has long-plagued its SUVs with hideous spindle grilles, but not so with the new GX. The spindle design ethos is still here, but it’s been modernized and buttoned up into a handsome, stately fascia that looks good without being too shouty. The squared-off, purposeful body is just the cherry on top.

That ethos carries similarly into the cabin. Instead of chucking all of the controls into a touchscreen and calling it a day, Lexus put serious thought into the GX’s interior, which is refreshingly packed with real, tactile buttons. Every control is easy to find and use. At the same time, the touchscreen is responsive and effortless to navigate. I wouldn’t change a thing inside this SUV.

 

This off-road-focused people-mover could win this contest on looks alone.

The 3.4-liter twin-turbo V-6 is smooth and unobtrusive, delivering 349 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque—plenty to get this 5,675-pound beast up and moving to highway speeds with ease.

Best of all, the GX is reasonably priced. Starting at $65,285 including destination, it undercuts competitors while outperforming cars double the price. Depending on your preferences, you can choose a luxury-oriented trim with things like massaging seats and 22-inch wheels, or go the off-road route and pick a trim with specialized rock-crawling tech and all-terrain tires. Either way, you’re getting an excellent all-rounder that can do just about anything, and go just about anywhere.

Runner-Up: Kia EV9

Photo by: Ralph Hermens | Motor1

The Kia EV9 is one of the first electric three-row SUVs on the market, but it’s already a solid contender. The EV9 bests nearly every competitor in range, price, charging speed, and arguably, looks. All those elements make the EV a great option in the segment.

The rear-wheel-drive “Light” trim Kia EV9 starts at $56,395 with 230 miles of range, but the long-range version gets 304 miles for $61,395. That makes it a considerably better value than the retro-styled Volkswagen ID.Buzz, which starts at $61,545 yet can go only 234 miles on a charge. The EV9 also charges up to 235 kilowatts, which puts it at the top of its segment.

 

The EV9 bests nearly every competitor in range, price, charging speed, and arguably, looks.

Driving the EV9 is pleasant, too. The interior could use a little refinement in terms of its fit and finish and the ride could use a little work over high-speed imperfections, but it has tons of optional comfort features like heated and cooled seats, second-row captains’ chairs, and even a massage function for the driver.

All In all, the EV9 is a practical, spacious SUV for families looking to go electric.

— Peter Holderith, Staff Writer

Runner-Up: Mazda CX-70

Photo by: Ralph Hermens | Motor1

Is the Mazda CX-70 just a CX-90 with one fewer row? Yes, technically. Is it weird that the CX-70 costs more than the CX-90? Sure. Does any of that matter when taking Mazda’s latest SUV at face value? Not really, because the new CX-70 is an absolutely fantastic vehicle.

As Mazda moves upmarket, this SUV feels like the first big step in that direction. The CX-70 can genuinely go toe-to-toe with luxury automakers like Audi and BMW. It’s handsome as hell, lavish in the top-of-the-line Premium Plus trim, and it packs a punchy inline-six engine, which is rare for anything outside Bavaria. Or you can even get it as a plug-in hybrid.

 

The CX-70 can genuinely go toe-to-toe with luxury brands like Audi and BMW.

It’s an excellent engine, too. With 340 horsepower at its most powerful and paired to a snappy eight-speed automatic transmission, the CX-70 is genuinely quick. And as with any Mazda, the CX-70 emphasizes driver engagement with a balanced chassis and responsive suspension. It’s one of the few SUVs in this segment south of a genuine luxury car that’s fun to drive.

At $41,900 to start, the CX-70 isn’t even all that pricey (unless, of course, you consider that the CX-90 costs $39,300). A stylish design, a premium interior, and a silky inline-six engine make the CX-70 well deserving of a spot on our podium.

— Jeff Perez, Managing Editor

We live in a supertruck Utopia. Nearly every automaker is in on the trend, building everything from mid-size gravel missiles to full-size twin-turbo dune bashers. If you want to look rad, haul stuff, and go like hell, 2024 was the year for you.

The pick of the litter from this year’s many options came from Chevy. “But wait!,” you’ll shout, “The Colorado ZR2 came out years ago!”

You’re right, except this is the ZR2 Bison.

Why The Colorado ZR2 Bison?

Photo by: Chevrolet

The ZR2 Bison is the newest—and heretofore raddest—version of Chevy’s mid-size do-it-all. The Bison trim amps up the rock-crawling prowess of the ZR2 pickup, which is already the smoothest-riding, sickest-looking, best-handling pickup on earth.

That means 35-inch tires stock, a bevy of hearty armor cladding lining its belly, and even a camera underneath for avoiding off-road obstacles that’d otherwise take a swing at your oil pan. Plus there are locking diffs front and rear, and trick hydraulic bump stops to mitigate serious suspension hits.

These many mods make the Bison perhaps too extreme, just by a smidge, by increasing the height of the bed and limiting the view out of the rearview mirror, courtesy of a full spare wheel and tire affixed just behind the cab. Still, we’ll leap at increased capability for so few tradeoffs in civility. Everything else that made the ZR2 rewarding remains mostly untouched by the Bison glow-up.

 

The Bison trim amps up the rock-crawling prowess of the ZR2 pickup, which is already the smoothest-riding, sickest-looking, best-handling pickup on earth.

There’s the Colorado’s 310-horsepower, “High Output” 2.7-liter turbo four-cylinder, paired to a best-in-class eight-speed automatic; Plus the engine makes 430 pound-feet for all the crawling (and towing) power you’ll likely ever need.

And those delicious Multimatic spool-valve dampers deserve another mention. Carried over from the ZR2, these dampers offer the Bison a ride quality so good it’s beyond hyperbole. Put simply, the ZR2 is the best-handling truck ever built, and the Bison inherits that quality.

At just over $60,000, the Bison is not a cheap truck. But it’s the one that had our staff buzzing all year. If you’re in the market for the baddest truck of 2024, Bison has you covered.

Runner-Up: Toyota Tacoma Hybrid

Photo by: Ralph Hermens | Motor1

If you spent any time with the previous-generation Tacoma, the new hybrid feels like a revelation. Once you experience the new Tacoma’s torque and response, there’s no going back.

Toyota combined its turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder with an electric motor powered off a small battery mounted under the rear seats. The result is 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, but numbers don’t tell the full story here. Toyota calibrated the system to perfection, so there’s ample torque available whenever you want it—this truck feels shockingly quick.

 

Once you experience the new Tacoma’s torque and response, there’s no going back.

This powertrain is available across a variety of Tacoma variants with broad appeal. There’s the nicely balanced and reasonably affordable TRD Sport and Off-Road trims, the luxurious Limited, the overlanding-ready Trailhunter, and the dune-bashing TRD Sport. Whatever you need, there’s a Tacoma hybrid for you.

And at the base of it all is the beloved Tacoma. This new fourth-generation model feels surprisingly light on its feet on the road, and the off-road models are as capable as basically anything. Toyota’s latest safety and infotainment tech is among the best in the auto industry right now, and of course, you get the sense that being a Tacoma, it’ll outlive all of us.

— Chris Perkins, Senior Editor

Runner-Up: Ford F-150

Photo by: Ralph Hermens | Motor1

The Ford F-150 is now in its 42nd year with the title of America’s best-selling vehicle, so seeing it near the top of this list is probably unsurprising. The 2024 model year saw minor tweaks to give this already-great truck modernized styling, more standard features, and a more-powerful twin-turbo V-6 base motor.

The refresh also added some new high-tech goodies, such as Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving assistance, the debut of the split-access (and ingenious) Pro Access Tailgate, and the hybrid models’ Pro Power Onboard that allows an F-150 to serve as a giant power-tool battery for days on end. The updated Tremor package is sure to please the ever-growing crowd of overlanders, as well.

 

The Ford F-150 is now in its 42nd year with the title of America’s best-selling vehicle, so seeing it near the top of this list is probably unsurprising.

These were all great additions to the F-150, but the real reason it’s on this list is the same reason it’s outsold every vehicle in America for four decades: It’s the best truck to get some real work done with. It can out-tow and out-haul every other full-size half-ton on the market. Its cabin focuses on user-friendliness, with easy-to-use buttons and knobs complimented with a readable, quick infotainment interface. Despite its rugged nature, it rides and handles comfortably. The variety of drivetrain options—from highly efficient hybrids all the way up to the Raptor R’s supercharged V-8—fits almost every imaginable use case and job site.

There are competing full-size trucks with more luxurious touches or big-screen high-tech features, but for the workers of the world who need a truck to be a truck, the F-150 is impossible to beat. Its new facelift for 2024 took an excellent truck and made it just a bit better, with a bit more to offer to everyone. The F-150 deserves to retain its title as America’s favorite.

— Victoria Scott, Staff Writer

It was an excellent year for new cars, and we endeavored to drive as many of them as possible. Motor1 published just shy of 200 reviews and first drives in 2024, with the editorial staff taking its talents around the globe in an effort to get behind the wheel of as many vehicles as possible.

And boy did we.

For our inaugural Best of the Best Awards, we rifled through hundreds of potential candidates before deciding on just one winner for each category. The Honda Civic Hybrid took home the award for Best Car, the Lexus GX was dubbed Best SUV, and the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison earned top honors in the Best Truck category.

Photo by: Honda

But it wasn’t all about the winners. For each first-place car, truck, and SUV, there were a handful of runner-ups that also made the final cut. Although these cars didn’t earn top accolades for one reason or another, they still warmed our hearts enough to earn podium finishes for their all-around excellence.

The ever-beloved Toyota Camry and the innovative Lucid Air Pure fell just short of the Civic Hybrid for Best Car. The exciting new Kia EV9 and the luxurious Mazda CX-70 earned second and third in the SUV category. And the Tacoma Hybrid and updated Ford F-150 finished just behind Chevy for Best Truck.

Photo by: Kia

Beyond that, there were dozens of other vehicles under consideration that ultimately didn’t make the cut.

In the ever-narrowing field of traditional passenger cars, the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class was a strong candidate with its fresh design and updated engines. We also considered the new Porsche Panamera, a pricey but fantastic luxury saloon (hatchback? wagon?).

For SUV, the new Mercedes-Benz G-Class wowed us with its all-around capability and luxury. The new Nissan Kicks and updated Hyundai Tucson, meanwhile, were two excellent candidates on the other end of the SUV spectrum.

New trucks weren’t as populous this year, but the updated 2025 Ford Maverick made a strong case for itself with a sharp redesign and some exciting new trims. The Ford Ranger Raptor also won over some hearts in our off-road truck comparison.

Photo by: Mercedes-Benz

Ultimately though, each vehicle that earned top accolades was well deserving. The Civic Hybrid is a standout in the small car class, the Lexus GX is a hugely capable and luxurious SUV, and the Colorado ZR2 Bison is bonkers in the best ways.

We’ll be back in 2025 for even more from Best of the Best. In the meantime, thanks for tuning in.

Ford killed the Escort in the early 2000s to make room for the Focus. The legendary nameplate made a surprising comeback last decade for a sedan built and sold in China. It was a short-lived return since the nameplate was retired last year. Now, it’s back again for a far more exciting car. However, this time around, Ford is only partially involved. You’ve heard of restomods, but this ain’t it. Instead, the Escort RS is a “continumod.”

With the Blue Oval’s blessing, British company Boreham Motorworks is bringing back the high-performance Escort with its continumod. The marketing jargon refers to a “blueprint-accurate, period-sympathetic vehicle built new.” In other words, cars are built from the ground up instead of refreshing existing vehicles like the typical restomod project.

Photo by: Boreham Motorworks

Since the niche company is a brand license partner of Ford, the Escort RS is technically a continuation model, complete with chassis numbers supplied by Ford. It continues a story that started over half a century ago with the 1970 Escort RS1600.

The new Escort RS honors the original by maintaining the clean lines of its ancestor while modernizing the hardware within the retro body. Gone is the standard engine since it made way for a larger 2.1-liter unit with a healthy 296 horsepower on tap. It revs to a screaming 10,000 rpm and sends power to the road via a five-speed, dogleg manual gearbox.

Alternatively, the base model uses a 1.8-liter unit rated at 182 hp, routed to the wheels through a four-speed manual, a Ford Bullet syncromesh with straight-cut gears. While that might not seem like a lot of power by today’s standards, Boreham Motorworks targets a curb weight of just 1,763 pounds (800 kilograms). For reference, even the lightest ND Miata, the Japan special 990S, was 420 lbs (191 kg) heavier than this.

Both engines are fuel-injected, with the more potent mill also featuring electronic throttle control. Like in the old days, there aren’t any nannies, as anti-lock brakes, power steering, traction control, and brake servo are all missing. You do get disc brakes at all four corners. The four-spoke 15-inch wheels nicely fill the bulging arches made from steel, like the rest of the body. Forged magnesium wheels are optional.

The interior features a pair of bucket seats and a full roll cage for extra stiffness. Boreham Motorworks spruces up the cabin with Alcantara and leather. It also offers an optional four-point harness and a dedicated carbon-made section in the back for storing racing helmets. The car has AC, a small infotainment system, anodized dials, and new switchgear.

Prepare to pony up some serious money since the car starts at £295,000, or about $375,000 at current exchange rates. Arriving 50 years after Ford built the final Mk1 Escort RS special edition, the 1974 RS2000, Boreham Motorworks’ continumod is capped at 150 units and comes with a two-year, 20,000-mile warranty. The public debut is next summer, with production starting in Q3 2025.

The car world is full of weird, wacky one-off creations. But this one might take the cake. Called the Rammus, it combines the bodies of a 2015 Ford Mustang with a Ram pickup truck to create a gigantic convertible made to look like a sports coupe from the 1920s. And we love it. 

Discovered and shared on Instagram by pro car photographer Larry Chen, this ridiculous machine was commissioned by Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates. Riding on the Ram’s chassis, the Rammus retains the upper portions of the Mustang’s body but sits about twice as high off the ground. It uses comically large fender flares to house giant whitewall tires, and even features two fender-mounted spares.

 

Under the elongated hood you’ll find a 6.4-liter naturally aspirated Hemi V-8 and an automatic transmission. The Rammus retains the Ram’s four-wheel drive system and, perhaps unsurprisingly, drives like a truck, according to Chen. The interior is all Mustang inside, save for the steering wheel and column-mounted gear selector, which seem to have come directly out of the Ram donor truck. 

While it’s safe to say this is an unusual project, it’s also incredibly well done. The stretched hood and front fenders lend well to the vehicle’s overall proportions, even if that means a cavernous engine bay that only looks about 40-percent full. Plus, there are even little metal locating poles on either end of the front bumper to help the driver with placing the nose. Someone thought this project through.

Is the Rammus as cool as the record-holding Mustang GTD? No. But it’s certainly more eye-catching. And for some people, that’s all that matters.

Reliability should be at the top of your priority list when buying a car. Whether new or used, it’s important to ensure your car will last for a long time, avoiding headaches and potential mechanic bills. The team over at Consumer Reports compiled a list of the 22 most reliable car brands of 2024, giving buyers a solid place to start.

Consumer Reports calculated its list using data from its own reliability surveys, where it asks subscribers to report back on cars they’ve purchased. The members fill out a questionnaire, which includes a section where they can report problems. 

The top 10 brands are mostly those you’d expect, with Toyota, Mazda, and Honda holding high spots. But there are a few surprises, too, with German brands like BMW and Audi among the top 10 most reliable brands. Sadly there are no American brands represented in Consumer Reports‘ top 10 most reliable brands.

1. Subaru

Photo by: Subaru

CR Reliability Score: 68/100

While we’re not surprised to see a Japanese manufacturer at the top of this list, we are surprised to see Subaru. Usually, Toyota or its sister brand, Lexus, sit atop reliability rankings. But for 2024, it’s the brand famous for its Symmetrical all-wheel drive and boxer-four engines. Consumer Reports says two of Subaru’s models—the Forester and the Impreza—scored above average, while the rest of its lineup scored above average to average. The only car in Subaru’s lineup to score below average was the all-electric Solterra which, coincidentally, is a rebadged Toyota.

2. Lexus

CR Reliability Score: 65/100

Now that’s more like it. Lexus, Toyota’s luxury-minded sub-brand, trails slightly behind Subaru for second place in Consumer Reports’ list of most reliable brands for 2024. Lexus vehicles have long been known for their incredibly reliable powertrains. I should know: A friend and I just drove a 288,000-mile Lexus GX from New York to Alaska and back, and the only thing we had to change was the oil. Consumer Reports says four of the company’s seven models scored above average, while the other three scored average.

3. Toyota

Photo by: Toyota

CR Reliability Score: 62/100

Toyota, best known for its unmatched reliability, comes in third place for 2024, just behind Lexus. We’d expect to see this brand in first place, but below-average reliability ratings for vehicles such as the Tundra and the all-electric bZ4X brought down the company’s overall score. Toyota issued a recall earlier this year for faulty engines in around 100,000 trucks and SUVs, which surely contributed to this ranking. Still, Consumer Reports says Toyota had 11 models that scored either well above or above average. That’s not bad.

4. Honda

CR Reliability Score: 59/100

Surprising no one, Honda arrives at fourth place for most reliable car brands in 2024, according to Consumer Reports. Like Toyota, Honda is known for its reliable cars, which can run for hundreds of thousands of miles with just regular maintenance. The Japanese carmaker had three models that scored above average in survey results, while seven received average scores. 

5. Acura

Photo by: Acura

CR Reliability Score: 55/100

Honda’s luxury sub-brand Acura follows closely behind in Consumer Reports‘ reliability list for 2024, scoring one above-average model. The company sells just five models, two sedans and three SUVs. Acura’s first EV, the ZDX, launched last year. It uses battery technology from American brand General Motors, though Consumer Reports didn’t reveal whether issues from that vehicle affected the brand’s overall score.

6. Mazda

CR Reliability Score: 55/100

Mazda, another Japanese automaker, slots into sixth place below Acura. While not as popular as the Toyota or Honda juggernauts, Mazda has developed a reputation for solid construction and long-lasting powertrains. The company’s dedication to driving enjoyment is just the cherry on top. The reason Mazda didn’t score higher seems to be its big CX-90 SUV, which scored well below average in hybrid form. Both gas and hybrid versions also had transmission, steering, suspension, and electronics problems, according to Consumer Reports subscribers.

7. Audi

Photo by: Audi

CR Reliability Score: 54/100

This is a bit of a surprise. German brands usually aren’t known for their reliability, yet Audi has managed to weasel its way onto this list, resting in a healthy seventh place overall. The German luxury carmaker is the first of just two European brands in the top 10. It’s worth noting this list is calculated using issues reported on new cars, meaning it’s still possible for reliability to drop off as time goes on, as is often the case with expensive European vehicles. 

8. BMW

CR Reliability Score: 53/100

BMW is the second (and last) European carmaker on this Consumer Reports list, coming in as the eighth most reliable brand. Like Audi, we’re surprised to see it here, as German cars aren’t known for being the most reliable things in the world. But we’re not mad; BMW makes some of the best cars on sale today, not only in its performance-oriented M cars, but its more pedestrian sedans and SUVs too. Like many other hybrids mentioned in its report, Consumer Reports says the X5 hybrid scored below its gas-only counterpart when it came to reliability.

9. Kia

CR Reliability Score: 51/100

Kia is the first Korean brand to appear in the top 10 list of most reliable car brands, slotting in just below BMW to ninth place. Once the butt of jokes in the car world, Kia has become a powerhouse in the affordable car sector, developing good cars that don’t cost an arm and a leg to own. The company’s design is one of the best in the business, and its GT models are genuinely fun to drive. 

10. Hyundai

CR Reliability Score: 50/100

Rounding out Consumer Reports‘ list of the top 10 most reliable carmakers is Kia’s sister brand Hyundai. Like Kia, Hyundai wasn’t always a big force in the cheap car space. But this past decade has seen the Korean automaker explode in popularity. That’s thanks not only to a robust 10 year, 100,000-mile warranty but also excellent design and a solid driving experience. Who would’ve thought 10 years ago one of the most exciting performance cars on the market would be an electric Hyundai? Not us.

1. Subaru
   2. Lexus
   3. Toyota
   4. Honda
   5. Acura
   6. Mazda
   7. Audi
   8. BMW
   9. Kia
   10. Hyundai
   11. Buick
   12. Nissan
   13. Ford
   14. Genesis
   15. Volvo
   16. Chevrolet
   17. Tesla
   18. Volkswagen
   19. Jeep
   20. GMC
   21. Cadillac
   22. Rivian