5 Major Car Brands To Avoid, According To Consumer Reports – BGR

Buying a car requires a lot of research on your part, as there are many options on the market targeted at different kinds of buyers. Besides, even if you’ve settled on a specific type of car, like a sedan or compact SUV based on your needs, your research doesn’t end there; you also need to look out for other factors. For instance, if you want to join the electric bandwagon because EVs are cheaper to run and maintain, driving range on a full charge is such an important thing to look out for. And for gas-powered cars, fuel economy is a critical consideration, especially if you don’t want to overspend on fuel every month. 

But the brand of the car you buy from is just as vital a consideration because cars from different manufacturers are built differently. That means the quality of cars from one manufacturer won’t be the same as that of another. For the best ownership experience, consider models from brands that have been proven to make good quality cars that rank higher in safety, reliability, and owner satisfaction. The first step in making an informed buying decision is to know which automakers to stay away from, as they have been proven to make the worst vehicles. 

To help in your research, we’ve identified five brands that you should avoid according to data from Consumer Reports, an independent, non-profit, user-supported organization that reviews autos to help buyers separate the wheat from the chaff. We’ve selected these automakers from the organization’s list of brands with low rankings based on their intensive testing criteria. You can read more about the selection process at the end of the article.

A major characteristic that has set Jeep apart from other car brands for a long time is the automaker’s laser focus on adventure and off-roading. One of the brand’s most iconic cars is the Jeep Wrangler, which has long been a go-to choice for off-road enthusiasts. That’s why the Jeep Wrangler was one of the best-selling cars in the U.S. in 2025, and a strong performer in Stellantis’ vast portfolio of 14 brands. 

But Jeep does have other offerings in its portfolio, including all-electric models like the Jeep Recon, which the iconic Wrangler heavily inspires. Because of the Wrangler’s legacy and the company’s primary focus on SUVs, it might be tempting to get one of its models if you need an off-road car. However, according to experts at Consumer Reports, Jeep’s cars are not the best. One of the main problems that plagues the company’s offerings is low reliability. 

Even the popular Wrangler isn’t exempt from scrutiny, with the team noting that it has low reliability scores that place it near the bottom of the chart. And that’s before you factor in other drawbacks of the Wrangler, like wind noise and poor fuel economy. Jeep’s offerings are so bad that the team of experts at Consumer Reports doesn’t think any model in the company’s lineup is good enough to be recommended to buyers.

The British automaker Land Rover, owned by India’s Tata Motors, is yet another car brand that has specialized in SUVs. While the automaker’s entire lineup of vehicles is off-road capable, the company distinguishes itself by combining off-tarmac capability with luxury, and it’s even credited for pioneering the luxury SUV market when it landed its first Range Rover model on U.S. soil. 

But while the new Land Rover Defender, Range Rover, or Discovery might be appealing, don’t splurge your money on them if you care about reliability. In fact, one of the things Land Rover cars are known for, besides their off-roading chops, is frequent breakdowns and costly repairs. Pair the two factors together, and you’re looking at a manufacturer whose cars will cost you more to own. 

For someone working on a tight budget, a brand with such a reputation is not for you. Data from Consumer Reports shows Land Rover to be one of the worst automakers in terms of reliability and the worst luxury brand from which to buy a vehicle. If you don’t want a car that is unreliable and costly to maintain, then it’s better to stay away from Land Rover.

Owned by General Motors, the GMC brand specializes in making trucks and SUVs. In fact, it’s one of the top brands that makes SUVs and trucks. The company’s most popular model, the GMC Sierra 1500, for example, is a full-size pickup truck that can tow up to 13,300 pounds. However, if you need a heavy-duty truck that can tow large payloads, the company has powerful options like the Sierra 3500HD, which can pull up to 36,000 pounds. 

Most of the company’s cars are essentially rebadged models from its sister brand Chevrolet, but it tries to differentiate itself by targeting the upscale market with more luxury. Even though Chevrolet doesn’t make it on this list as it ranks a bit higher in Consumer Reports’ chart, GMC models rank lower, and as such, it’s a brand you should avoid when buying your next truck or SUV. 

The automaker’s models rank below average in reliability, and to make matters worse, the below-average reliability scores don’t just apply to used models — its newer models are just as bad, so buying brand-new won’t save you. This is why research is important when buying a vehicle. Don’t simply buy a car because you see many of them driving around. For example, despite its popularity, the Ford F-150 Lightning has been ranked as one of the least reliable cars you can buy by experts at Consumer Reports.

Dodge has built a legacy as the brand that makes muscle cars that look aggressive and come with impressive power and performance. This is why the company’s iconic Dodge Challenger has been a darling among car enthusiast circles. To this day, the company still makes follow-ups to some of its classic models, but has also widened its scope with some brand-new models. 

For instance, the brand will have several cars on offer this year, including a Charger Scat Pack with a Sixpack twin-turbo inline-six engine that can output up to 550 hp. But one thing that holds Dodge back and makes it an auto brand to stay away from is quality. The manufacturer has one of the lowest road-test scores and reliability ratings – its used vehicles rank lower in reliability as well. 

Even worse, cars from Dodge aren’t the safest, as Consumer Reports notes that the company “lags behind more modern vehicles in crash tests.” So while some of the company’s car models, like the Charger Scat Pack, are quick and offer driving thrills when you’re behind the wheel, they won’t give you the best protection in case of the unfortunate event of an accident.

Alfa Romeo cars are a rare sight in the U.S., as the brand doesn’t offer as many models in North America compared to the European market, where it has a thriving business. It might be tempting to snag one of the brand’s cars if you want a badge that’s rare on American roads, but before you make that mistake, data from Consumer Reports suggests that you shouldn’t. 

Alfa Romeo’s models rank near the bottom of the organization’s car quality rankings with an Overall Score similar to models from GMC and Dodge, and just a few points better than the unreliable and expensive to repair Land Rover cars. While it’s sad to see such an iconic brand struggle in the U.S., you should stay away from the company’s cars if you need a reliable vehicle that will serve you well. 

Until the company addresses the reliability of its vehicles, you shouldn’t buy from Alfa Romeo. Even though one of the brand’s cars, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio EV, is an electric SUV to watch out for in 2026, it doesn’t mean you should go ahead and buy it once it’s available.

The manufacturers we’ve covered are from Consumer Reports’ list of the best car brands. Since this list covered automakers that you should avoid, we picked the bottom five options on the list with the lowest scores. To rank automakers based on how good their models are, Consumer Reports tests multiple cars from each brand and gives them a final Overall Score out of 100 based on safety, reliability, owner satisfaction, and road-test performance. 

To find the Overall Score of each automaker, the team calculates the average score of tested models from each company, enabling them to rank car brands. The brands we’ve covered had the lowest average Overall Score of all the 31 car makers that the team ranked. Please keep in mind that the list doesn’t include all the car brands on the market — it only includes automakers that had at least two of their current models tested by the team at the time of publishing the scores. 

Some brands like Fiat, Lucid, and Jaguar aren’t included in the rankings at all. That means these five car makers had the lowest rankings among the brands that met the selection criteria of having at least two of their current models reviewed and featured on the site’s list as of this writing.