Consumer Reports, a U.S. non-profit organization, is well known for providing comprehensive and unbiased product reviews. Its latest investigation focuses on the reliability of three-year-old cars, as determined by annual surveys conducted among its extensive membership.
While it's important to note that the vehicles featured in the study are specific to the US market and may differ from their South African counterparts in terms of powertrain and general specifications, it is still interesting to see which brands are performing the best.
And it appears that Toyota and its premium subsidiary Lexus are ruling the roost, with 16 of their vehicles featuring among the 36 vehicles that Consumer Reports has recommended for their reliability after three years.
Among the SUVs relevant to South Africans, the BMW X3, Honda HR-V and CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Lexus NX, UX, and RX, Subaru Forester, Toyota Rav4, and Volvo XC40 all received recognition, listed in alphabetical order.
Many of the winning vehicles are not sold in South Africa, such as the Acura RDX, GMC Acadia, Honda Pilot, and Toyota 4Runner, which is a US equivalent to the Fortuner.
On the pick-up (known as bakkie) front, the Ford Ranger is featured alongside the Honda Ridgeline and Toyota's Hilux-sized Tacoma and full-sized Tundra. It's important to note that these bakkies are powered by petrol rather than diesel engines in the US.
Among the passenger cars, the Honda Civic, Mazda3, and Toyota Corolla dominated the compact class, while the BMW 5 Series and Lexus ES emerged victorious among the larger models. Other non-South African models such as the Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry, and Acura TLX also performed well.
On the sports car scene, only the Mazda MX-5 was deemed worthy of mention.
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