Forester tops list of most reliable cars for 2014; Minis bottom out

A new survey by Consumer Reports found the 2014 Subaru Forester was the most reliable new car you can buy.

The results of Consumer Reports annual car reliability survey are in and Japanese carmakers have some stiff competition this year.

Researchers at Consumer Reports asked subscribers about the problems they’ve experienced with their new vehicles in the past 12 months. They received feedback on more than one million cars and put all of the information together to predict how well 2014 model vehicles will hold up.

The most reliable new car you can buy is the 2014 Subaru Forester SUV, according to the survey. However, at the time the research was done, the model had only been for sale for a few weeks.

Japanese cars still fare better overall. Lexus, Toyota and Acura were named the top three most reliable carmakers in the industry. But this year European and American manufacturers have moved up in the rankings, giving the Japanese automakers some tough competition.

Audi ranked fourth overall, making it the most reliable European car brand. Volvo, also European, jumped to number seven.

As for American carmakers, GMC was named the top American brand at number nine. But the news for Ford and Lincoln was not so good.

Ford and Lincoln have had trouble with the MyTouch ‘infotainment’ system for the last two years. The survey found that complaints went down after Ford updated the system, but the rate of problems is still high. Overall, Ford ended up near the bottom of the new-car reliability rankings. The least reliable car in the survey is Ford’s C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid.

At the very bottom, cars from Mini had the most problems in Consumer Reports’ survey.