Toyota: Still very reliable. Even more boring than they used to be. Right now, very overpriced.
Honda: Make very good cars, comfortable, driver’s vehicles, but reliability is just mediocre now, also overpriced.
Chevrolet: Chevys are cheap, mediocre, and will run badly longer than most cars run. Good EVs though.
GMC: Chevrolet but more expensive for unclear reasons.
Buick: they still sell those?
Ford: Decent EVs, rock solid hybrids that they don’t make enough of, often offer a better driving experience. Mostly sell big trucks and SUVs.
Chrysler: The minivan is a good value, the Chrysler 300 isn’t.
Jeep: if god meant for man to off-road, he would have given them Subarus.
Dodge: you’re a cop or just enlisted. Honestly, you could do worse.
RAM: somehow, Stellantis is producing something with decent reliability. The favored car of DUIs.
Subarus: safe, solid, unexciting. The car of the engineer or the lesbian, or the lesbian engineer. Not super reliable but not horribly unreliable either. Bad gas mileage.
Mazda: Reddit favorite. Reliable as Toyota, driver’s cars, good interiors and available at good prices, but they’re a bit cramped and gas mileage is mediocre at best.
Hyundai: Complete crapshoot. Hybrids are solid enough, the Korean built cars seem to be okay though have a tendency to fall apart, the American built cars are a complete shit show. Has actually gotten worse in the past decade. Not better. Nice EVs though.
Kia: see Hyundai but for poor people. Kia has the worst dealers too, though Hyundai isn’t great either.
Mitsubishi: Never got past 1980. Simple, cheap cars that don’t break and will be just as sad ten years later as the day they were sold. Will finance anyone. Literally anyone. Usually sold by used car dealers.
Nissan: Seem to have gotten better after Ghosn, many of their vehicles are a bit dated. Still recovering from the CVT disaster, post 2020 Nissans seem to not shred themselves at 60K miles anymore. Good value if you care about tech/comfort features and honestly decent reliability aside from the old CVTs. Associated with trashy folk due to poor financing practices and prevalence on used market.
Volkswagen: You want to be different. You aren’t sure how you ended up in a VW dealership, but you like your car. It’s not as bad as it once was, but it’s persnickety about maintenance. It’s fun to drive and gets great gas mileage though.
Alfa Romeo: Hur dur Italian car go. Actually a great value, aside from the Quadrifolgio which breaks constantly, and the single best car to drive today.
Maserati: no, just no.
BMW: Maintenance is still expensive but huge reliability improvements. Great driver’s cars, but you pay for the badge.
Mini: see BMW, though I’m less convinced.
Audi: a dressed up Volkswagen, it doesn’t brag about luxury. For “generic executive #211” who doesn’t want something too flashy but wants a good German car.
Genesis: fantastic value, actually decent reliability on the V6s but you have to get it from a Hyundai dealership and you will hate every minute of it.
Cadillac: Actually not bad these days. Now if they could just produce the Lyriq in any quantity…
Lincoln: The heights of Generic Luxury.
Mercedes-Benz: the height of luxury.
Range Rover: The best SUV money can buy for the first three years, then a worthless POS that makes a jeep look like a 1999 Camry.
Lexus: You want something “nice”. It’s not real luxury, but it’s good enough, and your neighbors know you’re doing alright. A safe choice, still reliable.
Acura: Hondas but nicer, at surprisingly good price points.
Infiniti: might actually be a good deal but who buys these?
Tesla: wildly unpredictable, questionable design taste.
– AmericanNewt8