The most reliable used car years, by model

If you have already picked the car you want, the next question is which year. The difference can be large. For the same model, one year can draw five or ten times as many owner complaints per car as another.

The table below lists the best years for each of the 89 models we track, along with how they compare with that model’s average. We count complaints filed by owners with U.S. safety regulators and divide by U.S. sales for that year, so a best-seller is not punished for its size. Years from 2023 on are left out because they have not had time to show their problems.

Best years, model by model

Three patterns worth knowing

The last years of a generation are often the best. The 2015 Pilot, 2017 Wrangler, 2018 Silverado, 2015 Odyssey and 2013 Acura MDX were all the final years before a redesign. By then the carmaker had years to fix early faults. Our study of first years after a redesign shows the opposite effect.

Toyota’s floor is low. A Camry, Corolla or Tacoma at its worst often has fewer complaints per car than other brands at their best. The lowest averages in our whole data set belong to Lexus and Toyota-built designs: the Lexus NX (55), Lexus ES (58), Lexus RX (61) and Toyota 4Runner (67), with the Nissan Frontier (66) the best non-Toyota. If you want the lowest risk and can live with a higher price or dated tech, these are hard to beat.

A brand with a high average can still have a great year. The Tucson and Sorento have some of the highest averages we track, mostly because of engine trouble in 2012-2017. Their 2020 and 2021 models are a different story, with complaint rates near the best in their class.

How to use this list

A good year is a starting point, not a guarantee. A best-year car that was neglected can still be a bad buy, and a worse year with a full service history and the key repair already done can be a fine one. Before buying any used car:

1. Run the VIN through the free federal recall lookup and confirm recalls are done.
2. Use our used car check list to get questions specific to that model and year.
3. Pay for an independent inspection, usually $100 to $200.

Questions

Why are some numbers per 100,000 and not percentages? Complaints are rare compared with sales. Even a bad year usually has well under 1 percent of owners filing a complaint, so per 100,000 makes the differences easier to read.

Why not include 2023 and 2024? Most complaints arrive over the first several years of a car’s life. Newer years look better than they are, so we mark them too new to judge.

Do complaints measure reliability? They measure problems serious enough for owners to report to safety regulators. They do not capture small issues like rattles, so they are best for spotting the big failures you most want to avoid.