These Are The Least Reliable Japanese Cars, According To Consumer Reports

Unreliable Japanese cars? That may seem like an oxymoron when you first look at the Consumer Reports ratings. After all, the top six names in CR's recent brand reliability study were all Japanese — Subaru, Lexus, Toyota, Honda, Acura, and Mazda, in that order. In addition, the top five most reliable individual cars were also Japanese – Toyota RAV4, Toyota Corolla,Toyota RAV4 PHEV, Mazda MX-5, and Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. CR, obviously, considered vehicles from the same nameplate, like the RAV4, but with different powertrains, as completely separate models.

But the truth of the matter is that just about every automaker throws out a clunker every now and then, and that includes manufacturers from Japan. For instance, Toyota had to recall over 591,000 vehicles recently for problems with their digital displays. Also this year, nearly 450,000 Nissans and Infinitis were recalled because their variable compression engines can fail. No, neither brand has caught up with Ford's record-setting year of recalls, but the point is you can't assume a car will be reliable merely because it's from a Japanese company. And let's be clear, reliability remains an important part of the decision-making process for customers when they're on the prowl for a new ride.

This is where Jalopnik can help. We carefully evaluated the Consumer Reports reliability data for this year to discover which Japanese cars you might want to avoid if staying on the road — and out of the shop — is your primary goal.

Now, to be clear, we're going in reverse order here, meaning that the Honda Prologue and Infiniti QX80, with the same scores, actually had the fourth-worst CR results for predicted reliability. The Prologue stands out as Honda's first mass-market EV. It rides on the same platform as the Chevrolet Blazer EV, as well as the 2024 Acura ZDX, which only lasted for a single year and also comes with abysmal reliability ratings from CR. While it's true the ZDX and Prologue are outselling their GM cousins, it's not because of their outstanding reliability. In fact, the Prologue is tied for ninth place (out of 12 vehicles) in its competitive set for reliability, per CR. It did finish well above the Blazer, though.

Moving from the efficient two-row Prologue to a big body-on-frame three-row SUV, we find the Infiniti QX80 has the same kind of reliability as the Land Rover Range Rover or Mercedes-Benz GLS — terrible. CR reported that 11 other three-row luxury SUVs had higher predicted reliability scores than the QX80. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that the Infiniti QX80 got a twin-turbo V6 and a big tech boost for 2025 as part of a complete redesign.

On the next step down the reliability ladder for Japanese cars are the Mazda CX-90 and the virtually identical Mazda CX-70. As we pointed out, the CX-70 is literally just a CX-90 with only two rows of seats and a different name. For its part, CR said, "We rented a CX-70 from Mazda, and found that it was too similar to our previously-tested CX-90 to justify purchasing one." That explains why the two SUVs had the same CR results for predicted reliability.

That said, the seat count does mean the two Mazdas were compared to different potential rivals. In the three-row category, facing off against the likes of the segment-leading Kia Sorento Hybrid, the CX-90 trailed 19 other SUVs in predicted reliability, including the old-school Dodge Durango. The CX-70 finished higher against fewer competitors, ending up in 11th place. Frankly, it's kind of an odd situation, because CR ranked Mazda as the sixth most reliable brand overall, and others, like Car and Driver, have said that the CX-90 "continues to prove itself a reliable rig" during its own long-term road test.

This one may be another surprise. After all, when we first tested the current-generation Toyota Tacoma, we said the hybrid blows away every truck in its segment. Moreover, the Tacoma was number one in its segment in the 2025 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, and it's one of the best-selling midsize pickups in the country. In other words, a lot of people seem to find a lot to like about the Tacoma.

Yet, for Consumer Reports, the 2025 Tacoma trailed the Ford Ranger, Honda Ridgeline, and Jeep Gladiator by far for predicted reliability. Plus, it's been subject to three recalls already, including for broken driveshafts and brake-fluid leaks. It was a similar story for the Tacoma in 2024, too. Perhaps it's no coincidence that 2024 also was the year Toyota launched a brand-new generation of the Tacoma — the previous-gen model was often among the class leaders for predicted reliability. The good news, relatively speaking, is that the midsize truck segment as a whole isn't that reliable today. The same predicted reliability score that buried the Mazda SUVs in their segments left the 2025 Tacoma in fourth place in its class of seven.

Much of what we said about Toyota's small truck could also apply to the 2025 Nissan Frontier, starting with our initial positive reception to the current-gen models. Indeed, we thought the Frontier could finally be a worthy competitor for the Tacoma back when the newest generation was released, while Motor Trend praised the Nissan during a year-long evaluation and had "no complaints about service costs."

Yes, CR seems to have agreed with us about the relative reliability of the Frontier and Tacoma, but that's the problem. Remember, the Tacoma's predicted reliability dropped significantly when it was redesigned for 2024, and it turns out that the Frontier's did the same following its own 2022 makeover. So, the two trucks may have similar reliability results now — with the Frontier slightly behind the Tacoma, in fifth place out of seven in its class — but some previous generations were considered to be much more reliable.

The Frontier also shows a worrying trend in this regard. Consumer Reports has historical data for the truck that indicates worsening overall reliability and build quality in 2022 and 2023, the first two years the current generation was on the market — although there is no data for some model years.

There's an old saying that claims the more parts you have in a car, the more parts you have that can break down. Perhaps that explains the predicted reliability of the three-row Mazda CX-90 Plug-in Hybrid and its two-row counterpart, the CX-70 Plug-in Hybrid. They're virtually the same as the non-hybrid CX-90 and CX-70 — themselves nearly identical save for their seating — yet their ability to provide a small chunk of electric driving comes at a dramatic cost.

Both the CX-70 and CX-90 are EPA-certified as providing up to 25 miles of EV range as part of their overall ranges of 490 miles, and both are tied for having the worst predicted reliability of any Japanese cars in the 2025 CR rankings.

This is actually right in line with CR's findings from 2024 that, generally speaking, plug-in hybrids, as a class, have the most powertrain problems in the industry. They had 70% more powertrain issues in 2024 than gas-only or traditional hybrid cars, and that's on top of plug-in hybrids being almost as dirty as gas cars.