How Reliable Are 6th Gen Camaros? Here's What JD Power Says

Production of the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro ended after the 2024 model year, and at this stage, the nameplate's future is still up in the air. Yes, there was a GM trademark filing for the Camaro name in Cambodia in September, but that's still a long way from the return of Chevy's famed muscle car. And even if the name does return, it could get the Mustang Mach-E treatment and end up as some kind of all-electric SUV.

But there's good news for Camaro traditionalists. That final Camaro generation has some pretty impressive reliability results from J.D. Power, which could mean a better chance of it remaining on the road until we see if/when/how a seventh-generation Camaro might arrive. Just be aware that Power's well-known Vehicle Dependability Study only tells part of the story. The sixth-gen Camaro didn't become eligible for honors until 2019 because the study evaluates vehicles after three years on the road, but it went on to top its class in 2021 and finish second in 2022. 

The muscle-car segment seemed to fall off of the study entirely after that. However, the Power team did continue to analyze the Camaro's dependability for its remaining years on the road. And for that last generation, the results were great.

It's worth pointing out that the fifth-generation Camaro set a fairly high standard when it comes to J.D. Power's "Quality & Reliability" category. Looking at the car's final five years on sale, for instance, it had scores ranging from 82 to 86 annually on the 100-point scale. That was high enough to earn a "Great" rating from J.D. Power for all five years.

The sixth-gen model, however, was just about entirely new. The two final Camaro generations only shared their badging, including that emblem that looks like the French flag. That said, the newer car's platform may have been making its Camaro debut, but it had already proven itself by underpinning the Cadillac ATS and CTS sport sedans. The new model led to both a Motor Trend Car of the Year nod and a long-term review that saw the Car and Driver staff put 40,000 miles on its 2016 Camaro SS test vehicle — and it "didn't throw a single mechanical fault."

Per J.D. Power, the sixth-gen Camaro's Quality & Reliability score did slip slightly during its first two years of production, causing them to be considered "Average." But things were back to "Great" by 2018, and they remained that way up until its final year. Notably, the nine-year run saw Chevrolet's mighty muscle car sometimes even exceed the Toyota Camry family sedan in the J.D. Power rankings.

It's safe to say that J.D. Power thinks the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro is a great choice for reliability. At least, that seems to be what consumers say, since the ratings are "based on hundreds of thousands of independent and unbiased opinions of verified car owners." But when you're talking about America's traditional muscle cars — the ones with two doors — enthusiasts also want to know how their favorite stacks up against the competition.

In this case, the answer is "very well." The rivaling Dodge Challenger racked up plenty of comparable ratings during the sixth-gen Camaro's time. It had Great ratings for Quality & Reliability three times, Average ratings twice, and went unrated from 2020 to 2022. J.D. Power stopped testing the gas-engined Challenger after 2023, when it tied with the Camaro for best muscle-car reliability by beating out the Ford Mustang by two points.

This is a good indication of how closely matched the trio was in the Power rankings. In that time frame, the Mustang saw Great Quality & Reliability results five times over the period we're looking at, along with two average years and two where the Mustang went untested. As for the Dodge Charger, well, it is coming back with a two-door configuration and a gas engine (or two?), but we'll have to wait a little longer for its reliability results to come in. Perhaps you can spend your time waiting by perfecting gas-powered donuts at your local parking lot.