By James Raia
The Ford F-150, the perennially top-selling vehicle in the United States, just got graded as below average in reliability in the annual study published by Consumer Reports.
But the F-150 wasn’t alone. Many other 2021 model half-ton pickup trucks also received poor grades.
The magazine’s statisticians annually calculate reliability ratings for every major mainstream car, minivan, SUV and truck using Consumer Reports’ member survey data. It factors in models that use some of the same components.
The GMC Sierra 1500, Chevrolet Silverado, Nissan Titan and Ram 1500 also scored below average.
Consumer Reports rips half-ton trucks
Consumer Reports said the Ram 1500 is “plagued with electronics issues – screen replacements, headlights, body control modules, gauges, and engine computers.”
The Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier, Chevrolet Colorado and its sibling, the GMC Canyon, all had below-average reliability.
Better-than-average reliability scores were received by only one truck: the Toyota Tundra.
Heavy-duty pickups are more likely to be reliable, according to the report.
The Ford F-250 and F-350 pickups logged average reliability.
The GMC Sierra 2500 HD and Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD had better than average reliability.
A midsize pickup truck, the Jeep Gladiator, was the highest performer among all trucks in the study with well-above-average reliability.
The Honda Ridgeline ranked second in the midsize group with better than average reliability. Consumer Reports rated the Toyota Tacoma with average reliability.
Mazda was at the top for reliability in the brand rankings, followed by Toyota, Lexus, Buick and Honda. The five bottom brands were Lincoln, Tesla, Volkswagen Mini and Ford.
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James Raia, a syndicated columnist in Sacramento, California, publishes a free weekly automotive podcast and electronic newsletter. Sign-ups are available on his website, www.theweeklydriver.com. He can be reached via email: james@jamesraia.com.
I love my Tacoma and the wife drives a Highlander. These Toyota’s have served us very well ! My Tacoma towed our first TT very well but now with a bigger TT I don’t tow anymore. It is now stored at a Rv Resort here in California that we go to about 6 to 8 times a year.
I gave up on CR ratings years ago when they consistently rated Sears products at the top of any testing list that involved them. This is based on my experience with relying on their ratings and buying those products. My experience: most turned out to be horrible.
Often times, the results of CR are opposite the reviews by consumers. Brands I’ve never heard of are at the top and it’s always “buy this instead of that” though it looks outdated. Guess the test results of Motor Trend are baseless and not worth a penny. Just a thought people so calm down.
Agreed. CR has always been very biased and undependable.
Unfortunate but true. We have been misled by CR’s “Best” product reviews until we just don’t trust their reports any longer.
The Jeep Gladiator has only been available since spring, 2019; that’s not enough time to assess “reliability”, IMO.
Consumer Reports must not read the Jeep Gladiator forum. Country wide there are issues with bad engines and bad steering boxes. Mine needed new engine at 3600 miles and still waiting for new steering box due to backlog of customers needing new steering boxes.