The Most Trusted Used Car Brands: Why Tesla Struggles to Rank Higher

Posted on August 28, 2024

Consumer Reports asked people about the most trusted used car brands. The answers were no big surprise. Tesla’s probably not happy. They basically just asked people in the US which used car brands are cool, and… yeah. Not great for Tesla

The research included cars made between 2014 and 2019. They asked people who bought used cars from these years to share any problems they had. The study focused on 20 possible issues and asked for feedback on the cars.

Most Trusted Used Car Brands

Japanese Brands Are On Top!

The results of the study weren’t surprising.
So, who do people trust when it comes to used cars? Japanese brands, hands down! Here are the top 5 most trusted brands for second-hand cars:

Lexus
Toyota
Mazda
Acura
Honda

When you think of cars, you might think of Germany. But that’s not really true for used cars. BMW was the first German car brand to make the list, and it was only number 7! Mercedes-Benz was number 10. And guess what? Tesla was almost last, at number 24 out of 26!

Chrysler came in last place in the study. Dodge was just above it, and then came Tesla. Out of the 26 brands ranked, Tesla ended up in 24th place. Tesla struggles to make it in top.

Here’s the thing: Tesla was still a new company in 2014. They had only made one car, the Model S, for two years. They hadn’t even made the Model X yet! So, Tesla was still figuring some things out and had some problems making cars. This made people less likely to trust their used cars.
In another five years, we might see that the Teslas on the market today have fewer problems.

You can check out the table shared by Consumer Reports below:

Most Trusted Used Car Brands