Buick cracks top 10 on Consumer Reports report card; Acura, Mercedes, Infiniti drop

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say that the Consumer Reports ranking is the fourth annual edition.

Buick climbed into the Top 10 while Acura, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz fell hard in the latest report card on reliability and performance from Consumer Reports.

Lexus finished No. 1 for the third straight year, ahead of a rising Mazda. Fiat Chrysler’s Fiat brand came in last, just below corporate sibling Jeep.

Buick’s rise to No. 7, from 12th in 2014, made it the top domestic brand for the second year in a row. In addition, the Buick Regal bested the BMW 328i to earn Top Pick honors among sports sedans, a “very un-Buick category,” said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of automotive testing.

“Buick has a reputation for large, cushy cars, and they’ve really invented themselves pretty quickly. They’re making reliable vehicles, and they’re making cars that score very well,” Fisher said in an interview. “In many ways, they’re like the new Lexus, but also sporty to drive.”

Still, Asian brands accounted for six of the top 10 spots after grabbing seven last year.

Mazda jumped four places in finishing second, with an overall index score of 75, three behind Lexus.

Consumer Reports called Mazda’s lineup “reliable” and “fun-to-drive” while delivering “impressive fuel economy.”

Toyota took third place, with Audi and Subaru rounding out the top five. Porsche, Buick, Honda, Kia and BMW completed the top 10.

In addition to Buick, Kia and Porsche were also new to that group this year.

This is the fourth edition of the Consumer Reports Annual Car Brands Report Cards. To calculate scores, the magazine says it looks at the road test scores for each model it tested, and for which its subscribers have provided reliability data in its Annual Auto Reliability Survey. Brands must have test and reliability data for at least two models.

Mercedes-Benz fell 12 spots to 21st, primarily because of the entry-luxury CLA, which Fisher called visually appealing but unreliable. Driving the CLA, Fisher said you can tell it was “built around a price point.”

“It’s a very stiff ride. The handling doesn’t have the feel of a Mercedes. In reality, the driving experience is no better, in fact worse, than many family sedans,” Fisher said.

He added, “To a certain market who wants to be seen in a Mercedes-Benz like that, it will satisfy them. Certainly, it will not attract people who are used to driving Mercedes-Benz.”

Fisher said if luxury brands are going to make a play in less-expensive spaces like Mercedes has with the CLA, they’ll need to ensure that the models retain a luxury driving feel. Fisher pointed to Audi’s A3 sedan and Q3 crossover as effective moves into the entry-luxury space.

Acura, No. 2 the prior year, fell to No. 11 because "the unimpressive RLX redesign fell short," Consumer Reports said. Infiniti, No. 8 last year, ranked 17th in this year’s report, a drop that the magazine attributed to the new “low-scoring and unreliable” Q50.

New and redesigned vehicles “often come with teething problems,” the magazine said.

Consumer Reports did not rank Ram, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mitsubishi, Smart and Tesla because it had too few recently tested models from those brands to assess.

In addition to the Regal, nine other vehicles were Consumer Reports’ Top Picks. The Chevrolet Impala and Tesla Model S were the two other U.S. models. Audi had the only European car on that list, the A6. Toyota’s Prius and Highlander were also Top Picks, as was Honda’s Odyssey.

Suburu scored with the Impreza, Legacy and Forester, the most of any brand.

The Impreza topped the compact car segment, while the Legacy and Forester paced the midsized sedan and small SUV categories.

The Legacy took the top ranking from the Honda Accord, which had paced the midsized sedan category in 2013 and 2014. The Forester, on the other hand, retained the top spot. While many small SUVs are getting rounded in the back, Fisher said the Forester retains great visibility and cargo room.

“They absolutely know how to make a car drive well, ride well, quiet, reliable, fuel efficient, but they’re also extremely practical too,” Fisher said. “What they haven’t done, like most of the automakers, is they haven’t compromised practicality for style.”

The Tesla Model was named the best overall vehicle for the second consecutive year.

Fisher said of the Model S, “Nothing can touch that in terms of everything it does, in terms of performance, in terms of comfort, in terms of practicality, room and energy efficiency.”