10 Japanese-branded cars that don’t make the grade

Most Japanese car brands have a hard-earned reputation for offering dependable, fuel-efficient cars. Look no further than our annual brand report cards, where you’ll find the top seven brands are all Japanese based on average road-test score and reliability. But that’s not to say that Japanese cars are all veritable road scholars. In fact, there are quite a few that haven’t scored high enough to be eligible for a Consumer Reports recommendation.

As students return to school, we thought it would be interesting to look at those models that effectively earned an F, scoring below 60. For our “recommended” status, Consumer Reports holds vehicles to an even higher standard, requiring a 65-point score for most car types to achieve a passing grade. Some classes are even more demanding, such as luxury cars.

Common among many of these disappointing models are trade-offs in ride, handling, fit and finish, and noise. Small cars, from all nations, tend to be vulnerable to such criticisms. Looking beyond class, the recurring theme is that these are vehicles that were not engineered to their potential and are not considered competitive.

Below we present the bottom 10 Japanese cars in our Ratings, with a tie for the 10th spot, along with the highs and lows for each.

Consumer Reports is sometimes accused in enthusiast forums of favoring Japanese cars and being biased against American cars. The truth is, we report without fear or favor. (Learn how we test cars.) And our lists of best and worst cars tell quite a different story. In fact, two of the top three ranked cars overall in our tests are American. None are Japanese.

So, are we biased? Yes, toward good performing, safe, and reliable cars.

—Jeff Bartlett

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