2014 Subaru Forester named most reliable car

Consumer Reports asked subscribers about the problems they’ve experienced with their new vehicles over the past 12 months. They received feedback on more than 1,000,000 cars. They put all of the information together to predict how well 2014 model vehicles will hold up.

Consumer Reports says the most reliable new car on the market is the 2014 Subaru Forester SUV. However, at the time the research was done, the model had only been for sale for a few weeks.

Japanese cars still fare better overall. Lexus, Toyota and Acura were named the top three most reliable carmakers in the industry.

"European and American manufacturers have moved up in the rankings. They're giving the Japanese automakers some tough competition," Rik Paul of Consumer Reports said.

Audi ranked fourth overall, making it the most reliable European car brand. Volvo, also European, jumped to number seven.

As for American carmakers, GMC was named the top American brand at number nine. But the news for Ford and Lincoln was not so good.

"Ford and Lincoln have had trouble with the MyTouch 'infotainment' system for the last two years. Our survey found that complaints went down after Ford updated the system, but the rate of problems is still too high," Paul said.

Overall, Ford ended up near the bottom of the new-car reliability rankings. At the very bottom, cars from Mini had the most problems in Consumer Reports’ survey.

While Consumer Reports called the 2014 Subaru Forester the most reliable car on the market, the survey found the least reliable model, too. It's Ford's C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid.