Isbark.com

To put it bluntly: American automakers are getting their butts kicked when it comes to impressing the IIHS and scoring Top Safety Pick awards. The lion’s share has been going to South Korean and Japanese cars like the Kia Telluride and the Nissan Pathfinder. Even Europe’s been lagging behind, with Volvo only scoring a single Top Safety Pick+ award for the XC90.

The US only scored four Top Safety Pick+ awards for 2024; for the Tesla Model Y, the Rivian R1T, the Ford Explorer, and the Lincoln Nautilus. We’ve covered how these vehicles earned their awards, but the fact is, any one of them is a perfectly safe daily-driver. The question that needs to be answered is which one can you really count on? Let’s figure out which of the safest American vehicles is the most reliable.

What Does J.D. Power Have To Say About The Safest American Vehicles?

Right away, the Ford Explorer takes an early lead on reliability, with a three-way tie for the other models. Note that this is for the quality & reliability rating. Overall ratings take reliability into account, but they’re also based on factors like resale value and the dealership experience. If we’re just looking at reliability and build quality, the Ford Explorer simply blows the other three vehicles out of the water, according to J.D. Power.

What Do These Vehicles Cost To Maintain?

The Rivian R1T’s annual maintenance bill is estimated to come in at less than $800, but the pickup has only been on the market for a few years, which means that long-term maintenance costs are still an unknown factor. That is, we don’t know what a five-year-old Rivian R1T looks like just yet. We don’t know what kind of problems this truck might develop over the long term, like we do for the other vehicles on this list. At least we know the R1T is bolted together properly, as not even a Hurricane could take one down.

Add CarBuzz to your Google News feed.

The Ford Explorer is the cheapest of the bunch to keep running year to year, but ten-year maintenance costs outweigh those of the Tesla Model Y. This checks out, as luxury vehicles like Lexus, Lincolns, and BMWs tend to be more expensive to maintain than mid-market models, although some of us may be surprised to see the Tesla Model Y’s ten-year maintenance estimate so low.

The big cost looming over your head in an EV is a new battery, but Tesla has suggested that a Model Y battery pack could last up to 500,000 miles, while more conservative estimates put the number at around 120,000, either way, that could easily last you more than ten years, especially since data has shown that EV drivers don’t spend as much time on the road as do ICE drivers.

Related

The Average EV Drives Thousands Of Miles Less Than ICE Cars

Several reasons exist, such as range anxiety or poor charging infrastructure.

Some of the common repairs driving the Ford Explorer’s long-term maintenance costs include:

• Exhaust manifold replacement – $189 – $215
• Timing chain tensioner replacement – $1,123 – $1,331
• Brake master cylinder replacement – $341 – $538
• Fuel evaporative canister replacement – $463 – $517

The most expensive common repairs for the Lincoln Nautilus include:

• Radiator replacement – $1,623 – $1,799
• Radiator fan assembly replacement – $1,197 – $1,325
• Intake manifold gasket replacement – $558 – $626
• Steering knuckle replacement $454 – $500

By comparison, the Tesla’s most common maintenance costs are simple diagnoses and routine inspections, averaging $88-$111, and most of your maintenance costs for the Rivian R1T will be for things like $300 tire rotations every 7,500 miles, and a $20 brake fluid flush every three years.

This isn’t to suggest that owning an EV is problem-free, but, as far as these four models are concerned, the data clearly shows that you tend to spend less on repairs for the electrics over a ten-year span than for the combustion-powered models.

Until we have more data available for the Rivian R1T, the Tesla Model Y stands as the most affordable model to maintain of these four.

What Does The NHTSA Have To Say?

The NHTSA’s primary concern is safety, but, of course, there’s a lot of overlap between issues of safety and issues of reliability, so recalls and complaints with the government oversight committee are always worth a look.

Related

America’s Safest Pickup Truck Is A 7,000-Pound EV

This electrified pickup is easily the most-awarded pickup of the last five years, despite not being on sale that long.

Complaints for most of these vehicles have been few and far between, with the glaring exception of the Tesla Model Y. Where the other vehicles on this list show NHTSA complaints in the single-digit range, the Model Y comes in with a whopping 51, as of the time of this writing. Some of the most worrying complaints include:

• Nine electrical system complaints point to issues with warning lights failing to engage, unintended acceleration, and sudden shutdown following the failure of battery pack connectors.
• Seventeen forward collision avoidance system complaints point to issues with the car swerving into the wrong lane, or engaging the brakes without cause.
• Self-driving mode frequently misses intended turns.

On the upside, these issues generally do not involve expensive repairs. But, those $111 diagnostics fees will add up over time if your Tesla is constantly glitching out like a desktop computer past its prime.

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus generated a complaint when it suddenly powered down and shut off while in traffic. The driver was able to get the car going again, but, on last check, the SUV was still with the dealer waiting for a diagnosis. One 2024 Ford Explorer driver reports hard jerking when driving, and a Rivian R1T driver reports loss of motive power at just 1,700 miles. So, all three of these vehicles have generated powertrain complaints, but, in all three instances, those complaints are remarkably scarce.

This round is basically a three-way tie for everyone but Tesla.

The Best Of The Bunch Is The…

We’re naming the Ford Explorer as the most reliable of these four vehicles. The Explorer’s sole powertrain complaint is worrying, but it’s the best-selling model on this list, moving 188,422 units in 2023. The fact that only one driver out of 188,422 has experienced a powertrain issue serious enough to justify a complaint to the NHTSA is pretty impressive. Combine that with the SUV’s excellent J.D. Power rating, and the lowest annual maintenance costs of the four, and it’s easy to name the iconic Ford Explorer as the most reliable of the American auto industry’s Top Safety Pick+ winners.

2:16

Related

Best Ford Explorer Model Years For Reliability

What are the best model years for Ford’s popular three-row SUV?

Ironically, the Explorer actually came in last when we were rating these vehicles on safety. The SUV’s crash test ratings were Good, across the board, but not a single safety feature rated higher than Acceptable, which is basically a C+ in IIHS terms. So, the 2024 Ford Explorer isn’t quite the best of both worlds, but it is a fair compromise between safety and reliability.

Sources:
NHTSA
,
IIHS
,
RepairPal
,
CarEdge