The reputation of Tesla for building some of the most advanced electric vehicles on the market took a hit with the publication of Consumer Reports’ latest reliability study. The electric automaker fell to the back of the pack when it came to used vehicle dependability, giving some potential buyers pause when it comes to weighing long-term ownership costs of pre-owned Teslas.
The 2025 used vehicle reliability study ranked Tesla dead last among 26 automotive brands, scoring a rather anemic 31 out of 100. That is not exactly a great place to be, especially when you are coming in behind brands like Jeep at 32, Ram at 35, and Chrysler at 36, companies not exactly known for stellar reliability records themselves.
The vehicles targeted were those between 5 and 10 years old, which is to say we are talking about Teslas from roughly 2015 to 2020.
That’s a bit of a sting for those invested in a used Tesla for that premium EV experience. These model years represent when Tesla was scaling up rapidly from a niche luxury brand into a volume automaker of scale. It would appear the growing pains are beginning to show up in reliability scores.
Tesla Jumps into Top 10 for Reliability, But Recalls Persist Across All Models, Including Cybertruck
Before Tesla zealots start reaching for the panic button, there’s actually a kernel of good news buried in the report.
Consumer Reports takes pains to note that Tesla has made significant strides in improving build quality on its newer vehicles. All of the company’s current models now rate as having “better-than-average reliability,”which is a pretty remarkable turnaround, all things considered.
More impressively, Tesla has jumped into the top 10 in Consumer Reports’ new car predictability rankings. The automaker is now outperforming household names such as Ford, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volkswagen in the arena of brand-new vehicles. That’s quite a shift from where they were just a few years ago.
This improvement indeed hints that Tesla has tried to use its earlier manufacturing challenge lessons and put better quality control processes into place. The reliability concerns of old models would probably no longer be a concerning factor for buyers who consider buying a new Tesla. The brand continues to be plagued by recalls.
Despite improvements in newer vehicles, Tesla hasn’t avoided the recall merry-go-round, which seems to be picking up pace in the automotive industry. It has issued several recalls across all its models, from flagship Model S to the controversial Cybertruck.
Cybertruck Recalls, Price Plunge, and the Shadow of BYD
Early this year, over 46,000 Cybertrucks were recalled due to an exterior panel not being properly secured and potentially detaching during driving. That is not the kind of attention Tesla wanted surrounding its much-hyped electric pickup truck.
January also brought the news of another huge recall, affecting over 200,000 vehicles because of a glitch in the software linked to rearview cameras. And these are not isolated incidents.
Over the last few years, Tesla has issued massive callbacks for issues ranging from bugs in autopilot software to brake fluid detection problems, faulty seat-belt warning systems, malfunctioning touchscreens, and even power steering failures.
Tesla’s reliability woes also come at a very inopportune time. Prices of used Teslas have plunged from record highs set during the pandemic-era boom, when federal tax credits helped juice electric-vehicle demand across the United States.
Things got tougher when those credits were scaled back under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Without those financial incentives, many consumers have shifted back toward traditional gas-powered vehicles or opted for plug-in hybrids as a middle ground.
Competition, too, has become a lot tighter. Local players from China, like BYD, are offering electric vehicles jam-packed with features at prices that are so much cheaper than Tesla’s products.
Can Tesla Outrun its Quality Past and Rising EV Rivals?
A few industry analysts have compared it to the 1970s, in which Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda had literally shaken up the American market by selling reliable, fuel-efficient cars that the Big Three could not compete with.
This Consumer Reports study is worth paying attention to for anyone shopping for a used Tesla, as those attractive price tags on older models may yield unexpected maintenance costs.
On the other hand, shoppers thinking about a new Tesla can derive some encouragement from the brand’s recent progress. The company seems to have turned a corner on quality control, even if its older vehicles still drag down its overall reputation.
If Tesla can be superficially said to have their work cut out for them, the next few years will show if it can continue its upward trajectory of improvement in reliability while fending off competition that is growing in the increasingly crowded electric vehicle market.
