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The 2010 Toyota Corolla is the most reliable car sold in the United States, according to a report released today. The car requires fewer repairs than any other car — 2002 model year or later — and the repairs it needs are inexpensive. At $283.12, it is far less than expensive than the average repair costs for some models, which can be in excess of $700.

Vehicle reliability and repair diagnostics company CarMD’s latest annual Vehicle Health Index is a massive study conducted on thousands of different models currently on the road. Based on CarMD’s index, which measures the frequency and expense of necessary repairs, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 most reliable cars.

In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., CarMD director of corporate communications Kristen Brocoff explained the importance of considering both measures. The Toyota Prius rarely goes in for repairs. But when it does, the most common repair involves the hybrid battery, which can cost as much as $3,000.

Many of these brands have long-standing reputations for reliability. “What we’re seeing in our data is that, historically, there have been those sweetheart brands that everybody says are the brand of the year, the cars of the year,” Brocoff explained.

Many of the manufacturers on this list, such as Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) and Hyundai, all score highly on CarMD’s reliability rank. This reputation helps sell vehicles.

These models have been among the best-selling in the country for years. Of the 10 cars with the best scores, six sold more than 100,000 units in 2011 and are well on track to do the same this year, including models such as the Accord, Sonata and Corolla, flagships for their respective makers. The Honda Accord, the Hyundai Sonata and the Toyota Corolla were among the top 20 selling cars in the first 10 months of 2012.

Meanwhile, sales for some of the less-popular models that made the top 10 most reliable list, such as Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) Taurus, the Honda Pilot and the Subaru Forester and Outback, are growing.

Brocoff added that some of the cars with poorer reputations for reliability may improve. “We’re starting to see with today’s technology, manufacturers are really able to make cars that will last longer than ever before. It has really evened the playing field, and there are lots of models that may not always be the names you are used to.” Brocoff pointed to the Ford Taurus in particular as a model that has flown under the radar, but may increasingly be known as a reliable model over time.

The CarMD November 2012 Vehicle Health Index is based on more than 10 years of data from car diagnostic computers from the vast majority of 2002 to 2012 model year cars sold in the United States. Weighting evenly the average costs of repairs related to “check engine” lights — issues identified by onboard vehicle computer accounting for roughly 80% of all problems — and how often each model was taken in for those repairs, CarMDassigned a reliability score for each model by year. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 models with the best scores. Included in our analysis were five years of car sales data for all years for each model provided by Edmunds.com. From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) we obtained crash and rollover safety data. We also referenced J.D. Power’s vehicle dependability study. All index ranks we list are out of the 100 best-ranked cars.

These are America’s most trusted cars.

10. 2010 Subaru Outback
> Overall index rating: 0.111 (tied for 8th best)
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.168 (22nd best)
> Avg. repair cost: $110.43 (14th lowest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 95,357

Subaru Outbacks are both highly reliable and inexpensive to repair. The average check engine light repair costs just over $110 in a 2010 Outback. The 2010 model year also was rated as extremely safe, according to the NHTSA, which gave the car five stars for front and side crash safety. This year, the Outback has sold especially well, with 95,357 cars sold in the first 10 months of 2012. However, Subarus are not without problems. The make “had a tendency to require the replacement of the catalytic converter,” a problem that accounted for 22% of all check engine light repairs in Subarus of all models. Correcting this problem is especially expensive in a Subaru, costing owners an average of over $930 per repair.

9. 2011 Chevrolet Impala
> Overall index rating: 0.111 (tied for 8th best)
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.144 (14th best)
> Avg. repair cost: $184.30 (31st lowest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 148,547

The average repair cost of $184.30 for the Chevrolet Impala was on the lower end of the vehicles measured. It was also significantly less than the $290.50 repair average for all General Motor Co. (NYSE: GM) vehicles. J.D. Power and Associates gave the 2011 Impala a “better than most” rating in terms of predicted reliability. However, it only received a rating of “about average” for overall quality and a rating of “the rest,” the lowest given by J.D. Power, for overall performance and design. Sales of the Impala have declined significantly in recent years. Chevrolet sold 171,434 Impalas in 2011, down from 311,128 in 2007.

8. 2010 Hyundai Sonata
> Overall index rating: 0.111 (tied for 8th best)
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.112 (4th best)
> Avg. repair cost: $336.30 (19th highest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 192,119

In 2012, Hyundai bolstered its reputation when CarMD named it the second-most dependable manufacturer, behind Toyota. Among the reasons for the high rating was the low cost of an average repair for all Hyundai models — just $272. The manufacturer’s best rated car, the 2010 Hyundai Sonata, required repairs less often than all but three other car models. This year, the Hyundai Sonata is one of the nation’s best-selling cars, with more than 192,000 sold in the first 10 months of 2012. However, the 2010 Sonata did receive less-than-stellar ratings from J.D. Power, which rated the model “about average” for quality, as well as for performance and design. Sales of the Sonata may be hurt after the backlash from Hyundai’s admission that it misrepresented fuel economy of more than 100,000 of its vehicles.

7. 2007 Lexus ES 350
> Overall index rating: 0.106
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.101 (3rd best)
> Avg. repair cost: $377.71 (15th highest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 42,105

In 2011, numerous luxury brands underperformed their parent brands in reliability, but not all. The Lexus brand was rated as more dependable than its parent brand and contributed to Toyota being the top-ranked manufacturer. In the luxury category, no model was as well-rated for reliability as the 2007 Lexus ES 350. Only two other cars, Toyota’s 2010 Corolla and 2008 Yaris, required fewer trips to the mechanic last year. Older ES 350 model years were particularly successful for Lexus, which reported more than 82,000 unit sales in 2007 and more than 64,000 unit sales in 2008 — far more than the 40,873 sold in 2011, when sales were even lower than they have been through the first 10 months of 2012.

6. 2010 Subaru Forester
> Overall index rating: 0.099 (tied for 5th best)
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.148 (16th best)
> Avg. repair cost: $116.33 (15th lowest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 61,880

Few cars are as inexpensive to repair as the 2010 Subaru Forester, which had an average repair cost of $116.33 — one of the lowest figures for any car on the road today. Additionally, only four other car models received better ratings for repair costs from CarMD’s proprietary index. And in the category of wagon/crossover SUV, CarMD rated the 2010 Forester as the most reliable car produced between the model years 2002 and 2012. The second- and third-place models were Subaru’s 2010 Outback and 2011 Forester. Aside from being reliable, the 2010 Forester was found to be safe as well; the model received five-star ratings in frontal and side crash tests from the NHTSA.

5. 2009 Honda Accord
> Overall index rating: 0.099 (tied for 5th best)
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.125 (8th best)
> Avg. repair cost: $201.74 (39th lowest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 276,196

The 2009 Honda Accord was the only car on this list to actually fall in the rankings — the car was ranked fourth by CarMD in 2011. The NHTSA has given the vehicle very strong safety ratings. Both the four-door and two-door Honda Accords scored five-star safety ratings in front driver, front passenger and 4×2 rollover tests. Newer models of the Accord have also scored very well. The 2012 Accord and the 2011 Accord sedan received five-star safety ratings in the frontal crash, side crash, and rollover tests. Honda sold 392,231 Accords in 2007, but sales fell every year since. In 2011, Honda sold only 235,625. So far this year, however, the carmaker sold 276,196 cars, meaning it is on pace to sell more Accords this year than any since 2008.

4. 2009 Honda Pilot
> Overall index rating: 0.093
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.132 (10th best)
> Avg. repair cost: $141.00 (20th lowest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 94,116

The 2009 Pilot is Honda’s most-reliable car. It also was rated one of the most dependable cars in the nation for the second year in a row, up from an eighth-place ranking in 2011. Additionally, among all full-sized SUVs, the 2009 Pilot was the top-rated vehicle. The most common engine-related problem Honda vehicles have is related to the car’s battery and charging system. Repairing a battery system problem, however, has a low average cost of just $96.22 — far cheaper than replacing a catalytic converter or an oxygen sensor.

3. 2008 Toyota Yaris
> Overall index rating: 0.087
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.100 (2nd best)
> Avg. repair cost: $259.33 (41st highest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 26,396

The 2008 Toyota Yaris jumped 29 spots between 2011 and 2012 in CarMD’s Most Reliable Vehicle Rankings. The car had second-lowest rate of repair incidents, with only the company’s Corolla having fewer. In terms of safety, the Yaris received four of five stars from the NHTSA in its front driver, front passenger and 4×2 rollover crash safety test. Meanwhile, J.D. Power gave the 2008 Yaris its highest rating for overall dependability. Toyota sold 102,328 Yaris cars in 2008, but sales have declined precipitously since then, with 2011 sales less than a third of that figure. Toyota has sold 26,396 units in the first 10 months of 2012, meaning sales are roughly on pace with 2011.

2. 2008 Ford Taurus
> Overall index rating: 0.083
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.117 (5th best)
> Avg. repair cost: $141.17 (21st lowest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 61,737

In 2012, the 2008 Ford Taurus was the top-rated sedan for reliability, according to CarMD, ranking ahead of two other cars on this list, the 2009 Honda Accord and the 2010 Hyundai Sonata. The car is also the most dependable of the 14 other Ford models. Also, the 2008 Taurus rarely requires any repairs, with only four other models needing to be brought to a mechanic less often. Other studies have reached similar conclusions, as J.D. Power rated the 2008 Taurus as “among the best” for overall dependability. According to Kelley Blue Book, a certified pre-owned 2008 Taurus with 60,000 miles should cost just $13,758, while a new model costs nearly twice that much.

1. 2010 Toyota Corolla
> Overall index rating: 0.080
> Repair incidents, index rating: 0.088 (the best)
> Avg. repair cost: $283.13 (30th highest)
> Year-to-date model sales: 237,844

The 2008 Toyota Corolla’s rating for repair incidences topped the field handily, leading CarMD to name it as the most reliable car on the road. Not everyone seems to be gung-ho on the Corolla, however. Although J.D. Power rated it “better than most” for predicted reliability, it received the lowest rating for both overall quality and overall performance and design. Nevertheless, consumers appear to be buying more Corollas than they have in the past several years. With 237,844 cars sold in the first 10 months of 2012, Toyota is on pace to sell more Corollas this year than any year since 2008, when it sold 301,587 cars.

-By Michael B. Sauter, Samuel Weigley and Alexander E. M. Hess

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