If you’re looking for a new or used car, there’s a good chance you checked out the Consumer Reports website at least once during your research. With help from its expansive member pool, CR conducts a bunch of surveys every year, which try to find out what the best and worst consumer items for sale in the United States are, including cars.
The non-profit organization has a fleet of new long-term cars that are tested for all sorts of metrics, including reliability. Regarding used vehicles, CR polled its members, asking them what problems they faced during their ownership. And now it’s time to see what EVs rank the worst on CR’s list when it comes to reliability.
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9 out of 60
The entire list of "Used cars to avoid" has no fewer than 60 cars on it, but out of those, just nine are all-electric models. These have a much lower reliability rate compared to the average reliability score of all vehicles from that specific model year.
The complete list includes hybrid and gas-only models, but this being InsideEVs, we’ll focus on all-electric vehicles only. Consumer Reports says that the models on the “Avoid” list have many more reliability problems compared to the average problem rate for all vehicles of the same model year, but it doesn’t detail what you should look out for–you’ll need a subscription for that.
So, without further ado, this is the list of used EVs you should avoid buying, according to Consumer Reports, in alphabetical order:
2019 Audi E-Tron
2019-2022 Chevrolet Bolt
2020 Hyundai Ioniq
2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric
2022 Rivian R1T
2019-2021 Tesla Model S
2018, 2022 Tesla Model X
2021, 2023 Volkswagen ID.4
As you might have noticed, the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are absent from this list. That’s because they’re actually reliable enough to be recommended as good buys by Consumer Reports. Furthermore, both the Rivian R1T and R1S recorded below-average reliability scores in Consumer Reports’ latest Annual Auto Reliability Study, which found that EVs have 79% more reliability problems on average than combustion cars, whereas plug-in hybrids have 146% more problems on average.
Conversely, conventional hybrids (without a plug) are on the other end of the spectrum, with an average of 26% fewer problems than ICE cars.
