3 Japanese Car Brands Named the Least Reliable of 2025
In general, Japanese cars enjoy a reputation as the most reliable on the market. But does that mean every Japanese car manufacturer produces cars that rarely spend time in the shop?
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If you want a dependable Japanese car, watch out for these three brands flashing red flags in 2025.
Nissan has frequently found itself in the news over the last year — for all the wrong reasons.
In May, CBS News reported that Nissan is laying off 15% of its global workforce, roughly 20,000 employees, after losing $4.5 billion last year. Just a few months earlier, Moody's downgraded Nissan's stock rating to 'junk' status.
'Nissan experienced a string of CVT transmission issues that continue to plague it to this day,' explained Alex Black of car research platform EpicVIN. 'Owners complain about jerking, slipping or requiring full replacements far earlier than they should.'
Sure enough, Nissan ranked dead last among Japanese automakers in this year's reliability rankings from Consumer Reports.
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Asian car companies discovered they could sell their higher-end cars for more money by marketing them under separate luxury brands.
Toyota has Lexus, Honda has Acura, Hyundai has Genesis, and Nissan has Infiniti. The latter suffers from all the same reliability issues as its parent company. After all, Infinitis are manufactured in the same factories, with the same parts and processes. They just get stamped with a different logo.
Andrey Smirnov, owner of Silverstone Auto Spa, sees these problems with Nissans and Infinitis firsthand.
'Infinitis have more problems than their competitors, especially on the electrical side,' Smirnov said. 'Engineering simplicity and reliability go hand in hand, and Infiniti makes more complex cars than other Japanese brands.'
In WhatCar's latest reliability survey, Nissan ranked fourth among the least reliable car companies in the world. That puts it among such dubiously dependable brands as MG, Alfa Romeo and Vauxhall.
Mitsubishi has also seen its share of struggles over the last few years.
The automaker keeps missing its profit forecasts and adjusting projections lower. Last year, that included a 76% drop, and a 26% drop reported in May of this year by Reuters.
In fact, Motor1 reports the company stopped shipping cars to the U.S. altogether amid President Donald Trump's tariffs.
'Mitsubishi has problems with aged technology and low-cost components,' added Black. 'Many analysts argue they've failed to remain current — both in driving performance and long-term reliability.'
Alan Gelfand of German Car Depot also sees trouble among Mitsubishis.
'We've seen plenty of reported CVT transmission issues, on top of build quality concerns,' he said.
Mitsubishi has grown so irrelevant as a brand in the U.S. that Consumer Reports didn't even include it in its annual reliability report. In JD Power's 2025 dependability report, Mitsubishi ranked last among Japanese carmakers.
Steer clear of them in 2025, and consider better-rated Asian automakers like Toyota, Honda, Subaru, and Hyundai.
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