The Ford Mustang is a legendary muscle automobile that is popular for its performance, style, and, currently, its transformation into the all-electric Mach-E that just outsold the gas Mustang 2 to 1. Well, it seems we should always add “reliability” to that list of Mustang advantages — no less than for the trendy versions. In spite of everything, when the seventh-generation Mustang premiered in 2024, it earned a few of Consumer Reports‘ best-ever predicted reliability results.
It’s hard to see where the Mustang slipped up, too: As a part of CR’s reliability evaluation, it asked owners about specific Mustang problem areas, and so they responded by giving the Mustang terrific scores in all categories. And yes, that included its in-car electronics, engine, transmission, body, and electrical accessories. CR generally provides info a couple of given automobile’s rivals, too, and it obviously struggled here, naming the BMW 4 Series and the Mini Cooper — the latter perhaps being best described as behaving like a half-trained puppy. What’s notable is that CR predicted the 2024 Mustang’s reliability to be significantly higher than that of the BMW 4 Series and the Mini Cooper.
CR doesn’t have detailed reliability data for the Mustang’s more natural competitors, the Chevrolet Camaro or the Dodge Challenger, neither of which, to be clear, is now in production. One other barely strange result was that, despite relatively minor changes, the 2025 Mustang didn’t rate as highly as its 2024 predecessor.
How reliable is the 2025 Ford Mustang?
The Mustang’s 2025 updates included additions like dual-zone automatic climate control as standard equipment on some trims, adjusting availability of the B&O audio system, and the debut of a Sixtieth-anniversary package limited-production model — none of which seems prone to affect the automobile’s reliability. Yet when it got here time to estimate how well it could delay, CR didn’t think the 2025 Mustang can be quite as reliable because the previous yr’s model. (CR doesn’t provide owner-reported trouble spots for the 2025 Mustang).
As an entire, Ford ranked No. 13 amongst all brands for predicted reliability. Nor have recent Mustangs avoided Ford’s recall woes: The 2025 model has been recalled thrice, and the 2024 model 10 times.
That said, Ford’s pony automobile still maintains a healthy advantage in reliability over its competitors, and there have been some fresh faces for the Mustang to contend with. A pair of sporty luxury cars, the Lexus LC and RC, were on CR’s similar-cars list in 2025, not that it mattered. The Mustang was expected to be more reliable than each luxe machines. Its lead over the Subaru WRX and BRZ — from the brand CR rated No. 1 in new-car reliability this yr — was even larger.
The Mustang also outpaced fast-moving favorites just like the Honda Civic Si, Porsche 718 Cayman, and Volkswagen GTI. Looking ahead, though, Porsche continues to be committed to creating an EV Cayman and Boxster, and it appears the next-gen GTI might be all-electric as well.
Consumer Reports reliability scores for older Mustangs have information gaps
We already mentioned the dearth of CR data for the Camaro and Challenger, and the Mustang was in the identical boat from 2020 through 2023 — overall reliability scores for these years are unavailable. J.D. Power might help some, because it called the Mustang’s reliability “great” in 2020 and 2023, but didn’t rate the automobile for 2021 or 2022 either.
Take into account that the Mustang’s predicted reliability performance scores from CR data for the years 2012 through 2019 are on display, with those numbers indicating a pointy break with the automobile’s newer CR scores. Spotty rankings in categories reminiscent of power train, brakes, and construct quality brought the reliability rating down in a few of those years, but we’ll indicate that the 2012 and 2016 versions, each a yr after major redesigns, were again more reliable than their CR-selected rivals.
After that quick glance at older Mustangs, let’s wind up with the 2025 Mustang Mach-E. It’s a really different beast from the gas-powered muscle cars, and CR predicts the all-electric Mach-E SUV to have “about average reliability” — despite its three recalls. CR reliability data from 2024 is not available, but for 2025, it ranked third in its class, behind the Nissan Ariya and Mini Countryman EV, but ahead of the Tesla Model Y, Honda Prologue, Chevrolet Blazer, and the Toyota bZ4X. The Toyota bZ, nonetheless, has been redesigned for 2026 with an extended range, higher looks, but a still-confusing name.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
