The Japanese steal the spotlight as the most reliable car brands, but if you’re looking for European performance and luxury, there’s no denying that German brands are leaders. However, while German manufacturers sell us cutting-edge engineering, elegant luxury, and roaring performance, that means that reliability becomes a secondary concern. It doesn’t mean that all German brands are unreliable, though.

Finding out which ones are dependable based purely on what owners and forums say can be difficult. Different models have different levels of reliability and satisfaction, so we stacked data from multiple owner-based surveys to get a clearer picture. J.D. Power’s U.S. Vehicle Dependability Studywhich tracks problems reported by thousands of owners of three-year-old cars, gave us a long-term snapshot. Then that was balanced with Consumer Reports’ annual reliability surveywhich taps hundreds of thousands of subscribers for brand-by-brand scores across the U.S. To make sure early quality issues weren’t being ignored, we also factored in J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Studywhich looks at defects in the first 90 days of ownership. In the end, our list was topped by three brands whose owners consistently say stand above the rest of Germany’s automakers.

One of the many things people may not know about Porsches is just how reliable they are. Porsche has consistently earned the highest marks from its owners in terms of dependability. In the 2025 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Porsche ranked third among premium brands overall, with just 186 problems per 100 vehicles (186 PP100) reported by original owners of three-year-old cars. That automatically places it ahead of most other luxury marques.

Consumer Reports Data backs this up, ranking Porsche 4th overall out of 32 brands in 2024 with a composite score based on reliability, owner satisfaction, safety, and road-test performance. That put it ahead of every other German automaker except BMW in CR’s survey, and firmly in the company of Japanese stalwarts like Toyota and Honda. That’s a notable accomplishment for a marque that builds cars more often associated with track days than commuter duty.

Even early quality has been strong: in the 2024 J.D. Power U.S. Initial Quality Study, Porsche ranked highest among premium brands with a score of 171 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), outperforming luxury rivals like BMW and Mercedes-Benz (both with 206 PP100). That means owners are less likely to encounter frustrating defects or design issues in the first 90 days of ownership.

The standouts within Porsche’s lineup are the 911 and Cayenne, the former being named the most dependable vehicle across all brands by J.D. Power, while the latter led in reliability in the upper midsize premium SUV segment in 2022.

BMW earns the second spot because certain core cars have consistently proven themselves in owner surveys. In J.D. Power’s 2025 Vehicle Dependability Study, BMW as a brand didn’t outperform Porsche, but it remained ahead of German peers like Mercedes-Benz (243 PP100), Audi (273 PP100), and Volkswagen (285 PP100). Historically, J.D. Power has previously given standout reliability scores to models like the 2017 BMW 2 Series (88 PP100, with no recalls reported) and the 2016 BMW 5 Series (also 88 PP100), making them some of the most reliable BMWs ever built.

Consumer Reports has also generally placed BMW above Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen in brand-level reliability. In the 2025 rankings, BMW earned a predicted new-car reliability score that put it eighth, ahead of Volkswagen at 18th and just under Audi at seventh, but 12th in the 2025 used-car list, just under Mercedes-Benz at 11th. In 2023 and 2024, though, BMW ranked first and then second overall for brands that make the best cars with metrics including reliability based on survey data.

RepairPal estimates the BMW’s average annual maintenance cost at $968, which is above mainstream brands but close to Mercedes-Benz, and lower than Audi’s $987. So, while owner surveys suggest better long-term dependability than most German peers, RepairPal, which is based on a mechanic’s perspective, places it 31st out of 32 brands, citing high annual repair costs and above-average odds of severe repairs.

Mercedes-Benz takes the third position thanks largely to its SUVs, which show stronger dependability scores than many of its sedans. In the 2025 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Mercedes-Benz scored 243 PP100, placing it behind Porsche and BMW but ahead of Volkswagen and Audi. Within specific categories, the 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLC was recognized as the most dependable compact premium SUV in J.D. Power’s 2025 awards, and the 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA took the prize for most dependable small premium SUV in 2021. In the years prior, the GLK dominated J.D. Power’s dependable compact premium SUV category, especially the 2012 to 2015 models.

What really bogs Mercedes-Benz down is what Consumer Reports data suggests. CR’s 2025 survey on reliable cars didn’t have enough data for a predicted new-car reliability score for Mercedes, but it placed 11th for used-car reliability and 23rd overall when CR combined road-test results, safety, and owner satisfaction. That used-car result put Mercedes ahead of Volkswagen, which ranked 18th for predicted new-car reliability and fared worse in older models, and above Audi in the long-term dependability category. However, this is less than BMW’s 2023 and 2024 chart-topping results in the Brand Report Cards and Porsche’s performance in recent years. Before 2015, Mercedes used to be in CR’s top 10, but in that year, CR dropped the brand down to 21st, citing a decline in reliability across several models.

While not traditionally thought of as German, Mini has been wholly owned and engineered by BMW since 2000, which makes it part of the same corporate family. In recent years, the brand has been surprisingly dependable, scoring 170 PP100 in the 2023 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study. That score puts it in the same bracket as Toyota, Hyundai, and Nissan, and even above most other European brands. Consumer Reports also ranked Mini highly in 2023, scoring 71/100 in its composite reliability survey and naming it the most reliable European brand that year.

The Mini Cooper Hardtop was recognized by J.D. Power in 2024 as the best compact sporty car, scoring 82/100 in dependability, while owner feedback compiled by U.K. outlets such as WhatCar? consistently ranks Mini in the top three for reliability. Combined with an industry-standard three-year warranty and a noticeable decline in common issues that plagued earlier models, Mini has managed to build a reputation for being one of the most dependable small car brands in the premium space. Proof of this is that the 2022 to 2024 cars now rank among Mini Cooper’s most reliable years.