The magazine said, however, that Detroit automaker Ford Motor now ranks with the best with "world-class reliability" — noting that models of Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan were behind only the Toyota Prius and Volvo S40 among family sedans and outscored Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The magazine, run by non-profit Consumers Union, says survey findings are based on subscribers' experiences with 1.4 million vehicles.

The Honda Insight hybrid took the crown for fewest problems of all but is not recommended by CR, which was underwhelmed in its road test. Least reliable was Volkswagen's Touareg, 27 times more likely to have a problem than Insight.

By brand, Toyota's Scion nameplate placed first in predicted reliability of 2010 models. The top six brands were Japanese, followed by South Korea's Hyundai. The improved ratings of Ford Motor's latest models have yet to pull its brands' ratings to the top tier: Mercury was best at 10th, Ford in the middle of the pack at 16th and Lincoln 20th.

The Chrysler brand was rated least reliable, behind five other U.S. nameplates. A Chrysler statement said CR "uses a three-year window of vehicles to judge reliability" so improvements in warranty claims "over the past 18 months" aren't yet reflected in the annual survey.

In citing Ford Motor, CR also noted that 46 of the 51 Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles it surveyed now have average or better reliability scores.

"Ford does produce more world-class vehicles" said Jake Fisher, senior automotive engineer for Consumer Reports.

Ford's group vice president for quality, Bennie Fowler, said, "It's great to just see the company mentioned along with the best-quality producers in the world."