A number of car brands have been reviewed and ranked to determine the most reliable. The 2011 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study calculates the number of problems (per 100 cars) each owner has throughout the first three years of owning the car. So, the smaller the number, the more reliable the car is.

Mini has been ranked the least reliable brand as there were 221 problems per 100 which is more than double the top ranked brand, the Ford-owned Lincoln, which had 101 problems per 100 cars. The Lincoln has become the first American luxury brand to be ranked first in over a decade.

Last year’s top brand, Porsche, dropped to fourth place after its car issues increased from 110 to 114.

Other Luxury brands conquered the top four positions, with Lexus coming second with 109 problems and Jaguar grabbing third position after reducing the number of problems by almost a third from 175 to 112.

Mercedes-Benz was ranked eighth (128 problems down from 142) and graded the best of the big three German brands.

The mainstream brands also improved greatly in this year’s survey, with 25 of the 36 brands having improved reliability compared to last year.

Toyota was ranked fifth (from 128 issues down to 122), once again proving its strong reputation. Hyundai was placed 10th (132 issues down from 148) and its sister company Kia grabbed the 20th spot (160 issues down from 167).

Although Volkswagen improved from 225 to 191 issues, it still ranked 30th. However, Honda’s problems increased from 132 to 139, falling from 7th to 11th.

Many US manufacturers were not successful in this study, despite the top place being taken by an American brand. Chrysler (increased from 166 to 202) and Dodge (increased from 190 to 206) both fell down the rankings ladder.

Although Jeep reduced its problems from 222 to 214, it still placed second last and even Land Rover, who made an immense improvement since 2010 from 255 to 212, still ranked third last.

The information for this survey came from 43,700 owners of 2008 model cars and dealt with 202 problem symptoms.

JD Power and Associates has still not published an Australian vehicle quality study.