One of the most important criteria, if not the most important criterion, of automobile quality is reliability, that is, infrequency of serious problems, as few people want the annoyance, inconvenience, and expense of dealing with such problems. This article provides lists employing this criterion that will help guide consumers to the best small cars on the U.S. new and used car market.

The lists in this article include automobile models that are 180 inches (457.2 centimeters) or shorter in length. They include sedans, coupes, convertibles, hatchbacks, and wagons, but do not include sport cars. They also exclude those models with only a one-year data history, as a one-year data history may provide a poor guide of what a consumer may anticipate for more than one year.

The first list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 0-to-4 years. These small cars are:

The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a 2010 0-to-4-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Yaris Hatchback, with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xA, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xD, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Fit, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Insight, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion tC, a coupe with a GPA of 3.75,
The Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit, a 2-door and 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 3.67,
The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The Toyota Matrix, a wagon with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Hybrid, a sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The non-turbo Subaru Impreza Wagon, with a GPA of 3.50,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with a GPA of 3.33,
The Ford Focus Sedan, with a GPA of 3.25,
The Hyundai Elantra, a sedan or wagon with a GPA of 3.25.

Of these 16, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 8 (50%), Honda Motor Company accounts for 4 (25%), and Volkswagen AG, Fuji Heavy Industries' Subaru division, Ford Motor Company, and Hyundai Motor Company each account for 1.

The second list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 2-to-6 years. These small cars are:

The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a 2010 2-to-6-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Yaris Hatchback, with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Fit, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit, a 2-door and 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Matrix, a wagon with a GPA of 3.75,
The Honda Civic Hybrid, a sedan with a GPA of 3.75,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xA, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 3.67,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Lexus IS300,IS350, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 3.50,
General Motors Corporation's Pontiac Vibe (a Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), a wagon with a GPA of 3.50,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion tC, a coupe with a GPA of 3.33,
The non-turbo Subaru Impreza Wagon, with a GPA of 3.25.

Of these 15, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 10 (67%) (including the Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), Honda Motor Company accounts for 3 (20%), and Volkswagen AG and Fuji Heavy Industries' Subaru division each account for 1.

The third list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 4-to-8 years. These small cars are:

The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a 2010 4-to-8-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 4.00,
General Motors Corporation's Pontiac Vibe (a Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), a wagon with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Lexus IS300, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.75,
The Honda Civic Hybrid, a sedan with a GPA of 3.67,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xA, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Si, a sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The Toyota Matrix, a wagon with a GPA of 3.33,
The Mitsubishi Lancer, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.33.

Of these 12, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 8 (50%) (including the Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), Honda Motor Company accounts for 3 (25%), and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation accounts for 1.

The fourth list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 6-to-10 years. These venerable, durable small cars are:

The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a 2010 6-to-10-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a GPA of 3.75,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Lexus IS300, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.67,
The Honda Civic Si, a coupe and sedan with a GPA of 3.67,
The Honda Insight, a 2-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 3.50.

Of these 7, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 4 (57%) and Honda Motor Company accounts for 3 (43%).

The final list gives those small cars with at least a 5-year data history which have achieved a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for all of their age ranges offering data. These both meritorious and venerable small cars, together with their overall 2010 GPA, are:

The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a overall 2010 Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with an overall GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with an overall GPA of 3.81,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with an overall GPA of 3.78,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with an overall GPA of 3.75.

Of these 5, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 4 (80%) and Honda Motor Company accounts for 1 (20%).

James Bleeker has a B.A. from Carleton College in mathematics, a J.D. from Northwestern University, and an M.S. from the University of Minnesota in mathematics. He has practiced law, and taught Introductory Statistics, Calculus III, Business Calculus, Finite Math, College Algebra, Introductory and Intermediate Algebra and Foundations at various universities and colleges. He currently has two websites - Auto on Info at http://www.autooninfo.net/ and Cars on Info at http://carsoninfo.net/ - which provide detailed auto quality information for cars and trucks sold in North America. For much of the 2000s, AutoOnInfo.net has been the dominant provider of auto reliability and durability information, some of it gathered from its own online surveys and questionnaires.