Autoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.Owner satisfaction is a complex metric that has a strong bearing on whether the buyer will consider buying another vehicle from the same manufacturer or not. To gauge such a nebulous category in an empirical way, Consumer Reports surveyed hundreds of thousands of customers on a variety of factors. These included overall comfort, driving experience, cabin storage, usability, and ownership costs.Scoring highly overall requires a vehicle to meet the customer's expectations, so a luxury SUV may not offer the best handling, or lowest ownership costs, but if it is comfortable, spacious and practical, it will get a high owner satisfaction index. Conversely, a sports car may be expensive to own and be short on comfort and luxury features, but if it delivers a superlative driving experience, then it will score well here.AdvertisementAdvertisementAll the data below was sourced from Consumer Reports as it provides a reliable benchmark for these costs. CR is a trusted source because it conducts unbiased, large-scale annual auto surveys that analyze real-world repair and maintenance records across thousands of vehicle owners.Which Brands Are The Least Satisfying To Own?JeepView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleManufacturerSatisfaction ScoreJeep51%Volkswagen52%Audi53%Nissan53%Mazda55%Buick56%'There is no such thing as a bad car these days,' is a quote that has been bandied about for years, but according to actual owner feedback, there are several manufacturers that need to up their game. In the latest Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey, Jeep, Volkswagen and Audi were relegated to the last three places out of the 26 brands evaluated.The survey collates the results from a comprehensive list of factors, including comfort, driving, cabin storage, usability and ownership cost. CR then asks owners whether they would buy the same vehicle again. The results you see here take into account the 2023-2026 model years.3rd Last: Audi/NissanAudi has spent decades refining its luxury vehicles to take on BMW and Mercedes-Benz, but from the viewpoint of owners of the latest models, it still has some way to go before matching them in terms of overall ownership satisfaction. While Audi scored an impressive 3rd overall in CR's road tests, sub-par results in new car reliability, and very high maintenance and repair costs placed it third last (with Nissan) in the satisfaction survey. Nissan scored the same as Audi overall, but in this case its road test score was very low while overall reliability was slightly better than average.2nd Last: VolkswagenAudi's parent company, Volkswagen performed even worse in this survey. It delivered mediocre results in the road rest evaluations and was more expensive to repair and less reliable than many of its direct rivals. High overall running costs for a value-focused brand are often a deal-breaker, and owners rated their vehicles poorly as their expectations of a budget-friendly motoring experience often failed to materialize.Dead Last: JeepJeep has a wide range of off-road focused models and has a strong following with an enthusiastic and passionate consumer base. This also means that expectations can be high and sometimes hard to match up to. In recent years Jeep has been struggling to get on top of reliability issues which have often placed its models right at the bottom of the pack in durability surveys, and regular recalls for serious issues haven't helped either.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen subjected to CR's comprehensive road test regimen, the Jeep brand as a whole once again came dead last. Poor consumption, weak acceleration, and wayward handling left the CR team and many owners wishing they were driving something else.Dissatisfaction GuaranteedAnton Andres/AutoblogView the 3 images of this gallery on the original articleAs with any broad survey, there are exceptions to the general rule, and you may own an Audi, Jeep or VW that has delivered exactly what you expect of it. However, if you are a new car buyer then these are the three brands that are most likely not going to match their manufacturer's promises. It is always worth delving into the data to see whether the areas they performed poorly in are important to you.For example, Rivian topped the owner satisfaction survey with an 85% score, meaning that the vast majority of owners would consider buying the same vehicle again. Yet it is also rated as the least reliable brand of them all, which shows that owners are willing to deal with these issues as the rest of the ownership experience more than makes up for it. Seeing as almost every Rivian sold is still covered by the factory warranty, the situation may change as owners are forced to pay for repairs themselves in coming years.AdvertisementAdvertisementWith regards to the worst performing brands here, if they still manage to deliver what you expect from them, then your satisfaction level may be far higher than for someone who thought they were buying a peach but ended up with a lemon.This story was originally published by Autoblog on Sep 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.