Toyota Motor Co.'s Scion topped the rankings in Consumer Reports' annual quality survey released Thursday.

Ford was the only North American automaker to make the Top 15 with its Lincoln and Mercury automobiles. Japanese cars lead in 15 of 16 categories for predicted reliability.

The non-profit magazine surveyed more than 1.4 million subscribers to determine the rankings.

Consumers reported the Scion xD had 80 per cent fewer problems than other models. Meanwhile, Honda's Acura ranked second while the Lincoln and Mercury ranked 11th and 15th.

The magazine said almost all of Ford's vehicles, with the exception of a few trucks, scored strongly with rankings of average or better.

The European made Mercedes-Benz C-Class, E-Class sedans and ML350 SUVs have improved in reliability and earned the magazine's recommendation after being excluded in 2007. But Consumer Reports noted one-third of Mercedes-Benz models struggle with reliability issues.

The luxury Land Rover was deemed the least reliable vehicle in the survey.