With the Prius, Toyota has demonstrated that hybrids (and, by extension, electric cars) can be highly reliable. And at first the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf required few repairs. With the 2013s, though, both suffer from new common problems, the Volt with its charge port and the Leaf with its battery charging system.

The Tesla Model S has scored reasonably well on at least one prominent reliability survey. In TrueDelta’s latest stats, though, it has the worst score of any 2013 by a wide margin, 109 repair trips per 100 cars per year, about four times the average. The sample size was a few cars below the usual minimum, but this score is so high that even a sample size twice as large could not have yielded a satisfactory score. In Tesla’s defense, nearly all of the reported problems were minor–wind noise, rattles, a click in the steering–and owners report outstanding service quality. For these reasons it is not surprising that the car has scored much better on surveys that ask owners to only report “problems you considered serious.”

These problems with the Model S could only affect early cars, and even these only during the first year of ownership. With prompt, quarterly updates, TrueDelta’s Car Reliability Survey will track the Model S and other car models closely as they age. When a car company reacts quickly, the reliability of its products can improve dramatically in well under a year.

Repairs reported for the Model S

Of the car ads in the 2014 Superbowl, VW’s ad was among the biggest crowd-pleasers. In it, a German engineer sprouted wings every time a VW somewhere in the world passed 100,000 miles. Apparently, VW has more cars on the road with over 100,000 miles than any other auto maker.

But is this much of a testament to their reliability? Back when I was a kid it was a big deal when the odometer rolled over from 99,999 to all zeros. But even in the 1970s and 1980s the great majority of cars made it to this mark. Today, virtually all of them do (unless totaled in a traffic accident). Instead, people expect no significant repairs for the first 100,000 miles, or even the first 120,000 miles.

How long should a car last? TrueDelta conducted a special survey a few years ago and found that the average car lasted about 160,000 miles, with over 200,000 not uncommon. If VW could claim the most vehicles on the road with over 200,000 miles, this would be far more meaningful.

We’ve got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first? We’ll start with the bad. Not long ago it seemed as if the red unhappy faces in our reliability stats might be on the way to extinction, at least among recent cars. Well, with the latest Car Reliability Survey stats, which cover through the end of September 2013, they’re back. While last year not a single 2012 or 2013 model received the dreaded red mark, this time around five did, the most since 2009.

The five: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2013 Dodge Dart, 2013 Ford Fusion, and 2013 Nissan Altima and Pathfinder

Chrysler cannot seem to tweak the Jeep Grand Cherokee without introducing some new bugs. When this model was last fully redesigned, for 2011, it had a glitchy first year. The new Dart was okay initially, but has gotten worse and worse in recent quarterly updates. The situation could have been worse for Ford, but the C-MAX and Escape ducked back into the yellow zone, where you’ll also find the Focus ST. The Escape and Fusion suffer from poor panel fits, while the Escape and C-MAX have a tailgate latch prone to failure. The Focus ST’s original motor mount didn’t sufficiently restrain the engine during hard launches and shifts.

The biggest story could be the Nissans. Three months ago the Altima was already faring poorly, but the Pathfinder was among the happy faces. The latter isn’t hard to explain. We initially grouped the Pathfinder with the related Infiniti JX. But the Pathfinder, like the new Maxima, received a new, more efficient CVT (continuously variable transmission), and this transmission has been misbehaving, with many owners reporting a shudder at low speeds. The JX received this transmission late in the 2013 model year. All 2014 Infiniti QX60s have it, so we probably can again group the two models for this model year.

Notably, three updated Hyundais, the Elantra GT, Genesis Coupe, and Santa Fe, now have scores in the yellow zone. It could be worse: last quarter the Santa Fe was in the red. Still, it’s easy to see why some Korean executives recently resigned due to product quality shortfalls.

Will anyone similarly accept responsibility for quality slips at Ford and Nissan?

Bad news now out of the way, plenty of updated models have been highly reliable. First year glitches might still happen, but they don’t always happen. Among early 2014s, the Forester and Mazda6 have had a great start. Among updated 2013s, the Audi A4 (and related models), Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Lexus RX, and Toyota RAV4 are in the green.

To check out the latest stats:

Car Reliability Survey results