Consumer Reports base reliability on their customers filling out long detailed surveys on cars, appliances, or whatever. If they are stating the reliability of new 2020 model, it's based on previous models. If they question reliability on something new, they may not recommend it the first year or two.
I put zero value in JD Power's opinion of anything. Consumer Reports is a bit better, but I don't value their reports any more either. They have been really wrong about a few vehicles, and they are not good about admitting that. Thus, they lost my respect many years ago. If I was buying a toaster, I would respect their opinion on that. Who wants to be stuck with a bad $20 toaster?
If you're leasing a vehicle, who cares about reliability? It's not your worry, unless you want to buy the vehicle when the lease is up.
Economy cars - I like my 2017 Mirage ES manual. There's nothing on the market that I like better 3 years later.
Besides owing an affordable, reliable, economy car, I like owning a non-turbo, AWD/4WD, manual vehicle. I need something that can tug a trailer with loads like the one below. I spent the past two days helping a friend put in food plots, & my little Bolens (Mitsubishi diesel engine) worked hard breaking new ground.
Not liking the current market of vehicle makes me just appreciate what I have. I bought a Mirage to extend the life of my Forester, and it does that quite well. I just did the math. Since purchasing my Mirage, it has taken care of 90% of my yearly mileage. There are times when I need that 10% from my Forester like these past couple days.