Brand reputation gets most of the credit or blame for reliability, but a few specific factors predict long-term issues more precisely than brand alone.
Engine and transmission combination matters more than brand-wide reputation — some manufacturers have specific engine or transmission pairings with known issues while other models from the same brand are excellent. Checking model-specific and even model-year-specific reliability data beats relying on general brand reputation.
First model year of a redesign tends to carry more risk than later years of the same generation, once manufacturing kinks get resolved — buying the second or third year of a generation is often a safer bet than the very first year.
Maintenance history on a used vehicle predicts future reliability more than mileage alone — a higher-mileage car with documented regular maintenance often outlasts a lower-mileage car with gaps in service history.