These 3 Car Brands Show Up The Most In DUI Arrests

If you recall our list of car brands with the most DUI offenders, then you know that in 2023, the top three were BMW, Ram, and Subaru. Things have changed, though, and the results for 2024 are really weird. Like, latter-day M. Night Shyamalan movie-twist weird. 

Once again, we’re referring to LendingTree’s research, which analyzed insurance inquiries between January 1 and December 31 of 2024 to see which car brands have the best and worst drivers, highest accident rates, and, of course, the highest DUI rates. The top three spots have changed, and you’re not ready for the plot twist at the end.

Number 3: Tesla. Okay, this one may be unsurprising or deeply offensive, depending on your worldview. Tesla grabs the number three spot with 2.23 DUIs per 1,000 drivers, replacing last year’s third-place Subaru, which finished 12th in 2024, with only 1.69 DUIs per 1,000 drivers.

Number 2: BMW. Hey, BMW may have had its throne stolen, but the brand was still coming in strong with 2.57 DUIs per 1,000 drivers. Congrats, BMW owners, you managed to restrain yourselves this year, lowering that 3.13 DUIs per 1,000 drivers stat from 2023.

Now let’s reveal the brand with the most DUIs in 2024. Mr. Shyamalan, you might want to sit down for this.

The number one brand for DUIs in 2024 is none other than Pontiac. No, you weren’t expecting a brand that’s been dead for 15 years to take number one. Don’t even pretend you thought it would be Pontiac. And yet, with a rate of 3.11 DUIs per 1,000 drivers, here it is. It’s still not as high as BMW’s 3.13 the previous year, though. Man, 2023 BMW drivers were going through it.

But here’s where even M. Night Shyamalan’s brain would explode from this story’s twist. The same LendingTree study also found that Pontiac had the second-lowest rate of incidents of any brand, with 19.72 per 1,000 drivers. Yes, the same brand that gave the world the oddly beautiful inside Pontiac Aztek objectively has the safest drivers. Look, this is not to say that this proves Pontiac drivers are just really good at driving under the influence, but based on the data, a case could be made. 

The safest drivers belong to another dead brand, Mercury, which had the lowest incident rate at 18.63 per 1,000. While Cadillac took the number three spot at 20.75, I was really hoping it would be Saab, making it a dead-brand trifecta.

News surrounding Tesla is rarely good these days, which might be why Teslas are tanking in value on the used market. Well, it’s not going to get better here. Unlike Pontiac drivers, Tesla drivers apparently can’t keep it together while intoxicated, because LendingTree’s study shows that Tesla has the worst drivers. In fact, the study has a big, bold subhead that reads, “Tesla has worst drivers.” 

According to the numbers, Teslas can claim 36.94 incidents such as accidents and tickets per 1,000 drivers. In case you needed more fuel to dislike certain brands, second place is Ram at 33.92 per 1,000 incidents. Third place goes to Subaru with 32.85 per 1,000 incidents. 

Oh, and Ram owners, don’t wipe the sweat from your brow just yet. Tesla may take home the gold nationally, but if we look at the stats by state, you’re putting up some good numbers, and have the worst drivers in 16 of the 50 states. (Tesla leads in just nine.) In New Jersey, Rams have an astounding 74.2 incidents per 1,000 drivers. Um, congrats?

If we break out the magnifying glass and move beyond brands as a whole, focusing on individual models, the situation completely changes. These figures come via Insurify, which studied 97 million car insurance quotes to arrive at the 10 cars with the most reported DUIs in 2024, and these are the top three:

Number 3: Chevy Bolt. Owners of the currently dead subcompact EV (which is coming back, meaning we’ll get a next-gen Bolt EV to continue terrorizing streets) are apparently failing Breathalyzers with alarming regularity, as evidenced by the 40.6 DUIs per 1,000 drivers.

Number 2: Buick Encore GX. Buick’s subcompact Encore GX crossover is so boring that it’s what you receive if you go to a dealer and say, “I’ll take one car, please.” But just because it’s bland doesn’t mean you have to rely on recreational substances to make up for it. And 58.7 DUIs per 1,000 drivers is kind of high.

Number 1: Buick Envista. 72.1 DUIs per 1,000 drivers? Really, Buick Envista? The national average is 13.2! This is just strange. 

Going back to LendingTree’s figures for a second, the entire Buick brand only has 1.56 DUIs per 1,000 drivers, which would put it at 14th on that list, tying it with Acura. But over on Insurify, not only do the Envista and Encore GX hold the top two spots, the Enclave is at number seven with 22.8 DUIs per 1,000 drivers. Buick only has four models currently, and 75% of them have way higher-than-average DUI rates? Either this exposes a difference between Insurify and LendingTree’s insurance quote databases, or Buick Encore, Envista, and Enclave drivers are just way worse at holding their liquor than Envision drivers.