Don’t listen to MotorTrend, JD Power, etc…. They are there to make money, not save you money. 

Listen to guys like Scotty, CarWizard, etc…. These guys are the real deal. They try to save you money. 

Motor Trend is a magazine organization. All they do is show off the new vehicles by these manufacturers and see if they made any improvements on their predecessor. These "improvements" are based on features on the vehicle rather than reliability overall.

I'd add in that Motor Trend might be a little is like J.D. Power...  A pay-for-praise outlet.

In the grand scheme, Toyotas are often uglier (lately, not a few years ago), less gizmo-oriented and plain than its competition.  (That is how you become most reliable - Not putting a bunch of untested stuff out there).  Chances are, the manufacturers who interface with MotorTrend give talking points to some "journo" who feels special because he/she got to drive a car for free over a week or got flown into a test site, wined, dined and serviced to compel a wonderful review.

I do kinda agree with the others, although they do this thing where they buy cars and test them for a year or maybe 2 to see what it's like to daily drive and all, but other than that nothing rlly to do with reliability. I will say Toyota Prius did win motor trend car of the year in 2004, but SUV of the yearyeah kinda don't get it.

But at the same time, no one like motor trend will really award something like a 2021 4runner since that thing is a reliable dinosour that's been around for a decade. 

Motortrend has picked a lot of unreliable, money pit cars as winners over the years including Hyundai Motor Group products.  I don’t trust them (or other car magazines) for their thoughts or recommendations for my next ride - and neither should others.  

That being said, why they didn’t include Toyota for this year’s competition?  My answer:  who cares!

Clearly because Toyota didn't pay enough money.  Apparently not near as much as Hyundai and Kia.