What Car? Britain’s Most and Least Reliable Cars

The UK’s most and least reliable new and used cars have been revealed in the 2021 What Car? Reliability Survey from anew car buying platform. For what it’s worth as a data point, What Car claims feedback from more than 16,000 car owners that was analyzed to find the most dependable 178 models and 30 brands, from nearly new cars to those aged up to five years old.

“Our latest study also shows that a high price tag isn’t always a guarantee of reliability, because some of Britain’s cheapest cars are among the most reliable,” said What Car? editor Steve Huntingford.

A record six models achieved a score of 100%: current versions of the Audi TT, Mazda CX-3, Mini Convertible and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, and the previous-generation Dacia Sandero and Honda HR-V. Brands Lexus and Dacia models were said to be the most dependable for new and used buyers, while Fiat and Land Rover achieved the lowest scores. Fiat had the least reliable cars, gaining an 82.0% rating from owners, while Land Rover and Ford were second and third worst for reliability.

Luxury SUVs were the worst in the study, achieving an average class rating of 88.8%, although the Porsche Macan (2014 – present) beat the trend, managing a creditable 97.9%. The Land Rover Discovery (2017 – present) received the lowest score in this class with a 72.1% result.

Lexus gained an overall rating of 98.7% and none of its vehicles scored lower than 98.4%. Budget brand Dacia also impressed with a 97.3% overall rating, “demonstrating that you don’t have to break the bank to buy a dependable model.”

Hybrids were rated as the most durable type of car, with an average class reliability score of 96.9%. The best performing hybrid was the Lexus NX (2014 – present), which managed a 99.8% score, while hybrid variants of the BMW X5 (2018 – present) were rated least reliable, with 89.7%.

Owners were asked whether their car had gone wrong in the past 12 months, how long repairs took and how much they cost, with the overall score expressed as a percentage. Of the 16,328 drivers surveyed, 20% had experienced a fault with their car in the past year, with 85% of faults repaired free of charge. For 7% of drivers, the repairs cost between £101 and £500, while 2% had to pay more than £1500 to get their car back on the road. A third of cars remained drivable and were fixed within a day, while 25% could be driven but took more than a week to repair.

To see all of the 2021 What Car? Reliability Survey results, visit: www.whatcar.com/news/2021-what-car-reliability-survey/n23397