Consumer test: Car reliability

Consumer test: Car reliability

The consumer body Which? has just released its annual survey about car reliability. And, once again, Japanese brands have been shown to suffer the fewest faults and breakdowns.

Honda just pipped Toyota to the top spot, while the first nine makers ranked according to reliability all hail from the Far East. Ford is the only Europe-based car manufacturer to make it into the top ten.

At the other end of the table, 4x4 specialist Land Rover recorded the highest number of complaints from owners, many of whom had typically spent more than £30,000 on a new off-roader. Its reliability score was just 68% compared with Honda's 86%. Renault cars had the second worst reliability record (70%), closely followed by Fiat.

Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Peugeot, Saab and Seat have all been supplying new cars with poor reliability in the past two years, according to the study.

One of its more surprising findings was that buyers of older diesel cars appear to be suffering more problems than buyers of their petrol equivalents.

Which? researchers analysed questionnaires sent in by almost 100,000 of it members who own and run cars aged up to eight years old. While Honda topped the reliability table, the consumer body named Toyota best manufacturer for consistently.....continued below

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The Honda Jazz was named the UK's most reliable new car, with a rating of 96%. More than 1,300 owners confirmed their car had rarely, if at all, let them down in the past two years.

Cars in the supermini section generally proved much more reliable than those in the luxury sector, despite selling for £20,000 less. The BMW 3 series, Toyota Avensis and Honda Accord were jointly named as the most trustworthy large cars. Honda won the MPV family category. Only its new Civic model let the side down, with a relatively low score of 82%. New Civic owners have reported problems with the fuel system, steering and suspension.

Luxury brands including Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Audi all fared poorly, while the cheaper brands such as Kia and Hyundai outshone their illustrious rivals.

Other notable disappointments were the VW Passat - contrary to Volkswagen's reputation for reliability - the Peugeot 307 and Renault Megane, which all scored just 82%.

Which? Car editor Richard Headland says: "Honda is setting the benchmark in car reliability, and it's up to other manufacturers to raise their standards to match. Several Far Eastern car makers are hot on its heels, but European manufacturers still have some catching up to do."

Based on the survey results, plus its road test data, Which? has named its best (new) buys in each category. It has also named the used cars to avoid.

Overall it found that most newer cars break down because of problems with the engine electrics: they account for more than half of all malfunctions.