Honda Civic tops reliability league
- Previous-model Civic is ultra-reliable
- Civic has least faults and least time to repair
- Rover 45 is second, and Citroen Xsara third
Honda's previous Civic is the most reliable small family car money can buy.
That's according to the latest analysis of policies held by independent warranty provider Warranty Direct, which shows that the previous-generation car is the least likely of all to go wrong.
However, when things do go wrong with the Civic, they are fairly expensive to put right - a typical bill of £335 contrasts with an average of £238.95 for the sector.
Despite that, the Civic has the best reliability index from the warranty provider, which is a combination of the frequency of faults, the time taken to repair them and their cost.
Rover's 45 is the second most reliable car in the top ten released today, but its success has much to do with the collapse of MG Rover last year.
Usually Warranty Direct starts to cover cars after the traditional three-year manufacturer warranty has run out. As MG Rover owners were left without this cover when the company collapsed, many policies on younger cars were taken out.
The average age of a Rover 45 on Warranty Direct's books is 2.7 years, therefore, compared with 3.4 years for the Honda Civic. Younger cars tend to have less reliability worries.
The top three is rounded off by the Citroen Xsara.
Click here to see a table of the top 10 most reliable small family cars.
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